The Samsung mobile hotspot makes it so that your Samsung device can act as a Wi-Fi modem. When that happens you can connect other devices to it, and use the same internet connection that it’s using. Like all things that happen on devices sometimes it doesn’t work at all, here’s how to get it working again when it has stopped working.
Start by ensuring that you have data remaining on your sim card through your sim card provider. Certain carriers also require an additional plan to be able to use mobile hotspot so check with your carrier whether it’s enabled for your sim card. Finally, reset the network settings and your phone.
In this article, I will explain how to perform each of these troubleshooting steps. I will explain in easy to understand language so whether you’re very experienced using devices or don’t use them very much you can get the mobile hotspot working or understand what you need to do to get working.
Samsung Mobile Hotspot Not Working
The mobile hotspot function uses your data connection over the mobile/cell phone network and makes it available for other devices to use this connection. It’s different to a Wi-Fi connection but works in a very similar way. If you’ve previously been able to connect devices to it, or it’s the first time you’re using it here’s how to get it work.
A very effective fix for electronic devices is to first do a soft reset. This turns your smartphone completely off, and reboots it fresh. If that has not got it working then contact your mobile carrier to see if there’s a setting on your account with them that needs to be changed to get it to work.
You should also do a soft reset on the device you’re trying to connect to your Samsung device. I will provide detailed instructions for how to do a soft reset of your devices, as well as, the additional troubleshooting steps you should do in order from the most likely issue to the least likely. That way you can solve the issue as efficiently as possible.
Note: Each of the below steps have the potential to solve the issue. So, after performing each step, attempt to connect a device to the mobile hotspot to see if it’s working.
1. Soft reset the Samsung device
There are multiple apps all working and communicating with each other on a Samsung device all at once. As these apps open and close, and download and upload files a small error can occur with the software which causes an app to freeze. This can interfere with other apps. Therefore, every once and a while, and especially when there’s an issue, a soft reset will close all of the apps, and open them again.
Doing this won’t make any changes to your apps, and all of the settings, chats, and files such as photos will remain unchanged. Here’s how to do it for a Samsung smartphone, after explaining how to do it for a Samsung smartphone I will explain how to do it for a Samsung tablet and laptop.
Instructions for how to soft reset Samsung smartphones
There is a power button on the side of a Samsung smartphone. Press and hold this button until a menu appears on the screen. Usually, this occurs after 1 or 2 seconds. This menu will contain 3 options.
1. Power
2. Restart
3. Emergency call
Using the touchscreen select the restart option. Your smartphone will reboot itself and return to the home screen.
Instructions for how to soft reset Samsung tablets and laptops
A Samsung tablet can be installed in the exact same way as a smartphone using the instructions above. For a Samsung laptop the operating system (OS) will have a restart option from the start menu or equivalent. For example, your Samsung laptop may be running Windows, or Android OS. If you’re really tech savvy you might have installed a Linux OS.
- For Windows – From the start menu on the bottom right, hover over ‘shut down’ and select ‘restart’.
- For AndroidOS or GoogleOS – follow the instructions in this video:
- For Linux – Click the battery icon on the top right, and select the power icon, then select ‘restart’.
- For Windows – From the start menu on the bottom right, hover over ‘shut down’ and select ‘restart’.
- For AndroidOS or GoogleOS – follow the instructions in this video:
- For Linux – Click the battery icon on the top right, and select the power icon, then select ‘restart’.
A hard reset sometimes misnamed a factory reset can also be done, however, this wipes all of the settings, saved files, and apps. If you run into an issue doing a soft reset be careful not to do a hard reset/factory reset. For the most part this is not required, and you shouldn’t do it. But, if you try everything and you still can’t get it to work, then you can consider doing a factory reset on your device if you’ve exhausted all of the steps on this list.
2. Soft reset the device(s) you’re connecting to the mobile hotspot
This step is the same as the step above. But, it should be done on the devices you’re trying to connect to the mobile hotspot. This step is only applicable if you CAN get the mobile hotspot to turn on, on your Samsung device but you can’t connect a device to it.
This can happen if you can’t find the connection when you search for available networks on the device you’re trying to connect to your Samsung mobile hotspot.
Or, if it connects but you can’t access the internet on the device you’re connecting to your mobile hotspot. The exact steps to restart the device you’re attempting to connect to the mobile hotspot varies quite a bit. But, it’s generally simply a matter of turning it on and off again. Or, selecting the restart option from the menu on the device.
3. Contact your mobile carrier to verify if anything extra needs to be done
For this issue, Samsung recommends double checking you have data remaining on your data plan. It’s possible you’ve used up all the data for the month, or the data you got on a prepaid add on. Additionally, attempt to access a website from your Samsung device using the data connection to verify it’s working. Also check that you haven’t accidentally disabled 3G or 4G and are using the Wi-Fi connection.
This is done by swiping down from the top and tapping the Wi-Fi icon to disable Wi-Fi. And tap the icon for mobile data to enable it. It seems a bit obvious but if you have no data left you’ll need to either get more, or wait for the month to roll over to use it. Additionally certain carriers (mobile service providers) such as AT&T, and Verizon don’t allow mobile hotspot to work by default.
And you need to contact them to have it enabled. Others are a bit more restrictive and they require you to have an additional plan to be able to use the hotspot feature. In either case, it’s best to chat to their live support, send them an email, or give them a call to see if there is anything additional that needs to be done to use the mobile hotspot feature with your account.
4. Reset network settings on your Samsung device
The network settings can have frozen/crashed and resetting the network settings will get it working again. This is very simple to do, simply follow the below steps. Here’s shorthand if you’re very familiar with navigating your Samsung device.
Settings > General Management > Reset > Reset network settings > Reset settings > input your pin, swipe pattern, or password > Reset
If you have a Samsung device that has two sim cards, it will display both sim cards, then ask you which sim card network settings you want to restart. Tap on the sim card you’re using and select ‘reset.’ If you think the sim card is the issue and you want to try your other sim card then do the exact same steps but select the other sim card. The one you didn’t select the first time.
Here’s a more detailed explanation if you’re fairly unfamiliar or not too good at using electronic devices.
From the home screen swipe down using the touch screen from the top of the screen to open the bottom to open up an additional options menu. One of the options on that menu is settings, which is a cog-wheel icon. Tap that to open the settings menu then tap the following options in each menu one by one:
General Management > Reset > Reset network settings > Reset settings > input your pin, swipe pattern, or password > Reset
It will display the sim card you’re using with the name of the carrier. It will say something like ‘Verizon 4G sim card’ or ‘AT&T 4G sim card’. Tap on the sim card and then press the ‘reset’ button.
5. Check if there is a pending software update on your Samsung device
A pending software update can be causing a conflict between certain apps. Some apps can have been updated and now certain features are incompatible with the current Samsung operating system (OS) on your Samsung device. In some cases your Samsung device will be set to auto update the software. But, other times it won’t be and you’ll need to download and install it manually.
Here’s how to check if there’s a software update and update it if necessary. It should always be done over a Wi-Fi network as the files are typically very large, and it will use up mobile data which is much more expensive. Go to Settings, which is the cog wheel app. You can also access it by swiping down from the top of the screen to open up an additional menu, and one of it will have a cog wheel icon that is the settings menu.
From there select from the list of options ‘Software Update’ > ‘Download and install’. Once you do that it will take some time to check for an update, and it will either say ‘Your software is already up to date.’ Or, it will ask you to accept and install the latest update. After doing that from that same setting you can set it to automatically download updates.
Which is one of the options from that menu. Simply tap on it, and tick the box. This is the final step. If it’s still not working, then get in touch with Samsung via their official website, and ask about what you should do.
All of the steps covered here are the steps Samsung recommends to fix this issue, plus some additional ones. So, you may need to let them know you’ve already done the troubleshooting steps they suggest.
Device Not Connecting to Samsung Mobile Hotspot
You can be able to successfully enable your Samsung mobile hotspot but when you go to connect another device to it it doesn’t work. There are a few troubleshooting steps you should take when you have this issue, here’s what they are:
Start by doing a soft reset on the device you’re attempting to connect to the Samsung mobile hotspot. If this doesn’t work, then restart your Samsung device, enable the mobile hotspot and attempt to reconnect the device to it. After that there are some additional steps explained below.
Doing either of those two fixes has the potential to get it to work again, so verify if it’s working after restarting both your Samsung device, and the device you’re trying to connect to it. If it’s still not connecting I’ve provided step by step instructions for the additional troubleshooting steps near the start of this article. They are numbered under large headings. Starting with step 1 or step 2 doesn’t make any difference, but to make it easiest to follow it’s best to start with step ‘1. Soft reset the Samsung device’, and work through each of the steps until it begins working again.
Samsung Mobile Hotspot No Internet
It’s possible to connect a device to a Samsung mobile hotspot but the device you connected to it has no internet. To troubleshoot this issue, here’s what you should do.
Check with your carrier or through a carrier app on your phone that you have data remaining on your mobile phone account. If you’ve used up the data allowance, generally, you won’t be able to use mobile data. If it’s not that, reset your Samsung device, and the device you’ve connected to it.
Most carriers such as Boost, and AT&T have an app, which you can use to check how much data you have on your prepaid plan, or account with them. Use that app, log on to their official website, or talk to them over live chat, over the phone, or send them an email to see how much mobile data you have. Certain carriers also don’t allow you to use mobile hotspot on their plans by default and you need to get an additional plan, or ask them about how to enable it on your account. I explained all of these troubleshooting steps in step by step detail at the top of this article.
Scroll to the top of this article, and go through each step one by one starting with step ‘1. Soft reset the Samsung device’.
Samsung Mobile Hotspot Will Not Turn On
The mobile hotspot setting on a Samsung phone is enabled through the settings. It won’t turn on unless a few things are done first. This is what needs to be done so that the mobile hotspot can be turned on, on a Samsung device.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on December 14, 2021.
Mobile data (3G/4G) and Wi-Fi need to be enabled for you to be able to turn on the Samsung mobile hotspot. But, when you turn it on it will ask you to turn on Wi-Fi. You can connect a device to the mobile hotspot over Wi-Fi or by plugging your phone into a device such as a computer.
If you’ve turned on mobile data and Wi-Fi and it’s still not working then scroll to the top of this article and follow the step by step instructions I’ve explained starting with step ‘1. Soft reset the Samsung device’. Perform each step, and check after each step if you can then turn enable the mobile hotspot on your Samsung device.
Samsung Update Turned off Mobile Hotspot
Most operating systems and apps will release a new version of their software to fix errors that are discovered in the software, or to add additional features. When a new update is applied, generally, everything works exactly the same. But, it has been known to disable or break certain features, in particular the Samsung mobile hotspot can not turn on after an update so here’s what to do to get it working again.
Do a network reset by selecting the following from the settings menu General Management > Reset > Reset network settings > Reset settings > input your pin, swipe pattern, or password > Reset. This is the main cause but other fixes are explained below if this doesn’t work.
Scroll to the top of this article where I have provided 5 steps, as well as, what to do if you do each of the steps and it’s still not working. Do each of the steps one by one after doing a network reset.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on December 14, 2021.
Start by doing a soft reset on your Samsung device, and the device(s) you’re trying to connect to your Samsung mobile hotspot. Then, contact your mobile carrier to see if it will work with your data plan. Finally, reset the network settings, and check for an update on your Samsung device.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on December 14, 2021.