Do I need an in-car hot spot?

[DaveM1751]

My wife and I have Samsung Galaxy S8+ (soon to be updated to S25 Edge phones) with unlimited data plans.

The question is: do we need a hot spot in our vehicle (2024 Honda CR-V) in order for the passenger to access the internet while the driver is using  their phone with Android Auto? (Note: we only use our phones and do not have any other devices.)

I'm just wondering if I can do away with the AT&T  hot spot that I subscribed to when I purchased my car last year.

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

Making sure everyone in the car can have Wi-Fi is especially important, DaveM1751. Most of our plans do include mobile hotspot, so you could share that hotspot with others in the car while traveling, and not require the additional hotspot from your Honda CRV. I do something similar myself when we go on family vacations as one of my tablets is Wi-Fi only, so I use my phones hotspot to stream shows for my kids on the road trip. I hope this helps to answer your question.

-Joseph

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

Making sure everyone in the car can have Wi-Fi is especially important, DaveM1751. Most of our plans do include mobile hotspot, so you could share that hotspot with others in the car while traveling, and not require the additional hotspot from your Honda CRV. I do something similar myself when we go on family vacations as one of my tablets is Wi-Fi only, so I use my phones hotspot to stream shows for my kids on the road trip. I hope this helps to answer your question.

-Joseph

[DaveM1751]

Joseph,

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm somewhat new on this hot spot stuff so my next questions will definitely show it.

Because no one else needs Wi-Fi, I'm wondering what does my current hot spot subscription get me that my unlimited data plan doesn't?

Basically, shouldn't my wife's phone get internet regardless of my phone using Android Auto? (Before the AT&T hot spot she couldn't, which might be because blue tooth and or Wi-Fi was in conflict with her data plan?)

Thanks...dave

[SynthpopAddict · Accepted solution]

If both you and your wife will be using S25 phones soon with either Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate for the service plan, those plans come with either 30 gigs of hotspot (Plus) or unlimited hotspot (Ultimate), so one of you could hotspot their phone, while the other's phone is connected to the Honda CRV's infotainment system, if there are other passengers wanting to connect some device to the internet.  The mobile hotspot device you have from AT&T would allow you to get internet access without your phone(s), but seems like it would now be unnecessary, unless you just want to keep it for a backup.

If it is just the 2 of you in the car and one of you has their phone connected to the infotainment system, the other can simply use their phone as they usually would on cellular service without having to resort to a hotspot.

I haven't tried to do other stuff on my phone while it's hooked up to my Honda Civic's infotainment system with Android Auto (bluetooth plus USB cord)...guess you could do that, but then it would shut off your map app on the infotainment screen, while you're doing the other things?

[DaveM1751]

I guess once we get the new phones I'll disconnect the AT&T and see what happens.

If it works as I think/hope it should then I'll cancel AT&T.

At $200 a year that would be an expensive backup.

Thanks for the info...dave