for people using the iPhone Hotspot...

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I have a couple of questions.

Can you turn the screen off while the hotspot is active?


How quickly does using it drain your battery? Estimate how long you can use the hotspot from full charge to dead battery with the screen off (assuming that you can turn the screen off).

I'm planning on getting a wifi only iPad 2 and I wanted to know if I could use 3G data on the iPad using the iPhone hotspot for long cartrips. (like 5+ hours)

 

[Aduntu]

Yes, you can turn the screen off.

I normally tether over USB to avoid draining my battery, but I believe I average around 5 hours when using wifi only. I also use my phone quite a bit while using it as a hotspot, so that is definitely affecting battery consumption as well. Consider taking a car charger and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[xraydoc]

I have a couple of questions.

Can you turn the screen off while the hotspot is active?


How quickly does using it drain your battery? Estimate how long you can use the hotspot from full charge to dead battery with the screen off (assuming that you can turn the screen off).

I'm planning on getting a wifi only iPad 2 and I wanted to know if I could use 3G data on the iPad using the iPhone hotspot for long cartrips. (like 5+ hours)

Plugged in you could. But I'd say about 4 hrs tops on batt. alone. With wifi tether on (VZW iPhone), it goes down about 5% per 15 minutes with heavy use (i.e., constant data transfer). Not as bad with only sporadic data.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Plugged in you could. But I'd say about 4 hrs tops on batt. alone. With wifi tether on (VZW iPhone), it goes down about 5% per 15 minutes with heavy use (i.e., constant data transfer). Not as bad with only sporadic data.

5% per 15 minutes would be more like 5 hours (sorry to be anal ) But I think 4-5 hours would be pretty good, especially considering I could get a car charger.

Oh you made me think of one more question. Say I connect my iPad to my iphone hotspot to check my email or whatever, but then I stop using my iPad. How long does it take before the iPhone stops being a hotspot? Or does the hotspot connection remain untill you disconnect the iPad from the wifi network? Would that drain much iphone battery life, or only when data is actually being used?

 

[Norouzi]

5% per 15 minutes would be more like 5 hours (sorry to be anal ) But I think 4-5 hours would be pretty good, especially considering I could get a car charger.

Oh you made me think of one more question. Say I connect my iPad to my iphone hotspot to check my email or whatever, but then I stop using my iPad. How long does it take before the iPhone stops being a hotspot? Or does the hotspot connection remain untill you disconnect the iPad from the wifi network? Would that drain much iphone battery life, or only when data is actually being used?

I don't have the hotspot on my account, but from what I understand you have to actually turn on the hotspot in the Network Settings under General. Like Turning on WiFi, it's either On or Off. If the hotspot feature is turned on your phone is broadcasting it's WiFi signal for devices to connect to.

 

[mo25]

I don't use the built in feature but I use MyWi and I generally get about 4 hours of hotspot.

 

[Goldinboy17]

5% per 15 minutes would be more like 5 hours (sorry to be anal ) But I think 4-5 hours would be pretty good, especially considering I could get a car charger.

Oh you made me think of one more question. Say I connect my iPad to my iphone hotspot to check my email or whatever, but then I stop using my iPad. How long does it take before the iPhone stops being a hotspot? Or does the hotspot connection remain untill you disconnect the iPad from the wifi network? Would that drain much iphone battery life, or only when data is actually being used?

You would have to turn off the hotspot feature on the phone itself otherwise it would continue to broadcast the SSID and drain your battery.

 

[chestvrg]

MyWi here, and yes about 4hrs

 

[Aduntu]

You would have to turn off the hotspot feature on the phone itself otherwise it would continue to broadcast the SSID and drain your battery.

It does keep broadcasting the SSID, but battery consumption is significantly less when you're not actually using data -- even when devices are still connected.

I don't have the hotspot on my account, but from what I understand you have to actually turn on the hotspot in the Network Settings under General. Like Turning on WiFi, it's either On or Off. If the hotspot feature is turned on your phone is broadcasting it's WiFi signal for devices to connect to.

It's actually just a hair more convenient. You can go to the hotspot settings directly from the default screen of the settings app.

 

[VeNoMiZeD]

I haven't kept up witht the Iphone features lately but is this for Verizon only? or does ATT have it? I have ATT and wanted to get it so that I can use for my MBP.

 

[LincolnsiPod]

AT&T iPhone will soon have hotspot capabilities when iOS 4.3 is released on the 11th.


I use Verizon and tether when I'm at restaurants or other spots that don't have wifi. I also keep a small battery charger from Griffin, and whenever I tether, I simply snap the battery charger on and either pocket my iPhone or toss it into my backpack. That way I don't lose any battery life as a direct result of tethering. Theoretically I can get 10 hours of uninterrupted hotspot usage this way, but up to now I've never needed it for more than 2.

 

[richard371]

On my ATT it will stop broadcasting the ssid after about 5 mins if nothing is connected and im not on the hotspot screen. I do not know if this is a bug or design but its fine by me as I do not have to remember to turn it off.

 

[thatoneguy82]

I'm actually one of the early adopters of the iphone since it came, 2007 so I had unlimited Data. And have gotten every single one as they are released. Looking at my data usage, I don't even break 2GB. Therefore, I opted for the Data Pro +4GB. It's only $10 per GB, but I doubt I'll do that. I have no interest in JB since last time I did it gave more trouble than what it was worth.

On a good, I can finally cancel my mobile hotspot from another carrier which I pay $50/mo since my iPhone essentially does the same. All n in all I think I made the right decision

 

[applefanDrew]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

I'm pretty sure if activity goes dead for a while then vitally turns itself off. You have to go back to the hotspur screen to reactivate e it ( though you don't have to switch it to on).

 

[kre62]

I'm actually one of the early adopters of the iphone since it came, 2007 so I had unlimited Data. And have gotten every single one as they are released. Looking at my data usage, I don't even break 2GB. Therefore, I opted for the Data Pro +4GB. It's only $10 per GB, but I doubt I'll do that. I have no interest in JB since last time I did it gave more trouble than what it was worth.

On a good, I can finally cancel my mobile hotspot from another carrier which I pay $50/mo since my iPhone essentially does the same. All n in all I think I made the right decision

I know you say you are against jailbreaking but have you looked into it recently? The greenpos0n jailbreak takes 30 seconds, requires no tricks or brain power, and is 100% as stable as stock. Then you can get TetherMe for 1.99, which will unlock the iPhones NATIVE hotspot capability. Just that alone should make it worth it to you. Save that 20 a month man, youre already paying for data. www.greenpois0n.com

 

[thatoneguy82]

I know you say you are against jailbreaking but have you looked into it recently? The greenpos0n jailbreak takes 30 seconds, requires no tricks or brain power, and is 100% as stable as stock. Then you can get TetherMe for 1.99, which will unlock the iPhones NATIVE hotspot capability. Just that alone should make it worth it to you. Save that 20 a month man, youre already paying for data. www.greenpois0n.com

I'm sure stability through the years have improved, but I just wanted to have service that's not going over ATT (yeah yeah, i know). I hated when I JB that I had to wait before upgrading.

But like I said my unlimited data of $30 is now gone and was nowhere near 4GB the last 4 years I've had it. 4GB is a lot, 10 per 1GB overage is a price can live with. So, that in and of itself was a no brainer. Also, paying $50/mo for a mobile hotspot that had a poor connection pushed me over the edge.

So getting the $45 data (just $15 more that unlimited) plan and dropping the $50 mobile hotspot will save me $35 for a more reliable data connection. Not a bad deal in my book.

 

[kre62]

I'm sure stability through the years have improved, but I just wanted to have service that's not going over ATT (yeah yeah, i know). I hated when I JB that I had to wait before upgrading.

But like I said my unlimited data of $30 is now gone and was nowhere near 4GB the last 4 years I've had it. 4GB is a lot, 10 per 1GB overage is a price can live with. So, that in and of itself was a no brainer. Also, paying $50/mo for a mobile hotspot that had a poor connection pushed me over the edge.

So getting the $45 data (just $15 more that unlimited) plan and dropping the $50 mobile hotspot will save me $35 for a more reliable data connection. Not a bad deal in my book.

I guess Im not quite following you. I'm not talking about any other service you may have had, thats all the past. What I understood is that you now want to use the iPhone for your tethering needs, and you will be paying AT&T 20 a month to unlock the phones native tethering functionality. What I'm telling you is that you can JB in 30 seconds and unlock the exact same functionality without having to pay the 20 a month. Remember jailbreaking is not unlocking, at all, so we aren't talking about another service provider. I'm talking about using your phone exactly as it is now, without having to pay the extra 20 a month.

 

[Whorehay]

I guess Im not quite following you. I'm not talking about any other service you may have had, thats all the past. What I understood is that you now want to use the iPhone for your tethering needs, and you will be paying AT&T 20 a month to unlock the phones native tethering functionality. What I'm telling you is that you can JB in 30 seconds and unlock the exact same functionality without having to pay the 20 a month. Remember jailbreaking is not unlocking, at all, so we aren't talking about another service provider. I'm talking about using your phone exactly as it is now, without having to pay the extra 20 a month.

Some people just don't want the hassle of jailbreaking and are willing to pay for the convenience. I see his point and I see your point, but in the end, it's a cost benefit analysis for the person. While the jailbreak may work flawlessly today, maybe someone accidentally updates it or something of that nature.

 

[Applejuiced]

Kre has a very good point but lets not forget JB is not for everyone.
Even though simple and easy some should stay away from it.
If the other poster is fine paying an additional $20 for tethering instead of getting free by JB its up to him.

 

[kre62]

Some people just don't want the hassle of jailbreaking and are willing to pay for the convenience. I see his point and I see your point, but in the end, it's a cost benefit analysis for the person. While the jailbreak may work flawlessly today, maybe someone accidentally updates it or something of that nature.

Just to be clear, there is no "accidental updating" when it comes to jb. It's done once, and a person no longer has to bother with it again (until they want to update the iOS software to the next version, but unless that new version adds some significant new feature then theres nothing to gain by updating).

But yeah, maybe it isn't for everyone. It is so easy and painless now, though, that I jb my grandmas phone. If I had even the slightest worry it would affect her phone in any way I wouldn't have done it. Phone works 100% as stable as stock, and is indistinguishable from stock, except for the new features gained.

 

[thatoneguy82]

Yeah. Exactly. Jb is not for me and I'd rather do it the sanctioned way
Especially since cap went to 4GB.

By no means do I have and indispensable income but this way is cheaper than paying another provider $50. And this also guarantees it will work. If I have problems, I can call ATT.