Thanks for the replies. This phone does not have the tethering/hot spot icon. A year after I bought it, 4 years ago, I went looking for it and couldn't find it. Went back to Wal-Mart and was told that it was omitted by Straight Talk and the only way it might be restored is by doing a "factory restart". I just let it go. Now I'm planning an extended trip this Summer/Fall and the availability of a hot spot would be real handy. I might just have to buy a new phone and switch to one of the extended data plans Straight Talk, or another carrier offers. Get these holidays behind me and really zero in on this.