Hotspot: Why won't my Apple devices play nicely?

Question

Level 1

6 points

Hotspot: Why won't my Apple devices play nicely?

I live in an area without high-speed internet, so I use my iPhone's mobile hotspot as my main source of internet for my MacBook Air, my iPad, and my Microsoft Surface Book. I also have a Google Nexus that I use to test out apps.

Because I use it so much, I usually just leave the hotspot on all the time, and connect to it when I need to.

When I want to connect, it's a breeze with other devices, but it's a pain in the butt with my iOS/OS X devices.

iPhone hotspot + Surface Book: automatically and instantly connects.

iPhone hotspot + Nexus phone: automatically and instantly connects.

iPhone hotspot + MacBook Air:

1. Open Wi-Fi in Taskbar.

2. Wait for hotspot to show up.

3. Click on hotspot.

4. Wait to see if it connects.

5. "Unable to start personal hotspot"

6. Open iPhone settings.

7. Turn off hotspot.

8. Turn hotspot on again.

9. Go back to MBA Wi-Fi.

10. Wait for hotspot to show up.

11. Click on hotspot.

12. Wait for hotspot to connect.

13. If it doesn't work, return to step 6.

14. If that doesn't work, turn off/on MBA Wi-Fi and try again

15. If that doesn't work, put iPhone in Airplane Mode briefly, then return to Step 8.

iPhone hotspot + iPad: Follow same procedure as with MacBook Air.

As a test, I put my SIM card in the Nexus to see how well things connect.

Nexus hotspot + Surface Book: automatically and instantly connects.

Nexus hotspot + iPhone: automatically and instantly connects.

Nexus hotspot + MacBook Air: automatically and instantly connects.

Nexus hotspot + iPad: automatically and instantly connects.

What gives?

iPhone 7, iOS 11.2.5

Posted on Feb 4, 2018 9:17 AM

Reply

Answer 1

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Feb 6, 2018 10:59 AM in response to Paddrysimo

Hi Paddrysimo,

Thank you for contributing to the Apple Support Communities.

I see you're using Personal Hotspot to share your iPhone data connection with several other devices. You already completed a good series of steps to isolate the issue to the connection between your iPhone and MacBook Air.

Here are a few troubleshooting steps I'd suggest trying next, based on the advice in Get help with Personal Hotspot on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch :

On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset and Reset Network Settings.
Make sure your MacBook Air is updated to the latest macOS version.

From your description, it sounds like your Mac is using the Instant Hotspot feature to connect to your iPhone without requiring you to enter the Wi-Fi network password, so next I'd suggest signing out of iCloud on your MacBook Air and test the hotspot connection with your iPhone again.

You can find more information about Instant Hotspot in Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch .

Let us know how this goes and if either of the steps give you different results.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

LACAllen

Level 8

43,494 points

Mar 11, 2018 6:20 PM in response to Paddrysimo

Do you have Bluetooth on all the devices? Are they each signed in to the same iCloud account and wifi is on? Becky from Apple linked this for you as well.

This would trigger a feature called Continuity, which should connect your MacBook Air and iPad to your iPhone's Personal Hotspot without any action on your part. No password, no clicking.

See >>> Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support

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Answer 3

MoonJ.

Community Specialist

Mar 11, 2018 4:57 PM in response to Paddrysimo

Hi Paddrysimo,

Thanks for getting back to us. Since you've tried all of the previous suggestions, I'd recommend reaching out to Apple Support using one of the other methods on Contact Apple Support .

Best regards.

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Answer 4

Paddrysimo Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 8, 2018 9:08 AM in response to raina_b22

Thanks @becky_s22.

I followed all of your suggestions, and none of that helped.

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Hotspot: Why won't my Apple devices play nicely?

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