My Hotspot keeps on disconnecting from my iPhones

Question

Level 1

22 points

My Hotspot keeps on disconnecting from my iPhones

Hello, I am traveling right now and I don't always have WiFi, so I bought an unlimited data SIM and I am using it as a hotspot from one of my phones.

So we are 2 persons, each one has an iPhone and a laptop (one Mac and one PC). The SIM is in a third iPhone.

We have no issues with the laptops as the hotspot is always connected to them and it never disconnects. However, the issue is with the iPhones.

The hotspot WiFi connection keeps on disconnecting from the iPhones for no reason, mainly when we lock the phone/turn the wifi off then on. Then, the hotspot won't be discoverable under the WiFi section on the iPhone, even though it will be connected at the same time to the Mac and PC.

On the iPhone that is used as a hotspot, I went to settings-personal hotspot-family sharing and I chose "automatic" for all the family iCloud accounts.

On the iPhones that connect to the hotspot through WiFi, I went to settings-WiFi-clicked on the hotspot name and I chose "auto-join"

But it's not working. Every few minutes the iPhones keep on disconnecting from the hotspot, and when we try to reconnect we don't even find the hotspot signal in the WiFi until I turn off the hotspot and turn it on again.

Again, this issue is only happening on iPhones. On the Mac and PC, the Hotspot WiFi connection never disconnects or becomes undiscoverable.

What should I do?

iPhone 14 Pro Max

Posted on Jun 25, 2023 8:53 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jun 25, 2023 9:03 AM in response to Isa Al

That is expected behavior. All iPhones disconnect from Wi-Fi 30 seconds after the phone screen locks, to preserve battery energy, unless the phone is connected to power. This is done because a Wi-Fi connection uses power continuously, whether data are transferring or not. Cellular connections use more energy, but only when actually sending data. There are a few exceptions:

If you are streaming audio or video Wi-Fi will stay on
If you receive a notification Wi-Fi will reconnect for a few seconds to process the notification
And, I think (but I’m not sure) if an app uses Background App Refresh it can wake and use Wi-Fi; however very few apps actually use Background App Refresh.

Further, the personal hotspot “forgets” devices that are disconnected from it for a period of time, also to preserve energy, but also to reduce cellular data usage. The hotspot has no way of knowing what your data allowance is.

Reply

Answer 2

Isa Al Author

Level 1

22 points

Jun 25, 2023 10:39 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Hello Lawrence, thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, once the hotspot WiFi is disconnected, it doesn't get connected automatically again. Even if I tried to manually connect it, I won't find the hotspot WiFi name in my WiFi list. I have to turn off the hotspot and then on again on my other iPhone.

The issue is that I am missing a lot of important notifications once I lock my iPhone. Unlike when I usually connect to a normal WiFi.

Is there anyway to fix this?

Reply

My Hotspot keeps on disconnecting from my iPhones

Similar questions