If your internet is down, you may still want to use your Peloton bike. Can you use your Peloton bike without WiFi?
Most of a Peloton bikes' features depend on an internet connection. How limited are they without the internet? Is there any way other than WiFi to connect your bike to the internet?
You can use a Peloton bike without WiFi. You can either 1) simply ride the bike without digital features or 2) use a mobile hotspot to get the bike to work without an internet connection. Not everyone knows about mobile hotspots, which let you use the internet without regular access.
WiFi hotspots are a great, underrated technology that not enough people know how to use. WiFi hotspots let you access the internet anywhere where there is no WiFi, including with a laptop and not a phone. You can use a WiFi hotspot to connect many internet-dependent devices to the internet, including your Peloton bike.
During a power outage that lasted for a few days, I was able to use a WiFi hotspot to get my bike to work. That saved me from getting bored when the power was out and everything was closed for a few days.
Can You Download the Classes and Watch Them Offline?
Sort of, but it still won't work without the internet. You cannot fully download the classes and watch them with no internet connection at all.
What you can do is partly download the video data so that they load faster and without complications. This is called the preload feature.
Using the preload feature is a good idea, even if there is never anything wrong with your WiFi. If you use the preload feature, your Peloton bike will stream the video quickly and easily because it has already downloaded most of the data.
Pre-Loading Won't Let You Use Your Bike Without the Internet
Unfortunately, Peloton does not let you download all of the data. Your bike will still have to stream some of the data, so it won't work without WiFi or another way to access online resources.
Using a mobile hotspot to access the internet when the WiFi is out uses up mobile data, which can be expensive. For this reason, you should pre-load all your classes while your WiFi is working. It won't use up nearly as much data if it is all pre-loaded.
How Do You Pre-Load a Class?
Pre-loading a class is easy. Thankfully, Peloton bikes are easy to use.
First, look at the list of classes, then select the class you want to take from the list. Tap the pre-load button, and it will start downloading. A checkmark will appear when the download finishes.
What Happens if You Try to Get the Classes to Work Without WiFi?
You won't be able to get any of the videos to play or even be able to scroll through the available videos. None of the content will work without the internet. The bike will still work as an exercise bike, but with no content.
What Are WiFi Hotspots?
WiFi hotspots allow you to use cell phone data to access the internet on a laptop, your Peloton bike, or some other device other than a cell phone.
Normally, you cannot use mobile data on a laptop - there has to be a WiFi connection. However, you can make it work with a mobile hotspot.
If you set your cell phone up to create a mobile hotspot, the laptop can tap into the mobile phone's data, which will let you access the internet normally. Your laptop will trade information with the cell phone, which will trade information with whatever internet sites you visit.
How Do WiFi Hotspots Help You Use Your Peloton Bike With No Internet?
Thankfully, your Peloton bike is sophisticated enough to work with mobile wireless hotspots. Once you have your mobile hotspot set up, go on your Peloton bike and search for an internet connection.
The mobile hotspot (which will be named whatever you want) will appear on a list of connections. You do not have to do anything special to get the Peloton bike to connect to it - you can connect to it the same way as to a regular internet connection.
How to Get Your Peloton Bike to Work With a WiFi Hotspot
Setting it up is thankfully easy and doesn't require you to be tech-savvy. Navigating through a few menus is enough. Most phones can create hotspots, so you will be fine as long as you have a lot of data.
On an iPhone, go into settings and look for something that says "personal hotspot." It is usually near the top, below "airplane mode," "WiFi," "Bluetooth," and "Cellular."
After you go into the personal hotspot tab, you should see "allow others to join" - turn that on. You can also set a password for the WiFi hotspot you are creating. That is all you have to do to set up the hotspot.
Connecting Your Bike
After you have your WiFi hotspot set up, connecting the bike is easy. Turn on your bike, search for internet connections, choose your hotspot, and enter the password you chose on your cell phone. From then on, the bike will probably stream the videos perfectly fine unless your cell phone data is too slow or you run out of data.
How to Get it to Work With an Android Device
It is just as easy on an Android. First, go into settings. You can either swipe down from the top or go into apps and from there into settings.
While in settings, look for "mobile hotspot and tethering." Depending on your model, it might be called something else instead, but you can likely recognize it from the title. From there, switch on "mobile hotspot" and turn it on.
After that, choose a password for your network, and either choose a name or keep the default name. After that, you should be able to find the network on your Peloton bike and connect to it.
WiFi Compared to Cell Phone Data
There are two ways to access online content, one of which is WiFi and the other is the cell phone network. Cell phone data may seem similar to WiFi, but it is more than a little different.
Both achieve the same result (being able to look at websites, watch shows, send e-mails, or use your Peloton bike,) but they do not work in the same way. The two have advantages and disadvantages.
Mobile Data is Available Anywhere
The best thing about mobile data is that you can use it almost everywhere. Even if you are in a location without WiFi, you can still send text messages and even use the internet if you have any data.
You can even play games, watch full-length movies, work, or complete school assignments nearly anywhere with mobile data. While mobile data won't truly work anywhere (an area might not have any cell phone coverage), nearly everywhere in the US is covered today.
WiFi has a lot of limitations compared to cell phone data, despite its large advantages. You can only use it in specific locations. You can't use it on a country road, and you might not even be able to use it in a coffee shop or restaurant.
WiFi is Cheaper than Mobile Data
The advantage of WiFi is that it's cheaper. If you use a mobile data plan, your data is usually limited.
You may get charged a lot more than usual if you use more data than you pay for. Your company may charge a much higher rate for data after you go over the limit.
It is important to set a limit on data usage if you use mobile data to get your Peloton bike to work. That way, your data will automatically switch off when you run out of data, and you won't get charged a lot of money for overuse.
Can You Ride a Peloton With No Connection and No Hotspot?
If you neither have an internet connection nor a WiFi hotspot, you cannot look at any of the content. However, your Peloton bike will still work as a regular exercise bike.
You will still be able to train hard and work up a sweat without any of the video content. In the long run, it might be harder to stay motivated without the videos and classes, but in the short run, you should be fine. You can do a difficult or lighter workout without using any of the online content.
What About Non-Cycling Content?
Peloton offers instructional videos and classes for people who want to learn yoga, outdoor running, bodyweight exercises, and much more. You cannot access any of this content without the internet. You will need either a regular WiFi connection or a WiFi hotspot to access any of it.
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