Hotspot limits
Is your carrier slowing your hotspot?
Many plans give hotspot use its own allowance, then slow it to a set speed until the next bill. Here is what 16 big carriers publish about it, from their own plan pages, terms and help articles.
Checked 1 November 2026. Plans change often; your own plan’s terms win.
United StatesUnited KingdomGermanyFranceCanadaAustraliaJapan
United States
- Hotspot data
- A high-speed allotment that varies by plan (T-Mobile’s example is 15 GB).
- After it
- Many plans continue at up to 600 kbps after high-speed hotspot data is used; rules vary by plan.
- Hotspot data
- 30 GB on Unlimited Plus, 200 GB on Unlimited Ultimate, 10 GB on Simplicity; buy it on Unlimited Welcome.
- After it
- Up to 3 Mbps on 5G Ultra Wideband and 600 kbps on 5G/4G LTE (Plus, Welcome), 1 Mbps (Simplicity), up to 6 Mbps (Ultimate).
- Hotspot data
- 250 GB (Elite 2.0), 100 GB (Premium 2.0), 50 GB (Extra 2.0) or 3 GB (Value 2.0) per line, each month.
- After it
- A maximum of 128 kbps for the rest of the bill cycle.
- Hotspot data
- No data limit on hotspot use.
- After it
- Always capped at up to 5 Mbps (Visible), 10 Mbps (Visible+) or 15 Mbps (Visible+ Pro).
- Hotspot data
- Up to 20 GB of high-speed hotspot data a month on Unlimited; on the other plans, hotspot uses the plan’s data.
- After it
- Mint doesn’t publish a hotspot speed after the 20 GB; you can add more data in the app.
United Kingdom
- Hotspot data
- Your plan’s data allowance; EE publishes no separate hotspot allowance.
- After it
- What happens at the end of your allowance depends on the plan, not on tethering.
- Hotspot data
- Your plan’s data; Vodafone Basics says you can hotspot all of it.
- After it
- The plan’s own rules apply when data runs out; Vodafone publishes no hotspot-only slowdown.
- Hotspot data
- Your plan’s data allowance; O2 publishes no separate hotspot allowance.
- After it
- O2 publishes no hotspot slowdown; heavy tethering on Unlimited can lead O2 to review your usage.
- Hotspot data
- Any or all of your plan’s data, in the UK and in Go Roam in Europe destinations.
- After it
- Three publishes no hotspot slowdown; some unlimited SIMs have a top speed of 100 Mbps.
Germany
- Hotspot data
- Your tariff’s data volume, shared with the phone.
- After it
- Telekom publishes no hotspot-only slowdown; when the volume is used up, you can book more with SpeedOn.
- Hotspot data
- Your tariff’s data volume; Vodafone describes no separate hotspot allowance.
- After it
- Slower until the end of the billing period once the volume is used, unless you book more.
France
- Hotspot data
- Where tethering is included or added as an option, it uses your mobile plan’s data allowance.
- After it
- Once the allowance is used, the speed is reduced or data is blocked, depending on the plan.
- Hotspot data
- Your plan’s mobile internet allowance (enveloppe Internet mobile).
- After it
- Reduced speed beyond the allowance on plans such as Forfait Free 5G+ (350 GB).
Canada
Australia
Japan
Is it the carrier, or the signal?
A carrier’s cap is a flat line: every download stops at the same speed, whatever the time, while the ping stays normal. A weak signal or a busy cell wanders, and the ping rises with it. Kilobat watches your speed tests and big downloads on a phone hotspot, and Health says when they all top out near one of these limits. It’s free, with the evidence in Kilobat Pro. How it decides.
Each page lists the carrier’s own pages it’s based on and the date they were checked. No prices or plan recommendations: allowances differ by plan, so check yours in the carrier’s app.
Your carrier counts your hotspot data. Kilobat shows where it goes.
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