iPhone gets Personal Hotspot in iOS 4.3
by Volker Weber
With 4.3 you can use your iPhone sync cable, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to connect other devices to the Internet. "Personal Hotspot" replaces "Internet Tethering" so it's probably subject to the contract with your carrier.
In any case you will need a larger traffic budget. I can live on 300 MB a month when using the iPhone without tethering. Once I connect my Macbook, I burn through the 300 MB in a single day. Which means, I will burn through 5 GB a month easily when using this every single workday.
Comments
So sind sie bei Apple, in vielem sind sie weit vorne dabei, manches dauert manchmal ein wenig, aber am Ende machen sie ganz schön viel richtig.
Ich habe immer noch meinen unlimited Data plan von AT&T fuer mein iPhone. Ich wuerde vielleicht Geld für das Hotspot Feature zahlen wenn es meinen unlimited data plan benützt und nicht mehr als 10-15 im Monat ist...weniger wäre besser :)
This looks awesome. I wonder what the battery drain is like though?
Sven, grundsätzlich hast Du Recht. Aber hier nicht.Was macht hier Apple besonders gut? Dass Provider bestimmen dürfen, ob ich mein Handy als UMTS-Zugang nutzen kann, findenich eher skandalös als innovativ. Den WLAN-Hotspot nutze ich seit über zwei Jahren per Joikuspot-Software in meinen Nokias oder auch bei Palm. Bei Android ist das seit Einem dreiviertel Jahr Standard.
I wonder if this upcoming feature is what prompted UK T-Mobile to announce (and then later hastily revoke for non-upgrading existing customers) a lower cap for their 'unlimited' data phone contracts?
UK T-Mobile's data plans are the best in the UK, implementing a fair use policy, rather than hard GB limits with charging per MB thereafter as the other networks do.
I rather think that the days of free and easy data usage are numbered
John, soon everybody will have tethering and nobody will be able to use it because of data caps. Here in Germany, you get "unlimited" data, where you are being slowed down to GPRS after reaching your cap.
As a matter of interest (as this is a bit above my head) will it allow me to use my iPad to browse using my iPhone 3G connection?
Yes, your iPad, your wife's iPad, and three more.
Guess who feels foolish for having bought a 3G iPad just a couple of months ago? :-)
Well, you could also connect your notebook. ;-)
Sorry Volker - one more question. Does this mean that the Camera to iPad tethering you wrote about back in November would work without jail breaking now or is there a data issue?
No, that would still not work. iPhone becomes a mobile router that lets five other devices share its internet connection much like your home router does. The iPhone itself is not on this local WLAN.
Drat - I was getting excited in a geeky way there for a couple of minutes. :-)
Uh, oh. Too much information. :-)
I have jailbroken my iPhone just to get this feature, so love the fact that Apple have seen fit to include it.
Volker, do you know if this is active in the first drop of 4.3, or is it just in the menus?
It's active.
Clarification. Personal Hotspot with WiFi requires iPhone4. The 3GS only supports Bluetooth and USB. At least that is the case in beta 1.
