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Cannot turn off personal hotspot

iPad Air running latest iOS version.

iPhone 6 running latest iOS version.


Personal Hotspot is turned off on my iPhone. My iPad can see its Personal Hotspot as available to connect to.

I tap the entry for the iPhone Personal Hotspot, the iPad connects to it ... even though it is not turned on.

My iPhone confirms this by the telltale blue strip appearing at the top of the screen indicating someone has connected to the phone ...

I check the Personal Hotspot section within iOS and sure enough it has turned itself on.


I turn off the Personal Hotspot again ...

The iPad then shows an alert to indicate its connection has been terminated.


But shortly after, the iPhone Personal Hotspot (which I turned OFF) entry appears in the wireless connection list on the iPad and I can tell it to connect again. I click the entry, and the iPad connects again via Personal Hotspot to my iPhone.


I Have told he iPad to 'forget this device' and it still connects with no issues whatsoever ...


Also, the iPad is able to connect to my iPhone without giving the password that I have set up!!


HELP!

This is a security problem surely?

iPhone 6, iOS 8.0.2

Posted on Oct 21, 2014 4:43 AM

Reply
88 replies

Dec 7, 2017 8:01 PM in response to hans_123

hans_123 wrote:


Although I can understand the desire to be helpful by providing this service, and I understand the idea that this is a closed cloud-identity thing, I would like to know who to send the mobile data charges to.


You send them to yourself. You should be the only person using your iCloud ID, so you are the only person who can use the hotspot.

I want the ability to turn this off, even for myself, to avoid adding unnecessary charges to my data plan. ESPECIALLY if I am roaming. Out of habit, I might use it when in my local area, but those roaming charges could be sigificant, and I want to ensure I don't accidentally tap into them.


You can't accidentally use hotspot data, as you must connect to the hotspot each time you want to use it. If it goes idle it disconnects, and you must reconnect again.

Jan 3, 2015 7:56 AM in response to Levellingser

We're having a similar issue - with a twist. We have a home network (supported by a Dlink router) that has been pretty good since we moved in this location 2 plus years ago. We have the occasional issue with weather interference (on a hill) but that's typically it. About a week ago, my son came home from school with his new iPhone (hotspot capable) and all of a sudden our internet was constantly dropping. We could reset the router and connect, but it would drop within 3-7 minutes. Turns out my son's iPhone hotspot reset all our router settings. Finally got it rectified, told him to NOT use his hotspot while home (and to make sure it was turned off prior to coming home), and the internet was fantastic for 3 days. Then all of a sudden we're back to the same problem. He used his hotspot while out, but turned it off before coming to home; yet it's still showing up on all of our iPods and another iPhone in the home. He has tried turning the phone off, resetting network settings, and disabling wi-fi. It will shut off and disappear from everyone else's devices, but after ten minutes or so, it's right back on. Help??

Oct 28, 2017 2:10 PM in response to Levellingser

i have this problem as well. I'm not sure I trust that it's not visible to others or usable by others. More, I wonder if it crowds wifi connection, because it seems to be present whenever the wifi connection to my desktop (iMac) gets dodgy. I'll admit none of this hotspot business makes sense to me. I don't understand it and don't understand the need for need for all these connections all the time. And generally it's of no use when I need/want access to my iTunes library.

Dec 7, 2017 4:29 PM in response to Levellingser

Although I can understand the desire to be helpful by providing this service, and I understand the idea that this is a closed cloud-identity thing, I would like to know who to send the mobile data charges to.


I want the ability to turn this off, even for myself, to avoid adding unnecessary charges to my data plan. ESPECIALLY if I am roaming. Out of habit, I might use it when in my local area, but those roaming charges could be sigificant, and I want to ensure I don't accidentally tap into them.


How does one request a feature enhancement?

Jan 19, 2018 7:13 PM in response to lestat1

GREAT TIP!!!!


I can’t believe it... I’ve been fighting this on an iPhone which was recently reinstalled from scratch by Apple with no iCloud backup restore because of iOS upgrade issues from 10 to 11 which corrupted settings and these were backed up. So essentially it was factory fresh and I did not believe that this could have any effect.


Well, I was wrong... it worked.

Settings - Reset - Reset Network Settings

after restart, set up all of your WiFi and hot spot again and the off/on button for the hot spot works properly with Bluetooth on or off, and there is no way for other iOS devices to override it, with or without Bluetooth.


It can be difficult to know what is good advice here, as virtually all of the explanations on this thread are incorrect and trying to rationalize or explain away clear security issues and obvious bugs. While working with Apple recently on other strange battery issues with a perfect battery, I learned that iOS updates can corrupt configuration, and the corruption will go into an iPhone backup. This network reset simply clears the related settings to a clean state and upon reconfiguration all of the features work absolutely perfectly in line with the setting choices. When it is off, it is off. All works as expected.

Oct 21, 2014 8:38 PM in response to Briansyddall

I'm having the exact same issue as described above even though I am up to date on both devices.


I can say that I also have another iPad (3rd gen) and an iMac here, but they do not see the personal hotspot. Only the iPad Air is seeing the personal hotspot and turns it "on" on the iPhone 5s when you attempt to connect. Very strange that the iPhone would be broadcasting, but only the iPad Air would be picking up on it.

Nov 26, 2014 1:40 PM in response to Levellingser

Yep, same issue here. I just upgraded the software on both my iPhone 5 and iPad (gen3). Now even though I have personal hotspots turned off on my iPad I can still see it on my phone and if I click on it, it actually turns on hotspots on the iPad and simply connects without password or anything. Have yet to see if this is just on my phone or others as well. If it is just because both devices are on the same account and logged in as me that is one thing....although I still don't like the change. It certainly was not like this before the update.

Cannot turn off personal hotspot

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