Help using phone as a hotspot

[J S Machine]

I have service through Verizon and have had the same plan for probably 7-8 years. I am grandfathered in on Unlimited Data. I purchase my own phones to avoid having to resign the contract, which would make me lose my unlimited data.

I have never used my phone as a hotpsot, but I was wondering what was involved. I see the checkbox in the settings menu to turn it on, and I guess that it would be active, but would I be charged any additional for this?

Also, I see the option for USB tethering. Is that the same thing or would it be different? The checkbox on mine is darkened (like where I cannot click on it). I don't know if this is because of not having a cable connected to something or not.

All I want to do is use a tablet or a laptop, but I need internet access and am hoping to use the phone to get it.

I have a RAZR HD maxx.

 

[cwcheese]

Yes, you will be charged for the hotspot if you use the mobile hotspot via Settings, it will force you to add a $20/month extension to your unlimited plan.

But, you don't have to do that. Because of a consent decree with FCC during the last wireless spectrum auction, all carriers (VZ included) agreed to allow tethering inside existing contracts without penalty. But they forced the Android internal function to continue charging for it. There are better options.

FoxFi is what I've used for years. It's part of PdaNet+, which I purchased many years ago for my Palm Treo 600; they have been cool enough to let me maintain that same license for over a dozen years now. Anyway, you do want to buy the license because the free version will periodically drop the hotspot connection and you'll have to restart. Paid license allows unlimited use of hotspot and you never have to pay VZ the extra monthly charge.

PdaNet+/FoxFi provide for several means of tethering, but I find wifi is most convenient now. Played with Bluetooth tethering early on but it's not worth it now. USB is supported inside PdaNet too.

http://junefabrics.com http://foxfi.com http://pdanet.co

It really works well for me, I can share a hotspot for everyone in my car or at a table. Especially good when travelling and don't want to use hotel wifi due to bad security.