iPhone Hotspot keeps disconnecting

I have the absolute same experience. And it's not even related to Windows, Android, or iOS 17 (it also happened to me under iOS 16). iPhone 14 Pro Max just decides on its own to disconnect iPads, a second iPhone, and an AppleTV. Most of the time, the 2 green chains on the iPhone stay on, even though no data is transmitted anymore.

Usually this can be resolved by opening the Settings App on the iPhone, navigating to the personal hotspot settings which will make the hotspot immediately reappear on the list of available networks.

Sometimes the hotspot disconnects every 20 minutes or so (fun during an online meeting)... Often it takes longer. What I'm trying to say here is that it doesn't look like there's some background timer or some setting that - for whatever reason - shuts down the hotspot for - say - security reasons.

It's baffling, irritating, and - frankly - discredits Apple's slogan "It just works"... I also had an Android phone which had absolutely no issues maintaining a hotspot active for at least 24 hours.

Dunno... Too many responses on this thread to be of any value....

What am *I* going to do?

• Stop using an iPhone as a hotspot (Thanks, 🍎),
• get a real WiFi instead, (i.e. continue using the tp-link I had in the past, even though it is "only" LTE), and have a STABLE connection.
• Forget about an Apple device to be a reliable hotspot.

My experience with Android devices acting as hotspots is 1000x better, but I'll go with a mobile hotspot from a reputable supplier instead of reactivating my Samsung Galaxy S6 (which was more reliable than my iPhone 14 Pro Max).

Dunno why Apple is crippling the "Personal Hotspot"? (deliberately or out of incompetence?). It just turns off after 10 - 20 minutes, no matter whether I am idle, or in the middle of a phone conference in my home office... Unless, of course, I keep "personal Hotspot" settings open in my iPhone settings app for the duration that I need uninterrupted service...

It sure doesn't make me more loyal to the platform. Apple, you're way too expensive to not make all aspects of mobile computing a complete breeze....

I'm just not buying into your annual (or even bi-annual) (or even tri-annual) renewal cycles anymore, and into your commercials with oh-so-diverse and always-bright-teethed-alleged-developers-or-users...

JUST "MAKE IT WORK"?? You truly OWE it to me, ok?

Thanks karuppannan for reaching out!

That's one of the things that I already tried (and failed), among other things, like "forgetting" networks and re-connecting. Yes, that will help. But only until the next breakdown. Disabling maximum compatibility hasn't helped me, nor has reducing network to 4G.

The only thing I find interesting is that, as soon as I "wake up" my iPhone, and go to settings, and select the settings for "Personal Hotspot" (without tickling any of the settings...), everything turns back to normal. All dependent devices auto-re-connect... Second iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, an HP Laptop on Windows...

I'm anything but an expert, but I put the blame on iOS...

The only option is to disable auto locking on your phone. When the screen is active the iPhone’s hotspot will not disconnect your devices.

Hi, please goto iPhone personal hotspot setting, “disable” for Maximum compatibility. Please check and update status if works properly

I spoke to Apple tomorrow morning 30-11-2023 they acknowledge the problem and will be resolved with an update (probably iOS 17.4). But I hope sooner.

Thanks for pointing it out. I believe it should just keep pinging the Default Gateway IP.

example:

c:\users\tirso> ping -t 172.0.0.1

replace 172.0.0.1 with your own local IP address.

mfieldhouse wrote:

Have the same problem - M2 Macbook Air macOS 14.3 constantly disconnecting from iPhone 14 Pro iOS 17.3.

Is your phone plugged in or on a wireless charger? If not, do that.

Hi,

if you pair both devices using bluetooth the hotspot will be remain active even if both devices are locked.

I can confirm that this issue has been going on for YEARS with iphones personal hotspot. Why can't it work as reliably as hotspot on android phone? If I turn on the hotspot feature on an Android phone it stays on and works for hours, perfectly, if I need it. In my experience, connecting a second apple product to the iPhone's hotspot works more reliably than connecting an Android device or a Windows PC, but it is still not flawless. I remember reading somewhere that apple designed the hotspot to turn off automatically if no data traffic is detected over the hotspot for a certain period of time. That is fine but there should be an option to disable this feature, because having to go fiddling with the wifi setting on my second client device and the personal hotspot on the host iphone, every time I want to share my cellular data is a huge pain. Let me leave the hotspot on and discoverable and let me worry about my battery. My guess for the reason apple has persistently refused to fix this issue is a mix of micromanaging "their iPhone" (you only pay for the device, you don't own it) and more apple ecosystem, walled-garden, BS.

Please connect your iPhone with any WiFi once, if not connected for longtime. Once you connected then try. If same keep disconnecting hotspot with window laptop. Do same thing for your windows laptop to connect with wifi once, (not with hotspot through android or iPhone mobile internet.) better to do same, iPhone and windows laptop to connect with same WiFi one time for atleast an hour or less or more. It will resolve the issue. It was my experience.

Totally agree. It's clear... As soon as I unlock my iPhone, go to my Settings and explicitly view the "Personal Hotspot" info, and "tickle" my iPhone every now and then to keep it awake, everything works as expected.

@Apple - I would at LEAST expect some kind of slider/setting that allows all my justifiably connected devices to STAY connected, until *I* say otherwise (not until Apple says otherwise).

I really think you're trespassing...

It happens to me as well all the time on the iPhone 13 Pro. Exactly the same - Apple computer - 0 problems, any other computer - non stop problems. I have eventually bought myself modem to solve this issue. I would drop apple altogether but my company is forcing me to use that. This problem is so awfully annoying.

100% YES. This is how it's done. I connect like this every day and I do not ever get disconnected without doing so myself. I use a Local Access Point and connect via bluetooth and my phone functions like it's supposed to, i use it and surf at the same time. No problems.

My Phone 15 pro max turns on then after a little bit it will disconnect back and forth but I have found the only fix’s in to un plug my phone from power it will continue to work the as long as I leave my phone unplugged from power. We have two iPhones and one mifii ho t spot all three do the same thing. So I don’t know what to do.