Is your iPhone personal hotspot not working after iOS 17 update? Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try to get connected.
Please note: The solutions explain in this article apply to all iOS 17 supported devices including: iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max.
Personal hotspot is a handy feature that lets you share your iPhone’s cellular data connection with other devices like MacBooks or iPads. That is, it’s handy when it works.
According to some reports online, iOS 17 and its subsequent point releases may be causing issues with personal hotspot on iPhone.
If your iPhone has failed to enable personal hotspot, iPhone hotspot is not discoverable, iPhone Hotspot keeps disconnecting or iPhone hotspot is not working after iOS 17 update, keep reading. We’re going to look at how to fix iPhone tethering.
How to fix iPhone personal hotspot issues in iOS 17
It isn’t clear what’s causing the hotspot connectivity issues, but it seems to be tied to a problem in iOS 17. Since we don’t what’s causing it specifically, we can’t pin down an exact fix — but we can run through some basic troubleshooting steps.
If your iPhone personal hotspot Keeps disconnecting or isn’t working after iOS 17 update, here are the best solutions to fix the issue:
Turn your hotspot back on
Sometimes your iPhone disables the hotspot by itself after an extended period of inactivity. While it may be annoying to some, this feature actually helps in saving your iPhone battery and keeps your data safe from being used by other foreign devices that may connect to your iPhone.
Simply go to Settings>Personal Hotspot to turn it back on.
Check Data Usage
Your iPhone hotspot may stop using once you’ve used up all your mobile data. In order to check if you’ve exceeded the data limit, go to Settings>Mobile data and check under ‘Personal hotspot’.
Restart iPhone to fix personal hotspot problem in iOS 17
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one. When you use your iPhone frequently and have several programs running in the background, your iPhone’s processing can become slower, and even experience some bugs. There is a chance your iOS 17 hotspot problem can be resolved simply by restarting your device.
To do this, go to Settings > General > Shut down. Leave your iPhone off for 30 seconds to a minute before turning it back on. Then check to see if the problem is resolved.
Toggle Airplane Mode to fix hotspot issues in iOS 17
Airplane mode disables a device’s wireless transmission functions, this includes cellular radio, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Sometimes when you’re facing Hotspot problems in iOS 17, enabling and disabling airplane mode can help resolve the problem by restarting your network connections.
To do this, pull down your Control center and select the Airplane mode icon and wait for 30 seconds to a minute before disabling it again. Then check to see if the iOS 17 Hotspot problem is resolved.
Turn Personal Hotspot Off and On
Sometimes you need to reset your Personal Hotspot to get it working again. Do that by turning it on and off: Go to Settings > Personal Hotspot > move the Allow Others to Join slider to off/white and then back to on/green.
Turn Cellular Data On and Off
The problem with Personal Hotspot might be related to your iPhone’s connection to cellular data networks. If your iPhone is having trouble connecting to those networks, Personal Hotspot might not work either. Reset your cellular data connection by turning it on and off: Go to Settings > Cellular > move the Cellular Data slider to off/white and back to on/green.
Disable Your VPN
Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a smart way to protect your online privacy but it can also cause issues with mobile connectivity on the phone. A VPN routes your traffic through its servers, and this can cause decrease your connection speed.
It is recommended to disable VPNs when using your mobile’s hotspot to prevent connection problems.
To disable your VPN, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- Disable any active VPNs.
Disable Low Power Mode
If your iPhone is running on a low battery, it may have automatically enabled the Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode shuts off any secondary functions and keeps only the essential tasks running on your phone in order to save battery. This means background tasks like app updates, downloads, and the personal hotspot may shut down.
Go to Settings>Battery and disable Low Power Mode.
Disable Low Data Mode
Quite like the Low Power Mode, Low Data Mode can be turned on to cut off any excessive mobile data usage. Once you enable it, all your background tasks that use mobile data will be turned off. This includes your personal hotspot.
To turn Low Data Mode off, go to Settings>Mobile Data>Mobile Data Options and select your primary SIM card. Disable Low Data Mode in the following window.
Update your carrier settings
Updating carrier settings may fix your iOS 17 hotspot problem. Here is how:
Go to Settings > General > About.
if a new update is available, you’ll see an option (a popup will appear). Then follow the onscreen instructions.
Update iOS
If you’re using an outdated version of iOS 17, you might want to update to the latest one. Some bugs are known to notoriously pop-up on the older iOS versions once a new one becomes available.
To install the latest version of iOS 17, go to Settings>General>Software update.
Enable Maximize Compatibility on your iPhone
The iPhone 13 have some different networking features and options than earlier devices, including 5G. These options can sometimes cause a problem for older models connecting to them. Solve this by going to Settings > Personal Hotspot > move the Maximize Compatibility slider to on/green.
Reset Network Settings
iOS offers a built-in way to erase user data and restore settings to the factory defaults. However, you can also take a more granular approach by only removing certain kinds of data.
In the case of your iPhone personal hotspot not working after iOS 17 update, you only need to delete the network settings. To do so, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. You will need to enter your passcode before the phone lets you proceed.
The reset process will remove all your Wi-Fi and carrier settings and delete your custom iPhone name. This will give you a blank slate to make sure there wasn’t an erroneous network setting causing the hotspot problem.
Hotspot not working after iOS 17 update? Fixed
These were some of the easiest ways to keep iPhone Hotspot from disconnecting or stopping working after iOS 17 update. If the problem still persists, you may contact Apple support for further help.
Have you faced hotspot problems after iOS 17 update? Drop a comment and let us know.