Using Hotspot on iPad Automatically Turns on iPhone Wifi

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Using Hotspot on iPad Automatically Turns on iPhone Wifi

Sometimes when travelling, rather than use my iPad using a known Wifi network, I want to connect it to my iPhone Hotspot, with my iPhone connected to the internet via its cellular connection. (This, for security reasons, when doing online banking for example.)

This has worked in the past. But now I find that when I turn wifi off on my iPhone and then try to join the iPhone Hotspot from my iPad, my iPhone automatically turns wifi back on and joins the local known Wifi network. It sort of defeats the purpose.

To make it work via cellular, I have to make my iPhone forget the local known Wifi networks and then when I turn Wifi off on the iPhone and try to join the iPhone Hotspot with my iPad, the iPhone automatically turns on Wifi but stays connected to the internet via the cellular signal (since it has no known local Wifi networks).

After using it this way, I have to manually go in reconnect to the local Wifi network and re-enter the password, etc.

There must be a better way. Something seems to have changed of late.

What do people do instead? Do I have to adjust a particular setting? Does Apple need to make some changes to accommodate such requests?

Thanks in advance for your support.

iPhone SE (3rd generation)

Posted on Nov 9, 2023 7:06 AM

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Answer 1

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Ontario1 Author

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48 points

Nov 24, 2023 7:39 AM in response to Ontario1

Investigating further, I found that this is an effective way to connect iPad to iPhone hotspot to avoid going through a wifi network when visiting when doing online banking etc (for security purposes):

On iPhone, turn off Wifi. (This disconnects the iPhone from the local network connection and it relies instead on mobile data.)
On iPad, select iPhone HotSpot as network connection (rather than the local Wifi).
This will automatically turn on Wifi on the iPhone and a green band goes across the top of the phone to indicate that a device (iPad) is connected to the HotSpot. BUT: The iPhone does not connect to the Wifi. It stays connected to mobile data (provided it is in an area with coverage).
When complete, change the iPad network connection back to the local Wifi. (This removes the green band across the top of the iPhone, indicating no HotSpot connections any longer.)
Select the iPhone to connect back to the local Wifi network.

Thanks all for your helpful guidance on this.

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Answer 2

Nov 9, 2023 7:13 AM in response to Ontario1

If your iPhone is automatically connecting to a saved WiFi network without your manual selection, and the "Auto-Join" option is turning itself on, there could be a few possible explanations for this behavior. Here are some things you can check and do to troubleshoot the issue:

Location-based Auto-Join: iPhones have a feature called "Auto-Join Hotspot" that allows the device to automatically join known WiFi networks based on your location. It uses cell tower and GPS information to determine your location and connect to familiar WiFi networks. To check if this feature is enabled, go to Settings > WiFi and scroll down to find the "Auto-Join Hotspot" option. You can disable this feature if you don't want your iPhone to automatically connect to known networks based on location.
1. The pic below says: Known networks will be joined automatically. If no known networks are available, you will be notified of available networks.
iCloud Keychain Sync: If you have multiple Apple devices (e.g., iPhone, iPad, Mac) and use iCloud Keychain to sync your WiFi network settings across devices (Refer to the third Screenshot below), changes made on one device can propagate to others. So, if you accidentally enabled the "Auto-Join" option on one device, it might get synced to your iPhone as well. To avoid this, ensure that you manually manage WiFi networks on each device separately.
1. See the pic below: Which says, Your device and other devices using iCloud Keychain will no longer join this Wi-Fi network If Forget is tapped.

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Answer 3

Ontario1 Author

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Nov 9, 2023 8:00 AM in response to SravanKrA

@SravanKrA

Thank you for your reply.

The iPhone reconnected to the known network even though it was set to Ask to Join. (Though some of my other devices were set to join known networks with Notify.) (And all were "Ask to Join" for Hotspots.)

The iPhone did not automatically rejoin the Networks after I forgot them.

But it seems that if you turn on "Ask to Join" for a Network on a device, it should ask to join.

I think Apple may have to look at this. As it seems to be a situation that has come up only recently (with my new iPhones that enable iOS 17).

Thanks,

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Answer 4

Ontario1 Author

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48 points

Nov 13, 2023 7:31 AM in response to Ontario1

May I also ask, how, in iCloud (or otherwise), do I set it up so if I go somewhere and I join a wifi with one device, all my devices automatically get that information so they can join that wifi? I believe I had it set up for that I think with my previous iPhones, but not sure if my new iPhones are doing this and sharing with iPad, Mac etc. How do I set this up to happen on all my devices?

Thanks,

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Answer 5

Nov 9, 2023 7:12 AM in response to Ontario1

Hotspot requires Wi-Fi.

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Using Hotspot on iPad Automatically Turns on iPhone Wifi

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