What is Hotspot? and how does it work?

Admin
27 Nov, 2023

What Is Hotspot: The Internet has become a very important part of human life today, and many facilities have been provided to people with the help of the Internet. But even today there are many areas where internet access is not possible. In such a situation, a WiFi hotspot is required.

But do you know what a is hotspot, how a hotspot works, how many types of hotspot are there, how to connect your device to a hotspot and what are the advantages and disadvantages of a hotspot? If you want to know the answers to all these questions, read this article till the end.

By the way, you may have heard and used the name Hotspot many times. In daily life, we often use hotspots to access the internet. Many people also think of hotspots as a network which is not correct.

Hotspot

What is Hotspot?

A hotspot is an Internet access point through which you can connect your computer, smartphone, or any other device to a WiFi network and use the Internet even when you are away from the network.

A hotspot is a physical location where people can access the Internet using WiFi through a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a router connected to an Internet service provider. Most people also know them as Wi-Fi hotspots or Wi-Fi connection and tethering.

Simply put, hotspots are physical locations where users can wirelessly connect their computers, smartphones, tablets, or other devices to the Internet.

Hotspots can be any private place or public place like a restaurant, railway station, college, hospital, etc. Seeing the increasing use of the internet, many cities have provided the facility of WiFi hotspots. Hotspots help people access the Internet faster than cellular networks.

How does Hotspot work?

A hotspot works just like the WiFi you normally use in your home or office. These hotspots transmit internet connections using specialized wireless devices to create a WiFi network.

So you can use the internet by connecting any of your devices. This wireless device is often called a router.

WiFi hotspot range, power, speed, and cost may vary depending on your location. But the idea behind a WiFi hotspot is similar to a home-based WiFi network.

Types of Hotspot

There are mainly three main types of hotspots -

1) Public WiFi hotspot

As the name suggests, you can usually use public hotspots for free. You must have noticed that most of the places like libraries, retail stores, etc. provide free public hotspots. Some cities, municipalities, and ISPs offer free public WiFi connections.

Usually, you can use public WiFi hotspots for free but in many places, you have to pay to use them.

2) Mobile WiFi hotspot

You can also use your Android phone and iPhone as a hotspot. Your phone uses your mobile's cellular data to create a Wi-Fi hotspot. You can then connect a computer or any other device to this Wi-Fi hotspot to access the Internet. You too must have used your mobile as a Wi-Fi hotspot many times.

3) Pre-paid hotspot

Prepaid hotspots are similar to mobile hotspots but you can set how much data to transmit. You pay for a certain amount of data first and if you run out of data, you can automatically pay for more data.

Terms used in hotspot

Some important terms used in the hotspot are important for you to know –

Access Point (Wireless Access Point)

A wireless access point (WAP) is a networking device that allows Wi-Fi-compatible devices to connect to a wired network. A WAP can either be physically attached to the router or integrated into the router itself. A WAP is not a hotspot, but a physical location where Wi-Fi is available for WLAN.

Wifi

Wi-Fi is a technology that allows you to connect your smartphone or computer to the Internet through a wireless connection. Wi-Fi uses radio signals to send and receive data between your enabled device and the WAP.

SSID

A Service Set Identifier (SSID) is the unique name of a wireless network. To connect it, you must know the name of the wireless network. Your computer or smartphone searches for available wireless networks. People often name their wireless networks for easy identification.

How to connect a Wi-Fi hotspot?

By now you must have understood what a hotspot is. Now let's know more in this article how to connect hotspots. Connecting a Wi-Fi hotspot is a very simple process that most of you would know about.

Your Android mobile, iPhone, laptop, tablet, etc. has a wifi option. As soon as you click on it and turn on WiFi, all the hotspots near you will appear on your screen. Select the hotspot you want to connect your device to.

If the hotspot has no password, the hotspot will connect directly to your device. But if it is a private hotspot then you will need a password to connect your device to the hotspot.

If you run out of data, you can access the Internet using a Wi-Fi hotspot. Connecting your device to the hotspot is very easy.

Advantages of WiFi Hotspot

  • Hotspot speeds are better than cellular networks.
  • By using a hotspot you can save your data plan from running out quickly.
  • Even if you don't have data on your device, you can still access the Internet using a hotspot.
  • In many places, you can use public hotspots absolutely free.

Disadvantage of WiFi Hotspot

  • Internet speed also slows down if more devices are connected to the hotspot.
  • You can only use a certain amount of data in a mobile hotspot.
  • Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots require more data.

Learn More...

Conclusion

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