Vodafone blog

Overnight, Apple released a new Carrier Settings Update which enables the use of Personal Hotspot (or “Tethering”) on the new iPad.

While the update will enable the feature, it also resets your internet settings to default which may affect your ability to connect to 3G data using your iPad.

This feature is not available on the original iPad or iPad 2

How do I get the update?

Over the next few days the update will be pushed to new iPads operating on the Vodafone Australia network. You will receive a pop-up notification advising you of the update.

To manually retrieve the update, navigate to Settings > General > About, and await the pop-up notification.

What do I do next?

For Prepaid Customers:

The good news is that the default settings on your iPad are already configured for prepaid, you don’t need to change anything! Jump ahead to the “How do I turn on Personal Hotspot?” section for further detail.

For Postpaid Customers

Postpaid customers will need to change the Cellular Data APN settings before being able to access the internet or enable Personal Hotspot on their iPad. Follow the steps below:

Navigate to Settings > Cellular Data > APN Settings. The default values are set for prepaid customers:

You will need to change both APNs to “vfinternet.au“. If these are not changed, you won’t have access to 3G data or Personal Hotspot.

How do I turn on Personal Hotspot?

Once you’ve installed the Carrier Settings Update and changed your APN details (Postpaid only), it’s very simple to turn Personal Hotspot on.

Navigate to Settings > General > Network > Personal Hotspot. There may be a short delay while your iPad validates that it can connect to the network.

Once this is done, it will read “Personal Hotspot: Off”.

Select it, and then switch Personal Hotspot to On. When completed, you will see details on how to connect your other WiFi-enabled devices to your new iPad.

A new item will now appear in the left hand side menu called “Personal Hotspot”, enabling easy access from anywhere in the Settings app.

Personal Hotspot and Data Usage

Although there is no additional charge to enable Personal Hotspot, there will however be additional data usage, especially if multiple devices are connected and using high-demand activities like online gaming or streaming videos.

We would strongly recommend increasing your mobile internet plan if you decide to use Personal Hotspot.

Why not try out our new Mobile Data Calculator to get a better understanding of your data usage needs?