What Is a Mobile Hotspot and How Does It Work? >>The popularity of mobile hotspots is increasing due to the advantages they offer in terms of cost, convenience and connectivity. Here’s everything you need to know about mobile hotspots.
Life without the internet is almost unimaginable today. The world is connected via the web as people use it for all kinds of communication and information. A common man spends 30% of their day on the internet. So, its unavailability can be rather uncomfortable and disappointing. Not having access to the internet in this age means being cut off from the rest of the world. Besides, it also keeps you from carrying out important or routine tasks that could be managed within a few clicks (had you had the internet). Hence the need for a mobile hotspot. If you’re travelling to a place where Wi-fi is not available or has weak signals, mobile hotspot is the solution.
The popularity and usage of hotspots is increasing by the day owing to the convenience and user-friendliness they provide. You have numerous mobile hotspot options to choose from including Spectrum Mobile you can confirm rates by calling Spectrum payment center. Do your research carefully and choose a hotspot that best suits your needs and lifestyle.
What is a Mobile Hotspot?
A mobile hotspot, also known as a portable hotspot, is a battery-powered Wi-fi base station, small enough to fit into your pocket. Mobile hotspots come in two forms; they are either available as a separate portable gadget or come built-in into smartphones such as Android or iPhone. So, if you already own a new model of Android or iPhone, it means you have a functional hotspot in your hand.
How Do Mobile Hotspots Work?
A mobile hotspot is a wireless access point created by a smartphone feature or a hardware device which shares the phone’s cellular data. In other words, it taps into 3G and/or 4G cellular networks and once it is zeroed in, it can share that connection through Wi-fi with nearby tablets, cell phones, laptops or anything that can connect to W-fi.
Why Mobile Hotspots Function with 3G and 4G Networks?
In the early 2000s, mobile phones struggled to access anything from the internet. They were not capable of browsing or streaming content at a reasonable level of efficiency. This is because 1G networks could only manage one-on-one calls while 2G networks were slow in speed and unable to handle complex data such as videos. Hence, developers designed 3G and 4G networks.
3G allowed users to take frequent internet calls and exchange photos over SMS. Many people still use 3G networks because their owners don’t stream a lot of heavy content. 4G networks are a step ahead of 3G networks as they offer greater scope and scale. If streaming high-definition YouTube videos and Netflix is what you want, 4G is the best choice.
These reasons are why mobile hotspots work with 3G and 4G networks; they have better speed, higher quality and greater scope. So, when people need the network to do multiple things on various devices, a dedicated mobile hotspot would best serve the purpose. Even phones with built-in hotspots cannot handle the amount of bandwidth that mobile hotspots do.
How Secure are Mobile Hotspots?
Mobile hotspots are used the same way you use a wireless router at home. They pass on a network signal to your devices and you can connect to the network through the device by providing the correct password. The mobile hotspot is more secure when you’re using it at home. When travelling, hackers use different tricks to hack into someone’s mobile data. For this purpose, when you’re using a mobile hotspot on the go, take necessary steps and precautions to ensure it is fully protected. This includes using a VPN, changing hotspot’s SSID, creating a unique strong password and never sharing it.
Mobile Hotspot VS Smartphone Tethering
If you are traveling and require instant access to the internet, you can either use a mobile hotspot or tether your smartphone. But it is recommended to choose to use your mobile hotspot. Here’s why.
1#. Cost-Effectiveness:
A mobile hotspot can reduce your cost to a great extent since it does not come with a contract or a rental fee. On the other hand, smartphones are usually locked into a specific network. So if you happen to be in a region that falls outside the reach of your service provider’s network, roaming could be quite costly.
2#. Battery Drainage
Constantly tethering your smartphone can cause its battery to drain very quickly. If you have a long day ahead, battery related issues would be the last thing you want. To avoid such inconvenience, it’s best to carry along a mobile hotspot.
3#. Connectivity
Tethering multiple devices to your phone wouldn’t be a good idea as it would affect the performance of your connection and use up your data plan rather quickly. As for mobile hotspot, you can conveniently connect it to multiple devices (as many as ten) without impairing the connectivity in any way. Plus, the connection quality would be better as compared to cell phones because a mobile hotspot has a bigger antenna.
4#. Convenience:
Using a mobile hotspot lets you keep your phone with you at all times. This means you can take calls and messages while you are online. If you answer a call while your phone is tethered, you might lose the connection to the internet.
Conclusion:
Mobile hotspots are the need of the hour. No matter where you are, having a portable hotspot gives you a sense of self-sufficiency and facilitates your communication and information related activities.
