Hotspot limits · United Kingdom

O2 hotspot limits

Checked 1 November 2026 against O2’s own pages. Plans change: your plan’s terms win.

O2 doesn’t give hotspot use an allowance of its own. On plans with a set amount of data, hotspot uses it; on Unlimited, O2’s terms watch for heavy tethering instead of capping it.

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.
Video
O2 publishes no hotspot-specific video limit.
Check
The My O2 app or My O2 online.

Hotspot allowance

  • O2’s help describes one monthly data allowance per plan, or unlimited data, and no separate hotspot allowance, so data you share from the phone counts as the phone’s.
  • On Unlimited data, O2’s Unlimited Tariff Terms say Unlimited UK Data sold with a handset or SIM only is for mobile devices that don’t need to be plugged in to work.

Speed after the allowance

  • O2 doesn’t describe a lower hotspot speed.
  • Unlimited Data is subject to O2’s Fair Usage Policy. If you regularly tether 12 or more devices, or use 650 GB twice within six months, O2 may look into your usage and can move you to a more suitable plan.
  • O2 texts you when you’ve used 80% of your data allowance, and again at 100%.

Plans without hotspot

O2’s unlimited terms restrict where the SIM is used, not tethering from the phone itself. The pages checked here list no plan without hotspot.

Video

O2 publishes no video limit for hotspot use.

Check what’s left

  1. Register for My O2 if you haven’t.

  2. Open the My O2 app, or sign in to My O2 online, to see how much of this month’s data you’ve used and what’s left.

What Kilobat can tell you

If every speed test and big download on your hotspot stops near the same speed on different occasions while the ping stays normal, Health says it looks like a hotspot cap. A weak signal or a busy cell wanders instead, and Kilobat says nothing then. It also notices video held near 1.5 Mbps while other downloads run faster. It can’t see your allowance or tell a hotspot cap from a plan that caps everything: check on the phone too.

It’s free in Health on any phone hotspot, with the measurements behind it in Kilobat Pro, and in the terminal with kilobat hotspot. More in the docs and saving hotspot data.

Questions

Can I tether on O2 Unlimited?

The Unlimited terms don’t forbid it from your phone. They limit Unlimited UK Data to mobile devices that don’t need plugging in, and treat regularly tethering 12 or more devices, or very heavy use, as a reason to review your plan.

Sources

Checked against O2’s own plan pages, terms and help articles on 1 November 2026. Allowances and speeds differ by plan and change often; what your own plan says wins.

See what your hotspot is really doing

Kilobat is a Mac menu-bar app that shows which apps use your hotspot’s data, holds back updaters on metered networks, and says when downloads keep stopping at the same speed.

Download for Mac ↓
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat