Introduction

Filipinos are known for our love of sharing: we offer food to guests, give our family pasalubong, and, recently, even share our mobile data via hotspot. The latter is why we often hear the phrase “pa-hotspot naman!”

If you are the designated “hotspot” person, it’s high time to look into your existing data plans to see if you’re making the most of them. You would want to share, yes, but you would also like to save some money. In that case, subscribing to more affordable prepaid data plans in the Philippines is a sustainable way to continue sharing your WiFi hotspot with family and friends. How exactly do you find such promos? Read the rest of this DITO article to find out.

When To Use Your Smartphone as a Mobile WiFi Hotspot

A WiFi hotspot is a physical location where you can access the internet via WiFi (wireless fidelity). Make that location mobile, and you get a mobile hotspot! Your smartphone is the perfect tool for enabling non-fixed hotspots, serving as a tethering device for other gadgets, and where your friends, schoolmates, and family can connect when they need to go online. 

Using your phone for setting up a mobile WiFi hotspot is most useful in the following situations:

During Internet Outages

When you’re using fiber-optic broadband, you might experience internet outages when cables are damaged. In such scenarios, the next best thing is to turn on your phone’s hotspot and connect your device to your mobile data. The internet speed and stability may be downgraded, but at least you’ll stay connected. Most work-from-home workers who can’t go out to connect to a public WiFi due to inclement weather or other circumstances turn to mobile data to stay productive during outages. 

When Working Remotely

If you’re a remote worker or a digital nomad, you can’t always connect to a hotel’s WiFi, especially if the nature of your job requires you to move from one place to another. As such, you can still work using your laptop or tablet if you connect it to your phone’s hotspot. 

When Sharing Your Connection

Sharing your data connectivity is sometimes necessary. You may want to share when you’re playing a team esports and one of your teammates needs online access quickly. Also, during internet outages, you may share your data with family members who need to connect but have insufficient mobile load. You can give them online access so they can reload and use their smartphones as their tethering device! 

During Your Travel Abroad

While you can connect to public WiFi or to your accommodation’s internet, connecting to your personal hotspot will be necessary when you’re out and about. Certain online transactions, like bank transfers and booking flights, are better done with a secure WiFi connection from your hotspot to reduce risks. 

Which Affordable Prepaid Data Plans Are Perfect for Your Mobile Hotspot?

Sharing your data is good, but you also need to consider if doing so is cost-efficient. Thankfully, you have no shortage of affordable prepaid data plans in the Philippines that you can use for your mobile WiFi hotspots. Here are the best-value promos you are sure to love: 

5G Prepaid Plans for Speed

Do you really need 5G prepaid plans? If you’re all for speed, then yes. Prepaid mobile data that uses next-generation cellular networks yields faster internet, and that will be plenty of help for the following use cases:

• Online Research - Faster download speeds of website pages
• Watching Videos - Lower video loading times, reducing buffering
• Content Uploads - Smooth uploading of files
• Online Meetings - Reduced lag and clearer audio-video transmission

You will need them more if you’re sharing your data with other devices. Just make sure not too many gadgets are tethered to your mobile hotspot, or it will decrease your overall internet speed.

Data-Only Promos for Longer Use

If you’re not using call and text allocations that much, it will be most practical to stick to prepaid data plans. To maximize your load purchase, consider a data-only promo that’s within your budget yet can accommodate occasional phone tethering. Some SIM bundles from DITO, moreover, offer no-expiry data allocations, reducing your worries about unused data expiring.

If you still need to send SMS or call up people, buy a separate regular load. This way, you don’t need to worry about the validity period; you can even convert your regular load to a promo once you need more hours for a call or internet data!

Unli Plans for High-Bandwidth Activities

You may sometimes share your data for high-bandwidth activities, like your sister suddenly needing to hop on a video call while you’re outdoors, or when your friend needs to connect online so he can continue supporting your team during a Mobile Legends match. As such, they may need unlimited data access so you and the people using your WiFi hotspot won’t be interrupted. 

Unlimited plans may appear expensive at first. Surely a ₱999 Unli 5G promo is too pricey for you, right? However, if you break down the price by gigabyte per day, this type of promo is actually cost-effective. For the plan we mentioned, you pay over ₱33 a day for 30 days!

Combo Plans for Focused Tasks

App-specific combo promos are another inexpensive prepaid cell phone plan option you can use to maximize high-bandwidth online activities. Say, if you’re into Mobile Legends and you're the go-to person for your team’s mobile hotspot, you can subscribe to ML-specific promos, like DITO’s App Combo Mobile Legends 30, or Level-Up Gaming 39. These plans are not only exclusive to your favorite pastime, but can also easily fit within your budget.

Tips for Using Your Mobile Hotspot Safely

While sharing your mobile hotspot is generally safe, some people may go out of their way to hack into your network (either for the thrill of it or to get your information, we are not sure). You can share your mobile data via hotspot without jeopardizing safety and security by doing the following: 

Update Your Network Password

Set a regular schedule for changing your network password. In plenty of instances, there are unknown devices that inadvertently connect to your mobile hotspot, especially if you’re turning it on in a crowded location. When an unknown user connects, you can kick them out by changing your password and restarting your tethering. Do tell your friends and family to quit sharing your network credentials with others. Setting up a guest network is another secure way to keep malicious actors out of your sensitive information.

Update Your Device’s Software

Always update your smartphone’s software when it prompts you to, so you can ensure that your device is protected. Aside from the built-in software, consider downloading an antivirus software for Android or iOS. Better to be safe than sorry, especially if you think your phone has classified information that you don’t want hackers to access!

Turn Off Tethering When Not in Use

Toggling off your phone’s hotspot feature after use should be automatic, but if that’s not the case for you, do make an effort to remind yourself, either by setting an alarm or scheduling a note reminder. Doing so not only helps secure your network but also protects your phone from overheating and battery drain. 

Conclusion

If you’re someone who constantly shares your personal WiFi hotspot, you'll want to subscribe to affordable data plans in the Philippines. That way, you can continue sharing what you have without draining your wallet. The good news is that there is a wide range of prepaid promos across several tiers to suit your needs, even on a limited budget. The key is to look beyond the price and weigh the value of each plan to ensure you’ll have a sulit subscription.

And speaking of prepaid promo options, DITO has a long list of them. Check out our array of unlimited, data-capped, and app-specific plans and subscribe today!