Anyone know why personal hotspot is so crap on iPhones? It always turns off and you have to turn it back on & off plus do a new wifi search?

Submitted by dopeytree t3_z5929t in iphone

I have an iPhone 12 Pro on Three in the UK. Hmm it’s usually good on the 14” m1 mbp but pants on non apple devices.

It’s always disconnects for steamdeck and other android tablets we use on our drones. So when you search for wifi the iPhone doesn’t show up but then you on the iPhone and personal hotspot is turned on so you have to tap off then back on again then go back to the device and rescan wifi. I tell thee it’s like going back to dial up internet.

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SirCommentsALotHehe t1_ixut4hs wrote

That happens with me as well. Hotspot on Android phones is so much better.

Was hoping when iOS 16 came out it would have improved.

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Qwerky411 t1_ixwo4gq wrote

Apple applies very strict battery savings with personal hotspot. Anything not connected via your own Apple ID is treated like an unwelcome houseguest.

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clojrinauo t1_ixwi8l2 wrote

Yeah it’s dogshit when used with a non-Apple device. It will drop on inactivity with infuriating regularity.

The workaround is, once you’re connected, open a window doing a continuous ping to something. That will keep the connection alive.

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C2-H5-OH t1_ixvkjub wrote

Yes it’s horrible trying to use it with a windows laptop. Every now and then my laptop just says there’s no internet and I’d check my iPhone to see that the hotspot is turned off.

Honestly thought there’s no reason to jailbreak anymore until I used the hotspot. Apple really needs to fix this.

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Luffypsp t1_ixuxh8o wrote

I feel ya. Sooo much frustration. When I opened my ubuntu based laptop first, then toggled iphone’s hotspot, then my laptop wont find it.

Turned off laptop’s wifi, then check the ios hotspot(it will auto turned off), then turn on wifi, then turn on hotspot, it will be discovered and auto connected.

Same behaviour when I want to connect my android phone to it.

It has been like this since iphone x launch OS i think.

Iphone 7 launch OS didnt have this issue before.

I said launch OS cuz I forgot what iOS version they came with.

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Baaastet t1_ixw6egy wrote

I don’t have a problem with the connection but it is so slow it drives me mad.

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TechOverview t1_ixxgvoh wrote

Open hotspot by using the control panel, not through settings. It's a bug that hasn't been fixed

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dopeytree OP t1_ixycqob wrote

It’s not in control centre on iPhone and no option to put it there

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dopeytree OP t1_ixyctof wrote

Oh ok just saw if you hold down on data another menu appears cool thanks

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TechOverview t1_ixyctuw wrote

Hold any of the options inside the control panel (airplane mode, wifi, cellular & bluetooth) & there will be an option for personal hotspot

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tta82 t1_ixyw8pd wrote

It’s not a big it’s on purpose in the control center to be a permanent setting only if really needed.

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trippylicious33 t1_ixvhcwo wrote

It’s really shit for me and only works through cable no matter how many times I restart. iOS 15.4.

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SLPERAS t1_ixupro7 wrote

It works like charm for me. More reliable than wifi.

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weird_little_idiot t1_ixvskk2 wrote

You clearly know what you are talking about :-D

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conditerite t1_ixxzr2b wrote

Id assume they might be using a cable between the iPhone and the other device perhaps a MBP?

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star_particles t1_ixwpuyl wrote

I had this issue after upgrading to the 14 pro. Didn’t happen on my xs max.

The feature your talking about and looking for is called Instant Hotspot.

I had to reformat my MacBook to fix this and I also reformatted my phone just to make sure it would fix the issue.

Instant Hotspot is now working properly for me. Pain in the ass though.

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dopeytree OP t1_ixwtk97 wrote

>Instant Hotspot

No thats ONLY for apple devices & has been there for years it uses bluetooth to activate the personal hotspot remotely.

I just want personal hotspot to work on non apple devices like my steamdeck. Basically it kills the wifi to quickly meaning you have to re-connect.

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RandyLeRam t1_ixxu8lc wrote

This is Apple though, they want uninformed people to blame the windows laptop they are using and buy a Mac book etc.

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_AndyVandy t1_ixy4g66 wrote

I’ve always found the Personal Hotspot consistent. It’s as you describe it but I always assumed it was part of the intentional design: they let you set a persistent password so, to protect you, it switches itself off after a period of inactivity.

I, too, find that I have to toggle it off and back on again for it to show up again on client devices that had used it previously. I figured that Apple has designed it to hide the SSID and deactivate connections after a while.

It was such a strong assumption (which might, of course, be wrong) that I didn’t even bother to Google it to check.

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