Unable to connect to iPhone personal hotspot using WiFi - "Cannot connect to network" and blue hotspot bar flickers on phone

When you try to connect to the iPhone personal hotspot using WiFi you get an error "Cannot connect to network" and blue hotspot bar flickers on phone.



There are no errors shown on the phone and on the laptop you are not prompted to enter the password.

The hotspot works with a USB cable

To solve this issue try the following:
  • On the iPhone goto Settings > General > About > Name


  • Change the name to something simple without any apostrophes or other special characters
  • Goto Settings > Wi-Fi and disable Wi-Fi
  • Goto Settings > Personal Hotspot > and disable personal hotspot
  • Goto Settings > Personal Hotspot > and enable personal hotspot and enable Wi-Fi when prompted.

You should now be able to connect.


Comments

  1. This worked. What a relief. I had restored the phone multiple times which didn't work but this simple fix is exactly what is needed. Thanks very very very very much.

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    Replies
    1. yep, this simple step really resolved my hot spot issue! Many thanks!

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  2. This worked!! Thanks a million.

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  3. Amazing, it really worked. This fault has driven my bananas for the last 2 months and this simple hack has solved it. Thanks so much, David.

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  4. Didn’t work for me. Any secondary suggestions?

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  5. Yay, worked a treat - thanks heaps

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  6. Amazing, it worked like a charm

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  7. Worked!
    Didn’t expect such a simple solution to work, but worked!

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  8. TThhhhaaaannnnkkkkkssss. Simple and direct info --- and it worked the first time! Spent 4 yrs trying to get Verizon and Apple to ID the problem!!!???? And your info fixed it in 10 min. Happy Holiday

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  9. this worked, fantastic thankyou for this!! you do not know how this helps me as i work out on sites in the middle of no wear and need laptop connected to wifi off my phone. i never thought something so simple would stop the connection. brilliant thanks again!!

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  10. Thank you so much! I’m greatful. I thought it was done for

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  11. Thank you!! I finally got mine to work after months of frustration.

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  12. dude thank you so much omfg !!!!

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  13. Thanks, finally cure for this odd behavior!

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  14. Thank you, it worked like a treat!

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  15. Thank you! I am so grateful this worked!

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  16. Wow!Dave Dude it worked! You saved my iphone before i break it. :p
    I wish apple hire you soon :) Good luck..

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  17. Omg it worked! Thank you soooo much!

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  18. Thanks a lot ! This helped after all the trouble I had.

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  19. it worked .. after i did all hard troubleshoot. it worked with just name change . Awesome..

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  20. David this has fuckin worked I tried since last week on my own but failed but your technique has helped solved it David you’re a fucking genius you should be workin with Microsoft or apple or google thanks a ton

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  21. Great. This worked finally. Thanks a lot.

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  22. YAY!!! I've been trying to figure this out for weeks! Thank you!!!

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  23. It worked, Just changing my name from two initials to three letters fixed the issue.

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  24. This worked. David your are a genius. I would never have thought to change the phone name. Thank you so much.

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  25. thank you, it worked for me as well

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  26. Fantastic - go to the top of the class!

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  27. Still not working do you have any other ideas?

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  28. Try clicking on forget network in your laptop/any device. Now try to reconnect in the same manner mentioned above. It should work.

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  29. Thanks a lot. This works phewwwwwww !!!

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  30. Thanks a lot.. it worked .. for those if its not worked.. try changing the hotspot password too...

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  31. You are just awesome... i am struggling for this for last 1 year no solution

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  32. YES! It worked, thank you so much.

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  33. Ow my god! Thanks for helping!

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  34. Dude thanks a lot, i tool phone to i care , event they told non sense reasons and asked 3 days of time to check the issue. but your solution worked in lessthan a min

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  35. THANK YOU! I tried a hundred other things and was about to change my phone! Cheers, mate!

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  36. Wow!!! it actually works . Thank you so much. Honestly was trying to get mine to connect since a month. Thank you a million times. Impressed with the tip.

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  37. Thank you so much. This worked like a charm.

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  38. thanks so much. verizon was asking me to reset all settings which as you know is a giant pain. Don't listen to verizon until you try this fix first.!

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  39. Thanks from France. It saved me during this new lockdown. I will add a few keyword in french here, just in case it helps spreading your solution...
    partage connexion échec iphone pc windows wifi mot de passe bandeau clignote nom réseau partagé tentative échoue

    ReplyDelete
  40. Thanks from France. It saved me during this new lockdown. I will add a few keyword in french here, just in case it helps spreading your solution...
    partage connexion échec iphone pc windows wifi mot de passe bandeau clignote nom réseau partagé tentative échoue

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  41. Perfect!! Thanks a million!!!

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  42. Wow.. this really worked... I was so pissed with my new phone. I thought it's an issue with the iOS. Thanks for this article.

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  43. This blue flashing happens when you change the hotspot password and windows still remembers old one. Just right-click in windows yout iphone hotspot and "forget this network" and connect again with legit password.

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  44. Still working in 2021 on iOS 15

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  45. simple step solved my issue which apple care and apple genius bar didn't figure it out. thought of making appointment to repair my phone Thanks a lot .

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  46. worked for me . Apple care and genius bar didn't figure it out. thought of making appointment to repair my phone

    ReplyDelete

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