TAKE YOUR WI-FI ON HOLIDAY
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Share your mobile connection
Watching a film or TV series on a mobile phone isn’t particularly satisfying. If you’ve packed a tablet or laptop, you can share your phone’s data connection with these devices (known as tethering) by setting it up as a mobile hotspot, letting you enjoy your choice of entertainment on a bigger screen. Bear in mind that Wi-fi on your phone will be disabled while you’re using it as a hotspot.
To do this on an iphone, open Settings and tap Personal Hotspot, then tap the slider beside ‘Allow Others to Join’. Make a note of the password that’s shown below. If you’d like to change this to something that’s easier to remember (but not so simple it can be guessed) tap the password, then enter a new one.
Setting up a hotspot on Android depends on the make and model of your phone. On most, you’ll need to open Settings, tap ‘Network & Internet’, ‘Hotspot & tethering’, then ‘Wi-fi hotspot’ and tap the slider at the top of the screen. Tap ‘Advanced’ followed by ‘Hotspot password’ to reveal the current password and change it if you want to. On Samsung phones, you’ll find these options by going to Settings, Connections, then ‘Mobile Hotspot and Tethering’.
Once you’ve set up your hotspot, you can connect other devices to it. To connect your laptop, click the Wi-fi icon on the Windows taskbar then select your hotspot’s wireless network from the list. Often, this will be the same as the name of your phone. If you don’t know what this is and you’re using an iphone, open Settings on the phone and tap General, followed by About to reveal its name at the top of the next screen.
If you’re using Android, open Settings and tap System followed by ‘About phone’. On some Android devices, the hotspot will have a name of Androidap or similar. If in doubt, return to the hotspot menu on your phone and look under ‘Hotspot name’ (see screenshot below). Tap this if you want to rename it.
Windows will prompt you for the password you specified when setting up your hotspot. Enter it, then use your connection as you would at home, always bearing in mind that the data you use will count against the allowance in your mobile contract.
If you can’t switch on your phone’s mobile hotspot feature – or once it’s turned on you’re unable to browse using your connected device – contact your mobile-service provider to check that tethering has been enabled on your account – it shouldn’t cost anything to get tethering enabled.
Use a 3G or 4G modem
Personal hotspots are quick to set up and easy to use, but using a wireless router to set up what’s known as Mifi (mobile Wi-fi) is a more flexible option and can help you manage who connects to it and how much data is used.
You can pick up a basic Mifi router for around £45 (such as the Tp-link M7200 www.snipca.com/35317). However, if your budget allows, we recommend the more advanced Tp-link M7350 (£72 from www.snipca.com/35318, pictured below) – one we’ve been using on our recent travels. This router has a built-in screen to display configuration details, which helps when setting up your PC, and a microsd card slot that you can use to share data across your network. So, if you
have digital versions of your favourite films you can store them on the card rather than streaming them from the web.
Setting up the router can be as simple as switching it on and connecting using the default network name and password (click the Wi-fi icon on your PC’S taskbar, click the network name as shown on the device or its manual, then enter the password). However, like your router at home, it also has settings that are accessed through a web browser. On the M7350, you can check how much data you’re using (see screenshot right), how many devices are connected (up to 10 can connect to the M7350 simultaneously) and even send and receive text messages.
One thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need separate SIM cards for your Mifi router and your phone. However, as you won’t be needing any voice minutes or texts you can opt for a data-only deal for the router, and potentially downgrade your phone contract to focus on texts and calls. Alternatively, opt for a pay-asyou-go SIM for the router so you’re not paying all year round if you’ll only use it a couple of times a year. Parents who are travelling with young children can also maintain greater control over their access to the internet by physically switching off the router when needed.
Data prices vary between providers, but £7 buys you 2.5GB of data from Asda Mobile ( https://mobile.asda.com), 6GB costs £10 from Giffgaff ( www.snipca.
com/35332) and Three has a dedicated data-only pay-as-you-go SIM that gives
you 200MB a month for free ( www. snipca.com/35319).
You’ll use that 200MB fairly quickly if you want to stream films and music, but if you only need to send the odd email it will be enough to make you feel you’re not entirely cut off from the outside world. Just don’t forget to switch off the router when you’re not using it.
If you know where you’re staying, be sure to find out which mobile providers have coverage in that area before buying a SIM. Ofcom’s mobile coverage checker
( www.snipca.com/35333) is a good place to start, but mobile providers’ websites will provide more detailed coverage information.
Plug in a dongle
If Mifi is out of your price range, a broadband dongle provides much the same experience for less – although you’ll sacrifice some flexibility as a result. Like a Mifi router, it uses its own dedicated SIM, so you have the same freedom to choose the best deal, but rather than broadcasting a wireless signal, it connects to your laptop via USB. You can pick one up for just under £25 (such as this Huawei dongle www.snipca.com/35320).
As long as you’re happy to keep your laptop switched on, you can share your dongle’s network connection with other devices in much the same way you can share your phone’s data by setting up a personal hotspot.
Open Settings on your laptop (press Windows+i), then select ‘Network & Internet’ followed by ‘Mobile hotspot’. Click the slider below ‘Share my Internet connection with other devices’, and make sure Wifi is selected below ‘Share my Internet connection over’. Note the network name (see screenshot above) and password shown directly below. You can change either of these by clicking Edit. Next, select the shared network on the other device you want to use.
On IOS, open Settings and tap Wi-fi, then tap your laptop’s hotspot name for the network shown in Windows Settings. On Android, open Settings and tap ‘Network & Internet’ followed by Wi-fi, then tap the network name.