BACKGROUND

Your iPhone may have the ability to share its cellular data service with other devices. This service, commonly referred to as a mobile hotspot, may be used to provide internet connectivity to your laptop, tablet, or other devices when an alternative connection is not available. Personal hotspot connections can be made using WiFi or by tethering your computer to your phone using a USB cable.


Note: The Mobile Hotspot feature must be enabled on your line of service by your mobile phone carrier. While this feature is included in many plans be default, it may carry additional charges for use on other carriers. In all cases the mobile hotspot feature consumes data from your data plan and counts towards any data caps or excess data charges. Contact your mobile phone carrier for additional information. All iPhones issued by the Landmark Information Systems team include the Mobile Hotspot feature.


An iPhone may be used to provide internet access to a Windows 10 laptop following the steps outlined in this guide.

  1. It is important to know your iPhone's device name before enabling personal hotspot as your iPhone will broadcast a WiFi network using this name. Open the Settings app, tap on the General section, and then the About setting. Your iPhone's Name will be displayed at the top of this screen. All iPhones have the default name of "iPhone". it is critical for you to change the name to something more personal which will allow you to more easily identify your device. This also aid security by insuring you do not accidentally attached to a malicious WiFi network named iPhone.


  2. Navigate back to the front of the Settings app. Tap on the Personal Hotspot setting to open the settings page.
  3. Move the slider for Personal Hotspot to the right to enable the hotspot feature. The slider background will turn Green to reflect the the feature is enabled. You may not connect your laptop to the iPhone using either WiFi or USB.
    Note: Your iPhone will require a WiFi network password when connecting to it as a hotspot. The password is displayed below the Personal Hotspot slider. You may tap on the password to change it from a randomly generated password to a more personal WiFi password.


  4. Connect your computer to your iPhone personal hotspot (via WiFi)
    1. Click on the Network Connections icon within the Windows Task Bar. This is typically located in the lower right hand corner of your primary display, near the time and data.
    2. Select the name of the hotspot connection from the list of available networks and click on the Connect button. The hotspot connection name will match the name of the iPhone as identified in step 1.
      Note: Your iPhone will not broadcast a WiFi network for discovery while locked. You iPhone must remain active, unlocked, and on the Personal Hotspot screen while establish the initial connection. 


    3. Enter the hotspot connection password as identified in step 3.
    4. The hotspot connection item will change to indicate the connection is Connected, secured. You are now connected to your phone's personal hotspot for internet use. Skip to Step 6.
  5. Connect your computer to your iPhone personal hotspot (via USB)
    1. Connect your iPhone to you computer using an appropriate iPhone cable.
    2. Tap on the Trust button if prompted to Trust this Computer. Enter your iPhone PIN code or password if prompted.
    3. Click on the Network Connections icon within the Windows Task Bar. This is typically located in the lower right hand corner of your primary display, near the time and data. The network connection should now display your iPhone, listed as Connected, at the top of the network connections list.

  6. Launch an internet browser and verify you have connection by accessing a common website (http://www.google.com/). You are connected to the internet if the page loads properly. 
  7. You may not work with all internet connection pages, apps, and resources. You may also connect to the Landmark VPN.

  8. It is critical to disable your iPhone's hotspot feature while not in use or when you are finished for the day. It is possible for your computer to continue to consume cellular data while connected to the internet while the computer is inactive, in locked state, or even in sleep mode. This unintentional data usage may exceed carrier limits which may result in data overage charges or data bandwidth / speed throttling. 
    You may disable the personal hotspot by moving the slider for Personal Hotspot to the left. The slider background will turn White / Grey to reflect the the feature is disabled.