Skip to main content

AT&T expands tethering with Wi-Fi hotspot app, offers more data plans

The last-ditch efforts from AT&T to keep as much of the smartphone market as possible are piling up. First, there were the whispers about the return of an unlimited data plan, then AT&T decide to remind everyone about multitasking, and now the customer-scorned carrier will be improving its tethering and data plans.

AT&T announced today that “select smartphone customers” will be able to tether other devices using their phone’s Wi-Fi with its new Mobile Hotspot application – starting February 13. Such timing, right? According to AT&T, the Mobile Hotspot app will first roll out with the HTC Inspire 4G, which will come bundled with 4GB of data and cost $45 a month. The app will include:

  • The ability to connect other devices to the network.
  • 2GB for $20 a month, bundled with the Data Pro plan (which is $25 for 2GB)
  • 4GB collectively between all connected devices

But other customers will be able to use these new features as well. Smartphone users already paying for tethering capabilities will be gifted with an extra 2G of data, but continue paying $20 a month. Bear in mind that going over your data limit still includes an overage fee of $10 per gigabyte. Verizon will also be introducing a new tethering plan, which seems fairly similar, except it does have more expensive overage fees.

So what about the “select smartphone” thing? Well, unfortunately for AT&T and its iPhone users, the Apple device may not be privy to the new app. Electronista directly asked this question and was only told the carrier is “evaluating iPhone hotspot support” but wouldn’t offer a confirmation. But this could be part of AT&T’s supposed plan to start focusing on its Android smartphones in the wake of its lost exclusivity with iPhone.

AT&T will also introduce a new trade-in offer on the Feb. 13. Users, regardless of carrier, can bring in any phone and receive its value in the form of an AT&T gift card, which seems like AT&T’s answer for the trade-in program Verizon introduced.

Editors' Recommendations

Molly McHugh
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more
The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024
A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad

Read more