iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working? 10 Tips to Fix the Issue!
Nov. 24, 2021When I don’t have access to a Wi-Fi network, I heavily rely on my iPhone’s personal hotspot to get work done. While the iPhone personal hotspot is reliable, there are times it either goes missing or doesn’t work as expected. That’s why I always put it among themost annoying iOS issuesthat have existed for ages. Fortunately, there are some effective solutions to fix iPhone personal hotspot not working issue. If your iPhone is facing this problem and you are looking for ways to troubleshoot problems with the personal hotspot on your iPhone, give these 10 tried and tested tips a try.
First and foremost, let’s figure out the possible causes of the personal hotspot not working issue. Once that’s done, we will move on and detail each solution.
What Causes Personal Hotspot Not Working Issue on iPhone?
Many a time, the personal hotspot problem occurs due to a random software glitch that you can get rid of by resetting the radios. At other times, the problem could be related to the ill-functioning cellular network or even a bug that may have sneaked into the operating system. So, you are looking at three major scenarios when faced with this problem.
On top of that, ensure that the essential settings for the personal hotspot are enabled across all your participating devices. With that said, here’s a list of potential solutions to fix the iPhone personal hotspot not working issue:
Turning on and off the airplane mode to reset the network is a reliable way of fixing random network-related issues. So, make sure to give this simple yet efficient tip a chance before you check out the other solutions.
If you are getting an incorrect password error while trying to join your iPhone personal hotspot, ensure that the Wi-Fi password you are entering is correct.
To do that, open the Settings app on your iPhone/ iPad and navigate to“Personal Hotspot” to check theWi-Fi password. Tap the Wi-Fi Password option to see the hotspot credentials.
On iPhone 12 and later models, there is a new setting called Maximize Compatibility. It is designed to enforce the speedier 5GHz band, if available, and is enabled by default. Turning off this setting forces the iPhone tocreate a 2.4GHz personal Wi-Fi hotspot. It enables you to connect smart TVs and other smart devices that usually only come with 2.4Hz Wi-Fi support.
You can enable or disable Maximize Compatibility on your iPhone by navigating toSettings -> Personal Hotspotsection. Turn on/ off the “Maximum Compatibility” toggle depending on the type of devices you plan on connecting to your iPhone personal hotspot.
No solution has worked in fixing the problem for you yet? Don’t worry, as we still have several viable tips to fix the ill-functioning iPhone personal hotspot. In the personal hotspot section, there is also a setting called “Allow Others to Join“. Make sure it’s turned on so that others can use your personal hotspot without any hiccups.
Another simple yet reliable solution that you should try to solve the personal hotspot not working problem on your iPhone is to reboot your devices. But before you do that, go to theSettings -> Cellular/ Mobile Dataand turn it off. Now, restart the device and turn on cellular data and personal hotspot once again.
Personal hotspot tends to work more reliably after you pair the two devices – the iPhone used to create the hotspot and the device using the wireless network. So, if the iPhone hotspot not working issue persists for you, give this solution a shot as well.
Now, try using the iPhone personal hotspot on your Mac or Windows computer to see if the problem has been fixed.
Now, if your iPhone personal hotspot doesn’t work even after you have turned on Bluetooth and paired the two devices, try to turn off/ on Bluetooth to reset the connection.
If turning off/ on Bluetooth hasn’t resolved the issue, disconnect the devices, reboot them all, and then try to reconnect them once again.
Carrier providers often release updates in order to improve the overall performance and fix miscellaneous issues. Therefore, we suggest you update the carrier setting from time to time. To do so, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and go toGeneral -> About. Now, if there is any carrier update available, you will get a prompt for the update.
If your personal hotspot is still not working as intended on your iOS device, try resetting the network settings. Since it is a popular fix for troubleshooting network-related issues, there is a good chance it can help you resolve the problem.
You can connect your Mac to the personal hotspot of your iOS device over USB. As it’s known to offer a more stable connection, it wouldn’t be wise to give this solution a miss. Now, to connect your Mac to your iPhone personal hotspot over USB, follow the steps below:
If the personal hotspot of your iPhone is still not working,try updating the software. Since most iOS updates arrive with several bug fixes and performance enhancements, I expect the software update could help resolve the issue.
To do that, open the Settings app on your iPhone and move toGeneral -> Software Update. Now, allow your iOS device to check for the latest updates. If there is an update waiting, download and install it right away to fix any miscellaneous bugs.
So yeah, these are all the possible tips and tricks you can try out to resolve the personal hotspot not working problem on iPhone and iPad. I hope you have eventually managed to fix the problem and connected to the iPhone Wi-Fi hotspot. So, let me know which of these nifty tips and tricks helped you fix the issue? And if there is any other trick that is efficient in resolving this problem, make sure to let our readers know about it in the comments section below.
An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.
