technology
Wi-Fi hotspot (tethering)
A phone feature that shares its 4G connection with a laptop over Wi-Fi — the dumbphone user's deliberate escape hatch to the internet.
A Wi-Fi hotspot (tethering) lets a phone share its cellular data connection with nearby devices — your laptop borrows the phone's 4G.
For dumbphone users this is the single most useful escape hatch: the internet exists when you deliberately open a laptop and stops existing when you close it. You keep connectivity for work and travel without carrying a feed machine in your pocket. Phones like the Nokia 2780 Flip and Light Phone III include it; stricter devices like the Sunbeam omit it on purpose.