Traveling with a laptop or tablet? Need to share your connection with a friend? Setting up a mobile hotspot lets you turn your Bali SIM card or eSIM into a portable Wi-Fi router. All our Telkomsel packages include hotspot/tethering at no extra cost.
What Is a Mobile Hotspot?
A mobile hotspot (also called tethering) lets your phone share its cellular data connection with other devices over Wi-Fi. Your laptop, tablet, or a travel companion's phone connects to your phone like it's a Wi-Fi network.
This is useful when:
- You're working from a cafe with unreliable Wi-Fi
- Your accommodation has slow or no internet
- You're traveling with someone who doesn't have their own SIM
- You need a secure connection and don't trust public Wi-Fi
How to Set Up Hotspot on iPhone
- Go to Settings → Personal Hotspot
- Toggle on Allow Others to Join
- Note the Wi-Fi Password shown (you can tap it to change it)
- On your other device, open Wi-Fi settings and connect to your iPhone's name
- Enter the password when prompted
If you're using dual SIM (home SIM + Bali eSIM), make sure your Bali eSIM is set as the cellular data line first: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data → select your Bali eSIM.
Quick Tip for iPhone
You can also share your connection via USB (plug your iPhone into your laptop) or Bluetooth, but Wi-Fi is the easiest and fastest option.
How to Set Up Hotspot on Android
The exact path varies by manufacturer, but it's generally:
- Go to Settings → Connections → Mobile Hotspot and Tethering (Samsung) or Settings → Network & Internet → Hotspot & Tethering (Pixel/stock Android)
- Tap Mobile Hotspot
- Toggle it on
- Tap the hotspot name to see or change the network name and password
- On your other device, connect to the hotspot network and enter the password
On Samsung, you can also find the hotspot toggle in the Quick Settings panel (swipe down from the top of the screen).
How Many Devices Can Connect?
Most phones allow 5-10 devices to connect simultaneously. For typical travel use — a laptop and maybe a partner's phone — this is more than enough.
Keep in mind that each connected device shares your data allowance. Video calls and streaming on multiple devices will use data faster.
Tips to Save Data While Using Hotspot
On your laptop:
- Turn off automatic cloud sync (Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive) or pause it while on hotspot
- Disable automatic OS and app updates
- Use browser extensions that compress data
- Avoid streaming video in HD — drop to 480p if possible
On connected phones:
- Turn off auto-play videos on social media apps
- Download maps and content over hotel Wi-Fi instead of hotspot
- Use messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram) instead of video calls when possible
How Much Data Does Hotspot Use?
Here's a rough guide for common activities on a connected laptop:
- Email and web browsing: 50-100 MB per hour
- Video calls (Zoom/Meet): 500 MB - 1.5 GB per hour
- Streaming music (Spotify): 50-150 MB per hour
- Streaming video (Netflix 480p): 500 MB - 1 GB per hour
- Working with Google Docs/Sheets: minimal, under 50 MB per hour
For a digital nomad doing 4-5 hours of work per day (email, docs, occasional video call), expect to use around 2-4 GB per day via hotspot.
Hotspot Not Working? Troubleshooting
"Personal Hotspot" option is missing (iPhone)
Go to Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data Network and make sure the APN settings are filled in. For Telkomsel, the APN is usually internet. Restart your phone after updating.
Hotspot turns on but devices can't connect Try toggling the hotspot off and on again. If that doesn't work, restart your phone. Also make sure you're entering the correct password.
Connected but no internet on the other device Make sure your Bali SIM/eSIM has an active data plan and that Data Roaming is enabled (for eSIM). Check if you've used up your data allowance.
Slow hotspot speeds Move to an area with better signal. Hotspot speeds depend on your cellular connection — if you're in a remote area with weak signal, the shared connection will be slow too.
Do Our Plans Include Hotspot?
Yes. All GetBaliSIM Telkomsel packages include mobile hotspot/tethering at no extra charge. There's no separate activation needed — just turn on the hotspot feature on your phone and you're good to go.
If you're planning to use hotspot heavily (remote work, sharing with multiple people), we recommend choosing a larger data package. Browse our packages to find the right one for your needs.