Be careful with Wi-Fi Sense!

[Charles Rice]

As much as I love Wi-Fi sense, I hated to hear from my At&t rep at work that her niece had used 11GB of her sisters data because it did not need a password on her Windows 8.1 tablet. The internet sharing feature on Windows Phone 8.1 will always be shown in the available wi-fi networks on a Windows 8.1 device even if it is disabled. This is a great way to be able to enable your internet sharing without actually pulling out your phone, but if your connection is set to connect automatically then it will not ask for a password. So just a word to the wise, don't let your Windows device "connect automatically" to your phone hot spot.

 

[AdilY]

Charles, did you give this a try? I tried on both my Surface Pro 3 and Lumia 2520. It is true that the tablet will remember the phone hotspot credentials, just like it does for any hotspot. It will list the Phone Hotspot even if the internet sharing feature is off. It will however not connect automatically as long as internet sharing is turned off on the phone. BTW, this has nothing to do with Wi-Fi Sense per se, that is for phones connecting to hotspots when available.
There is a scenario which you want to avoid. Turning your hotspot on and not checking how many users connect.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

It will list the Phone Hotspot even if the internet sharing feature is off. It will however not connect automatically as long as internet sharing is turned off on the phone.

Are you sure about this? I have paired my phone to the Surface, but have it set not to connect automatically just for this reason.