You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Using hotspot

Does the laptop/computer that wants to connect to the hotspot have to be a Mac? I have a PC, and even though I have my hotspot set to Allow Others To Join, it never appears on the list of available WiFi sites. I have tried with both my iPhone and iPad. I also can’t Bluetooth between my Apple devices and PC laptop either. I don’t have internet so being able to use the hotspot would be great. I’m up to date with my iOS. Thanks in advance for any info you can give.

iPhone SE, iOS 14

Posted on Sep 6, 2021 12:53 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 6, 2021 1:26 PM

Celtic Fairy wrote:

Thanks. I guess I will have to contact Verizon before I try anything else.

I’m completely confused. We still don’t know if you’re attempting to connect your PC to the Hotspot using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB. We don’t know anything about what you’ve tried on the PC side.


Here’s yet another information source (referenced in the link I supplied previously):

If Personal Hotspot is not working on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) - Apple Support

10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 6, 2021 1:26 PM in response to Celtic Fairy

Celtic Fairy wrote:

Thanks. I guess I will have to contact Verizon before I try anything else.

I’m completely confused. We still don’t know if you’re attempting to connect your PC to the Hotspot using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB. We don’t know anything about what you’ve tried on the PC side.


Here’s yet another information source (referenced in the link I supplied previously):

If Personal Hotspot is not working on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) - Apple Support

Sep 6, 2021 1:12 PM in response to Celtic Fairy

Greetings Celtic Fariy,


iPhone hot spot works with PC, Macs and gaming consoles and most devices that support Wi-Fi connectivity.


Hotspots can be a bit tricky because there can be alot to check.


First, I would make sure your carrier 1: support hot spots and 2: make sure you have a plan that lets you use hot spot data. For example, I have Sprint /TMobile and I pay extra to be able to use hot spot on my device



Next, make sure your Wi-Fi symbol on your iPhone is turned off in the control center ( the device providing the connection)


Then try these steps.


On the device that provides Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot, then follow these steps:

  1. Make sure that Allow Others to Join is on. 
  2. Remember the device's Wi-Fi network name and password that appear on this screen. If you want to change the Wi-Fi network name, learn how to change your device name.
  3. If you're using an iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max, turn on Maximize Compatibility. Then try connecting your devices again to your Personal Hotspot.
  4. Stay on this screen until you connect your other device to the Wi-Fi network. 

On the device that needs to connect to Personal Hotspot, follow these steps:

  1. Turn Wi-Fi off and back on.
  2. Make sure that you connect to the correct Wi-Fi network. The network name is the same as the iOS device that provides Personal Hotspot and  might appear next to it.
  3. If you see a password error when you try to join Personal Hotspot, check the Wi-Fi password: On the device that provides Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot to see the Wi-Fi password


As for the Bluetooth issue , do you get an error when trying to connect via Bluetooth? If so please post the error here .


If you have anymore questions at all please feel free to ask.





Sep 6, 2021 1:12 PM in response to Celtic Fairy

Celtic Fairy wrote:

This is what I have been doing

You told us what “this” means from the iPhone’s perspective. But we have no idea what you’ve been doing on the PC side. We don’t even know what operating system is involved on that side.


But again, regardless of those answers, the article should address your specific case.

Sep 6, 2021 1:36 PM in response to sberman

I’m trying to connect my PC to my hotspot using WiFi. I have tried using my iPhone first and when that didn’t work, I tried my iPad. I just checked my Verizon account and both are 15gb hotspots. All I did on my PC is look at the list of WiFi connections and I didn’t see either one listed.

Previous to this, I tried to connect my iPad to my PC via Bluetooth so I could download some photos, but I couldn’t get that to work either.

Using hotspot

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.