diff --git a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/NetworkBand.tsx b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/NetworkBand.tsx
index 24d09046..3927e45a 100644
--- a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/NetworkBand.tsx
+++ b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/NetworkBand.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { useCallback, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import {
   fmtDuration,
   fmtTime,
+  HotspotHint,
   NetworkModel,
   OFFLINE_COLOR,
   segmentTitle,
@@ -60,12 +61,14 @@ export default function NetworkBand({ model }: { model: NetworkModel }) {
     }
   });
 
-  // Legend entries in first-seen order
-  const legend: { identity: string; label: string; color: string; kind: SegmentKind; hotspot?: boolean }[] = [];
+  // Legend entries in first-seen order; the strongest hotspot hint wins.
+  const legend: { identity: string; label: string; color: string; kind: SegmentKind; hotspot?: HotspotHint }[] = [];
   for (const seg of segments) {
     const existing = legend.find((l) => l.identity === seg.identity);
     if (existing) {
-      existing.hotspot = existing.hotspot || !!seg.hotspot;
+      if (seg.hotspot && (!existing.hotspot || (seg.hotspot.confident && !existing.hotspot.confident))) {
+        existing.hotspot = seg.hotspot;
+      }
       continue;
     }
     legend.push({
@@ -73,7 +76,7 @@ export default function NetworkBand({ model }: { model: NetworkModel }) {
       label: segmentTitle(seg),
       color: colors.get(seg.identity) ?? UNKNOWN_COLOR,
       kind: seg.kind,
-      hotspot: !!seg.hotspot,
+      hotspot: seg.hotspot,
     });
   }
 
@@ -93,7 +96,9 @@ export default function NetworkBand({ model }: { model: NetworkModel }) {
             )}
             {l.label}
             {l.hotspot && (
-              <span className="text-[10px] px-1 py-px rounded bg-amber-100 text-amber-800 font-medium">Hotspot?</span>
+              <span className="text-[10px] px-1 py-px rounded bg-amber-100 text-amber-800 font-medium">
+                {l.hotspot.confident ? 'Hotspot' : 'Hotspot?'}
+              </span>
             )}
           </span>
         ))}
@@ -191,7 +196,7 @@ export default function NetworkBand({ model }: { model: NetworkModel }) {
                 {seg.adapterDescription && <div>{seg.adapterDescription}</div>}
                 {seg.hotspot && (
                   <div className="text-amber-300">
-                    Probable smartphone hotspot ({seg.hotspot.vendor}) — {seg.hotspot.reason}
+                    {`${seg.hotspot.confident ? 'Smartphone hotspot' : 'Probable smartphone hotspot'} (${seg.hotspot.vendor}) — ${seg.hotspot.reason}`}
                   </div>
                 )}
                 {seg.ssidInferred && <div className="text-amber-300">SSID inferred from matching gateway</div>}
diff --git a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/networkTimelineModel.ts b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/networkTimelineModel.ts
index c6d2aac2..fb08c6dd 100644
--- a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/networkTimelineModel.ts
+++ b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/networkTimelineModel.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ export type SegmentKind = 'ethernet' | 'wifi' | 'offline' | 'unknown';
 export interface HotspotHint {
   vendor: 'Apple' | 'Windows' | 'Android';
   reason: string;
+  /**
+   * true when the SSID itself matches a typical phone-hotspot name
+   * (e.g. "xyz's iPhone") — strong enough to drop the "?" from the badge.
+   * false = subnet-only evidence, shown as "Hotspot?".
+   */
+  confident: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface NetSegment {
@@ -141,14 +147,28 @@ export function detectHotspot(seg: NetSegment): HotspotHint | undefined {
   if (seg.kind !== 'wifi') return undefined;
   const gw = seg.gateway ?? '';
   const ip = seg.ip ?? '';
+  // iOS default hotspot SSID is "<name>'s iPhone" (localized variants keep
+  // "iPhone"). A user COULD name any AP like this, but that is atypical —
+  // treat an iPhone-named SSID as confident, not just probable.
+  const iphoneSsid = /iphone/i.test(seg.ssid ?? '');
+
   if (gw.includes('172.20.10.1') || ip.startsWith('172.20.10.')) {
-    return { vendor: 'Apple', reason: 'subnet 172.20.10.x — hard-wired by iOS for the personal hotspot' };
+    return {
+      vendor: 'Apple',
+      confident: iphoneSsid,
+      reason: iphoneSsid
+        ? 'subnet 172.20.10.x (hard-wired by iOS) and the SSID matches the typical iPhone hotspot name'
+        : 'subnet 172.20.10.x — hard-wired by iOS for the personal hotspot',
+    };
   }
   if (gw.includes('192.168.137.1') || ip.startsWith('192.168.137.')) {
-    return { vendor: 'Windows', reason: 'subnet 192.168.137.x — Windows mobile hotspot default' };
+    return { vendor: 'Windows', confident: false, reason: 'subnet 192.168.137.x — Windows mobile hotspot default' };
   }
   if (gw.includes('192.168.43.1') || ip.startsWith('192.168.43.')) {
-    return { vendor: 'Android', reason: 'subnet 192.168.43.x — classic Android hotspot default' };
+    return { vendor: 'Android', confident: false, reason: 'subnet 192.168.43.x — classic Android hotspot default' };
+  }
+  if (iphoneSsid) {
+    return { vendor: 'Apple', confident: true, reason: `SSID "${seg.ssid}" matches the typical iPhone hotspot name` };
   }
   return undefined;
 }
diff --git a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/page.tsx b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/page.tsx
index 1e4d8bf0..d5a2f23e 100644
--- a/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/page.tsx
+++ b/src/Web/autopilot-monitor-web/app/sessions/network-timeline/page.tsx
@@ -136,8 +136,8 @@ function Content() {
             <NetworkBand model={model} />
             {model.hotspotDetected && (
               <p className="mt-1 text-[11px] text-amber-700">
-                Hotspot classification is a heuristic based on vendor-default subnets (e.g. 172.20.10.x on iOS) —
-                not a proven fact.
+                Hotspot classification is heuristic: &quot;Hotspot?&quot; marks subnet-only evidence (e.g. 172.20.10.x
+                on iOS); without the &quot;?&quot; the SSID itself matches a typical phone hotspot name.
               </p>
             )}
           </div>