Buzz
The Hotspot feature of iPhone is even better for Mac users using modern Mac OS X versions. This is because now you can activate the iPhone's Personal Hotspot feature by simply connecting to it - the rest is automatic. This feature is called Instant Hotspot, and it's a great solution to use for speeding up your personal hotspot connection when you're traveling or working remotely, or simply when you need an alternative internet connection for your Mac.
Instant Hotspot requires Mac OS X 10.10 or later, iPhone or iPad running iOS 8.1 or later, these devices must use the same iCloud ID, and finally, you'll need a mobile data plan including the Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi feature.
Many mobile providers offer this feature as part of their standard package, while others require users to pay extra for the service.
Assuming you've met all these requirements, the rest is quite straightforward, you may not even need to use an iPhone to activate the Personal Hotspot as you usually do.
How to Share Wi-Fi on MacBook
Step 1: With your nearby iPhone, pull down the Wi-Fi menu on your Mac.
Step 2: Look for the gray-text section labeled Personal Hotspot under your iPhone's name with the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature and select it as you would with any network.
Step 3: Wait for the connection to be established between your Mac and iPhone, you'll see the mobile data transfer speed, data speed (LTE, 3G, 4G), and iPhone's battery life on the menu bar.
On the iPhone, the menu bar will turn green when the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature is in use and users are connected to the mobile iPhone or iPad.
Apple demonstrates the ability to share Wi-Fi on MacBook through iPhone as shown in the image below.
Personal Hotspot and Continuity tend to work best when in close proximity, so keeping your iPhone near your Mac, within about 15 feet or less, is ideal. Using Wi-Fi Hotspot may consume a lot of bandwidth, so you may consider some tips below to reduce data usage when connecting to iPhone Hotspot.
Disable iPhone Personal from Mac and OS X Instant Hotspot
To turn off Personal Hotspot without using your phone, simply pull down the Wi-Fi menu once more, then select Turn Wifi Off or choose to connect to another wireless router connection.
And just like connecting your iPhone to Instant Hotspot, you don't need to use your phone and set up a 'messy' array of settings for everything to work.
Hotspot will automatically turn off after a period of inactivity, this is a feature to prolong the battery life of iPhone.
Troubleshoot Instant Hotspot Issues
If you’re experiencing any issues, make sure your iPhone is running iOS 8.1 or newer.
If you encounter any issues during the process, make sure your iPhone is running iOS 8.1 or later.
You might want to double-check if Personal Hotspot is enabled on your iPhone and switch the Personal Hotspot status to ON and connect. Some users have reported that Instant Hotspot works better after manually connecting their Mac to the iPhone's Personal Hotspot at least once. As mentioned, if your iPhone does not have the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature, you will need to contact your mobile service provider to activate this service.
Instant Hotspot is part of the Continuity feature set integrated into the latest versions of Mac OS X and iOS, allowing seamless use between Mac and iPhone and iPad to share Wi-Fi on MacBook.
Continuity also includes the ability to make and receive calls on Mac, the excellent Handoff feature allows you to pass active app sessions between iOS and OS X hardware, advanced messaging features, and AirDrop.
If you're using Windows 10 or Windows 7, you can easily create a Wi-Fi hotspot on Windows 10, 8, 7 operating systems. Since the release of Windows 10, many new features have been added and upgraded, among which creating a Wi-Fi hotspot on Windows 10 is well-known and frequently used by users.
Similarly to Windows 8, setting up Wi-Fi hotspot on Windows 8 for other devices to connect to the internet is straightforward. The steps to share Wi-Fi on Windows 8 are similar to those on other operating systems.
