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OtinG · 06-17-2019, 11:14 AM

Background:
A storm packing high winds took out my internet connection yesterday afternoon. (It is still out--waiting for Charter-Spectrum to come fix it in our neighborhood.) To be clear, my WiFi network is running, but there is no internet connection, so things like surveillance cameras work via WiFi connection. I can connect my iPhone to other devices through WiFi. However, I'm having to use the cellular connection on my iPhone XR to get an internet connection. Last night I had to watch Hulu Live TV on my iPhone rather than over my TV or iPad as that was the only device I own with cellular capability. Of course I was able to watch OTA TV on my TV, but unfortunately not much was on OTA TV last night.

The Problem:
Watching a streaming service requires a reliable internet connection. The only reliable internet connection available to me was/is a cellular connection using my iPhone. So I set up a Personal Hotspot on my iPhone. I tried to stream my iPhone to my Apple TV (gen 3 I think) via WiFi connection. WiFi was working, mirroring to Apple TV from iPhone worked, internet connection via this setup was a major fail. It seems that if I set my iPhone to cellular only (turn off WiFi) I can get internet via cellular. If I turn on WiFi on my iPhone I lose the internet. I tried multiple combinations of settings, but the internet always shut off as soon as WiFi was turned on. I tried these settings:

Settings-->Personal Hotspot ON (tried using WiFi and BT connections)
Settings-->Phone-->WiFi Calling ON (forgot to try turning this OFF)
Settings-->Cellular-->WiFi Assist ON/OFF (tried both)
Settings-->Cellular-->Cellular Data (turned ON for all necessary apps)

There is probably a setting somewhere I need to change to make this work, but I never found it. Watching TV on a smartphone is okay in the short term, but it does become a literal pain in the neck after a while!

BTW, I tried using a BT connection between the iPhone and Apple TV/iPad to get the Hotspot to function with cellular. That kind of worked, but the Mbps was too slow to work for streaming (less than 1 Mbps speed. I only get 2.5 Mbps on my iPhone via cellular T-Mobile connection, but is enough for streaming, though just barely.)

I've encountered this hotspot issue before where a WiFi connection simply won't work because when I turn on WiFi on my iPhone the internet connection is lost. BT kind of works, at least for web surfing, albeit at DSL speed or less. The one hotspot solution that works well is tethering my iPhone via lightning/USB cable to my MacBook Pro. That works like a charm. (I should have done that last night!)

So the issue seems to be centered around how I can convince my iPhone to use cellular for internet and WiFi so I can connect it as a Personal Hotspot with my other devices via WiFi (Apple TV, iPad, etc.). Again, just to be clear, as soon as WiFi is turned ON on the iPhone the internet connection is lost. Frustrating!

ETA: I'm currently using my MacBook Pro via a tethered USB/Lightning cable to my iPhone to surf the internet at 2Mbps speed via the Personal Hotspot set up on the iPhone.

06-17-2019, 11:14 AM	#1
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	Streaming to TV w/o WiFi fail Background: A storm packing high winds took out my internet connection yesterday afternoon. (It is still out--waiting for Charter-Spectrum to come fix it in our neighborhood.) To be clear, my WiFi network is running, but there is no internet connection, so things like surveillance cameras work via WiFi connection. I can connect my iPhone to other devices through WiFi. However, I'm having to use the cellular connection on my iPhone XR to get an internet connection. Last night I had to watch Hulu Live TV on my iPhone rather than over my TV or iPad as that was the only device I own with cellular capability. Of course I was able to watch OTA TV on my TV, but unfortunately not much was on OTA TV last night. The Problem: Watching a streaming service requires a reliable internet connection. The only reliable internet connection available to me was/is a cellular connection using my iPhone. So I set up a Personal Hotspot on my iPhone. I tried to stream my iPhone to my Apple TV (gen 3 I think) via WiFi connection. WiFi was working, mirroring to Apple TV from iPhone worked, internet connection via this setup was a major fail. It seems that if I set my iPhone to cellular only (turn off WiFi) I can get internet via cellular. If I turn on WiFi on my iPhone I lose the internet. I tried multiple combinations of settings, but the internet always shut off as soon as WiFi was turned on. I tried these settings: Settings-->Personal Hotspot ON (tried using WiFi and BT connections) Settings-->Phone-->WiFi Calling ON (forgot to try turning this OFF) Settings-->Cellular-->WiFi Assist ON/OFF (tried both) Settings-->Cellular-->Cellular Data (turned ON for all necessary apps) There is probably a setting somewhere I need to change to make this work, but I never found it. Watching TV on a smartphone is okay in the short term, but it does become a literal pain in the neck after a while! BTW, I tried using a BT connection between the iPhone and Apple TV/iPad to get the Hotspot to function with cellular. That kind of worked, but the Mbps was too slow to work for streaming (less than 1 Mbps speed. I only get 2.5 Mbps on my iPhone via cellular T-Mobile connection, but is enough for streaming, though just barely.) I've encountered this hotspot issue before where a WiFi connection simply won't work because when I turn on WiFi on my iPhone the internet connection is lost. BT kind of works, at least for web surfing, albeit at DSL speed or less. The one hotspot solution that works well is tethering my iPhone via lightning/USB cable to my MacBook Pro. That works like a charm. (I should have done that last night!) So the issue seems to be centered around how I can convince my iPhone to use cellular for internet and WiFi so I can connect it as a Personal Hotspot with my other devices via WiFi (Apple TV, iPad, etc.). Again, just to be clear, as soon as WiFi is turned ON on the iPhone the internet connection is lost. Frustrating! ETA: I'm currently using my MacBook Pro via a tethered USB/Lightning cable to my iPhone to surf the internet at 2Mbps speed via the Personal Hotspot set up on the iPhone. Last edited by OtinG; 06-17-2019 at 11:26 AM.