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Instant Hotspot

L

lillumultipass

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 19, 2008
56
0
Hi everyone,

I have an iPhone 6+, an ipad air 2 and a MBA, all using latest OS versions.
The instant Hotspot function works well with my MBA as I always see the personal Hotspot from my iPhone. However I have many difficulties connecting to my ipad. Most of the time I don't even see the personal Hotspot and when I do see it, it seldom connects.
I have wifi and Bluetooth on on both devices and they are on the same iCloud account. I have tried to turn personal Hotspot on and off, change the name of the ipad, reset settings...but to no avail. Sometimes it works for a few days, but it is really erratic.

Anyone has managed to have it work consistently? This is really frustrating!
Thanks!
 
It eventually sees it. The ping time for them to search seems "off" though. Does the iPad detect the phone faster when they are both plugged in?
 
lillumultipass said:
Anyone has managed to have it work consistently? This is really frustrating!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Pagemakers said:
100% the same issue between my iPhone 6 and Air 2.

Another iOS 8 bug!
Click to expand...
Does your iPad Air 2 have cellular data?

I've been having trouble connecting my T-Mobile iPad Air to my iPhone 5S until today. I tried turning off cellular data off on my iPad Air and it finally connected. Seamless connection is still an issue though.

I wish there was a way to prioritize which data to use first. For example, use T-Mobile iPad Air data only when iPhone and Wi-Fi is out of range. Assuming this may never come to reality, I regret getting this iPad.
 
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scott523 said:
Does your iPad Air 2 have cellular data?

I've been having trouble connecting my T-Mobile iPad Air to my iPhone 5S until today. I tried turning off cellular data off on my iPad Air and it finally connected. Seamless connection is still an issue though.

I wish there was a way to prioritize which data to use first. For example, use T-Mobile iPad Air data only when iPhone and Wi-Fi is out of range. Assuming this may never come to reality, I regret getting this iPad.
Click to expand...


Nope, no cellular data!
It is actually easier to get the hotspot working via a bluetooth connection...
 
bbplayer5 said:
Bluetooth is only used to detect for instant hotspot though. Both need to have it on to detect each other.
Click to expand...

What I mean is that with BT and Personal Hotspot on, I pair my iPad and my iPhones and I get the connection.
It is not Instant Hotspot however...but at least it seems to work more consistently...
 
lillumultipass said:
What I mean is that with BT and Personal Hotspot on, I pair my iPad and my iPhones and I get the connection.
It is not Instant Hotspot however...but at least it seems to work more consistently...
Click to expand...

If you are going to do it that way, why not just hook them up over Wifi? Instant wifi only means the phone will show up on the iPad as an instant device. You can simply manually turn the hotspot on to connect via the normal ad hoc network.
 
Having hot spot issues too trying to teather my iphone 6 to an iPad or laptop. Both devices tell me the password is incorrect when it's not -- i tried several times. Cleared network settings, restarted, etc. Changed password several times too.
 
OFF TOPIC (not iPad specifically)

For Macbook + phone users having problems (like I have):

My experience:

Couldn't get it to work. Logging out, then back in to iCloud on Mac was essential. If you only have one iCloud account that's all you need to do on that side I would think (but could be wrong of course). I also noticed that it needs to link the bluetooth before it works, but this seems to only be at first, as the link icon at first show it's linked, then reverts back to normal (this should be made clear, in the documentation).


Actually, when on the road this is really a neat thing to have, so I sort of need to make it work (although like I said...PITA). Now, I've had to log out of iCloud on the Mac twice now, which is the PITA part of this. They need to fix this. Once ok, twice....not so.

note: I have up to date stuff (Retina Macbook, 5s).

note: my wifi at my hotel is so bad I'm wondering why they even bother.
 
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when i do not see the Iphone on the macbook air, most of the time turning BT off and on is enough for the Iphone to show in wifi...
 
lo100469 said:
when i do not see the Iphone on the macbook air, most of the time turning BT off and on is enough for the Iphone to show in wifi...
Click to expand...

Hopefully, something like this is all i'll need to do from now on. As long as the iCloud sticks.
 
I found a solution that's working for me at least. Go into Settings; General; About and change the name of the Iphone. Then restart the iphone and restart your ipad. This should fix the issue and allow instant hotspot to work consistently. Also after doing this it should start working consistently on computer also, atleast it did on mine.

As a side note. Be careful with logging in and out of icloud if you have iTunes match and have it turned off on phone. As soon as you log back into icloud iTunes match automatically turns back on which will cause music to dissapear off of the phone. Of course not all of it gets erased and putting back only the songs that got erased without ending up with several gigs of "Other" is impossible with itunes in its current state. Avoiding having to restore your perfectly working phone (other than Instant Hotspot) because you logged out of icloud is the point :confused:
 
JacksTLOS said:
I found a solution that's working for me at least. Go into Settings; General; About and change the name of the Iphone. Then restart the iphone and restart your ipad. This should fix the issue and allow instant hotspot to work consistently. Also after doing this it should start working consistently on computer also, atleast it did on mine.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

However, i tried this without luck.

It would be nice to pin down a definitive working guide with troubleshooting. But it's new so I guess we are going to have to use what works for us (if we are lucky that is), until this happens.
 
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