iOS hotspot can be referred to as a Personal Hotspot in an iPhone, which enables you to share your cellular data with other devices. The feature is helpful, especially if you want to connect more than one device to your phone’s internet privately. Although iPhone’s hotspot is so crucial in helping you connect other devices seamlessly, you are likely to experience slow hotspot speeds with your iPhone hotspot once in a while. This can be caused by several factors, among which we shall discuss in this article. Are you experiencing slow connection with your iPhone hotspot? Worry not because our guide has several remedies for you. Herein, we shall discuss various ways to make hotspots faster iPhone among other related topics. Come with us as we give you a breakdown!
Reasons for Having a Slow Hotspot on iPhone
As we have mentioned, hotspot is a very crucial feature in a mobile phone that allows you to share the internet with other connectivity devices without data loss. More often than not, you are likely to experience slow iPhone hotspot connection depending with a number of factors. Are you experiencing a slow hotspot on your iPhone? Here are some of the probable reasons;
- Weak internet signal: A Personal hotspot typically uses cellular data to create an internet connection for other devices. If you are in an area with low network coverage, you will likely have a slow hotspot on your iPhone. This is because your current locality’s network strength determines your iPhone’s internet speed.
- Data caps: Does your plan have a data cap? If yes, you will experience a slow hotspot on your iPhone once you attain the maximum data usage. You can only solve this by getting a package that does not have a data cap. Besides, there are carriers whose plans do not allow sharing of the data plan unless you upgrade the package.
- There are too many devices connected to your hotspot: The initial plan of personal hotspots was to support a small number of devices. Once you create a personal hotspot on your iPhone and allow too many devices to connect, high chances are the hotspot will slow. This is because too many devices will compete from minimal hotspot resources, slowing the service.
- Radio interference: Most iPhones use a 2.4 GHz frequency channel to support hotspot tethering. Electronics like Smart TVs and Bluetooth devices mostly use the same frequency channel. So, if your phone is placed near such electronics, there is a likelihood of an internet signal drop. This mostly means that the signal sent through your iPhone will be weak hence a slow hotspot.
- Your iPhone has outdated iOS software: If your iPhone is running old software, it may be difficult for its network towers to be compatible with the latest carrier’s technology. Additionally, some of the features in the latest iOS that support faster hotspots will be missing. To ensure you enjoy reliable hotspot services from your iPhone, you must keep updating the iOS.
- Presence of running background apps: Sometimes, your iPhone might be having apps that run in the background, thereby making your hotspot to be slow. This is because such apps end up taking more bandwidth than usual. Therefore, there is a need for you to close these apps so as to improve your iPhone’s hotspot’s speed. Additionally, you should ensure that you switch off the automatic app updates on your iPhone hotspot.
- Connecting other devices to your iPhone hotspot via Bluetooth: Although you can connect other device to your iPhone hotspot via Bluetooth and still enjoy a good internet connection, be sure that the speeds with this mode of connectivity are very slow. This make your devices to connect to the internet slower than usual. To be on the safe side, you should consider connecting your iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot and not Bluetooth hotspot with other wireless devices.
- You are using your carrier’s 3G network: 3G network can work on your iPhone hotspot but can be slow compared to 5G network. Thankfully, most carriers have now started to support 5G network nationwide. With 5G network, you can be sure that your iPhone hotspot will be faster, thereby allowing you to enjoy more convenience.
- Your iPhone has bugs: Sometimes, your iPhone hotpost might have bugs, thereby making to be sluggish when it comes to internet connectivity. Such is usually the case if you have used your iPhone hotspot for quite some time without restarting it. Therefore, you will need to reboot or restart your device so that you can keep this problem at bay.
- The connected devices are being used for data-intensive activities: With an iPhone hotspot device at hand, you can go ahead and use it to connect other devices to the internet and then use them to play online mobile games, stream online contents, surf the internet and so much more. Although you are free to undertake these activities with other devices, sometimes, these activities can make your iPhone hotspot to be slow. This is because some of these activities are data intensive. Here, you might have to reduce the number of devices that are being used for data intensive activities or reduce the number of data intensive activities on your connected devices.
Those are some of the reasons your iPhone has a slow hotspot. Are you experiencing such challenges of slow hotspots with your iPhone? Do not panic. The next section will give you some troubleshooting features to make your iPhone hotspot faster. Let us dive into it.
Ways to Make iPhone Hotspots Faster: Troubleshooting Steps
In the above section, you have seen several reasons that lead to a slow hotspot in your iPhone. Are you experiencing such problems with your iPhone hotspot? Here are remedy methods to fasten your hotspot in your iPhone.
Turn off Low Data Mode
Turning off the Low Data Mode feature on your iPhone helps boost your network speed, increasing the amount of accessible cellular data. This is because the feature restricts the cellular data the iPhone can use in a network. Here is the procedure for turning off the feature;
- Open the “Settings” app on your home screen and tap on it.
- Once it launches, navigate to the “Cellular” option and tap it.
- Once it launches, you will see the “Cellular Data Options” in the first items in the list, so tap to open it.
- Turn the Low Data Mode feature off to enjoy faster hotspots on your iPhone.
- Close all the apps that you are not using
Too many applications using your iPhone cellular data can be a key cause of your slow hotspot. You can rectify this by closing all the apps you are not using but are utilizing your cellular data. This will typically help improve your hotspot by freeing up the mobile bandwidth.
Restrict the apps from refreshing in the background
Leaving the apps to refresh or update every time is another possible cause of slow hotspot connection just as we have mentioned above. It is therefore wise to block or restrict every app or disable background refreshing when using your iPhone as a hotspot.
Here is the procedure:
- Open the “Settings” app on the home screen on your iPhone.
- Scroll down until you locate the “General” option and tap to open.
- After opening, tap on the “Refresh Background App” option.
- Restrict the background refreshing by tapping on the “Background App Refresh” to turn it off. Kindly note that turning off means no app will check for updates, even when your cellular data is on.
- You can decide to activate some apps that are more important to you when turning off the “Background App Refresh.” You will always find an option to turn off the feature beside every app, which gives you room to turn off the apps you are not using and leave others.
Reduce the number of devices connected to the hotspot
If more than expected devices are connected to your iPhone hotspot, you will automatically experience a slow hotspot connection. As a result, you will be forced to identify and turn off extra devices. Here is the procedure to determine the number of devices connected to your hotspot.
- Search and open the Control Center option on your iPhone.
- Tap the Wi-Fi icon on the control center and hold till it opens a new screen.
- Locate the “Personal Hotspot” option and tap on it. After tapping this option, you can see the number of devices connected to your iPhone hotspot.
- You can change the password to lock out all the devices that were initially connected. This way, you will allow minimal devices to connect to your Hotspot.
Turn off apps’ automatic updates
Your hotspot will be slow if you leave the apps to update in the background automatically. As a result, you will be required to disable the updates to improve the hotspot and make it faster. One of the effective ways to disable the apps is by restricting apps downloaded via the network. Here is a step-by-step process:
- Open the Settings app on the home screen.
- Scroll down to the App Store and search for the “Cellular Data” option.
- Tap on “Automatic Downloads” to turn off any automatic updates or downloads.
Turn off the Maximum Compatibility if using iPhone 12 or later
As mentioned above, if your iPhone runs on a 2.4 GHz frequency channel, it will have a slow hotspot compared to 5 GHz. The Maximum Compatibility determines the ability of your phone to use the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi hotspot. Enabling the feature forces the iPhone to use the 2.4 GHz compared to when using 5 GHz, which turns it into an access point. Here is the procedure of turning the Maximum Compatibility feature off;
- Open the Settings app and scroll down to the “Personal Hotspot” option.
- Tap on the Maximum Compatibility toggle button to turn it off to boost the internet speeds. Kindly note that 5 GHz is more efficient than 2.4 GHz but offers Wi-Fi in a small range. This means that the hotspot will work better if you are near the iPhone.
Other measures that can help speed up your iPhone hotspot include:
- Restart your iPhone hotspot. By restarting your iPhone hotspot, you will be able to get rid of any bugs that might slowing down its overall performance.
- If your carrier supports 5G network, choose this network on your iPhone hotspot and you will enjoy faster internet connection.
- In case you had switched on the Airplane mode on your iPhone, switch it off right away.
- Reduce the number of data intensive activities on the other connected devices.
- Change the location of your iPhone device so as to improve its network reception. Here, you can place it near a window or an open space where network signal reception will be optimal.
- In case you were using Bluetooth feature to connect other devices to the internet, consider using the Wi-Fi feature instead. The latter is bound to faster than the former when it comes to performance.
- If you have not yet updated your iPhone’s firmware, try to update it and then see if the problem will persist or not.
Steps to Set up a Hotspot on Your iPhone
Do you want to share your iPhone data with other devices and do not know how to do it? Creating a personal hotspot on your iPhone is one of the effective methods of doing so. To create a personal hotspot on your iPhone, kindly follow the following procedure;
- Open your phone and locate the “Settings” app on the home screen.
- Tap to launch and navigate to the “Cellular” option in the item list that appears.
- Navigate to the “Personal Hotspot” or “Settings” option depending on the iPhone model.
- Tap on the “Personal Hotspot” option to turn it on. You can give it a personalized name, leave it to the default, and create a password if you do not want the hotspot open.
When you turn the hotspot on, you can search for it on other devices within your range and share its data. Kindly note that if you do not see the stated options, always reach out to your carrier to guide you using Personal Hotspot. Most carriers have separate plans that support Personal Hotspot, so you need to know the plan’s features before paying for it.
Frequently Ask Questions
How Can I Boost My iPhone Hotspot Speed?
There are several ways to boost your iPhone’s hotspot speed. For instance, you can boost your hotspot speed by updating your iPhone and ensuring you are using the latest iOS. This guarantees that you will use the latest hotspot feature from your iPhone model. Secondly, you can restart your iPhone and then reconnect to the hotspot.
Resetting your network settings is another effective method of boosting hotspot speed, as it removes any bugs that may be slowing it. Finally, you should reduce the distance between your iPhone and the router. As mentioned, these methods may not work effectively in every iPhone, so you must contact your ISP for advanced support.
Can I Make My Hotspot Faster?
Yes. There are several ways through which you can make your hotspot faster on your iPhone; however, the focus is on the two main ways. Using a different router or gateway with your Internet Service Provider can make your hotspot faster. This can be achieved when you connect your new router to the modem and connect all the devices to the router.
Your hotspot may be slower because of the plan your ISP has given you, which means upgrading the package will give you a fast hotspot. In most cases, the upgrade package will give you faster speeds that do not share with others in the same network. Another method to make your hotspot fast is using VPN services that typically encrypt the data and route it privately via a server.
Which iPhone has the Fastest Hotspot?
Most phones in the market use the 2.4 GHz channel to support hotspot tethering which mostly creates congestion resulting in slow hotspots. However, the iPhones that can support hotspot tether on the 5 GHz channel offer the fastest hotspot than the 2.4 GHz. iPhone 12 supports hotspot tethering on 5 GHz, a big Personal Hotspot advantage. So, a user with iPhone 12 will have the fastest hotspot compared to iPhone 11.
Are There Apps that can Speed up Hotspots?
Several programs in the market can help you to increase the speed of your hotspot on your iPhone. Are you looking for an app that can help you increase your hotspot speed? Some apps like iPhone Modem, iTether, and Pdanet+ can help you accomplish your goal on your iPhone. Besides, you can use another popular program called Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot to speed up your hotspot.
Does Data Roaming Increase the Speed of Your Hotspot?
Yes, your hotspot speed may increase if you connect to a new network; however, this varies. Some networks offer fast-speed hotspots once you connect to them, but it will not be the case always.
