Unlocked Phone free Hotspot?

[crazyralph90]

If I bought straight from Samsung unlocked and use the mobile Hotspot on Verizons network is it possible to do so for free?

 

[rdubmu]

probably not

 

[crazyralph90]

Did it last month and didn't get charged, but I have a real old plan

 

[arunma]

I'm not aware of any way to do this without first rooting your phone. I've never really understood why root permissions are necessary. Hotspot is entirely a hardware feature of your phone, and should be accessible to the default user just like the microphone, camera flash, etc. Oh well, T-Mobile gives me 10 GB of hotspot with my unlimited plan anyway!

 

[Soundman72]

I use hotspot on my phone it just uses my mobile data so I don't get charged until I've used my allowance up

 

[anon(7901790)]

If I bought straight from Samsung unlocked and use the mobile Hotspot on Verizons network is it possible to do so for free?

Yes. I'm on Verizon and mobile hotspot is free. Keep in mind it does count against your data plan.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I'm not aware of any way to do this without first rooting your phone. I've never really understood why root permissions are necessary. Hotspot is entirely a hardware feature of your phone, and should be accessible to the default user just like the microphone, camera flash, etc. Oh well, T-Mobile gives me 10 GB of hotspot with my unlimited plan anyway!

You don't need to root to turn on the hotspot. I'm on Verizon and I use mine as a hotspot regularly.

 

[Fr0gburp3r]

I’m on Cricket Wireless and I get it free and am not even capped at 10gb/month. I have to pay $10/month with my iPhone X with a 10gb/month cap. I hope they don’t add the Note 8 to their system.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Every plan Verizon has had for 5 plus years now includes free hot spot.

 

[keepnitreel]

So everyone who answered "Yes" that are on Verizon. Are you using an unlocked phone like the op or a Verizon branded phone. I'm only asking because people don't fully read the question before answering.

 

[razortaz18]

Alright here's the deal, most phones have what's called hotspot provisioning turned on. This means that the phone will check with your carrier first to make sure you are paying for a plan that has hotspot included. If you have an old Verizon grandfathered unlimited data plan, with no hotspot included, a Verizon Note 8 will deny turning on the hotspot. It will give you some message about contacting your carrier. The unlocked Note 8 (and S8, S8+) has hotspot provisioning turned off. This means the native hotspot feature can be turned on and off at will regardless if you have a compatible plan or not.

 

[WOODS WIZARD]

^^ just to add to a few things razortaz18 touched on (for the unlocked Note8 and Sony Xperia XA Ultra devices, unfamiliar with other devices but I'm sure they apply if you've not updated the system and use the out-of-box firmware).

Hotspot provisioning is turned off by default on these unlocked devices. Update Version N950U1UEU2BQK1 for the Note8 devices is said to turn that provisioning off, so it's best to keep the phone off wi-fi networks / set the device to disable automatic updates (they have automatically updated regardless of my choosing in the past, so I now completely keep the device off wi-fi networks to be cautious). Boost Mobile caught on to my illegitimate use of bypassing their 8GB hotspot configuration and researched my data use a day after I contacted customer support to disable voicemail causing Sprint to send my phone a download from their end patching my devices native bypassing of their 8GB hotspot limit. This was an error on my part however, as I had contacted customer support to deal with a recurring voicemail issue and they probably got wise. I'll be switching back to Cricket again to regain the hotspot.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Alright here's the deal, most phones have what's called hotspot provisioning turned on. This means that the phone will check with your carrier first to make sure you are paying for a plan that has hotspot included. If you have an old Verizon grandfathered unlimited data plan, with no hotspot included, a Verizon Note 8 will deny turning on the hotspot. It will give you some message about contacting your carrier. The unlocked Note 8 (and S8, S8+) has hotspot provisioning turned off. This means the native hotspot feature can be turned on and off at will regardless if you have a compatible plan or not.

I'm not sure that is true anymore with grandfathered unlimited plans. Verizon got its peepee smacked by the FCC a while back for blocking or charging extra for functions that were part of the device. That included the WiFi hotspot function as well as GPS function.

 

[d3f4ult404]

^^ just to add to a few things razortaz18 touched on (for the unlocked Note8 and Sony Xperia XA Ultra devices, unfamiliar with other devices but I'm sure they apply if you've not updated the system and use the out-of-box firmware).

Hotspot provisioning is turned off by default on these unlocked devices. Update Version N950U1UEU2BQK1 for the Note8 devices is said to turn that provisioning off, so it's best to keep the phone off wi-fi networks / set the device to disable automatic updates (they have automatically updated regardless of my choosing in the past, so I now completely keep the device off wi-fi networks to be cautious). Boost Mobile caught on to my illegitimate use of bypassing their 8GB hotspot configuration and researched my data use a day after I contacted customer support to disable voicemail causing Sprint to send my phone a download from their end patching my devices native bypassing of their 8GB hotspot limit. This was an error on my part however, as I had contacted customer support to deal with a recurring voicemail issue and they probably got wise. I'll be switching back to Cricket again to regain the hotspot.

Actually, Cricket no longer lets you gain access to teathering and/or hotspot feature for free as of recently. For the longest time I was under the impression they still did bc I use mine daily and when a friend asked how much it was I laughed. After debating and a waiger we called cricket to verify and yes, they now charge $10 a month for the "extra" feature. I totally had forgotten that the only reason why I still had access was bc my phone was rooted before they actually started charging for it. Sucks bc I have another phone I wanted to switch to but will no longer have that option if I end up doing it. I really don't want to fork over an extra $10 a month after not having to pay for it. Plus, it's a hardware feature option that comes stock on every phone these days. I should be able to use my data however I want to as long as I'm paying for it.