I think I know the answer to this, but I have just bought a new Ford Galaxy which has as a feature the ability to create an in-car wifi hotspot from a phone. Now I assume that this won't circumvent the tethering restriction on many phone plans, but if that is the case what on earth is the point of the feature - why not just cut out the middleman and use the phone itself as a hotspot ?
Ford Galaxy with wifi hotspot
Originally Posted by tdenson:
“I think I know the answer to this, but I have just bought a new Ford Galaxy which has as a feature the ability to create an in-car wifi hotspot from a phone. Now I assume that this won't circumvent the tethering restriction on many phone plans, but if that is the case what on earth is the point of the feature - why not just cut out the middleman and use the phone itself as a hotspot ?”
“I think I know the answer to this, but I have just bought a new Ford Galaxy which has as a feature the ability to create an in-car wifi hotspot from a phone. Now I assume that this won't circumvent the tethering restriction on many phone plans, but if that is the case what on earth is the point of the feature - why not just cut out the middleman and use the phone itself as a hotspot ?”
It would probably be used with a data sim rather than a normal handset sim.
Ford's website says a USB modem is required.
http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/All-New-Galaxy/Features
http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/All-New-Galaxy/Features
Quote:
“Wi-Fi connectivity is available via hotspots, with a USB modem.”
“Wi-Fi connectivity is available via hotspots, with a USB modem.”
May be for US models but this page explains how to run the car wifi from your phone
https://owner.ford.com/how-tos/sync-...i-hotspot.html
https://owner.ford.com/how-tos/sync-...i-hotspot.html
I'm guessing it's for the kids to use their tablets on on long journeys?
I setup my phone with a Three SIM as a wireless hotspot for my kids tablets sometimes on long journeys and of course for my wife who is on Tesco (O2) for when we are outside of built up areas.
I setup my phone with a Three SIM as a wireless hotspot for my kids tablets sometimes on long journeys and of course for my wife who is on Tesco (O2) for when we are outside of built up areas.
Originally Posted by Mark in Essex:
“I'm guessing it's for the kids to use their tablets on on long journeys?
I setup my phone with a Three SIM as a wireless hotspot for my kids tablets sometimes on long journeys and of course for my wife who is on Tesco (O2) for when we are outside of built up areas.”
“I'm guessing it's for the kids to use their tablets on on long journeys?
I setup my phone with a Three SIM as a wireless hotspot for my kids tablets sometimes on long journeys and of course for my wife who is on Tesco (O2) for when we are outside of built up areas.
”
Yes, but my whole point is why is this any different to using a phone as the hotspot ?
Originally Posted by tdenson:
“Yes, but my whole point is why is this any different to using a phone as the hotspot ?”
“Yes, but my whole point is why is this any different to using a phone as the hotspot ?”
Battery life, convenience and many people only have 250MB-500MB allowances.
Buy a 6GB EE sim for £15 and kiddies can watch [insert name of latest children's TV show] to their hearts content on an iPad in the back.
Originally Posted by tdenson:
“Yes, but my whole point is why is this any different to using a phone as the hotspot ?”
“Yes, but my whole point is why is this any different to using a phone as the hotspot ?”
Sorry meant to have added that a lot of allowances don't include much data so you can just put a data SIM in one.
Originally Posted by d123:
“Battery life, convenience and many people only have 250MB-500MB allowances.
Buy a 6GB EE sim for £15 and kiddies can watch [insert name of latest children's TV show] to their hearts content on an iPad in the back.”
“Battery life, convenience and many people only have 250MB-500MB allowances.
Buy a 6GB EE sim for £15 and kiddies can watch [insert name of latest children's TV show] to their hearts content on an iPad in the back.”
Battery life isn't an issue as my phone is always on charge in the car. Also seems more cost effective just to put more data on my phone plan - £15 extra per month would get me more than 6GB. Also, not sure what you mean about convenience. My phone hotspot is always on anyway.
Originally Posted by tdenson:
“Battery life isn't an issue as my phone is always on charge in the car. Also seems more cost effective just to put more data on my phone plan - £15 extra per month would get me more than 6GB. Also, not sure what you mean about convenience. My phone hotspot is always on anyway.”
“Battery life isn't an issue as my phone is always on charge in the car. Also seems more cost effective just to put more data on my phone plan - £15 extra per month would get me more than 6GB. Also, not sure what you mean about convenience. My phone hotspot is always on anyway.”
You see why you don't understand why Ford install it? It's simply my my me me my my.
It isn't just about you and your phone, probably 80% of phone users don't always charge their phone in their car, most people don't find it more cost effective to have a larger data allowance for the few times a year they might use it.
Convenience is a simple thing, Daddy gets in and starts the car, kiddies have a wifi network, no messing about in the phone settings or tying to fiddle with activating the hotspot while driving in the fast last of the M6 because you forgot to activate and Tarquin now wants to watch Peppa Pig.
It might not make sense to you as a tech savvy individual with a large allowance who never forgets to plug in the charger and activate the hotspot before setting off, it does to the thousands of Joe Bloggs who aren't.
Originally Posted by d123:
“Convenience is a simple thing, Daddy gets in and starts the car, kiddies have a wifi network”
“Convenience is a simple thing, Daddy gets in and starts the car, kiddies have a wifi network”
Unless Daddy chose O2 and is driving anywhere remotely rural.
Kids would then choose to replace Daddy with a more sensible one.
Originally Posted by d123:
“It isn't just about you and your phone, probably 80% of phone users don't always charge their phone in their car, most people don't find it more cost effective to have a larger data allowance for the few times a year they might use it.
Convenience is a simple thing, Daddy gets in and starts the car, kiddies have a wifi network, no messing about in the phone settings or tying to fiddle with activating the hotspot
.”
“It isn't just about you and your phone, probably 80% of phone users don't always charge their phone in their car, most people don't find it more cost effective to have a larger data allowance for the few times a year they might use it.
Convenience is a simple thing, Daddy gets in and starts the car, kiddies have a wifi network, no messing about in the phone settings or tying to fiddle with activating the hotspot
.”
So, you are saying it would only be used a few times a year. In which case the process while potentially driving is -
Rummage around in the various compartments to find the Mifi.
Discover the battery is flat
Rummage for the charging cable
Plug it in
Possibly discover the data has run out
Navigate to the Ford Sync wifi setting which is 3 levels deep in the menu and enable it
Have various attempts at working out the password since it is infrequently used
So, the above is more convenient than just enabling the personal hotspot setting which is on the front page of settings - sure it is ! And in "my" case there is actually zero to do because the hotspot is always on - and yes I am interested in whether it has any benefits for "me" as surprise surprise that is why I posted the question. Most of us are interested in how things relate to our particular situation. So I conclude as I suspected, no benefit, it's a gimmick
However, I have noticed one feature that might just be a benefit, and that is the ability to rebroadcast a wifi hotspot. One could park up in range of something you have a subscription to and enable it for the rest of the family. But again, in "my" case, I rarely ever use public wifi as it's more trouble than it's worth having to sign in. I generally switch off my wifi when in a public place as I get sick and tired of my phone connecting itself to a hotspot and then not having an internet connection because it requires a sign in process.
Originally Posted by DevonBloke:
“Unless Daddy chose O2 and is driving anywhere remotely rural.
Kids would then choose to replace Daddy with a more sensible one.”
“Unless Daddy chose O2 and is driving anywhere remotely rural.
Kids would then choose to replace Daddy with a more sensible one.”
lol
I missed that one
.
Originally Posted by tdenson:
“So, you are saying it would only be used a few times a year. In which case the process while potentially driving is -
Rummage around in the various compartments to find the Mifi.
Discover the battery is flat
Rummage for the charging cable
Plug it in
Possibly discover the data has run out
Navigate to the Ford Sync wifi setting which is 3 levels deep in the menu and enable it
Have various attempts at working out the password since it is infrequently used
So, the above is more convenient than just enabling the personal hotspot setting which is on the front page of settings - sure it is ! And in "my" case there is actually zero to do because the hotspot is always on - and yes I am interested in whether it has any benefits for "me" as surprise surprise that is why I posted the question. Most of us are interested in how things relate to our particular situation. So I conclude as I suspected, no benefit, it's a gimmick
However, I have noticed one feature that might just be a benefit, and that is the ability to rebroadcast a wifi hotspot. One could park up in range of something you have a subscription to and enable it for the rest of the family. But again, in "my" case, I rarely ever use public wifi as it's more trouble than it's worth having to sign in. I generally switch off my wifi when in a public place as I get sick and tired of my phone connecting itself to a hotspot and then not having an internet connection because it requires a sign in process.”
“So, you are saying it would only be used a few times a year. In which case the process while potentially driving is -
Rummage around in the various compartments to find the Mifi.
Discover the battery is flat
Rummage for the charging cable
Plug it in
Possibly discover the data has run out
Navigate to the Ford Sync wifi setting which is 3 levels deep in the menu and enable it
Have various attempts at working out the password since it is infrequently used
So, the above is more convenient than just enabling the personal hotspot setting which is on the front page of settings - sure it is ! And in "my" case there is actually zero to do because the hotspot is always on - and yes I am interested in whether it has any benefits for "me" as surprise surprise that is why I posted the question. Most of us are interested in how things relate to our particular situation. So I conclude as I suspected, no benefit, it's a gimmick
However, I have noticed one feature that might just be a benefit, and that is the ability to rebroadcast a wifi hotspot. One could park up in range of something you have a subscription to and enable it for the rest of the family. But again, in "my" case, I rarely ever use public wifi as it's more trouble than it's worth having to sign in. I generally switch off my wifi when in a public place as I get sick and tired of my phone connecting itself to a hotspot and then not having an internet connection because it requires a sign in process.”
So to sum up your post, it's not something you want (and you still don't think that others would, but maybe they would)...
