How does hotspot work?

[thesmallprint]

Hey guys,

So recently I started playing Hearthstone and realized I can't play it on my phone (LG G3). I decided to take out my iPad2 and play on it. Makes perfect sense. However, I only have 1 sim card. So i decided to use my hotspot from my phone and connect my iPad. Game runs fine. Everything's good.

I decided to do an experiment since my phone data (6GB) runs out tomorrow. I ran hotspot and connected the iPad2 to my phone. Played Hearthstone for 1hour. Checked back my data usage via mysingtel app and calling *3282 (Singtel user).

The data did not change at all!

In any case, does anyone know how this actually works? Obviously hotspot takes up a certain amount of data. Is there anyway to check instead of doing such tests?

 

[oneboy]

I think the singtel app is as accurate as it gets already.. if you have checked 15min after your game and have refreshed the data stats screen and find no changes then possibly your game (tho I have not played that before) uses very little data until not a significant change. A lot of games actually uses very little data cos is just sending and receiving game statistics (text) and would use very little data, especially you only played 1hr. Most games already have the graphics installed in your app and mainly consumes battery due to the processing but little data. Usually it would be less than 1MB per hour so since the singtel app shows in MB any changes would be in after the decimal point.

Hotspot uses the same amount of data as if you use direct. Try browsing the web a bit and see if your data changes to confirm that your app is not bugged.

 

[agent007bond]

What about device data counter? Android shows how much data was used by each app. Not sure if iPad has this feature too. If it does, check how much data the game used. In your android phone, check how much data the hotspot feature used (settings > data usage)

Hotspot data is definitely from your mobile data plan, not free. I think mysingtel app has refresh lag.

 

[jeffrey159]

just like what oneboy said. But if you were to stream a YouTube video.you'll see the data usage difference.

 

[thesmallprint]

Hi guys. Thanks for the reply. I used the mobile data and it doesn't show the hotspot usage. Maybe you guys are right that it doesn't take up much data. I think the only way to find out is to experiment more.

 

[madcampus]

Go stream YouTube on HD for 1 hour. Stream those music videos or movie trailers. Then check your usage. Give about 10-15 mins.

 

[agent007bond]

Maybe you guys are right that it doesn't take up much data.

No such thing. If it didn't use much data, it's because your iPad didn't use much data when connected to it. Try streaming HD videos on YouTube like madcampus said... sure to use a lot of data.

The Data Usage graphs in your Android phone should have one entry among the apps for "Portable Hotspot" or "Tethering" or something like that. Unless it's added to "System" or "Android OS" data usage... for Samsung devices you will see "Portable Hotspot & Tethering" I think.