[NA]Personal hotspot

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
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west Texas
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Display name:
Dave Taylor
So I can now tether my iPad to my iPhone.
Can I use this to transfer text from iPad to iPhone while aloft (where there is no cell data)?
 
Not sure what you're asking. You mean, can you send texts between the iPad and iPhone while both are in your plane but the iPhone has no cell service? Is your plane so large that you can't just talk to the person you're trying to communicate with? Are you working out a covert comm method in case you're hijacked?

My Android tablet has a text message app that is synched with my phone. If both devices are on the same wifi but the phone has no cell service, then if I try to send a text from either device, the attempt will be mirrored on the other, along with a status that it's trying to send, and then an eventual "failed to send" message. Theoretically I guess this could be used to communicate between the two devices, though it wouldn't look like a normal two-party conversation (it would be one-sided), and eventually when cell service was reestablished those messages would eventually go through, which might be weird.

I dunno if that's how your iOS devices would work.
 
I think texts need to be sent to the mothership before being delivered to the recipient, so I doubt it'll work. But try it at home - just turn off cellular and see what happens!
 
kayoh190 said:
I think texts need to be sent to the mothership before being delivered to the recipient, so I doubt it'll work. But try it at home - just turn off cellular and see what happens!
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you are correct ... NSA has to record a copy before it is sent on ... :D
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So I can now tether my iPad to my iPhone.
Can I use this to transfer text from iPad to iPhone while aloft (where there is no cell data)?
Click to expand...
That couldn’t be a hotspot. Ipad needs a source before it can become a hotspot that other devices can use. Without Cell Data, there is no source. Wouldn’t Bluetooth work? There’s that I think it’s called Airdrop thing. But then anyone in range can get it to. I think. I don’t know a whole lot about it
 
Hotspot = sharing your data network to others via usually WiFi or sometimes could be Bluetooth

Airdrop = send usually images or videos to others nearby, not sure which tech it uses, probably WiFi ?
 
Pretty much everything Apple has to connect to the mothership to be useful. Speech to text for instance doesn’t happen local on the phone.
 
mandm said:
Hotspot = sharing your data network to others via usually WiFi or sometimes could be Bluetooth

Airdrop = send usually images or videos to others nearby, not sure which tech it uses, probably WiFi ?
Click to expand...

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/146644/airdrop-bluetooth-or-wi-fi

"AirDrop uses Bluetooth to create a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network between the devices.

Each device creates a firewall around the connection and files are sent encrypted, which actually makes it safer than transferring via email. AirDrop will automatically detect nearby supported devices, and the devices only need to be close enough to establish a good Wi-Fi connection, making it possible to share files across several rooms."
 
It's not really important to my question but I understand curiosity. It's the price of getting free advice. :D
So I produced a lengthy document in the air and that's way easier on the ipad because of screen size of course. I wanted to send that as soon as I landed (where there was cell service but no wifi).
I can do that by iphone but the ipad has no cell plan.

I thought if I could just use the BT or wifi capabilities of these devices they could talk to each other then I could transfer the few pages of text from ipad to iphone, have an email ready to send out when I landed.
 
Easy solution:

If you have a wireless printer, bring that. You'll need to power it of course so you may have to bring a small generator. Attach the generator securely to the outside of the plane of course so that the fumes don't start to degrade your ability to accomplish pilotage and associated tasks.

Connect to the printer with the iPad and print the document. Then open your preferred scanning app on the iPhone and take a picture of the document. Run OCR so that the content is searchable.

Presto! Secure document transfer from one device to another with just a few simple steps!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
It's not really important to my question but I understand curiosity. It's the price of getting free advice. :D
So I produced a lengthy document in the air and that's way easier on the ipad because of screen size of course. I wanted to send that as soon as I landed (where there was cell service but no wifi).
I can do that by iphone but the ipad has no cell plan.

I thought if I could just use the BT or wifi capabilities of these devices they could talk to each other then I could transfer the few pages of text from ipad to iphone, have an email ready to send out when I landed.
Click to expand...
If your iphone works as a hotspot for the iPad, you should be able to send the email directly from the iPad.
 
Lindberg said:
If your iphone works as a hotspot for the iPad, you should be able to send the email directly from the iPad.
Click to expand...
A device serving as a hotspot needs cell service, which the OP says he doesn't always have in that space
 
Airdrop to your phone. From an Apple.com discussion thread. Make sure wifi is turned on


can I airdrop with bluetooth but without wifi?

I want to exchange files between my macbook and iphone by bluetooth, when I'm not on wifi. Is that possible with airdrop or other apps?


Hi. Yes, it is. You do not need to be on a WiFi network to use AirDrop. You need to turn WiFi on, but you don't need to connect to a network. AirDrop uses point-to-point WiFi to send the data. This is a direct wireless link between the two devices.​

Lindberg said:
If your iphone works as a hotspot for the iPad, you should be able to send the email directly from the iPad.
Click to expand...

^^ That too, when you're back in cell service.

​
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So I can now tether my iPad to my iPhone.
Can I use this to transfer text from iPad to iPhone while aloft (where there is no cell data)?
Click to expand...

Let'sgoflying! said:
It's not really important to my question but I understand curiosity. It's the price of getting free advice. :D
I wanted to send {a document} as soon as I landed (where there was cell service but no wifi).
I can do that by iphone but the ipad has no cell plan.

I thought if I could just use the BT or wifi capabilities of these devices they could talk to each other then I could transfer the few pages of text from ipad to iphone, have an email ready to send out when I landed.
Click to expand...

Actually, understanding what you really want to do might lead folks to offer a solution different from what you originally asked, like it did in this case, so it really was important to your question.

In general "tethering" allows the tethered device to access the Internet via the device it is tethered to, and you should be able to do everything you would normally do as if that tethered device was connected to any other Internet-connected wifi. In other words, once you're on the ground, your iPad should look like it's connected to the Internet because it's tethered to the iPhone that is connected to the Internet via its cell service.

So just use the tethering the way it was intended to be used, and send your document directly from the iPad once you're on the ground. (Or even while you're in flight, if your iPhone happens to pick up a strong-enough cell signal for long enough to get the message sent.)
 
172andyou said:
No, but you can use airdrop.
Click to expand...

I meant to get back on this…
Several of you mentioned this; it did the trick fabulously.
I’m not sure it can be used for large files like photos, but for the text I was working with, it did great.
As soon as I had cell service on the phone I was able to transmit the data (and the remote community was saved from the epidemic).
Thanks, POA!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I meant to get back on this…
Several of you mentioned this; it did the trick fabulously.
I’m not sure it can be used for large files like photos, but for the text I was working with, it did great.
As soon as I had cell service on the phone I was able to transmit the data (and the remote community was saved from the epidemic).
Thanks, POA!
Click to expand...

Yep, works fine for photos. Do it all the time.
 
You can airdrop stuff between IOS devices with just bluetooth. You don't need cell or wifi connectivity.
 
If you are a ham, you can use a radio to send SMS messages, short email messages, and photos using APRS. APRS also provides a tracking service similar to ADS-B. There is another system called WinLink that has more capabilities but I not yet mastered that so uncertain on the capabilities.
 
Jim_R said:
So just use the tethering the way it was intended to be used
Click to expand...

Sorry Jim, I think this is nonsense and I can confirm that for Android.

I can confirm that with Android the WiFi Hotspot is identical in function to any other WiFi Hotspot. It is a combined Wireless Access Point and Router to use the networking terminology.

You can connect over the internet, you can connect to OTHER devices on the local network and you can indeed connect to services provided by the Hotspot device too. The latter in the case of Apple seems to include Airdrop.

I suspect that it is the same with Apple, although they are well known for making easy stuff hard, so maybe it is different from the Android hotspot?

A few minutes ago I connected a PC and a Tablet to an Android phone hotspot. I can ping the tablet from the PC. I have previously used an FTP server on the phone providing the hotspot from an FTP client on a PC and copied files between the PC and the phone.

Looks like you can have an ftp server on your iPhone too.
https://www.iosappweekly.com/iphone-ftp-server-transfer-fileexplorer/

So there are two examples of services provided on the local network by the iPhone.

Looks like Apple may be making easy things hard - don't have one to test.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Noteb...er-to-my-Iphone-personal-hotspot/td-p/6403608

"2019 ... I just purchased a HP 3720 Deskjet printer and nowhere on the box or in the documents that were in the box there is a warning that only routers can be used and no hotspots as mentioned above by a HP employee! The excuse is that it is Apple that are causing this problem."

"HP printers refuse connection to a filtered hotspot/router. Apple does not allow iPhone hotspot settings to turn off filtering, nor does it allow hotspot settings to allow a specific printer's macaddress through the filter.

Seems that if Brother can design printers that does not refuse a filtered connection, then Hp could also. And Apple, instead of protecting us from ourselves, should give us hotspot settings."
 
Although this turned out not to be what he was asking, is there a way to forward to my iPad a text message that I received on my iPhone? There's an important video that I received from my doctor, and I'd like to be able to back it up.
 
Palmpilot said:
Although this turned out not to be what he was asking, is there a way to forward to my iPad a text message that I received on my iPhone? There's an important video that I received from my doctor, and I'd like to be able to back it up.
Click to expand...

I don't use the Apple ecosystem, but I think there is something called AirDrop or something similar that should allow you to transfer files between two devices that are close to each other.
 
If this is just sharing data between two devices without the need for internet access, then pick up a travel router. Hook both devices to the router and then you should be able to share the data. The travel routers are fairly inexpensive and used by some travelers who have security concerns when using hotel wifi. I have one so that I can get free internet at my hangar by connecting to an Xfinity cell tower.
 
Palmpilot said:
Although this turned out not to be what he was asking, is there a way to forward to my iPad a text message that I received on my iPhone? There's an important video that I received from my doctor, and I'd like to be able to back it up.
Click to expand...
Only on messages sent with the Apple message protocol. If someone on another iPad/iPhone device sends a text (indistinguishable on the senders part from an SMS), I get it on my phone, my mac mini at my desk, and my iPad.
 
flyingron said:
Only on messages sent with the Apple message protocol.
Click to expand...

I believe that’s no longer the case, Ron. Sometime in 2022 I started receiving SMS messages from Android users on my iPad (too lazy to research which iOS update when this may have changed)

EDIT TO ADD: my iPad is Wi-Fi only, not cellular
 
Last edited:
flyingron said:
(indistinguishable on the senders part from an SMS)
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by "indistinguishable". Are you referring to something other than the green (SMS protocol) vs blue (iMessage protocol) thing?

img_552efdfd1eed6.png
 
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