Phone as a hot spot

[dwhe]

1 hour ago, cjpj said:

...But now I'm curious. Have to see how @dwhe testing goes...

I am on Sky Princess on Oct 5th, I will try it then and post back to this thread.

[Daniel A]

18 hours ago, clueless2 said:

Not correct. At least for Pixel phones.   You can share a wifi connection with a pixel phone.  I've done it.  But not on a ship.  You do not need a cell connection.

I was not aware of that.  If I wasn't aware of that, how many other cruisers didn't know that and would connect to the cell network rather than the ship's Wi-Fi network?  I recall a co-worker using his business phone to connect to the internet during a three week vacation in Europe.  He was reprimanded for running up an astronomical roaming data bill.  He 'thought' he was connecting to public Wi-Fi the entire time.

 

I just thought it would be pretty dangerous to simply say "yes, you can use your phone as a hotspot on a cruise ship."

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 9/24/2021 at 10:25 AM, Snaxmuppet said:

I can't say for certain for your phone but I have a Samsung Galaxy S10 and you cannot use the phone as a hotspot to another wifi network... only to the phone data network so the answer is probably no.

This is the correct answer...the phone must communicate directly with the carrier, not "hopping" via an intermediate Wi-Fi signal.

[dwhe]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

This is the correct answer...the phone must communicate directly with the carrier, not "hopping" via an intermediate Wi-Fi signal.

I'm not sure what you mean but I can assure people that my Galaxy S21, and all my S series phones before that, are capable of sharing a hot spot via wifi or mobile (cellular) data.

You do not have to be connected directly to your carrier.

I took out my SIM card and connected to my home wifi then used it as a hot spot to connect my laptop via the phones SSD, hopefully I will be able to do the same on the ship in 10 days time.

 

I apologise if I have misunderstood but it is getting confusing.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Direct from Samsung:

 

https://insights.samsung.com/2021/06/30/how-to-turn-your-galaxy-smartphone-into-a-hotspot-2/

 

When you turn your smartphone into a mobile hotspot, you are essentially creating your own Wi-Fi access point utilizing your phone’s mobile data.

 

And just to clarify...I have a Samsung Galaxy S series phone.  I have used this function many times.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Rick&Jeannie

[Daniel A]

33 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Direct from Samsung:

 

https://insights.samsung.com/2021/06/30/how-to-turn-your-galaxy-smartphone-into-a-hotspot-2/

 

When you turn your smartphone into a mobile hotspot, you are essentially creating your own Wi-Fi access point utilizing your phone’s mobile data.

 

And just to clarify...I have a Samsung Galaxy S series phone.  I have used this function many times.

It seems that @dwhe is correct.  A little further down on that Samsung web page it says:

"Wi-Fi tethering

 

Many Galaxy devices also enable Wi-Fi sharing. Although typically a mobile hotspot will be used when you don’t have Wi-Fi access, there may be instances where your device is connected to Wi-Fi and you want to share that connectivity to other devices. One benefit of Wi-Fi sharing via your phone is that you do not have to directly share the original Wi-Fi access point’s password. To do this, go into the options menu at the top right and turn on Wi-Fi Sharing."

 

Again, this confusion and contradictory information is enough reason to avoid encouraging people from using their phone to expand their onboard connectivity.

[Westsail32]

Made it to the port this morning.  Ruby is here too.  Plenty of parking in the lot.  Check in was easy just showed Medallion, covid card and my negative test.  Took like two minutes.  Then went to the waiting area where they have the lounges set up for elite and platinum.  I signed up for Group A 1130 boarding time so we will see how it goes.  Elite just started boarding now at 1115.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

23 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

It seems that @dwhe is correct.  A little further down on that Samsung web page it says:

"Wi-Fi tethering

 

Many Galaxy devices also enable Wi-Fi sharing. Although typically a mobile hotspot will be used when you don’t have Wi-Fi access, there may be instances where your device is connected to Wi-Fi and you want to share that connectivity to other devices. One benefit of Wi-Fi sharing via your phone is that you do not have to directly share the original Wi-Fi access point’s password. To do this, go into the options menu at the top right and turn on Wi-Fi Sharing."

 

Again, this confusion and contradictory information is enough reason to avoid encouraging people from using their phone to expand their onboard connectivity.

Then I  stand corrected!  One thing I've learned regarding IT is that the only thing that is constant is *change*!

[dwhe]

33 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

It seems that @dwhe is correct.  A little further down on that Samsung web page it says:

"Wi-Fi tethering

 

Many Galaxy devices also enable Wi-Fi sharing. Although typically a mobile hotspot will be used when you don’t have Wi-Fi access, there may be instances where your device is connected to Wi-Fi and you want to share that connectivity to other devices. One benefit of Wi-Fi sharing via your phone is that you do not have to directly share the original Wi-Fi access point’s password. To do this, go into the options menu at the top right and turn on Wi-Fi Sharing."

 

Again, this confusion and contradictory information is enough reason to avoid encouraging people from using their phone to expand their onboard connectivity.

Thank you Daniel.

[deepcman]

It's really easy to share a connect on android.

-Go to settings

-Then click on connections

-Click on mobile Hotspot and Tethering

-Turn on Mobile Hotspot

-Tap on the words 'Mobile Hotspot' and set up your network name and password so everyone on the ship doesn't connect to your phone. (Mobile Hotspot)

-On the second phone or computer click on connections then wifi and find the network you created and enter password. That's it.

Easy peasy.

You can try it at home.

[Cuedon]

It depends on the device. My primarily-work phone is a beast designed for international diagnostic use and can support, simultaneously, a satellite connection, two cellular connections, and two WiFi connections, as well as a number of more obscure options... it had absolutely no problem acting as a hotspot off of a WiFi connection. My leisure phone, on the other hand, can only run its WiFi chip in a single mode at once (assuming I also paid my carrier for this functionality, which it checks), which means it won't work for this.

 

I believe most Windows 10 laptops have this kind of functionality by default, so that may work as well.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Cuedon
Fixing tags.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Westsail32 said:

Made it to the port this morning.  Ruby is here too.  Plenty of parking in the lot.  Check in was easy just showed Medallion, covid card and my negative test.  Took like two minutes.  Then went to the waiting area where they have the lounges set up for elite and platinum.  I signed up for Group A 1130 boarding time so we will see how it goes.  Elite just started boarding now at 1115.  

Oopsie... looks like wrong thread.  You probably meant to post in a LIVE FROM?

[Westsail32]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Oopsie... looks like wrong thread.  You probably meant to post in a LIVE FROM?

How did that happen!

[deepcman]

39 minutes ago, Westsail32 said:

How did that happen!

The problem is between the chair and the keyboard. 🤣😂

Glad I could help.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

On 9/24/2021 at 3:49 PM, clueless2 said:

I have a Google Pixel 4a with Android 11 and you CAN use it as a Wi-Fi hotspot.  I've tested it by turning off mobile data and turning on hotspot and connecting an iPad to the hotspot.  Worked fine.   That said I have NOT done it on a cruise ship yet.  In theory it should work unless Princess does something to stop it.

But did you then connect to the internet through the hotspot and through your wifi?

I have not seen a phone that can do this.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

On 9/24/2021 at 5:41 PM, dwhe said:

As clueless2 said, there is no reason why you can't use the WiFi hotspot on your phone to connect your laptop to the internet. In fact, some people take travel routers to do the same thing.

That only works if you have a cell data connection.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

On 9/24/2021 at 8:09 PM, dwhe said:

On all my Samsung Galaxy S range phones I have been able to share wifi without people having to log on, they just connect to the SSD

But only to a mobile data connection... not to another wifi

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

On 9/25/2021 at 7:02 PM, Daniel A said:

It seems that @dwhe is correct.  A little further down on that Samsung web page it says:

"Wi-Fi tethering

 

Many Galaxy devices also enable Wi-Fi sharing. Although typically a mobile hotspot will be used when you don’t have Wi-Fi access, there may be instances where your device is connected to Wi-Fi and you want to share that connectivity to other devices. One benefit of Wi-Fi sharing via your phone is that you do not have to directly share the original Wi-Fi access point’s password. To do this, go into the options menu at the top right and turn on Wi-Fi Sharing."

 

Again, this confusion and contradictory information is enough reason to avoid encouraging people from using their phone to expand their onboard connectivity.

Fair enough... I learned something... now off to check if my Galaxy S10+ has wifi sharing. Thanks

[clueless2]

7 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

But did you then connect to the internet through the hotspot and through your wifi?

I have not seen a phone that can do this.

https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-3-xl-wi-fi-repeater-sharing-functionality-1942985?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

 

With a Google Pixel phone you can connect to WiFi.  See attached link.

[ebeluga]

1 hour ago, clueless2 said:

https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-3-xl-wi-fi-repeater-sharing-functionality-1942985?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

 

With a Google Pixel phone you can connect to WiFi.  See attached link.

You are very modest clueless2.  I have a pixel 4a(5g) and it worked like a charm as stated with the mobile carrier data turned off, using wifi connection to get internet, turn on hotspot and have my laptop get internet access via the phone hotspot.  There is no need to convince other people that it works on pixel.🙂

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Well, after loads of searching on the internet and looking at my phone, I still cannot find out how to do wifi sharing on my Samsung Galaxy 10. I can set up a wifi hotspot to share my data connection but I can see no reference how to share a wifi connection.

If anyone does know where I can find this info please post a link.

Thanks

[Sea Hag]

4 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Well, after loads of searching on the internet and looking at my phone, I still cannot find out how to do wifi sharing on my Samsung Galaxy 10. I can set up a wifi hotspot to share my data connection but I can see no reference how to share a wifi connection.

If anyone does know where I can find this info please post a link.

Thanks

This seems to be what you're looking for, but it comes with no warranty from me. It has info on both mobile hotspot and wifi sharing. 😃 https://www.samsung.com/ae/support/mobile-devices/galaxy-s10-series-how-to-use-the-mobile-hotspot-and-wifi-sharing/

[TNTLAMB]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:44 PM, cjpj said:

I don't want to be on two devices at once. I'm Elite and we get free wifi for each person. I thought you could only register one device per person. So if I wanted to use my phone most of the time, that is what I'd register.  But if I needed to do work (yes, I know it's a vacation), I didn't realize I could log off my phone and onto my laptop. If I have that right.

When did Elite starting getting Free Wi-fi again?

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

This seems to be what you're looking for, but it comes with no warranty from me. It has info on both mobile hotspot and wifi sharing. 😃 https://www.samsung.com/ae/support/mobile-devices/galaxy-s10-series-how-to-use-the-mobile-hotspot-and-wifi-sharing/

Yes. That is it.  Works fine.  So yes,  you can tether to a shared WiFi but the ships routers may still block.  It really needs someone to try it on a cruise ship.

 

Thanks

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, TNTLAMB said:

When did Elite starting getting Free Wi-fi again?

They don't anymore.  It's now a discount instead.