Question about USB tethering on my iPhone

[carlcaulkett]

I have a situation where my iPhone and iPad connect to my local WiFi connection reliably. My Mac Mini, which is literally 12 inches from my iPhone, cannot see the same network, and is instead connected via an EE Wifi hotspot. Although the EE hotspot is reliable and fast, at £35 per month, it's a bit costly.

If I use my iPhone which is on a EE phone connection, to access the local WiFi network and then relay that by USB tethering to my Mac Mini, will I incur any extra charges? I would hope not because I would not be using any phone services, just the iPhone's WiFi capabilities, but I would like to be sure, before I try it!

[Chris_B]

@carlcaulkett  No you wouldn’t get any extra charges.  

[XRaySpeX]

What is your local WiFi connection? Is that you have a Home BB router in your home?

[carlcaulkett]

No! I'm a resident in a care-home, and they provide a free (non EE) WiFi service, but, as I say, I cannot see the WiFi using my Mac Mini M1, but I can see it from my iPad and iPhone. I'm accessing the web on my Mac Mini M1 right now via my iPhone, using USB tethering, and it seems fast enough. I just need to be 100% sure it isn't going to cost me anything in EE related cellular charges!

[carlcaulkett]

I'm still confused because it seems that I can only make my iPhone available for USB Tethering by enabling the Cellular Data option in the iPhone's Settings. When I connected last night, it seemed to be fast enough, but this morning when I connected, the speed was terrible. A broadband speed test shows a download speed of 0.25 Mb/sec 😮

Alarmingly I saw a message saying that my EE data allowance had expired for the month and that speeds would be severely reduced. If I'm not using Cellular Data, why did this warning come up?

[Katie_B]

Hi @carlcaulkett. 

Do you have a screenshot of the message you received?

What is your data allowance per month?

If you are tethering from your mobile phone, this will use your mobile data from your allowance. 

Katie

[carlcaulkett]

Hi @Katie_B , but since my iPhone is using the WiFi connection and is plugged into my Mac by a USB Lightning cable, why on earth would the Cellular Data need to be involved?

And besides, see @Chris_B's reply to me, yesterday...

[Katie_B · Accepted solution]

Hi @carlcaulkett. 

It won't be chargeable, however, will use your mobile data. 

When connecting to your iPhone hotspot this will automatically disable your WiFi connection and use your mobile data; personal hotspot is only designed to share cellular data rather than WiFi.

Katie