- Hotspot Won’t Work when Connecting? Here’s How to Fix
- Why Some Hotspots Won’t Work as They Should
- [SOLVED] Hotspot Won’t Work – Use Multiple Connections
- Fix Wi-Fi Hotspot Connection Issues with Speedify
- How to Fix It When a Laptop Isn’t Connecting to a Mobile Hotspot
- Why Is My Laptop Not Connecting to My Hotspot?
- How to Fix It When a Laptop Isn’t Connecting to a Mobile Hotspot
- How Do I Connect My Laptop to My Mobile Hotspot?
- How to Fix It When a Connected Mobile Hotspot Has No Internet Connection
- Why Is My Hotspot Not Working?
- How to Fix When a Connected Mobile Hotspot Has No Internet Connection
Hotspot Won’t Work when Connecting? Here’s How to Fix
Getting online is easy nowadays – you can do that almost everywhere: from school, work, airport, or even from a coffee shop, you can be online. Most public locations even let you go access the internet with no cost. Yes, free internet at your fingertips!
But sometimes you connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and you see that there’s no Internet connection. So why does sometimes the hotspot not work? And, most importantly, what can you do to access the internet in this situation? Read below to see the easiest way to do this.
Why Some Hotspots Won’t Work as They Should
When you’re using a Wi-Fi hotspot connection, you’re connecting to a wireless network. Due to how such connections work, there could be some common issues that can appear:
- Intermittent connectivity – a wireless connection can often be easily affected by interference. The position of the wireless router can greatly affect coverage and the strength of your signal in relationship with your device.
- Slow connectivity due to high number of connected devices – connecting to a public Wi-Fi or any wireless connection that has plenty of users? Your internet speed can certainly be affected. Especially if some of the users consume bandwidth with activities like downloading or streaming.
- Can’t connect to a hotspot – there are times that you will not be able to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot. One of the most common problems is a hardware related problem in which the router is not accepting your device.
[SOLVED] Hotspot Won’t Work – Use Multiple Connections
A simple restart of the router (or the device that runs the hotspot) can fix the problem of hotspots that won’t work. You can do this in your own home or with your personal hotspot device. However, sometimes this is not enough. The internet connection might be itself affected, and you can’t fix that on your own.
Another potential solution is to use more powerful wireless hardware. Most of the high-end routers can have capabilities to allow you to be connected to a network more reliably and can tend to have a higher signal output. When your signal is higher, your connection to the network can be faster and more reliable. But, unfortunately, you can only do this at home – you can’t actually force coffee shop owners or airports to buy better hardware.
So, what can you do to get online when your hotspot won’t work? One solution would be to use your cellular data. But then you won’t know when Wi-Fi is back so you can connect to the hotspot and save your mobile traffic.
There’s a software app smart enough to let you combine a Wi-Fi hotspot connection and your cellular data. And it knows when a connection is down so shifts traffic to the other connection until working again. Plus – it also encrypts your traffic so you get total online privacy.
Meet Speedify – the fast bonding VPN software! Speedify uses channel bonding and VPN technology at the same time to get you more reliable, faster and more secure connectivity
Fix Wi-Fi Hotspot Connection Issues with Speedify
Speedify is the only solution that protects you from disconnects when the hotspots you connect to don’t work. It’s a unique app that solves both security and slow speed concerns. By using channel bonding technology, Speedify can combine all available Internet connections simultaneously. On your smartphone, that’s your Wi-Fi and celluar data. On your computer, that’s any number and type of connections.
You will be protected from compromised Wi-Fi networks. Speedify also keeps your data safe from prying eyes of hackers, ISPs, and even the hosts of the network. With Speedify you are ready to browse the Internet securely, without having to sacrifice speed.
Stay safe using Speedify fast bonding VPN on public Wi-Fi networks. You will be able to enjoy using public networks for work or fun. And you won’t be putting your data at risk. Use Speedify to fix any hotspot problems!
How to Fix It When a Laptop Isn’t Connecting to a Mobile Hotspot
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years’ of professional technology experience. He’s been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years’ experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
- Wi-Fi & Wireless
- The Wireless Connection
- Routers & Firewalls
- Network Hubs
- ISP
- Broadband
- Ethernet
- Installing & Upgrading
A mobile hotspot is a key to getting your laptop online when you’re away from regular Wi-Fi, but what do you do when it’s not working out as planned? Below are several fixes for when your Windows laptop won’t connect to your mobile hotspot.
Why Is My Laptop Not Connecting to My Hotspot?
Since your laptop is trying to connect to another device that has its limitations and possible issues, there are several things at play that could go wrong and prevent your computer from reaching the internet.
All the troubleshooting steps are listed below; here are just a few things to consider:
- A temporary glitch severed the connection.
- You’re too far from the hotspot.
- The data connection is off.
- The hotspot is operating on a frequency band unsupported by your laptop.
- There’s no more data available on your plan.
- Network drivers are outdated.
- Your laptop isn’t on your phone’s list of allowed devices.
If your hotspot won’t work, and you don’t have time to fix it, consider finding a free Wi-Fi hotspot near you.
How to Fix It When a Laptop Isn’t Connecting to a Mobile Hotspot
Below are several ideas you can try if your computer can’t reach the internet through the hotspot.
- From your phone, toggle the hotspot off and then back on. If you connected over USB, use this time to unplug and then reattach the cable. It’s a great first step to try because it doesn’t require you to shut down your whole device, but it will refresh the connection and force your laptop to try to connect to it again.
If your computer has general network-related issues, even when it’s not using the hotspot, see what to do when Windows 11 can’t connect to a network for a more appropriate guide.
Some users report having to «forget» the network and reconnect to it after updating the drivers. See Step 3 again for help doing that.
Before completing this step, you should know what happens when you reset network settings. In short, any network-related data saved on your device will be deleted, including Wi-Fi names and passwords and paired Bluetooth devices.
Pay close attention to what you’re resetting. Some devices have a full factory reset option next to the network reset option. Don’t reset the whole device, or you’ll lose all your data.
After attempting everything described above, you could have better luck at this point following a troubleshooting guide specific to your device. See how to fix hotspot issues on iPhone or fix USB tethering issues in Windows.
How Do I Connect My Laptop to My Mobile Hotspot?
The method you use depends on the kind of hotspot you’re using. Most laptops and phones that can create hotspots support Wi-Fi (the fastest option), USB (the easiest), and Bluetooth.
Assuming the hotspot is already set up correctly (e.g., the Wi-Fi or USB option is chosen in the hotspot settings), connecting using any of those three methods is easy:
- Wi-Fi: Choose your hotspot from the list of available Wi-Fi networks, and enter the password.
- USB: Plug your phone into your laptop.
- Bluetooth: Pair your laptop and phone together to get internet on your laptop over Bluetooth.
If your laptop is having trouble connecting to the internet, it may not be seeing the network, your settings may be incorrect, or your modem or router may be malfunctioning. Try moving your laptop closer to the router, restarting your computer, and then restart your modem and router to see if that helps. Otherwise, you should check for updates in your network drivers.
Several causes could make this message appear. If the network requires a password, check that you’ve entered it correctly. The network may also be running at a different frequency than your laptop’s wireless driver uses; if your drivers use 2.4 ghz, and the network is 5 ghz, for example, you won’t be able to connect to it.
How to Fix It When a Connected Mobile Hotspot Has No Internet Connection
Ryan Dube is a freelance contributor to Lifewire and former Managing Editor of MakeUseOf, senior IT Analyst, and an automation engineer.
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years’ experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
- Wi-Fi & Wireless
- The Wireless Connection
- Routers & Firewalls
- Network Hubs
- ISP
- Broadband
- Ethernet
- Installing & Upgrading
Issues with a connected mobile hotspot having no internet connection can occur in a number of ways.
- You may be connected to the hotspot but can’t access any websites with your browser.
- Your connection to the internet stops working while you’re using the hotspot.
- Your hotspot connection drops unexpectedly and won’t reconnect.
Usually, you won’t see any errors or indication of what’s wrong. The internet will simply stop working. However, troubleshooting and fixing the cause isn’t very difficult.
Keep in mind using a mobile hotspot typically uses your mobile data plan. If your mobile service provider either bills you for data usage or otherwise limits your data, you could end up with large, unexpected surcharges on your bill. So be sure you understand your plan limitations before you start using your mobile hotpot too frequently.
Why Is My Hotspot Not Working?
When you’re connected to the internet via a mobile hotspot, there are multiple possible points of failure. Any one of those can cause connection problems. Your hotpsot network could stop working if your phone runs out of power or the Wi-Fi setting gets disabled. Or your mobile device running the hotspot could lose its own internet connection, which means you can’t connect to the internet either.
The best way to troubleshoot these problems is to start with your mobile devices, since it’s the source of your internet connection. Once you’ve confirmed the mobile device isn’t having any issues, then move on to your computer or laptop next.
How to Fix When a Connected Mobile Hotspot Has No Internet Connection
This issue applies to both Windows and Mac operating systems, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. The troubleshooting tips below may differ slightly depending on which operating system or mobile device you’re using.
- A simple restart often resolves most issues. The first thing to try is to restart your Android or restart your iOS device you’re using to establish the mobile hotspot.