Can Personal Hotspot share existing Wi-Fi connection?

Any idea if Apple might be working on improving the personal hotspot to include sharing an existing Wi-Fi connection as the data source, rather than forcing cellular data to be used? This would help users avoid extra charges and improve flexibility in scenarios like sharing public Wi-Fi with other devices. Other phones simply allow either Wi-Fi or cellular to be used as the source for the personal hotspot; Apple users would likely enjoy the feature as well. Yes it's really a feature request for a network bridge, similar to how a travel router works.


Here are a few scenarios where it would help my family that are not bypassing paywalls.


We rented a home with unlimited WiFi. Problem was it didn't cover a room the kids were staying in. Bridging the WiFi through personal hotspot would allow me to extend the network to an area it was needed without digging into my limited cellular data that had a poor signal.


I recent hotel stay kept knocking the kids tablets off the unlimited WiFi, then I'd have to reauthenticate on their device each time. One of the kindle readers wouldn't connect at all. My phone was fine. It would have been quick and easy to get everyone's devices online if I could use WiFi as source for the personal hotspot.


A couple of years ago I moved from the other phones to iPhone. WiFi as source for the hotspot is the one feature I miss when we're traveling. Hope Apple would consider adding this feature in the future.

iPhone 17 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Jan 22, 2026 12:08 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 22, 2026 3:29 PM

It is very unlikely that Apple would add such a feature. It would require the iPhone to simultaneously connect to a WiFi network and be an access point for another WiFi network. The hardware might not support it, and the power consumption would be very high in doing so. From a business standpoint, implementing and maintaining a feature that only a fraction of a percent of users might want is not cost effective.


There are relatively inexpensive devices that do exactly what you're asking. I use a TP-Link AC750 Travel Router in my RV and in hotels. The device connects to the camp or hotel WiFi and serves my kid's tablets and TV and everything else in the RV. It works well, and anywhere we travel, each of our devices already knows the router's SSID and password. I just need to use its web interface to connect it to the local WiFi.


There are also WiFi repeaters available but I have no experience with them.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 22, 2026 3:29 PM in response to seancaldwell

It is very unlikely that Apple would add such a feature. It would require the iPhone to simultaneously connect to a WiFi network and be an access point for another WiFi network. The hardware might not support it, and the power consumption would be very high in doing so. From a business standpoint, implementing and maintaining a feature that only a fraction of a percent of users might want is not cost effective.


There are relatively inexpensive devices that do exactly what you're asking. I use a TP-Link AC750 Travel Router in my RV and in hotels. The device connects to the camp or hotel WiFi and serves my kid's tablets and TV and everything else in the RV. It works well, and anywhere we travel, each of our devices already knows the router's SSID and password. I just need to use its web interface to connect it to the local WiFi.


There are also WiFi repeaters available but I have no experience with them.

Can Personal Hotspot share existing Wi-Fi connection?

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