How To: Turn your iPad or iPhone into a mobile Hotspot

By Scott Younker December 6, 2011

Before we go anywhere with this, let it be known that Apple iPads do not natively allow you to turn them into Wi-Fi HotSpots. However, if you’re willing ( and brave enough) to jailbreak your iPad, or you’ve already done so, then this guide will help you along your way.

What we’re doing here is making your iPad a Wi-Fi Hotspot. This lets you link other mobile devices to a Wi-Fi connection through the hotspot, or in this case your Apple iPad.

Jailbreak iPad

If you have a jailbroken iPad ready we recommend downloading the Cydia app. This is a kind of app store for jail broken Apple products. You can find programs like MiWi and PDAnet in there. You’ll need to download one of those programs to get started.

Download App

For the purposes of this How-To we chose MiWi. MiWi does have a cost of $19.99. After the MiWi is downloaded open it up. Set up a security system by pressing “WEP Security” and then “ON”.

Password Protection

Choose a password for your network. This prevents other people from accessing your network. Set the button that toggles the “Wi-Fi Tethering” to the “On” position. If you want to conserve your iPad’s battery you can select “Status Bar Icon” as your “In Use Indicator”. This uses no battery power, meaning that you can avoid charging the iPad for longer.

Enjoy your HotSpot

Apple-iPad-2-Newsstand — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Connect other devices to the hotspot using the password that you created.

Note: You should be able to do this with an iPhone as well.

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