But did you know that if you ever struggle to connect to your WiFi router due to outage issues with your broadband provider, you can use your phone? (As long as it’s not part of the network currently affected).

Whether you have an iPhone or Android, this is how you can connect your laptop or PC to the internet by using your personal hotspot.

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How to hotspot an iPhone to your laptop

To set up a personal hotspot via your iPhone:

open your iPhone settings

tap Personal Hotspot

slide the Allow Others to Join switch to on

You then need to connect your iPhone to your laptop or tablet – follow the instructions on the EE website to connect using either a USB cable, a portable WiFi hotspot or Bluetooth.

If you need to pair your iPhone with an iPad or Mac, follow these instructions:

click on Set Up New Device and follow the onscreen instructions

when you’ve paired your iPhone with your iPad or Mac, choose the option Use Device as a Network Port on your iPhone

click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar of your iPad or Mac

click on your iPhone, and then choose Connect to Network

your iPhone should now have a blue bar at the top of the screen to show that it’s tethered to your iPad or Mac

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Additionally, this is how you can pair your iPhone with a Windows tablet or laptop:

click on the Bluetooth icon in your iPhone’s notification area

select Add a Bluetooth device and follow the onscreen instructions

when you’ve paired your devices, click on the Bluetooth icon in the notification area (the system tray) again

select Show Bluetooth devices

highlight your iPhone, then click the Properties button

click the Services tab

tick the Wireless iAP checkbox and click OK

click on the Bluetooth icon in your iPhone’s notification area again

click on Join A Personal Area Network

click Connect

EE shares you can tether on most, but not all, 3G, 4G and 5G devices.

How to hotspot an Android to your laptop

It’s important to note that you will need an Android phone with version 2.2 or later.

To set up the personal hotspot on your phone:

open your phone menu

go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Portable WiFi hotspot

open Portable WiFi hotspot settings to set up a password and name your phone’s hotspot

You then need to connect your Android to your laptop or tablet – follow the instructions on the EE website to connect using either a USB cable, a portable WiFi hotspot or Bluetooth.

For those who need to pair their Android device with their laptop or tablet, you should follow these instructions:

on your Android phone or device go to Settings > Wireless & networks > More > Tethering & portable hotspot

slide Bluetooth tethering to On

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Next, you will need to set up Bluetooth on your other device. To do this:

For Android: tap your Android device’s name then Internet Access

For Windows: right click your Android device’s name, select Connect using and then click Access Point

For Mac: click your Android device’s name, then the settings gear at the bottom of the window and select Connect to Network

iPhone: should be automatically enabled if there’s no WiFi

EE adds: “Pairing instructions for Android phones may be slightly different for each device. You can tether on most, but not all, 3G, 4G and 5G devices.”