Using iPhone as personal hotspot for iPad 2

[jcaswell]

I have started to use my iPhone 5c as a personal hotspot for my iPad 2. It looks like I can use Bluetooth or Wifi. Does anyone with experience off this have any recommendation as to which approach to use.

Also, any general advise on using the devices in this way? After a few hours use, sending emails from my iPad using this approach seems on-and-off

 

[jcaswell]

Initial thoughts are that the Wifi setup seems to take a huge amount of iPhone power. Is this experienced by others?

 

[skimonkey]

Hi--

I have connected my iPhone 5 to my iPad 2 using wifi and yes, it does take a lot of battery to use as a hot post. Since, I just make sure that I plug my phone to a power outlet or my computer to keep the battery charging while in use.

Ski ~ iPadforums Moderator | iPhoneForums Moderator

 

[twerppoet]

The bluetooth paring option is slower, and more difficult to set up. The power drain on the iPhone might be less, but it's hard to tell. While the iPhone 5 has the new low power, faster, Bluetooth 4 spec, the iPad 2 does not; which means the slower more power hungry bluetooth 3.0 spec will be used on both.

In my opinion the power drain difference is not enough to make up for ease of use and speed. Unless you are going to use the Hotspot feature on the iPhone for hours at a time, in which case you'd still be better off carrying a charging cord and/or a portable recharge pack.

The Bluetooth tether option is a legacy feature for older iPhones that came out without hotspot capability.

 

[jcaswell]

Both

Thanks for that information. I guess that I need to turn on and off the feature on the iPhone to manage the power or carry a cable.

 

[twerppoet]

The feature was never meant to be turned on and left on, so yes, that's how most of us use it. Only turn it on when needed.

On the other hand, the inconvenience of doing this is why I spring for the cellular model when buying an iPad, and an extra $10 a month to have it added to my data plan.

So what do I use my hotspot for? As a backup to my home's internet connection. I can use my big computer even when my home ISP bites the dust. Not a common occurrence, but very frustrating when it happens. The hotspot feature also came in handy when I moved, covering the several weeks to took me to get a provider for for the new place: the one time I actually used up my 4GB data plan.

 

[sammy_boy]

I use it when out and about if I want to use my non-cellular iPad Mini, it's also useful in bad signal areas if you can only get a decent signal in a certain place like a windowsill. You can put the phone where there's a signal (preferably near a power outlet or using a portable power pack as it does hammer the battery) and tether your iPad, iPod Touch, another wifi phone etc. and not be stuck in whatever small area you have a signal.