Guides · Updated September 2026

Can you hotspot with a travel eSIM?

Yes, on every plan we sell. What tethering does to your data, when unlimited makes sense, and the iPhone setting that trips people up.

All of our plans allow hotspot and tethering. You can share the eSIM's connection with a laptop, a tablet, or a travel partner's phone, and there is no separate switch to buy or extra fee.

The catch is the data, not the permission

A laptop does not know it is on a phone plan. It will download updates, sync cloud drives and load full-size web pages. A day of light laptop work, email and documents, uses roughly 200 to 500 MB. A video call from the laptop is the same 300 to 500 MB an hour it would be from the phone. Streaming to a laptop screen in HD is 2 to 3 GB an hour.

So on a 5 GB plan, hotspot is fine for checking in and answering email, and not fine for a Netflix evening. If the laptop is the main reason you want data, look at the unlimited plan or a 20 GB plan.

Settings that help

• On the laptop, mark the hotspot connection as metered (Windows) or turn on Low Data Mode for it (Mac). This stops background updates and cloud sync from running.
• Pause Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and photo backups while tethered.
• Turn the hotspot off when you are done. A phone left broadcasting keeps the laptop syncing.

iPhone: the hotspot toggle disappears

If Personal Hotspot is greyed out or missing after you switch data to the eSIM, it is usually because the phone is still trying to use the home line for hotspot. Go to Settings, Cellular, make sure the travel eSIM is selected under Cellular Data, then go back and Personal Hotspot should appear. If it still does not, toggle Airplane Mode once.

Android

Settings, Connections (or Network), Mobile Hotspot and Tethering. It uses whichever SIM is set for mobile data, so make sure that is the eSIM.

Common questions

Is there a hotspot limit on the unlimited plan?

No separate limit. It follows the same daily quota as the phone: full speed for the first few gigabytes each day, then 1 Mbps.

Can two people share one eSIM?

Through a hotspot, yes. The eSIM itself can only be installed on one phone.

Why is my hotspot slow?

Usually signal. Hotspot adds nothing to the speed the phone is getting, so move to where the phone shows more bars. On unlimited, check whether you have passed the daily quota.