Instant Hotspot / Personal Hotspot Not Functioning Correctly

Simple Process

1: On the device that needs the internet connection (eg your MacBook), Turn Off WiFi

2: On iPhone,

- Set to Airplane Mode = On

- Go to Settings -> Personal Hotspot

set to OFF

then change WiFi password

- Go to Settings -> General -> About

change Name to a name that the device (eg your MacBook) requiring the hotspot has never connected to. Important step, otherwise your device (MacBook) may try using some saved setting for a previously used wifi name.

- Now go back to Settings -> Personal Hotspot and Set to ON

- Set Airplane Mode = OFF

- Wait for your iPhone to be fully connectedness to your mobile network

3. On the device that needs the internet connection (eg your MacBook), Turn ON WiFi

then Connect to your new personal hotspot using the new password

Step 2 in Tim's instructions should carry an important caveat: If you have iCloud Keychain enabled on your Apple devices, resetting Network Settings on your iPhone [General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings] will delete all your wifi hotspot settings from all your devices including your Mac.

Also, I had this same issue with the instant hotspot feature and the solution for me was simply to delete an erroneous entry for my iPhone in my Mac's keychain (use the Keychain Access utility in macOS) which was listed as something like "airport sharing key" (sorry I deleted it without thinking to commit the name to memory) the best part was I didn't need to sign out/in of iCloud and wait for all my data to sync on any of my devices or reset any network settings and I only needed to reboot my Mac.

I figured out my issue was that my Mac was still looking for my original iPhone which had recently been replaced under warranty. Step 3 of Tim's instructions helped as renaming my iPhone [General -> About -> Name. Resetting network settings] allowed me to connect to the hotspot manually but the instant hotspot entry in the macOS menu bar wifi network list was still there and I still couldn't use it to connect to my iPhone… until i deleted the keychain entry I mentioned above and rebooted my Mac.

Thanks. This worked for me with my iPhone 7 and MacBook. I only needed these two steps though:

2. Reset Network Settings on the iPhone (General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings)

3. If necessary, Rename the phone to what you want it called (General -> About -> Name. Resetting network settings consistently renamed my phone to just "iPhone")

Hi,

Simple solution would be to remove the special character from your iPhone name i.e., '. So for e.g., 'Tim iPhone' would work just fine whereas having 'Tim's iPhone' will not work when you try to connect to the network with special character in its name.

I am having this exact same problem. I used to be able to connect and now I can only connect if I first enable the hotspot. I can't believe Apple is releasing software features as major as this broken. I have a 2014 rMBP and iPhone 6 Plus. They clearly didn't test this at all.

I'm having the same problem with my Verizon iPad Air and my late 2013 Retina MBP. Tethering to my iPad Air via lightning cable works for me. I'm also able to connect my iPhone 6 plus to my iPad Air via Instant Hotspot without issue.

Another victim reporting. I can see the personal hotspot with my signal strenth, signal type, battery indicator and hotspot icon, but connecting fails with the same message. MacBook Pro 15" Retina 2014 (OS X 10.10) + iPhone 5 (iOS 8.1).

Add my voice to the list. Tried over and over with personal hotspot already on, already off, phone open to the personal hotspot page, etc. It shows in the list, but gives the same error. I did finally get it to connect (am on it now) but took a while to get there. Am worried about what happens when it drops and how many tries it will take to get it back.

I'm not sure that this is a Yosemite problem,(which is where you've located this thread), so much as an iOS problem.

Have you posted a thread under that category where you might get more help for it?

Just a really friendly, and not flame-y in the least, suggestion, as one is more likely to find clever fixes from the people who are focussed on your specific problem under the correct topic.

I only toss this 2 cents at you because I have had such wonderful experiences getting help in these forums myself.

🙂

It seems like a Yosemite problem because I can connect using personal hotspot from one iOS device to another. It's only Yosemite to iOS that isn't working for me. I appreciate the 2 cents, though!

YYes, I have the same proble with my iPad mini and iPhone 5. Work ok before the update now all I get is an error message.

Tim, this procedure WORKED for me. Thanks so much! I had done *everything* you mention several times -- everything except Reset Network Settings.

I had had pretty much all of the Continuity features working, except for the SMS features which require iOS 8.1, before updating the from 8.0x to 8.1. After doing the update, I only temporarily had any Continuity/Handoff/Messages/Phone capability at all. Then it all died.

I'm still getting the Cocoa 4608 error when trying to get a Mail handoff from Mac OS to iOS, but... everything else is better. So far anyway.

So THANKS again to you, Tim!

Once I followed Tim's procedure, my iOS devices connect to the instant hotspot much more reliably. I still can't connect my Late 2013 13" Retina Macbook Pro. I'm wondering if there's an equivalent to resetting network settings on my Macbook. When I get a chance, I'll try resetting PRAM, etc., to see if that helps.

Thanks Tim, your way just works 100% for me!

I use a MacBook Air (13", medio 2013) and the new iPhone 6.