Sorry about the late post back here. The problem still exists, but I finally called the provider who told me, "You don't have a hot spot plan--only a data plan." I objected on the basis that it worked that way for three years, but their tech support was not helpful and just kept repeating that I did not have a hot spot plan, despite my request to have them explain how it worked for three years.
But I can read between the lines, and the fact that the hot spot worked for three years, simply counting hot spot minutes against my data plan , and then quit providing internet access abruptly after an OS upgrade strongly implies this: that the prior version of the OS masked hot spot usage from whatever app manages data usage so that hot spot packets were just so many more packets on the data plan.
And I rarely use the data plan for anything except hot spot; in fact, this is just a phone for me except that I need a way to use it to connect my computer to the internet so I can get RDP access to any of the many servers I manage while mobile. And I need that perhaps once per month for a few minutes and perhaps for an hour or two once per year when I need to work while in the car.
So it is not like I ever went anywhere near the data plan limits. Does anyone know how to undo an OS upgrade or configure the system to pool all data usage under data rather than segregating it out in a way that my provider can double-dip by forcing me to pay for a hot spot plan when I was never even using my data minutes?
