If you are out and about and you don’t have a free Wi-Fi internet connection, then you can “take advantage” of your iPhone’s internet connection so you can browse through your PC or Mac (or even another device such as a tablet). This iPhone internet connection “sharing” feature is called ” Personal Hotspot ” on iPhone (also known as ” tethering “) and you can use it via either Wi-Fi or USB connection. We have already seen how to activate tethering on Android , now let’s see how to do it on an iPhone in order to connect iPhone to the computer to navigate comfortably from the latter.
What you need to know about “Tethering”
First of all you need to know that not all mobile carriers include this feature . If your cellular data plan doesn’t allow tethering, you might not see the Personal Hotspot option at all on your iPhone’s settings screen. You may have to pay extra to access it.
Another thing to know is that when you use your iPhone as a data connection , you are using your mobile data plan and as such, if you have a limit of Giga per month, this threshold could be at risk. If you have unlimited data or a high limit, this may not be a problem but it is good to inquire first so as to avoid unpleasant surprises in the next billing.
Even if you have unlimited data, it is very likely that you have a limited amount of tethering data or, at least, high speed tethering data. Your carrier may charge you extra if you need more data in tethering mode. Check your rate plan for more details on hotspot or tethering features.
Finally, it’s also important to know that Wi-Fi tethering will drain your iPhone’s battery faster. For this it is advisable to connect your iPhone to a power source or connect it to the PC / Mac via USB cable while tethering. Make sure you disable the hotspot even when you are not using it otherwise it will continue to “consume” energy.
How to Activate Personal Hotspot on iPhone
There are three ways to connect iPhone to your computer to browse using its data connection.
- Wi-Fi connection
- Bluetooth connection
- USB connection
Once Personal Hotspot is activated on your iPhone, you can use any of these three options. You will not have to change any settings.
First, open the Settings app and tap “ Personal Hotspot ” to access your iPhone’s Personal Hotspot settings
Before doing any other actions you need to tap Wi-Fi Password to change your hotspot password . It is advisable to set a password that is not too trivial because otherwise anyone within range could potentially connect to the phone. Choose a strong password even if you don’t plan to connect via Wi-Fi, as activating Personal Hotspot will broadcast the network even in Wi-Fi mode regardless.
Then you can turn on Personal Hotspot by flipping the switch at the top of the Personal Hotspot settings.
Now is the time to connect to your hotspot from your computer using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB. This way you can browse from your computer via your iPhone’s data connection .
A) Connection via Wi-Fi
The most “common” way to connect iPhone to your computer for surfing is via Wi-Fi . To do this, simply connect to it as you would any Wi-Fi access point, whether you’re using a Windows PC, Mac, iPad, or any other device. Select your iPhone from the list of Wi-Fi networks available on your computer.
If you are connecting to your iPhone’s cellular network for the first time, you will need to enter the password you set earlier. Hopefully, you should have the Internet on your PC / Mac or other device. When you or someone else is connected to your iPhone’s Personal Hotspot, a blue bar will appear at the top and show you how many connections are active.
B) Connection via Bluetooth
Wi-Fi and USB are certainly faster than Bluetooth, but if you’d rather use Bluetooth to connect to your hotspot, you can do so by following these simple steps.
On Windows PC
To connect via Bluetooth from a Windows computer, you must obviously first activate the “bluetooth” function from the Windows settings. Then click the Bluetooth icon in the system tray and select “Join a personal area network”.
Then click “Add a device” in the upper left corner. Choose your iPhone from the resulting screen and click ” Next ” to continue.
Like any other Bluetooth connection, you will be shown a pairing code on your computer and iPhone. Compare the two passcodes and, if they are the same, tap ” Pair ” on your iPhone screen and ” Yes ” on the Windows pairing screen.
Allow your Windows PC to install the necessary files on your system. Once done, you can right-click on your iPhone to connect it as an access point. You are now ready to browse the Internet from your Windows PC, check email, chat and so on!
On Mac computers
On a Mac, open System Preferences> Bluetooth , find your iPhone in the list, and click ” Pair ” next to your iPhone.
You will be shown a pair code on your Mac screen and on your iPhone.
If the codes match, tap the “ Pair ” button to confirm the connection.
Now, from your Mac’s menu bar, click on the Bluetooth symbol , highlight your iPhone in the list and click “ Connect to Network ”.
You will now be able to access the internet via your iPhone’s Bluetooth connection. When you want to disconnect, click again on the Bluetooth symbol, choose your iPhone, then “ Disconnect from network “.
C) Connection via USB cable
Connecting via USB is by far the easiest way to connect your phone. As long as your personal hotspot is active, all you need to do is connect your phone with a USB cable. On the Windows PC network adapters it is possible to see that we are connected via “ Apple Mobile Device Ethernet “.
On the Mac, we can see in the network settings that your iPhone is connected via the USB connection.
What is the best method?
Of all the methods described above, USB is the fastest but the most inconvenient, as it requires your iPhone to be physically connected to the computer via the cable. However, it is super easy to set up and requires no configuration.
The Bluetooth is more secure than Wi-Fi, but it is the slowest of the three methods. It also requires maximum configuration, although once done you won’t have to do it again.
The Wi-Fi is the most popular way to connect iPhone to your computer to surf, but not sure if you are not using a strong password, so make sure to set one. It’s also very easy to connect, just enter the password once and it’s almost as fast as USB.
That said, unless you want to connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable (which gives you the added benefit of charging the battery), Wi-Fi is clearly the most convenient choice for most hotspot connections. There is no reason to choose Bluetooth because of its slow speeds, unless, of course, this is your only available choice – for example if your Wi-Fi adapter is behaving unstable and you can’t find a USB cable.
