Windows 10 laptop to iPhone hotspot connection issues

badger09

In temp accomm in Wales after house sale, with no broadband. In dire need of internet access on (Dell inspiron 17R) laptop but problems connecting to iPhone SE 2020.

I've set up personal hotspots on both husband's iPhone 8 & my iPhone SE.  Sometimes, but not always, laptop will connect to husband's phone ok. BUT it hardly ever even offers mine as connection, and when it does, & I select it, I get error message 'Cannot connect to this network'.

I've tried turning laptop off & on again & my phone off & on again, turning wifi off and on again etc etc but nothing works. Tried reseaching solutions but just going round in circles. Would be really grateful if anyone can help - in simple language please. I'm reasonably ok with technology, but not a techie. Also suffering brain freeze following stressful move.
Thanks
 

tacpot12

I had a similar problem with my iPhone 7 and Windows 10 laptop. I never managed to resolve it and ended up buying a separate 4G dongle and PAYG SIM for the laptop to have internet access. I bought one of these: https://ebay.us/r5qcpe

You might be better off, as you have two devices, in buying a router that will allow you to connect an external aerial for the  4G signal. Unfortunately this is not a cheap solution, but you might be able to resell it on eBay once you are settled in a new property and have broadband again.  This website is a good place to start looking for routers and external aerials (antennas): https://www.3grouterstore.co.uk

badger09

Thanks. As we may be here only a few weeks, I was looking for a quick fix/explanation. Have tethered laptop to my previous iphone, so its annoying and really don't need it at the moment.   

grumpycrab

No idea but tried a USB tether?

badger09

Sorry USB tether??

molerat

Set up your phone as a hotspot as normal and connect it to the computer with a USB cable.

Frozen_up_north

I tether with an iPhone SE 2020 all the time, no problem with Windows 10 on a desktop or a laptop. Check there are no settings related to your network provider, which may cause problems. I used to be on 3 and am now with O2, both work fine.

Note, you need to be showing the "hot spot" settings page on the phone in order to initially make a connection, whereas a MiFi unit just needs to be switched on.

CoastingHatbox

tacpot12 said:

You might be better off, as you have two devices, in buying a router that will allow you to connect an external aerial for the  4G signal. Unfortunately this is not a cheap solution, but you might be able to resell it on eBay once you are settled in a new property and have broadband again.  This website is a good place to start looking for routers and external aerials (antennas): https://www.3grouterstore.co.uk

I think this is a great idea. And for a lot of people whose Internet access is critical, it is worth having one at home for stand-by purposes. Or better still, a home router that can failover between landline ISP and mobile network.


In respect of the OPs problem, assuming it is a Windows 10 laptop, please try the following:

1. Open the start menu and search for "WiFi Settings"
2. Click "WiFi Settings" in the search results
3. Click "Manage known networks"
4. If your mobile phone's hot spot is listed, click on it
5. Click "Forget"
6. Now try and reassociate the computer to the phone's WiFi hotspot in the usual way

There are some diagnostic steps that can be taken if the above doesn't work, at least in Windows. I don't have any Apple products, so I haven't got a clue about the iPhone sadly.

badger09

molerat said:

Set up your phone as a hotspot as normal and connect it to the computer with a USB cable.

When I connect iphone to laptop with USB, all I get is Apple iphone logo telling me how much storage space it has. There is no option to do anything with it.

badger09

Frozen_up_north said:

I tether with an iPhone SE 2020 all the time, no problem with Windows 10 on a desktop or a laptop. Check there are no settings related to your network provider, which may cause problems. I used to be on 3 and am now with O2, both work fine.

Note, you need to be showing the "hot spot" settings page on the phone in order to initially make a connection, whereas a MiFi unit just needs to be switched on.

As I said earlier, I've enabled everything relating to Hotspot on both mine & my husbands iphones. His is recognised by laptop & it will connect (most times). But laptop  simply doesn't detect mine. We're both on Giffgaff, both with same 4g 80GB data bundles so I don't think the carrier is the issue.

I had no problem tethering my old SE to this laptop, but battery on that phone completely 'died' before Christmas, hence the new one. 

badger09

CoastingHatbox said:

tacpot12 said:

You might be better off, as you have two devices, in buying a router that will allow you to connect an external aerial for the  4G signal. Unfortunately this is not a cheap solution, but you might be able to resell it on eBay once you are settled in a new property and have broadband again.  This website is a good place to start looking for routers and external aerials (antennas): https://www.3grouterstore.co.uk

I think this is a great idea. And for a lot of people whose Internet access is critical, it is worth having one at home for stand-by purposes. Or better still, a home router that can failover between landline ISP and mobile network.


In respect of the OPs problem, assuming it is a Windows 10 laptop, please try the following:

1. Open the start menu and search for "WiFi Settings"
2. Click "WiFi Settings" in the search results
3. Click "Manage known networks"
4. If your mobile phone's hot spot is listed, click on it
5. Click "Forget"
6. Now try and reassociate the computer to the phone's WiFi hotspot in the usual way

There are some diagnostic steps that can be taken if the above doesn't work, at least in Windows. I don't have any Apple products, so I haven't got a clue about the iPhone sadly.

The problem is, my iphone simply isn't listed.

It was listed as a network very briefly on Friday, but not since.
I've managed to add it manually yesterday, and it appeared on the list of available connections, but when I tried to connect, all I got was error message 'Can't connect to this network' and it hasn't been recognised since.