How to Turn on Your Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot

It takes just a few taps to turn your phone into a secure Wi-Fi network. Whether you're working from a café in downtown Toronto or trying to get a laptop online at a cottage in Muskoka, using your existing data plan as a hotspot is easy.

In 2026, hotspotting to a device is relatively easy, as most Canadian plans support this feature right out of the gate. With 5G and 5G+ networks more accessible, hotspotting results are better than ever, letting you work from a laptop, stream content, and more.

Below, we’ll walk you through how to turn on a mobile hotspot on both iPhone and Android, plus tips and the best plans in Canada for hotspot use.

What is mobile hotspotting?

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Mobile hotspotting lets your smartphone share its cellular data connection with other devices, such as a laptop, tablet, or even another phone, over Wi-Fi. Think of it as turning your phone into a mini router. The connected device can then use the data pool of your wireless plan and similar data speeds. 

It’s especially useful when:

• Your public Wi-Fi is slow or unsecured.
• You’re travelling and need reliable internet.
• You want to avoid paying for separate data plans on multiple devices.

A personal hotspot acts similarly to a Wi-Fi connection. On your smartphone, you set the “Wi-Fi password” to maintain security and limit access for unwanted users. On the desired device, you can find your hotspot connection, searching for the network name associated with your phone. For instance, mine is “Steve iPhone 17 Pro” when using my daily driver.

As of 2026, many Canadian carriers have shifted away from using mobile hotspot devices. For a while, carriers charged a monthly fee for a separate data pool for the mobile hotspot, which could then be connected to a device. That said, carriers like Bell still support mobile hotspots such as the Sonum H500 5G. 

In many cases, hotspotting is an included feature that is baked into your wireless plan. Usage is as easy as toggling on the personal hotspot and enabling the connection on your other device, similar to logging in to a Wi-Fi network.

How to turn on an iPhone hotspot

Apple makes it incredibly easy to toggle hotspot access on and off from your iPhone. To connect your laptop, tablet, or gaming handheld to your personal hotspot, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Personal Hotspot.
3. Toggle Allow Others to Join.
4. Set or confirm your Wi-Fi password.

Alternatively, you can use your iPhone's Control Center to toggle hotspot access on or off quickly:

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner to access the Control Center.
2. Press and hold the connectivity panel for the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth section.
3. Tap Personal Hotspot.

How to turn on a hotspot on Android

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Android steps vary slightly depending on your device. None is overtly complicated, though the naming convention differs slightly. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S26 has a different user interface from the Google Pixel 10. 

Here’s how enabling hotspot access works on the two most common brands in Canada: Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices.

Samsung Galaxy

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Connections.
3. Select Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
4. Tap Mobile Hotspot.
5. Toggle it On/Off.
6. Review your network name and password.

As on iOS, Samsung lets Galaxy users swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Quick Settings and tap the Mobile Hotspot icon to quickly enable or disable the feature.

Google Pixel

1. Open your phone's Settings app.
2. Tap Network & internet. 
3. Select Hotspot & tethering and then Wi-Fi hotspot.
4. Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot.
5. To find or change a hotspot setting, like the name or password, tap it and change as needed.

Mobile hotspots vs. portable hotspots

While "mobile" and "portable" are usually synonymous, in the world of wireless phones, they refer to two different methods (and devices) for connecting to a Wi-Fi network. 

A mobile hotspot is hosted on your smartphone and uses the data that comes from the phone plan already associated with it. A portable hotspot, on the other hand, is a completely separate handheld device that is powered by its own dedicated data plan—though it still uses a cellular network to produce a Wi-Fi signal. 

Rogers, Bell, Telus, and many of the flanker brands have largely moved away from leveraging personal hotspot devices. Now, the majority of Canadian post-paid plans made available include hotspot access, as most devices support the feature out of the box. 

That being said, if you're still on a plan without dedicated hotspot access or using an older device, you can find portable hotspots directly through a few carriers or big-box retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy.

Best mobile hotspot plans

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Most mobile plans available in Canada provide a generous allowance of 5G and 4G LTE data for hotspotting to power your device when off a Wi-Fi connection. One of our favourite unlimited mobile plans includes Rogers' 5G+ Essential plan, which offers 100GB of full-speed 5G+ data, enough to work remotely, upload files to the cloud, and stream the occassional video on Netflix.

On top of that, Freedom Mobile's 5G+ 60GB Total Freedom plan has a stable allotment of 5G+ data to use each month. Check out our top picks for the best unlimited hotspot plans and the best general hotspot plans, and browse some of the most popular plans that include unlimited data below.

Mobile hotspot FAQs

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How do hotspots work?

Hotspots work by using your phone's cellular data plan to create and broadcast a protected Wi-Fi signal. This setup allows other devices to securely connect and use your phone's data to get online.

How do I change my hotspot's name?

Changing your phone's hotspot name varies slightly depending on what operating system you have.

To change your iPhone's hotspot name, you have to change your iPhone's name:

1. Go to your iPhone's Settings menu.
2. Go to General > About.
3. Tap Name, then change the name of your iPhone to what you'd like your hotspot name to show.
4. Hit Done.

To change your hotspot on an Android phone:

1. Go to your phone's Settings menu.
2. Go to Wi-Fi & Network > Hotspot & Tethering.
3. Under Wi-Fi Hotspot, tap Hotspot name.
4. Change your hotspot name to what you wish, then tap OK.

How much data does a hotspot use?

A hotspot uses anywhere from 60 MB/hour to 5GB/hour, depending on the tasks and activities your connected devices are doing. Visit our guide to hotspot data usage for details.

How do I turn off my hotspot?

To turn off your hotspot, go back to the same hotspot menu in your phone's Settings that you visited to turn your hotspot on, then toggle it off.

Does using a hotspot slow down my phone?

Not directly, but it can feel slower because your data is being shared across multiple devices. Network congestion can also impact data speeds on your phone as well.

On 5G+, most users won’t notice much slowdown unless multiple devices are streaming simultaneously.

How many devices can connect to my phone's hotspot at once?

Most smartphones can connect to between 5 and 10 devices simultaneously. That being said, the more devices you have connected, the better the chances you'll run into slower data speeds or performance.