Tim Klein

Q: Instant Hotspot / Personal Hotspot Not Functioning Correctly

Repost due to header spelling fail... Sorry!


Performed the iOS update to 8.1 and the instant hotspot isn't functioning. Whenever I try to connect from my MacBook I get the error: Failed to enable Personal Hotspot on "Tim's iPhone" - Check to see if the tethering device is turned on and in range of your computer.

 

I've reset the network settings on the iPhone, cleared all of my saved networks on my MacBook to try to get it back to a semi-reset state (though I did a full drive erase and installed Yosemite from scratch so I can't imagine my settings are very far from virgin state yet) but I'm still unable to connect unless I manually turn on the Personal Hotspot on the iPhone first (even then, connecting is a bit hit and miss which was never a problem before). Restarting each device multiple times and logging into and out of the iCloud account on each device hasn't changed anything.

 

Even worse is that, prior to upgrading from 8.0.2, the feature worked perfectly between my iPad and my iPhone. It even shut the personal hotspot off as soon as you disconnected from the iPhone. Now, it's hit and miss as well; Connecting every 3rd or 4th try but leaving Personal Hotspot "on" on my iPhone after disconnection.

 

The smooth experience between my iPad and iPhone is what gave me such high expectations for the Yosemite release. Now I'm sitting here with that still not functioning and the original experience gone. How disappointing.

 

---

Tim

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 20, 2014 2:18 PM

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Q: Instant Hotspot / Personal Hotspot Not Functioning Correctly

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  • by sammiemo,

    sammiemo sammiemo Jan 14, 2015 6:12 AM in response to Bazmanian
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2015 6:12 AM in response to Bazmanian

    Many of the steps I've taken here have got it working for me. It will work for a while (anywhere from a few hours to a day or so), then I'm back in the same boat.

     

    Maybe the Genius Bar will be able to help me.

  • by AceNeerav,

    AceNeerav AceNeerav Jan 14, 2015 6:59 AM in response to sammiemo
    Level 1 (107 points)
    Apple Music
    Jan 14, 2015 6:59 AM in response to sammiemo

    sammiemo wrote:

     

    It will work for a while (anywhere from a few hours to a day or so), then I'm back in the same boat.

     

     

    ditto!

  • by Zlochevsky,

    Zlochevsky Zlochevsky Jan 22, 2015 4:07 AM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 22, 2015 4:07 AM in response to Tim Klein

    Thanks, Tim!

     

    Worked for me as well!

  • by NacDaddy,

    NacDaddy NacDaddy Feb 14, 2015 1:54 AM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2015 1:54 AM in response to Tim Klein

    This worked perfectly for me - thanks Tim!

  • by billybob35,

    billybob35 billybob35 Mar 7, 2015 6:07 AM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 7, 2015 6:07 AM in response to Tim Klein

    Not sure if it has been mentioned in any of the posts but when I just had the same problem, I turned off bluetooth on my iphone. It was coming up originally with the 4g signal and battery etc. but I was getting the "Failed to connect to personal hotspot on iphone" message. I turned off bluetooth on the iphone (it said it was connected to the MBP) and tried again, this time it listed just "iphone" as a wifi signal with no battery strength etc. Clicked on that and it connected straight away. FWIW!

     

    Late 2014 MBP 13" with Yosemite 10.10.2 & iPhone6

  • by Brian Driver,

    Brian Driver Brian Driver Mar 8, 2015 5:58 PM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2015 5:58 PM in response to Tim Klein

    Thank you Tim!  Your guide worked for me.

  • by tgwaste-,

    tgwaste- tgwaste- Mar 15, 2015 4:59 PM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 15, 2015 4:59 PM in response to Tim Klein

    Disabling BT worked for me.

     

    o Disable BlueTooth

    o Enable Personal Hotspot

    o It will ask to turn on BT or use Wifi USB Only.

    o Select Wifi USB Only

    o Once connected you can turn on BT again and it should work as normal from that point forward.

     

    .. Worked for me at least.

  • by AceNeerav,

    AceNeerav AceNeerav Apr 13, 2015 2:37 PM in response to tgwaste-
    Level 1 (107 points)
    Apple Music
    Apr 13, 2015 2:37 PM in response to tgwaste-

    ios 8.3, os x 10.10.3

     

    got a 'failed connection' message the first time.

    second time it connected but instead of showing it as a personal hotspot it showed as if it was normal wifi. whats worse, it showed my iphone has a pppoe connection!

    third time, it worked fine.

  • by Dekema,

    Dekema Dekema Apr 14, 2015 8:09 PM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (13 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 14, 2015 8:09 PM in response to Tim Klein

    I feel like I tried this before. It worked now. This is the solution that will work.

  • by pinkun,

    pinkun pinkun Apr 18, 2015 11:01 PM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2015 11:01 PM in response to Tim Klein

    Thanks Tim.  Really works for me.  Just sign out and sign in my Apple ID on both iPhone and Macbook Pro Retina.

  • by janfromvasa,

    janfromvasa janfromvasa Apr 22, 2015 11:21 AM in response to tgwaste-
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 22, 2015 11:21 AM in response to tgwaste-

    This, or actually just turning bt off, made my phone appear with the wifi-networks instead as a personal hotspot, and I was able to connect my iMac.

     

    Thx!

  • by cvx5832,

    cvx5832 cvx5832 Apr 25, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 25, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Tim Klein

    This has been a goofy bug for sure and I hope Apple resolves it with a software update.  Until that magical day arrives you can add an additional step to the current one-button press and get it to connect every time.

     

    Note: Personal Hotspot on your iPhone must be toggled ON

     

    1.) Click "Join Other Network" (instead of clicking on your phone in the hotspot section of the dropdown)

    2.) Click "Show Networks"

    3.) Click on your iPhone and "Join"

     

    I find that this connects faster because it doesn't have that awkward pause where the devices seem to be negotiating something in the background.  As soon as I click "Join" in step 3 the linked chain appears in my menu bar and I can surf as usual.

     

    This worked on both my 2015 rMB-12 and 2012 rMBP-13, both of which were having issues.  Thanks Apple.

     

    Screen Shot 2015-04-25 at 8.51.58 AM.png

    Screen Shot 2015-04-25 at 8.46.30 AM.png

    Screen Shot 2015-04-25 at 8.49.44 AM.png

  • by DocSport,

    DocSport DocSport Apr 29, 2015 11:10 AM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 29, 2015 11:10 AM in response to Tim Klein

    So here is the problem that I was having ........every time I would try to connect to the Hotspot I would be able to see the connection being attempted over and over again evidenced by the fact that the blue hotspot banner at the top of the screen would flicker on and off.  I tried Tim's solution and then some but still had the same issues.  What I did was actually to leave the iphone alone and focus on the computer.  I simply right clicked on the hotspot and went to properties and then re-entered the password for my hotspot and voila everything works perfectly. 

     

    This worked for me .....hopefully it works for you guys.  All the best

  • by jonathanfromlodi,

    jonathanfromlodi jonathanfromlodi May 8, 2015 6:34 PM in response to cvx5832
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apple Music
    May 8, 2015 6:34 PM in response to cvx5832

    FYI...if you are able to connect via the more manual method (turning on Personal Hotspot on the iPhone and then connecting), then the connection will likely show up in your list of connections when you open Network Preferences -> Advanced on the Mac (it may already be in there from prior successful connections). Apple informed me to then try Forgetting this network connection (Highlight the connection then click the '-' button and then 'Remove') and try connecting again via Instant Hotspot. This actually worked for me when nothing else would. For more info on forgetting a network connection in OS X, go here.

  • by Eddhhz,

    Eddhhz Eddhhz May 14, 2015 12:57 PM in response to Tim Klein
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 14, 2015 12:57 PM in response to Tim Klein

    THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this Tim, this issue has been bugging me for a long while, couldn't figure it out with apple support as well and until i saw your post.

    Great thanks!!

     

    Eddie.H

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