TECH

phone

How to Make Your

Phone a Hotspot

Sharing your phones Internet connection may

help you save Internet connection fees.

martphones have got so

sophisticated that many are able
to become personal hotspots.
Yes, thats right; that smartphone in
your hand can probably become a WiFi
provider when you want it to.
This is a real convenience especially
when it enables you to share your
Internet connection with your other
devices, like a tablet or a laptop when
other WiFi options are not available.
Best of all, prudent use of this feature
can help you save money because you
can share your Internet access package
with more than one device instead of
getting separate data packages for all
your devices.

Personal hotspot creation

The latest versions of the Android, iOS
and Windows Phone operating systems

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allow the creation of personal hotspots

on the respective mobile devices. So
if you have a smartphone running on
recent operating systems, it is likely to
be able to share its Internet connection
with other devices. Some older
smartphones, such as the iPhone 3G,
do not have this feature.
Most Android phones can be tethered
by simply following these steps:
- Go to Settings and Wireless & Networks
- Look for Tethering & portable hotspot,
and select Portable Wi-Fi hotspot
On iPhones, simply look for the
Personal Hotspot setting under the
Settings menu. Turn that on and your
phone will turn into a hotspot.
Windows phone devices have
similar settings.
The entire setting process is very easy.
All you have to do is to give your hotspot

a name you can use the default name

if you wish and set a security password
so that you can manage who connects
to the network - you certainly dont
want everyone in the vicinity hopping
on to your Internet connection.

Sharing
Once you have switched on your
hotspot, devices like notebooks, other
phones and tablet that are nearby can
connect. They will need to have their
WiFi switched on. Once their WiFi
connection locates the hotspot, click
connect and enter the password that
was set on your phone. That device is
now able to connect to the Internet
through your phone.

A word of caution
Remember that all data plans have

TECH

monthly limits. As long as you have

a large quota of data and use your
mobile Internet connection wisely,
you can safely share Internet connections
with other devices. However, if you
are on a monthly plan that comes
with a low data quota, you may end
up incurring extra charges or have
your Internet access hobbled.
Also, hotspot connections consume
a lot of power so your phone battery
level is likely to go down sharply if you
open the personal hotspot. Make sure
that you have a charger close by as you
will probably need it.
Multiple devices on the Internet at
the same time will also slow down your
Internet connection slightly as these
devices will be sharing the same
bandwidth.
We would suggest that you install
a data consumption monitor application
on your phone. That way, you will know
how much data is being consumed and
when to limit connections.

Other options
There are other ways to get personal
mobile hotspots. Instead of tethering
your phone to other devices, you might
consider getting a device or box called
a MiFi. Most service providers offer MiFi
devices and plans. For example, P1 has
such a box which comes with their ToGo
Plan. Subscribers sign up for RM69
a month and they can use up to 6 GB
of data. Yes also offers a MiFi they call a
Huddle as well as four plans: Super 48,

Super 68, Super 98 and Super 168.

With Maxis, you can get a free
MiFi when you subscribe to their GB
Broadband plan. Another telco, U Mobile
is offering their own MiFi when you
subscribe to any of the four plans, MB
68 or MB 128. DiGi offers a MiFi called
Explore, with up to 16 GB quota for
RM158 a month. But the speed is only
up to 700 kbps.

Types of data plans

Whether youre setting up tethering
on your phone or using a MiFi device,
make sure that you pick the right data
plan for your needs. That depends on
what you want to use your connection
for most of the time. Say, if you merely
want to connect to get your emails
and surf a bit, pick the most basic or
cheapest plans. As your needs escalate,
with the desire to stream online videos
smoothly, or do face to face video
chatting, you have to consider paying
a little higher, to get more data quota.
For example, Celcom has four to
choose from: Mobile Internet mLite,
mBasic, mAdvance and mPro, from
RM28 a month, RM38, RM58 to RM88,
and from 300MB quota, 1GB, 3 GB to 5 GB.
With Maxis, you can have pay-per-use
at 10 sen per 10 KB; time-based passes
for 1 hour at RM2 for 100 MB, and
1 day for RM8 for 500 MB; and 5 sets
of monthly passes ranging from RM18
to RM68 a month.
With DiGi you can opt for prepaid
Internet plans by purchasing a SIM

phone

package costing RM25 preloaded with

5 days worth. They also have 4 other
plans: Mobile Internet Monthly for
5 GB, 3 GB and 1 GB, and Data PAYU,
Data Basic, Data Lite and Data Pro.
U Mobiles Unlimited Mobile
Internet comes at the super low price
of RM28 a month.

You can get free tips and plan
recommendations from the
CONSUMERinfo website at
www.CONSUMERinfo.my. This site has
a tool that allows you to compare the
different packages offered by our
local telcos.

sing
Choo ght
Ri
The Plan
Data
Analyse how you are using your
Internet: For emails only?
For games? For streaming videos?
For video chatting?
Do you have access to other,
possibly free, Internet connections
such as WiFi in the office or home?
That could allow you to sign up for
a lower monthly mobile data plan.
Do you move around a lot and
require mobile Internet all
the time?
Go to www.CONSUMERinfo.my and see
mobile & data plans from various telcos.

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