How to Use Mobile Hotspot without Exposing Your Data

Mobile Hotspot is convenient and easy to set up, but sharing them publicly can threaten your data security and privacy. The one with access to your hotspot can steal your personal information, especially cybercriminals who are always on the outlook to hack devices through wifi phishing attempts. 

 However, to overcome these security concerns, you must protect your mobile hotspot connectivity and network by implementing different security techniques. We’ll discuss the different methods and techniques related to how to use mobile hotspot securely. 

 Before diving into the main talk, let’s discover what a mobile hotspot is and how you can use a mobile hotspot on your Android and iOS devices.

What is Mobile Hotspot?

Similar to Wifi routers that let you connect your mobile, laptop, or tablet to the internet, mobile hotspots, also known as portable hotspots, are built-in to the mobile device that requires mobile data to set up an internet connection. Once the mobile hotspot is activated, any nearby devices can set up a Wifi connection through that mobile hotspot. 

 The speed and durability of a mobile hotspot depend on the limit of the data package, the number of gigabytes, and the distance between devices trying to make a wireless connection to and from the shared hotspot. WPA-2 encryption can be used to safeguard your mobile hotspot Wi-Fi network, making it just as secure as a router at home.

How Do I Use Mobile Hotspot?

A mobile hotspot can be shared on laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices by receiving cellular data and converting it to a Wifi signal. In case you aren’t familiar with the setup process of mobile hotspots on Android and iOS devices, then follow the steps below:

Android Devices

1. Navigate to ‘Settings’ on your android smartphone.
2. Go to Connections and Tap on Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
3. Now open the device you want to set up the mobile hotspot connection with.
4. Turn on Wi-fi on the device.
5. Select the name of your mobile hotspot from the list of Wifi networks available.
6. Click on the Connect button and enter the password shown on the device from which you receive the hotspot connection.
7. As soon as the connection is established, the number of devices connected to the hotspot will be displayed.

iOS Devices

  1. Go to Settings on your iPhone and select Mobile Data.

  2. Navigate to Personal Hotspot or Settings and then Tap ‘Personal Hotspot.’

  3. Tap on Allow Others to Join and toggle the status switch ON.

  4. Right beneath this button, you should be able to see your password.

How do I secure my Mobile Hotspot?

Sharing of Mobile Hotspot can lead to the exposure of the personal data that you transmit over that network. Online hackers and snoopers can spy on your browsing activities if they’ve tethered to your hotspot without your permission. 

 In addition, if you don’t secure your mobile hotspot with a strong password, strangers may secretly establish a connection to it. As a result, it can exceed your data limit and slow down your internet connection. Therefore, to prevent excessive data usage and to enhance the security of your mobile hotspot, it’s essential to take some necessary steps.  

Set a Complex Password

A strong password is the first step toward securing your mobile hotspot. Although passwords are automatically generated when you activate your mobile hotspot, they aren’t much secure and easily crackable by hackers. 

 Instead of using the randomly generated password, focus on setting an uncrackable password that is long and distinctive, ideally combining uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, special characters, and symbols. 

 Moreover, you must change your password frequently to restrict access to those devices with whom you don’t want to share your hotspot connection. Using a password generator is the quickest and simplest method to accomplish this.

Use a VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) is undoubtedly the best way to secure your mobile hotspot and device from unauthorized access. The online traffic and the data you transmit over the mobile hotspot connection will reroute through the encrypted tunnel after configuring a VPN on your device.

 A VPN server imposes an extra layer of security and protection on your hotspot network that shields all your data from unethical hacking. You can activate your mobile hotspot in public places without the fear of being accessed by an unauthorized person. In addition, you can share your hotspot connection with your friends and family anonymously and securely. 

Install Antivirus Software

Installing antivirus software on your smartphone will safeguard it against viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware. When your antivirus program is turned on during the hotspot connectivity, malicious websites and trackers won’t be able to communicate with your system.

 You can visit websites, download apps, browse the internet, and more securely on a mobile hotspot without damaging your device. Moreover, the antivirus software will block irrelevant advertising and spam to give you a top-notch browsing experience. Before setting up your smartphone hotspot, update your antivirus software. 

Connect to A Strong Security Protocol

Security protocols enhance the privacy and security of your wireless mobile hotspot connectivity. All devices that have a mobile hotspot feature must adhere to the security standard known as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). 

 You’ll most likely be able to select from several iterations while setting up your smartphone hotspot, such WPA2-Personal, WPA2/WPA3-Personal, WPA3-Personal, and so forth. The most secure option is WPA3, but if it’s unavailable on your device, choose the next-best option.

How do I stop someone from using my Mobile Hotspot?

The only way to stop or restrict someone from using your personal mobile Hotspot is to change your current mobile hotspot password. Unfortunately, you can’t blacklist a specific user or device from accessing your mobile hotspot. 

 Since a password is necessary to use WiFi, you’ll need to alter it if you don’t want someone who already knows your password to access your mobile hotspot. You can either turn off your mobile hotspot, disconnect your device, or turn off Bluetooth if you don’t want to share your data with anyone in case you’re about to reach your data limit.

What are the Disadvantages of Using Your Phone as a Hotspot?

A mobile hotspot feature seems to be beneficial for those looking to get a wireless connection when router-based Wifi is unavailable, or you’re facing issues with your ISP internet connection. While the hotspot setup is convenient and reliable for users connecting to the network, on the other hand, it has certain drawbacks as well.

 A mobile hotspot isn’t faster than your home-based Wifi connection, which lets you create a quicker connection on as many devices as you want. You cannot establish a faster connection when the device you’re trying to obtain the hotspot signals is far away. 

 Additionally, a hotspot takes up a lot of your mobile battery as you need to keep it activated as long as you’ll share your connection with other devices. Your mobile hotspot is vulnerable to data threats, and security breaches as other devices are connecting and transmitting the data over that network. Most importantly, you must have a huge chunk of data in order to share your hotspot connection. 

Can someone hack my phone through a hotspot?

Yes, it’s easy for hackers to hack your phone through a hotspot if they get access to your smartphone hotspot password. Furthermore, it might be dangerous if a hacker uses the host device and a portable hotspot to carry out Wi-Fi phishing. A hacker may also create a hotspot with a name that is close to or the same as a real Wi-Fi hotspot, usually in a public area.

 Can Someone Connect to my Hotspot Without a Password?

Yes, someone can connect to your hotspot without entering the password by just scanning the QR code on your device. However, to enhance the security of your hotspot network, it’s crucial to create passwords. The passwords are set by default on both Android and iOS, but you can set your own passwords, which are strong and uncrackable by hackers.

Hotspot vs. Other Forms of Connectivity

Besides mobile hotspot tethering, one can utilize Bluetooth or a USB cable to connect to another device for sharing documents and transmitting data or files. Tethering allows you to share a safe internet connection with a different device, usually a laptop or tablet, using your current mobile phone and data plan. On the other hand, Bluetooth tethering lets you share mobile data from your smartphones to other devices like a PC or laptop using Bluetooth tethering.

Is Bluetooth tethering safer than hotspot?

Yes, Bluetooth tethering is safer than hotspots as they are encrypted. Once they are paired, there is never any risk of a device’s traffic being intercepted, whereas,  when utilizing a WiFi hotspot, if your traffic is not encrypted or you receive deauth packets, this could lead to your traffic being hijacked.

Is a Hotspot Safer Than Wi-Fi?

There is no doubt that using a hotspot network is safer than WiFi because the data transmitted and received over the internet isn’t encrypted. Most WiFi hotspots aren’t secure, you can encrypt your data when using a secured WiFi, but it is still less reliable than hotspot.

Conclusion

Mobile hotspot security vulnerabilities can threaten your personal data and other confidential information you send over the internet through mobile hotspot networks. However, it’s crucial to impose an extra layer of security and protection on your mobile hotspot using a trustworthy VPN service.

A VPN will encrypt your internet traffic by rerouting it through a secure server. Moreover, you can also apply other security techniques, such as setting complex passwords and installing antivirus software to use your mobile hotspot securely.