It’s a good thing that I decided to sign up for AT&T’s implementation of the iOS 4.3 Personal Hotspot feature while I was standing in line for my iPad 2 a couple of weeks ago.
I’m accompanying my wife on a conference trip this week, using the time away from my consulting clients to get some serious writing done on a book update. As with many hotels that host conferences and conventions, this place charges for Wi-Fi in the room.
That’s not a problem during the fairly quiet morning hours when the bar area is empty, but once lunch rolls around and the afternoon partying starts, it’s impossible to get any work done. To avoid paying the ridiculous $10.95 daily charge for in-room Wi-Fi, I decided to put Personal Hotspot to the test.
The service, which requires a “tethering package” and a “personal hotspot package” from AT&T at a combined cost of $45 per month, was quite easy to set up. Blogger buddy Erica Sadun and I were in line at the Aspen Grove Apple Store on March 11 when I got disgusted with the flakiness of the Wi-Fi connection we (along with about 50 other people) were borrowing from the store.
My iPhone 4 had been updated to iOS 4.3 a few days before, so I knew I had Personal Hotspot capabilities — all I needed to do was call AT&T by dialing 611 on my phone. After a five-minute call, most of which was taken up with the service representative repeating that I was going to be paying an additional $45 a month, I was up and running.
Continue reading iPhone 4 Personal Hotspot put to the test
iPhone 4 Personal Hotspot put to the test originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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