I have a hardware accessory that (annoyingly) instead of supporting Bluetooth, requires a WiFi hotspot in order to communicate with an iPhone.
Unfortunately I do not have tethering on my mobile data plan, and it seems foolish to pay for that feature when I don't need the internet aspect of it. When I tap "Set Up Personal Hotspot" the iPhone tries to send me to the webpage of my mobile provider. It does not allow creation of just a WiFi network without a data plan.
Is there a setting or app for iOS that will allow me to create an offline hotspot that nearby devices can connect to? Again, this is only for transferring data between devices - I do not need an internet connection.
One more detail: I need to be able to specify the network name and password in order for the accessory to connect to it. These settings are pre-defined in the hardware.