HotSpot not -- T-Mobile Note 2 on StraightTalk sim, not rooted or flashed -- HotSpot won't work

[Qoheleth]

A while back I switched my T-Mobile Note II to StraightTalk. ($45/mo vs $60 -- now $70!) It's still a T-Mobile ROM though. So when I try to do anything with tethering or hot-spotting, it fires up the T-Mo hotspot and tries to go through T-Mo, which of course doesn't work
So, is there a hack that circumvents the T-Mo hotspot, or do I have to root, or do I have to flash a new ROM entirely?