Using iPhone as Personal Hotspot for Windows 11 laptop

[hajime]

Hello, this is happening to two Windows laptops. Whenever I try to connect a laptop to the internet via an iPhone, in addition to turning on Cellular Data in Settings of the phone, I have to turn off/on Personal Hotspot of my phone and/or turn off/on Wi-Fi on the laptop (even both were originally ON) in order to see my iPhone being listed. On a MacBook Pro, it just saw my phone immediately once I turned on Cellular Data (with Personal Hotspot On by default). What is wrong? Is there any way to get my iPhone discovered immediately by the laptop which is right next to it?

 

[Steve Adams]

Hello, this is happening to two Windows laptops. Whenever I try to connect a laptop to the internet via an iPhone, in addition to turning on Cellular Data in Settings of the phone, I have to turn off/on Personal Hotspot of my phone and/or turn off/on Wi-Fi on the laptop (even both were originally ON) in order to see my iPhone being listed. On a MacBook Pro, it just saw my phone immediately once I turned on Cellular Data (with Personal Hotspot On by default). What is wrong? Is there any way to get my iPhone discovered immediately by the laptop which is right next to it?

I have never had that problem with any of my systems. Just picked up my iPhone and now my Google Pixel. Sounds like a your system thing, not an every system thing. I think there are some settings on the iPhone under connections that might help. I have been off work for almost 2 months now so I have not been deep into an iPhone settings menu since then, but I recall there is some setting like make my iPhone discoverable always.

 

[BigBlur]

This is expected behavior, but it can be confusing. Even though you may have the hotspot feature enabled (the 'Allow Others to Join' toggle), it doesn't necessarily mean that the Wi-Fi hotspot is actually on or running. The iPhone will automatically turn off the Wi-Fi hotspot (stop broadcasting it) if there hasn't been any activity for a while, but it leaves the toggle enabled.

To use the hotspot with a non-Apple device (or an Apple device that isn't signed into your Apple Account), you need to go into the Personal Hotspot settings screen to make it discoverable again so devices can connect to it. You don't actually have to toggle the setting off and back on again if it's already enabled; just going to this screen is enough to get the hotspot started up again. Tapping the hotspot button in the Control Center is another way to turn it back on. This is explained on that settings screen (screenshot below). Also, note that Step 2d on this page states to stay on this screen until devices have connected if you go that route.



Once the hotspot is on and broadcasting again, it'll take some time for the Windows 11 laptop to scan/detect it and automatically connect. Turning off Wi-Fi off and back on again on the laptop shouldn't be necessary, but it can speed up the process.

As for your Mac being able to turn it on and connect automatically, that is a different feature called Instant Hotspot. You cannot do that with Windows.