Dimension · 5% of the Bench Score

Hotspot & Tethering

Whether you can share data with your laptop or other devices.

Why it is hard to measure

Tethering policy is where the fine print bites. Many providers technically allow hotspot but quietly throttle or block it, or permit it on some plans and not others. The truth is buried in terms of service, not the sales page.

What a good provider looks like

Top providers state plainly that hotspot is allowed and do not degrade it. We read the terms of service and cross-check against community reports to catch silent throttling, then grade allowed-and-honest above allowed-but-crippled above forbidden.

How it feeds the score

Hotspot is the lightest dimension at a twentieth of the score — it matters intensely to some travelers and not at all to others, so it nudges rather than dominates a grade.

Measurement method

Whether hotspot is officially allowed, restricted, or silently throttled.

Want the whole picture? The master methodology explains how all eight dimensions combine into a single grade, and the data sources page lists where every number originates.