How to set up your iPhone or iPad hotspot

These instrutions apply to the new iPad as well as the iPhone 4 and 4S.




Go to the settings menu:

In settings, you will see a 'personal hotspot' menu item. Tap it.

In the personal hotspot menu, slide the "personal hotspot" option to "on".



You will note that Apple has allocated the connection a default password which is shown on this screen too. You can either use it (as each iPhone 4 gets a different random password) or change it to something you can more easily remember by tapping on it.

Once the network is selected and you have put in the password you selected in the last step (or Apple's default password), you will be able to connect your tablet, laptop and any other Wi-Fi device to the net via your iPhone's data plan.

Then, on your computer's Wi-Fi menu, you should see your iPhone pop up in the list after a few seconds. The network name is the name of your iPhone in iTunes — in our case, "Dan's iPhone 4".

Bear in mind that the feature does tend to use up a fair bit of battery power, so use it sparingly if the phone is already on low battery power. If you have got the iPhone's power adaptor handy and are near an AC powerpoint, plug in your iPhone to top up the battery while you work.

If you are travelling, you can marry this personal hotspot feature up beautifully with a cheap data SIM card. For the US and UK, Tru SIM is outstandingly cheap, and in Asia, Bridge Alliance DataRoam Unlimited offers unlimited data in many Asian countries for a flat daily fee.