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Turning an Android into a Hotspot

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Turning an Android into a Hotspot

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Old Jun 5, 2023 | 5:22 am
  #31  
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I've wondered whether the 5GB is per month or per trip. Last year, I got the the message congratulating my wife on her free 5GBs every time we crossed a European border. Welcome to France, enjoy 5 free gigs; welcome to Germany, enjoy 5 free gigs, etc. She will be to Canada 3 times in just over a week. Does she get 15 figs?
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Old Jun 5, 2023 | 7:22 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by draver
T-Mobile does not reliably allow account login outside the general North American
check out the carrier SMS services query SMS or messaging numbers one can ping to get a text back with any current usage status…minutes, data, sms, etc. That should go through as data or an SMS worst case but give real time account feedback. I have used this with ATT often outside our home region and it has worked to verify any data usage amounts

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibil...20press%20Send
Need and lsquare like this.

Last edited by nmenaker; Jun 6, 2023 at 7:01 am
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Old Jun 5, 2023 | 7:29 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
I've wondered whether the 5GB is per month or per trip. Last year, I got the the message congratulating my wife on her free 5GBs every time we crossed a European border. Welcome to France, enjoy 5 free gigs; welcome to Germany, enjoy 5 free gigs, etc. She will be to Canada 3 times in just over a week. Does she get 15 figs?
I don't think so. You just get the "notification" that's it is free when you change roaming partners, but you are really using the same 5GB until the end of the billing cycle. That's just my guess though, never tested it myself. I don't use a lot of mobile data.

BTW, my phone also displays the data usage of my current billing cycle. On my Pixel phone, it is under Network & Internet -> Internet -> Click Gear Icon next to T-Mobile
If you need to change billing cycle, go down to Data warning & limit > Mobile data usage cycle
I already changed mine to match the billing cycle date on my T-Mobile statement.

It's nice to have it locally on the phone as you don't have to connect to T-Mobile account to check. The phone and T-Mobile data usage are very close. Last full billing cycle, my phone shows 3.08GB used, T-Mobile says 3.09GB. But you still have to remember how much data you used in the billing cycle when you are out of the country so you can add 5GB to that and that's your data limit.

Last edited by Need; Jun 5, 2023 at 7:51 am
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Old Jun 5, 2023 | 7:35 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by nmenaker
check out the carrier SMS services query SMS or messaging numbers one can ping to get a text back with any current usage status…minutes, data, sms, etc. That should go through as data or an SMS worst case but give real time account feedback. I have used this with ATT often outside our home region and it has worked to verify and data usage amounts

https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibil...20press%20Send
OMG, that's so cool, and at the same time so Lo-Tech LOL. I just tried #WEB# at home just for fun. Easy to remember too. Does it show your international data usage on a separate line?

Last edited by Need; Jun 5, 2023 at 7:48 am
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Old Jul 10, 2023 | 12:43 pm
  #35  
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So, I just came back from a 3-week Euro trip. T-Mobile 5GB international fast data is per billing period, not per country. There may be a separate 5GB for Canada/Mexico, but not for countries in Europe. Every country we visited, we got the "welcome" text, but it is same 5GB as I can see them on my T-Mobile app. The app works fine for me in Europe. I don't need to use any VPN to access my account. My wife and kid used up their 5GB in about 5 to 7 days. They were both steaming videos. I only used about 2.5GB in 3 weeks. But even after the fast data were gone, they were still able to do most things with the 256K speed. They can even stream Spotify with that speed. I was offering to buy them extra fast data, but they both declined.

Back to topic of the thread. I am the only 1 of the 3 who has a Pixel 7 which could do hotspot in WiFi only mode. It is very useful when you need to purchase WiFi or if Sign-In portal is complicated. It is so much easier to just sign into WiFi with my phone, and have other devices connected to my phone's hotspot. I also found out one thing about WiFi that I didn't know before on this trip. If there is a WiFi connection with a very long password, you could just type it in once on your phone, then share it with a QR code to other phones that needs connection. It saved so much time.
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Old Jul 11, 2023 | 5:17 am
  #36  
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Based on my cruise in January this year, there are separate 5Gb data buckets for Mexico and global high speed data I used in Panama and South America. I believe on T-Mobile your plan per line home data is also separate from your roaming data use. In my case, I saw on my app that the monthly total for lines did not add roaming data use to the line total. This hopefully will preserve my $10 line discount a month via Kickback and still allow the full 5Gb of high speed roaming on the same number. I also saw this effect in May of this year. I am going to Europe in October so I will try and wring out the details of this strategy and report the results here for reference.

I have also noticed that iPhones do prompt users to allow WiFi password sharing with other iPhones trying to connect to the same network. No QR code was needed or offered, just a simple yes or no for the guest to connect.
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Old Jul 11, 2023 | 7:54 am
  #37  
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Originally Posted by draver
I have also noticed that iPhones do prompt users to allow WiFi password sharing with other iPhones trying to connect to the same network. No QR code was needed or offered, just a simple yes or no for the guest to connect.
I would be very careful about allowing this. While it is convenient, it could potentially let people you don't necessarily know connect to that network you are connected to and all that entails. Having to pass along a password manually (even if by QR code) gives you a measure of control.
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Old Jul 11, 2023 | 11:19 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by StuckInYYZ
I would be very careful about allowing this. While it is convenient, it could potentially let people you don't necessarily know connect to that network you are connected to and all that entails. Having to pass along a password manually (even if by QR code) gives you a measure of control.
I think they would have to be in bluetooth range and pretty quick to take advantage of this feature. It has only appeared to me within a few seconds while someone was attempting to log into my home WiFi service, and once I tapped "Yes" they were connected immediately I have not seen the option while using it at other locations.
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Old Jul 11, 2023 | 3:00 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by draver
I think they would have to be in bluetooth range and pretty quick to take advantage of this feature. It has only appeared to me within a few seconds while someone was attempting to log into my home WiFi service, and once I tapped "Yes" they were connected immediately I have not seen the option while using it at other locations.
You'd be surprised how often people will just click ok without reading the popup. Social engineering is a pain in the butt sometimes.As for range, it's limited, but BT is still sometimes a hazard. I've seen pairing popups on my dining companions' phones when I'm in the restaurants (I disable bluetooth when I am not using it)
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