Marty23
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: wifi vs iPhone 5 hotspot

Hello, I use my community wifi (25 members), password protected wifi, but I'm concerned that the password is not secure.  People are always moving into and out of the community and I'm worried that the password is no longer private.  A tech friend suggested that I use my hotspot on my iPhone 5 as the internet connection for my MacPro.  When I do this, the hotspot connects to the community wifi.  Is this more protection?  I would really appreciate advice.  How can I increase my online security, especially for online banking and purchases? 

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.3

Posted on Jan 16, 2014 2:27 PM

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Marty23

Q: wifi vs iPhone 5 hotspot

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  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jan 16, 2014 2:32 PM in response to Marty23
    Level 8 (41,095 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 2:32 PM in response to Marty23

    Marty23 wrote:

     

    When I do this, the hotspot connects to the community wifi.

    What makes you think so?  This sounds impossible to me.

     

    The input to your hotspot is cellular data.  The output is your own secure network that is created on your iPhone.  If you set up your MacPro to connect to the hotspot when you have the hotspot working, the community WiFi should be completely out of the picture.

  • by Marty23,

    Marty23 Marty23 Jan 16, 2014 2:53 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 2:53 PM in response to sberman

    Thanks for the quick reply ... sorry for the confustion ...  When I turn on the hotspot, I'm asked to turn on wifi and bluetooth ("Personal hotshot will only be available over USB.  Do you also want to enable it over Wi-Fi and bluetooth") ...  I didn't mean to be confusing, just wanted to mention the hotspot procedure.  I assume that I'm just over the cell network when I connect with hotspot, right?  You can probably tell that  I'm not very techy.  My main concern is how secure am I using the hotspot to do online banking???   I use the community wifi to do surfing/info gathering, but worry about online purchases and bill paying.

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jan 16, 2014 3:22 PM in response to Marty23
    Level 8 (41,095 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 3:22 PM in response to Marty23

    Once your hotspot is set up correctly and you are communicating to it from your Mac, you will see two things:

     

    1.  Your iPhone will only show you connected to the hotspot network.  The community WiFi network will not be checked in Settings > WiFi.

     

    2.  Your Mac will show the hotspot icon (shown below) as its connection.  The standard WiFi icon will not be displayed.

     

    Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 3.21.25 PM.png

  • by Marty23,

    Marty23 Marty23 Jan 16, 2014 3:29 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 3:29 PM in response to sberman

    That's what I see when I connect via my phone hotspot ... no problem connecting ... I'm just concerned with the security of the hotspot connection.  How easily can it be hacked?  Is there something I should do or buy to make the connection more secure?  I do all my banking and most purchases online ... any suggestions/comments?  Thanks!

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jan 16, 2014 3:32 PM in response to Marty23
    Level 8 (41,095 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 3:32 PM in response to Marty23

    I think this has already been answered.

     

    But here is an article detailing personal hotspot:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4517

  • by Marty23,

    Marty23 Marty23 Jan 16, 2014 4:05 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 4:05 PM in response to sberman

    Thanks ... I did a little searching and see that I should change my password, not use the one supplied by the iphone.  Hope that will make it more secure.