How to Use Your Phone as a Hotspot (UK 2026)

A personal hotspot turns your phone into a portable WiFi router, sharing its mobile data with anything else that can connect to the internet - a laptop on the train, a tablet at a coffee shop, a Switch on the back seat, or a smart TV when the home broadband drops out. Every major UK network now permits it on pay-monthly plans, and the setup takes under thirty seconds once you know where to look. This guide walks through exactly how to enable it on every modern phone, what your UK network's fair-use rules actually mean, the speeds you should realistically expect on 4G and 5G, and how to fix the most common problems.

What is a personal hotspot?

A personal hotspot - sometimes called "tethering", "mobile hotspot" or "portable hotspot" depending on which phone you own - is a feature built into every modern smartphone that lets other devices use your phone's mobile data connection to get online. Your phone behaves like a small wireless router: it broadcasts a WiFi network, hands out a password, and any laptop, tablet, console or smart TV nearby can join that network and use your phone's 4G or 5G signal as if it were home broadband.

The data your guest device uses comes out of your phone's monthly allowance. There is no separate "hotspot bucket" with any UK network in 2026 - 1 GB streamed to a laptop counts the same as 1 GB streamed to the phone itself, with the caveats covered below.

The three ways to tether: WiFi, Bluetooth and USB

There are three different physical ways to share your phone's data, and they each have a sweet spot. Most people only ever use WiFi tethering, but the other two are genuinely useful in specific situations.

1. WiFi tethering (the default)

Your phone broadcasts a WiFi network. Other devices join it the same way they would any cafe or hotel WiFi.

• Pros: Fastest of the three. Multiple devices can connect at once (typically up to 10, sometimes 12). No cables needed. Works with anything that has WiFi - laptops, tablets, consoles, smart TVs, streaming sticks, e-readers.
• Cons: Hardest on the phone's battery. The radio is doing two jobs at once - talking to the cell tower and broadcasting WiFi. Phone will get warm.

2. Bluetooth tethering

Your phone pairs over Bluetooth with a single device and shares its connection that way.

• Pros: Much lower battery drain than WiFi - useful when you are away from a plug all day and just need to check email on a laptop. Slightly more secure because the pairing is one-to-one.
• Cons: Slow. Bluetooth 5 caps out at around 2 Mbps in practice, so streaming video or large downloads are out. One device at a time. Setup is fiddlier.

3. USB tethering

You plug the phone into your laptop with a USB-C (or Lightning) cable and toggle USB tethering on.

• Pros: Fastest and most stable of the three - no radio interference, no contention. The laptop charges the phone while it tethers, so battery is a non-issue. Ideal for long working sessions or hotel rooms where the WiFi is flaky.
• Cons: Wired, so only the device the cable reaches. macOS handles it natively, Windows usually does too, Linux sometimes needs a driver nudge. Not all smart TVs or consoles support USB tethering.

How to enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone (iOS 18 and iOS 19)

Apple kept the Personal Hotspot interface essentially unchanged through iOS 18 and the 2026 iOS 19 release. The path below works on every iPhone from the iPhone XS onwards.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Personal Hotspot. If you do not see it, tap Mobile Data (sometimes shown as "Cellular") first - Personal Hotspot sits just below it.
3. Toggle Allow Others to Join on. A WiFi password appears below the toggle.
4. Tap WiFi Password if you want to change it to something memorable.
5. On the device you want to connect, open WiFi settings and pick your iPhone's name from the list (it will be whatever you have set as your device name, for example "Sarah's iPhone").
6. Enter the password from step 3.

Instant Hotspot: if you also own an iPad, Mac or Apple Watch signed into the same Apple Account, the hotspot will appear directly in that device's WiFi menu with no password needed - tap it and it just connects. As long as both devices have Bluetooth and WiFi on, Personal Hotspot does not even need to be toggled on first.

Maximum Compatibility mode: on iPhone 12 and newer, the Personal Hotspot screen has a "Maximum Compatibility" toggle. Switching it on forces the hotspot to broadcast on the 2.4 GHz band rather than 5 GHz - slower, but older laptops, the Nintendo Switch and some smart TVs that struggle to see the default 5 GHz hotspot will then find it.

How to enable Mobile Hotspot on Samsung Galaxy (One UI 7 and One UI 8)

Samsung's One UI 7 (Android 15) shipped on the Galaxy S25 and rolled out to most flagship Galaxy devices through 2025, with One UI 8 (Android 16) following on the S26 in 2026. The hotspot menu is in the same place on both.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Connections.
3. Tap Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
4. Tap Mobile Hotspot, then flick the toggle at the top of the screen on.
5. Tap Configure (or the hotspot name) to change the network name, password, or security type. WPA3 is the most secure - leave it set there unless an older device cannot connect.

Quick Settings shortcut: swipe down twice from the top of the screen to expand the Quick Panel, then tap the Hotspot tile (it looks like a WiFi icon with a small dot underneath). If you do not see it, tap the pencil-edit icon and drag the Hotspot tile into your active tiles.

Auto Hotspot: One UI lets you share the hotspot only with other Samsung devices on your account without typing a password. Inside the Mobile Hotspot screen, tap Auto Hotspot and switch it on. You can also set the hotspot to auto-disable after 5, 10 or 15 minutes if nothing is connected, which is a useful battery-saver.

How to enable WiFi Hotspot on Google Pixel (Android 15 and Android 16)

Stock Android's hotspot menu has been stable across Android 14, 15 and 16 - the same path works on every Pixel from the Pixel 6 upwards.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Network and internet.
3. Tap Hotspot and tethering.
4. Tap WiFi hotspot.
5. Toggle Use WiFi hotspot on. The hotspot name and password appear on the same screen - tap either to change them.

On the same screen you can also enable USB tethering (plug in first, then toggle), Bluetooth tethering or Ethernet tethering if you happen to have a USB-C to ethernet adapter. The Speed and compatibility sub-menu lets you switch the hotspot between 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz - try 2.4 GHz if older devices cannot find your hotspot.

Quick Settings shortcut: swipe down twice to open Quick Settings, tap the Hotspot tile. If you do not see it, tap the pencil-edit icon and drag the Hotspot tile up into the active area.

Honor (MagicOS) and Xiaomi (HyperOS)

Both are Android underneath, so the menu is in roughly the same place - just with different labels.

• Honor (MagicOS 8 / 9): Settings → Mobile network → Personal hotspot → toggle on. Tap "Configure hotspot" to set name, security and band.
• Xiaomi (HyperOS 2): Settings → Connection and sharing → Portable hotspot → toggle on. The "Set up portable hotspot" option lets you change the SSID, password and band.

Both also have Quick Settings hotspot tiles reachable by swiping down twice.

UK network tethering policies in 2026

All four UK host networks - EE, O2, VodafoneThree (the merged Vodafone and Three network) - permit tethering on pay-monthly contracts at no extra charge. The same is true of every major MVNO including Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, giffgaff, Voxi, Smarty, iD Mobile, Lebara, Lyca and 1pMobile. There are no longer separate "tethering buckets" or hotspot upcharges anywhere in the UK market.

What does vary is how each network handles tethering on its unlimited data plans. Truly uncapped tethering would let a single SIM replace a fixed-line broadband connection, so most networks impose a fair-use threshold above which speeds drop.

Tethering allowances on unlimited plans

• EE (Unlimited): 100 GB tethering per month on the headline unlimited plan. EE's fair-use policy also notes that regularly tethering 12 or more devices may trigger a move to a "more suitable plan".
• Vodafone (Unlimited / Xtra): 60 GB on standard Unlimited, 80 GB on Unlimited Max / Xtra, with the highest practical allowance among the host networks.
• Three / VodafoneThree (Unlimited): 30-40 GB tethering on standard Unlimited plans, with speeds slowed once exceeded. Post-merger small print is still being unified across the two brands - check the plan T&Cs before signing.
• O2 (Unlimited): 50 GB tethering per month, with a maximum of 12 connected devices.
• Tesco Mobile / Sky Mobile / iD Mobile / Voxi / Smarty: tethering data comes out of the same allowance as phone data - no separate cap. Each enforces an abstract fair-use policy against "excessive" use that affects other customers.
• giffgaff: 650 GB total monthly fair-use ceiling on the Unlimited goodybag, applied to all data including tethering. Exceeding it twice in six months can trigger a warning, speed limits or - in extreme cases - account suspension.
• Lebara, Lyca, 1pMobile, Talkmobile: tethering permitted on all plans, no extra charge, no special hotspot cap.

Capped plans are simpler: if you are on a 20 GB, 50 GB or 100 GB plan, tethering simply eats into that allowance like any other data. There is no separate hotspot allowance to worry about.

See our unlimited SIM-only deals page if you want to compare current pricing.

What speeds should you realistically expect?

Hotspot speed is bounded by three things in this order: your phone's mobile signal, the WiFi link between phone and laptop, and the device on the receiving end. In a strong-signal area on a modern phone, tethering will be effectively indistinguishable from the phone's own data speeds. Typical real-world UK figures:

• 5G (Standalone, EE / Vodafone / O2 city centre): 200-500 Mbps down, 30-80 Mbps up. Plenty fast enough to replace home broadband for a few days, video-call without lag, or stream 4K.
• 5G (suburban or weaker signal): 50-200 Mbps down. Still very good - well over enough for any normal task.
• 4G (good signal): 20-60 Mbps down, 5-15 Mbps up. Fine for HD streaming, video calls, normal browsing and work.
• 4G (patchy signal, indoors or rural): 2-10 Mbps. Workable for email, web and SD video, but heavy downloads will crawl.
• Bluetooth tethering: 1-2 Mbps regardless of cellular speed. Email and messaging only.
• USB tethering: identical to WiFi tethering speed, with lower latency and zero packet loss.

5G is genuinely transformative for tethering. A 4K Netflix stream peaks around 25 Mbps, a Microsoft Teams HD video call uses 2-3 Mbps, and a 10 GB game download finishes in roughly 3 minutes on a strong 5G signal versus 25 minutes on 4G.

Battery drain when hotspotting

Running a hotspot is one of the most battery-hungry things a phone can do. Two radios are working simultaneously (cellular and WiFi), the CPU is processing every packet in both directions, and on 5G the modem itself runs hot. Expect:

• WiFi tethering with one device: 15-25% battery per hour on a typical modern phone.
• WiFi tethering streaming video to two devices: 25-35% per hour.
• Bluetooth tethering: 8-12% per hour.
• USB tethering: battery actually charges, because the laptop powers the phone over the cable.

Practical tips: keep the phone plugged in if you are tethering for more than an hour, drop the screen brightness right down, close apps you are not using, and set the hotspot to auto-disable when no devices are connected (both Samsung and Pixel offer this).

Security tips

A hotspot is a WiFi network. The same rules apply as for any router.

• Use a strong, unique password. The default 8-character random string most phones generate is fine. Do not change it to "password" or your name.
• Set WPA3 security if your phone offers it. Samsung (One UI 6+), Pixel (Android 13+) and iPhone (iOS 16+) all support WPA3. Only fall back to WPA2 if a guest device refuses to connect.
• Disable the hotspot when not in use. An always-on hotspot is a small but unnecessary attack surface, and it drains battery even when idle.
• Watch the connected-devices list. Every modern phone shows the list of connected clients on the hotspot screen. If you see an unknown device, kick it (Samsung and Pixel let you tap and "block"; on iPhone, change the password and toggle the hotspot off and on).
• Avoid sharing the password long-term. If a friend uses your hotspot once at the airport, change the password afterwards. Their device will keep trying to auto-rejoin every time it sees the SSID.

Troubleshooting common hotspot issues

The hotspot will not turn on

• Check that mobile data is on. The hotspot uses your cellular connection, so if mobile data is off (or the SIM has no signal) the hotspot toggle will fail silently or grey out.
• Check that you have data left on your plan and that the bill is paid - networks suspend the hotspot first.
• On iPhone, go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset Network Settings. This clears any corrupt carrier profile and almost always restores a missing Personal Hotspot row.
• On Android, toggle airplane mode on and off, then restart the phone.
• If Personal Hotspot has gone missing entirely from the Settings menu, the issue is usually a corrupted carrier profile - contact your network and ask them to "re-provision" tethering on the SIM.

Speeds are much slower than expected

• Check the bars. Hotspot speed is capped by your phone's cellular signal - one bar of 4G is going to produce one-bar speeds.
• Move the receiving device closer. WiFi signal degrades fast over distance and through walls, especially on the 5 GHz band.
• Switch the hotspot band. 5 GHz is faster at short range; 2.4 GHz reaches further. Pixel and Samsung let you change band in the hotspot settings; iPhone uses the "Maximum Compatibility" toggle to force 2.4 GHz.
• Check if you have hit your network's tethering fair-use cap (see the unlimited plan allowances above). Once exceeded, EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 throttle tethering specifically, even if your phone data still runs at full speed.
• Close any background app on the receiving device that might be using bandwidth - cloud backups, OneDrive, Dropbox and iCloud Photos are the usual culprits.

The hotspot keeps disconnecting

• iPhones automatically turn the hotspot off after 90 seconds if no device has connected, to save battery. Stay on the Personal Hotspot screen until your device joins, or toggle it off and on once the device is ready.
• Both Samsung and Pixel have an auto-disable timer (set under Hotspot → Timeout settings). If it is set to 5 minutes, the hotspot will switch off after that period of inactivity - change it to "Never" if you want it always on.
• Power-saver mode and "Adaptive Battery" (Android) will aggressively shut hotspots down. Either turn power saving off or exempt the hotspot.
• If a single device keeps dropping while others stay connected, the problem is usually that device's WiFi adapter, not the hotspot - try forgetting the network on that device and rejoining.

A specific device cannot find or join the hotspot

• Older devices - Nintendo Switch, some smart TVs, older Kindles - often cannot see a 5 GHz hotspot. Switch the band to 2.4 GHz (Pixel/Samsung) or enable Maximum Compatibility (iPhone).
• Some devices reject WPA3 entirely. Drop the security level to WPA2-PSK in the hotspot settings.
• If the device sees the hotspot but says "incorrect password", retype it carefully - the autogenerated passwords often contain easily-confused characters like 0/O and 1/l. Or just change the password to something simple while you are setting up.
• iPhone has a known quirk where some older Android laptops cannot see the Personal Hotspot SSID at all. Toggling "Allow Others to Join" off and on usually re-broadcasts it.

Frequently asked questions

Looking for a SIM with more data to tether from? Compare current unlimited SIM-only plans or browse all SIM-only deals. Need a phone with strong 5G and a big battery for marathon hotspot sessions? See our long battery life and 5G phone ranking pages.