iainjo
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Q: Wi-Fi Personal Hotspot Not Working Under iOS 5

I have tethering on my contract and regularly used my iPhone 4 as a Wi-Fi hotspot under iOS 4. I upgraded to iOS 5 and found straight away that the Wi-Fi functionality with the personal hotspot doesn't appear to work. However tethering using the Personal Hotspot with USB and Bluetooth work fine.

 

As before, what I've found is that either flicking to and from the "Personal Hotspot" page or switching the Personal Hotspot "Off" and then "On" causes the "Wi-Fi" status under sttings to change from "Not Connected" to "On" but this time no Wi-Fi enabled device can discover the phone. The difference I've noticed is that the Wi-Fi status is "On" a far shorter amount of time than under iOS 4, but this should be long enough for discovery.

 

I tried changing the phone name, as mine has a space in, and although the phone worked as is before I've heard this can be a problem. Briefly (a few seconds) the phone was discoverable from a laptop using Wi-Fi and then disappeared for good. I've reset the phone network settings and there's no change.

 

Any other suggestions?

iPhone 4, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 13, 2011 7:58 AM

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iainjo

Q: Wi-Fi Personal Hotspot Not Working Under iOS 5

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  • by jeffro1979,

    jeffro1979 jeffro1979 Oct 18, 2011 6:05 PM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2011 6:05 PM in response to iainjo

    I've got the same issue ever since the IOS 5 upgrade, even with the hotspot on it doesn't show up when I look for available networks. I've tried turning the hotspot on and off to no avail and then randomly sometimes it will work. The tip about going to the hotspot screen, turning the hotspot off then back on again and staying at that screen seems to work more often than not but it's definitely not a solution. I depend on this function for work, 5 days a week and need a real solution ASAP, any advice?

  • by rahul_bradford,

    rahul_bradford rahul_bradford Oct 21, 2011 8:06 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 8:06 AM in response to iainjo

    I am facing the same from the day I upgraded my phone to iOS5. The hotspot doest not appear, tried turning hotspot on and off no use, even tried turning wi-fi on and off to no avail. But soetimes it just works in one go. I dont understand what the problem is? But this is really annoying as most of the time i have to use my phone for internet connectivity. Any help guys!!!

  • by Dominions,

    Dominions Dominions Oct 21, 2011 10:59 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2011 10:59 AM in response to iainjo

    I also have a contract that allows tethering my laptop to the internet via my phone. Iphone 4 personal hotspot was working ok although I would have to turn the hotspot off and on again for it to show the wifi as on and be able to connect. Now I have upgraded to ios5 i can't get the wifi to show as on...... and therefore I cannot connect to the wifi hotspot. I was always impressed how the iphones hotspot worked until this. Now I have to plug the phone in via usb to connect to the internet which is a pain as ususally I leave my phone in the dock up stairs where I get a much better signal and much faster internet speeds. Please sort it out Apple.

  • by Dominions,

    Dominions Dominions Oct 23, 2011 1:46 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2011 1:46 AM in response to iainjo

    Update, ok after reading endlessly yes leaving the phone on the hotspot screen seems to get round the issue of not being able to connect. The other issue I have is windows 7 now keeps asking to update the network location (home,public etc) every single time I connect to the hotspot. This never happened with the pervious ios as it would remember. Any ideas? Secondly the new ios seem to cut your hotspot off randomly, its  a right pain as I have to keep walking up and down my stairs to turn off and on again......

  • by gary1510,

    gary1510 gary1510 Oct 30, 2011 7:31 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 30, 2011 7:31 AM in response to iainjo

    i have the same problem after i updated my iphone to iOS5, very frustrating. Can anyone help? wifi hotspot just doesn't work anymore

  • by immuzain,

    immuzain immuzain Oct 31, 2011 2:42 AM in response to immuzain
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2011 2:42 AM in response to immuzain

    All answer are ******** and atlast i got remedy for this bug...

     

    Go to General >Network>Cellular Data Network > (Fill APN in all section like Apn,Mms,Internet Tethering etc )

    And then you will see all working fine

  • by gary1510,

    gary1510 gary1510 Oct 31, 2011 6:48 AM in response to immuzain
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2011 6:48 AM in response to immuzain

    setting up VPN?

     

    at the moment, i have the leave hotspot page on while my macbook is connecting to iphone wifi(not a very smart way)

    can someone fix this bug pls?

  • by maine11,

    maine11 maine11 Nov 4, 2011 4:59 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2011 4:59 AM in response to iainjo

    Yes, it appears to be a bug in iOS5.  I spent two hours on the phone with AT&T and Apple and then went to the Apple Store twice and replaced the phone the 2nd time. That did not solve it.

     

    The only way to have the WiFi hotspot work, even sporadically, is to stay on the Personal Hotspot screen after you turn the hotspot on.   Even then it may act as the hotspot does not have full "stength" even thought it is discoverable and can cannoct to it.  

     

    Right now the only way it works consistently is to tether it by cable or blue tooth - frustrating especially when trying to us WiFi on the iPad.

  • by veshman,

    veshman veshman Nov 5, 2011 12:07 PM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2011 12:07 PM in response to iainjo

    I have been having similar problems since upgrading to iOS 5 as well. I don't use tethering very often, but have been paying for it since I got the Verizon iPhone 4, iOS 4.

     

    Previously, when I wanted to connect via WiFi, it just worked. At $20 / month, for sporadic usage, that's exactly what I want to be able to do. Just connect to the phone in a pinch and move on with my day.

     

    Since iOS 5, I'll turn the Personal Hotspot on, and my Macbook Air (SL 10.6.8) doesn't see the iPhone for a long time, if at all. Then I have to turn the Hotspot on/off, WiFi on/off, etc and go through a fair amount of frustration to finally get it to work. If I get a call or some other phone interruption, it seems I have to go through the process again.

     

    There definitely seems to be a change/bug introduced in iOS 5 that needs to be corrected.

     

    Bhavesh Patel

  • by dutango,

    dutango dutango Nov 14, 2011 9:59 AM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2011 9:59 AM in response to iainjo

    I'm having the same issue. Staying on the Personal Hotspot screen after you turn the hotspot on, until there is a connection does same to help.

     

    There definitely seems to be a bug introduced in iOS 5 that needs to be corrected.

  • by jonathanfromfort worth,

    jonathanfromfort worth jonathanfromfort worth Nov 25, 2011 8:00 PM in response to iainjo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 25, 2011 8:00 PM in response to iainjo

    I had this same issue, and I resolved it by going to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings.

  • by jakudo,

    jakudo jakudo Nov 26, 2011 12:48 AM in response to jonathanfromfort worth
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 26, 2011 12:48 AM in response to jonathanfromfort worth

    That sadly doesn't work for me:(

  • by Marcus Foth,

    Marcus Foth Marcus Foth Nov 28, 2011 1:55 AM in response to jonathanfromfort worth
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 28, 2011 1:55 AM in response to jonathanfromfort worth

    that worked for me! thanks jonathan!

  • by Pimmsley,

    Pimmsley Pimmsley Nov 29, 2011 12:06 AM in response to jakudo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 29, 2011 12:06 AM in response to jakudo

    Doesn't work for me either... And personal hotspot worked flawlessly befor iOS 5.0, totally rubbish now :(

     

    Are they aware if the issue ? I tried calling support 3 times, but the waiting time was 15+ mins each time... So I gave up

  • by maine11,

    maine11 maine11 Nov 29, 2011 5:02 AM in response to Pimmsley
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 29, 2011 5:02 AM in response to Pimmsley

    I have spoken with Apple support on the phone and been to the store twice on this.  It it intermittent so it appears hard to diagnose. 

     

    If the wifi is working and I walk away with the phone and come back to the laptop it will not pick it up again until I shut off the phone and turn it back on.  Tethering with the USB has been the most consistent way I have seen to use the hotspot.

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