Using hotspot

Celtic Fairy wrote:

Thanks. I guess I will have to contact Verizon before I try anything else.

I’m completely confused. We still don’t know if you’re attempting to connect your PC to the Hotspot using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB. We don’t know anything about what you’ve tried on the PC side.

Here’s yet another information source (referenced in the link I supplied previously):

If Personal Hotspot is not working on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) - Apple Support

Greetings Celtic Fariy,

iPhone hot spot works with PC, Macs and gaming consoles and most devices that support Wi-Fi connectivity.

Hotspots can be a bit tricky because there can be alot to check.

First, I would make sure your carrier 1: support hot spots and 2: make sure you have a plan that lets you use hot spot data. For example, I have Sprint /TMobile and I pay extra to be able to use hot spot on my device

Next, make sure your Wi-Fi symbol on your iPhone is turned off in the control center ( the device providing the connection)

Then try these steps.

On the device that provides Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot, then follow these steps:

1. Make sure that Allow Others to Join is on. 
2. Remember the device's Wi-Fi network name and password that appear on this screen. If you want to change the Wi-Fi network name, learn how to change your device name.
3. If you're using an iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max, turn on Maximize Compatibility. Then try connecting your devices again to your Personal Hotspot.
4. Stay on this screen until you connect your other device to the Wi-Fi network. 

On the device that needs to connect to Personal Hotspot, follow these steps:

1. Turn Wi-Fi off and back on.
2. Make sure that you connect to the correct Wi-Fi network. The network name is the same as the iOS device that provides Personal Hotspot and  might appear next to it.
3. If you see a password error when you try to join Personal Hotspot, check the Wi-Fi password: On the device that provides Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot to see the Wi-Fi password

As for the Bluetooth issue , do you get an error when trying to connect via Bluetooth? If so please post the error here .

If you have anymore questions at all please feel free to ask.

Celtic Fairy wrote:

This is what I have been doing

You told us what “this” means from the iPhone’s perspective. But we have no idea what you’ve been doing on the PC side. We don’t even know what operating system is involved on that side.

But again, regardless of those answers, the article should address your specific case.

A PC can connect to an iPhone’s Hotspot. Here is how.

How to set up a Personal Hotspot on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

UPDATE: Sorry, you won’t be able to do the above using an iPhone SE.

If you're sending out a 5Ghz hotspot signal, try changing the to a 2.4Ghz signal and see if it picks it up

Ah, that’s helpful, thanks.

On your iPhone, check Settings > Personal Hotspot > Maximize Compatibility = “on”.