iOS 4.3 Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi Sharing Limited to Three Devices in Many Countries?

MacRumors · Mar 4, 2011, 02:05 PM

Engadget posts a purported internal AT&T sales document sharing details of Apple's iOS 4.3 launch scheduled for next Friday, March 11th. According to the document, the personal hotspot functionality included in the update, which the carrier has already announced that it will support[/url] will be limited to three connected Wi-Fi devices.

Quote:

According to this here slide, which details a bit of insidery AT&T information about the impending release of iOS 4.3, Ma Bell's iPhone 4 will have its Personal Hotspot restricted to use with just three devices. Just about every MiFi / mobile hotspot device we've ever seen -- including Verizon's iPhone 4 -- has supported five WiFi devices, but unless AT&T pulls a 180 here, it'll be limiting its iPhone to just three connections.

Apple's own iOS 4.3 preview page offers similar language with additional detail revealing the limitations:

Quote:

You can share your connection with up to five devices at once over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB - with up to three of those connections using Wi-Fi.

Apple elaborates even further in a footnote on the page, revealing device limitations for each of the connection methods:

Quote:

Personal Hotspot requires a supporting hotspot tethering plan from your carrier and works with up to three devices over Wi-Fi, three devices over Bluetooth, and one device over USB.

Interestingly, while identical language is present on Apple's iOS 4.3 preview pages for customers in Canada, Australia, Japan, and many other countries, suggesting that the limitation is Apple's and not AT&T's, pages for customers in European countries simply mention the total limit of five devices.

Article Link: iOS 4.3 Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi Sharing Limited to Three Devices in Many Countries?

beaner454 · Mar 4, 2011, 02:07 PM

I'm not in favor of the limit, but can anyone imagine sharing a 3g connection with more than 3 people? I guess if all everyone's doing is email it makes sense. But beyond that, man that'd be painful.

iLoveiTunes · Mar 4, 2011, 02:08 PM

there goes my 3G...... but then that's how it is. Time for a new phone

Rafterman · Mar 4, 2011, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaner454

I'm not in favor of the limit, but can anyone imagine sharing a 3g connection with more than 3 people? I guess if all everyone's doing is email it makes sense. But beyond that, man that'd be painful.

Agreed. Three devices is two too many for a 3G connection.

stylewriter · Mar 4, 2011, 02:13 PM

I know most of the world allows 13 channels for 802.11b, while the US uses 11 and Japan uses 14. There are similar differences for 802.11g and 802.11n.

This could be that it is a technical limit, there are different WiFi access points for different countries.

gogoAMG · Mar 4, 2011, 02:13 PM

faster safari performance is always welcome, I always feel like it can be faster, i hope jailbreak comes out for this.

Stella · Mar 4, 2011, 02:15 PM

Why the limit? Here in Canada - on Robelus - and probably on others too - there is no restriction on what you can tether as long as you have 1Gig data plan or more..

Imposing a limit on the number of devices seems pretty retarded IMO. Sure the performance will be degraded the more devices being tethered at the same time, of course, but thats to be expected. But as a user, thats my choice.

dscuber9000 · Mar 4, 2011, 02:16 PM

Why would anyone want more than three devices over a 3G connection anyway? It's probably not even a business move for them, more of quality control.

EdRed · Mar 4, 2011, 02:20 PM

What about letting an iPod Touch tether (using Bluetooth) to any cel phone that supports it?

iphone1105 · Mar 4, 2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdRed

What about letting an iPod Touch tether (using Bluetooth) to any cel phone that supports it?

Why not just get an iPhone???

DJsteveSD · Mar 4, 2011, 02:24 PM

havent jailbroken yet but AT&T makes me want to with their $20 tethering plan and having to downgrade to a 2 gb data plan...

Littleman · Mar 4, 2011, 02:25 PM

Don't think this is AT&T's doing.

More a hardware or software issue.

Warbrain · Mar 4, 2011, 02:29 PM

Has to be for the sake of battery or hardware limitation.

Regardless, only have connected 2 at the most and don't particularly care to connect more.

GeekLawyer · Mar 4, 2011, 02:29 PM

I'm having trouble getting outraged over this "limitation." I've been carrying a MiFi for a year and I've never used it with three devices at the same time. A laptop and iPad, yes, but that's only two.

Not an issue for 98% of customers.

Saberon · 04:31 PM

-

Stella · Mar 4, 2011, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdRed

What about letting an iPod Touch tether (using Bluetooth) to any cel phone that supports it?

iPod Touch tethers just fine using WIFI - but that'll consume more power than using BT of course.

zorinlynx · Mar 4, 2011, 02:35 PM

I wish Apple would enable Bluetooth tethering as a *CLIENT* on the iPad.

This way an iPad can tether through an iPhone to the net without consuming a lot of extra power.

Wifi will probably work great, but it's more power hungry since it wasn't intended for this purpose.

Consultant · Mar 4, 2011, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stylewriter

I know most of the world allows 13 channels for 802.11b, while the US uses 11 and Japan uses 14. There are similar differences for 802.11g and 802.11n.

This could be that it is a technical limit, there are different WiFi access points for different countries.

I doubt it's that. The WiFi sharing would be over 1 channel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zorinlynx

I wish Apple would enable Bluetooth tethering as a *CLIENT* on the iPad.

This way an iPad can tether through an iPhone to the net without consuming a lot of extra power.

Wifi will probably work great, but it's more power hungry since it wasn't intended for this purpose.

Jailbreak. $2 app Cydia store.

Warbrain · Mar 4, 2011, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zorinlynx

I wish Apple would enable Bluetooth tethering as a *CLIENT* on the iPad.

This way an iPad can tether through an iPhone to the net without consuming a lot of extra power.

Wifi will probably work great, but it's more power hungry since it wasn't intended for this purpose.

Um, you can in 4.3.

SkippyThorson · Mar 4, 2011, 02:39 PM

This document actually makes it look like both the iPhone and iPad are getting all of these features.

Obviously, the iPad isn't getting the Personal Hotspot feature, but I have to ask now... Would the iPhone be getting the switch toggle option and PhotoBooth?

Now that would be a nifty addition - even though I doubt it. Did anyone else read that like I did?

petvas · Mar 4, 2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkippyThorson

This document actually makes it look like both the iPhone and iPad are getting all of these features.

Obviously, the iPad isn't getting the Personal Hotspot feature, but I have to ask now... Would the iPhone be getting the switch toggle option and PhotoBooth?

Now that would be a nifty addition - even though I doubt it. Did anyone else read that like I did?

The iPhone doesn't get Photobooth in iOS 4.3. Maybe in the future that will change.

xraydoc · Mar 4, 2011, 02:42 PM

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Doesn't the Verizon iPhone's 4.2.6 support 5 devices on wifi?

cav23j · Mar 4, 2011, 02:49 PM

Verizon supports 5
AT&T supports 3

make the right choice

Saberon · Mar 4, 2011, 02:50 PM

$100 says iOS 4.3 on VZW makes it 3

Warbrain · Mar 4, 2011, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cav23j

Verizon supports 5
AT&T supports 3

make the right choice

If that's the only thing affecting your choice I worry for you.

Mar 4, 2011, 02:08 PM	#3
iLoveiTunes macrumors member Join Date: Feb 2011	nah... there goes my 3G...... but then that's how it is. Time for a new phone
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:13 PM	#5
stylewriter macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Johnson City, TN	Could be differences in allowed WiFi? I know most of the world allows 13 channels for 802.11b, while the US uses 11 and Japan uses 14. There are similar differences for 802.11g and 802.11n. This could be that it is a technical limit, there are different WiFi access points for different countries.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:15 PM	#7
Stella macrumors 603 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Canada	Why the limit? Here in Canada - on Robelus - and probably on others too - there is no restriction on what you can tether as long as you have 1Gig data plan or more.. Imposing a limit on the number of devices seems pretty retarded IMO. Sure the performance will be degraded the more devices being tethered at the same time, of course, but thats to be expected. But as a user, thats my choice. __________________ Hardware / Software: The right tools for the job - be it Apple or otherwise.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:16 PM	#8
dscuber9000 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Indiana, US	Why would anyone want more than three devices over a 3G connection anyway? It's probably not even a business move for them, more of quality control. __________________ MacBook Pro 13" (Mid-2009) 2.26GHz \| 320GB, 7200RPM \| 4GB RAM 16GB iPhone 4S
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:24 PM	#11
DJsteveSD macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: San Diego, CA	ugh havent jailbroken yet but AT&T makes me want to with their $20 tethering plan and having to downgrade to a 2 gb data plan...
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:07 PM	#2
beaner454 macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2003	I'm not in favor of the limit, but can anyone imagine sharing a 3g connection with more than 3 people? I guess if all everyone's doing is email it makes sense. But beyond that, man that'd be painful.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:13 PM	#6
gogoAMG macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: NorCal	faster safari performance is always welcome, I always feel like it can be faster, i hope jailbreak comes out for this.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:20 PM	#9
EdRed macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2007	What about letting an iPod Touch tether (using Bluetooth) to any cel phone that supports it?
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:25 PM	#12
Littleman macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2008	Don't think this is AT&T's doing. More a hardware or software issue.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:29 PM	#13
Warbrain macrumors 603 Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago, IL	Has to be for the sake of battery or hardware limitation. Regardless, only have connected 2 at the most and don't particularly care to connect more. __________________ WARBRAIN Twitter \| Blog MacBook Pro 15" \| iPad 3 32 GB LTE \| iPad 2 16 GB \| iPhone 4S 16 GB White \| iPod touch 4G 64 GB \| iPhone 4 16 GB Black
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:29 PM	#14
GeekLawyer macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The post is coming from inside the house!	I'm having trouble getting outraged over this "limitation." I've been carrying a MiFi for a year and I've never used it with three devices at the same time. A laptop and iPad, yes, but that's only two. Not an issue for 98% of customers.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:30 PM	#15
Saberon macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2008	- Last edited by Saberon; Mar 4, 2011 at 04:31 PM.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:35 PM	#17
zorinlynx macrumors 65816 Join Date: May 2007 Location: Florida, USA	I wish Apple would enable Bluetooth tethering as a CLIENT on the iPad. This way an iPad can tether through an iPhone to the net without consuming a lot of extra power. Wifi will probably work great, but it's more power hungry since it wasn't intended for this purpose.
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:39 PM	#20
SkippyThorson macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Utica, NY	This document actually makes it look like both the iPhone and iPad are getting all of these features. Obviously, the iPad isn't getting the Personal Hotspot feature, but I have to ask now... Would the iPhone be getting the switch toggle option and PhotoBooth? Now that would be a nifty addition - even though I doubt it. Did anyone else read that like I did? __________________ Skippy Thorson @ Blogspot AT&T iPhone 4S, 4 & 2G, iPad 2, iPad 3G, v5.5 iPod, v3 & v2 Nano, v1 Shuffle, TV2 2.4ghz Al. MacBook, 1.33ghz iBook G4, 1.25ghz & 800mhz iMac G4s, AEBS
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:42 PM	#22
xraydoc macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The first state	Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5) Doesn't the Verizon iPhone's 4.2.6 support 5 devices on wifi? __________________ 2.93GHz i7 27" iMac • 1.8GHz i7 11" MacBook Air • 2.5GHz i5 Mac mini + 27" Thunderbolt display 2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro + OS X 10.7 Server + 6TB RAID 5 • AirPort Extreme • iPad 3 & mini • iPhone 5
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:49 PM	#23
cav23j macrumors regular Join Date: Oct 2008	Verizon supports 5 AT&T supports 3 make the right choice
	0

Mar 4, 2011, 02:50 PM	#24
Saberon macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2008	$100 says iOS 4.3 on VZW makes it 3
	0

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