Phone 4 Personal Hotspot trouble w WiFi: laptop sees it; but won't connect

[Rivergoat]

Issue was an older driver on the Belkin card. Once updated, it's working fine. This is the only wi-fi connection I've had issues with that card, so drivers wasn't on the top of my list, but it did occur to me. And checking, either Windows or the Belkin ultilty (not both at once) can manage my wireless connections now, and each connect as I expect them too...

[cmlutz]

Did you ever get this problem figured out? I just got my iphone and I am having the same exact problem with the same error message.  The solution they listed to this is not helpful. Help!!

[woodhauler]

I also have this same problem with no solution to date.

Any further information to resolve?

Apple was not able to help.

Thanks

[aboaz]

I think the problem revolves around the fact that Apple requires not only a WEP key(name of iphone) but a sepperate login id.  WiFi hotspot works fine with my MacBook Pro because the software handles this.  On my Dell laptop running XP there is no way to enter the password that I have been able to find.  The XP computer simply timesout becaue the iPhone is waiting for the password which the Windows machine is unable to handle.  I hope someone smarter than me can come up with a work around for this because it makes it impossible to connect to a Windows PC.

[mikedamirault]

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aboaz wrote:

I think the problem revolves around the fact that Apple requires not only a WEP key(name of iphone) but a sepperate login id.  WiFi hotspot works fine with my MacBook Pro because the software handles this.  On my Dell laptop running XP there is no way to enter the password that I have been able to find.  The XP computer simply timesout becaue the iPhone is waiting for the password which the Windows machine is unable to handle.  I hope someone smarter than me can come up with a work around for this because it makes it impossible to connect to a Windows PC.

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aboaz, I believe you are a little confused on the terminology, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is the "login ID" you are talking about, WEP isn't the display name of the iPhone/WAP (Wireless Access Point)

The display name of a router/WAP (the name you look for when searching for a wireless network) is called an SSID (Service Set Identifier)

In some cases, if a wireless network is unprotected, you can just search for an SSID, connect to it, and you're online (unless there is a login/sign-up webpage, like at hotels or places like McDonald's, Panera or Starbucks), though in most cases, there is some sort of encryption, like the following...

-WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

-WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)

-WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2)

Almost (if not every) Wi-Fi device supports at least WEP, it is possible that some older devices (that can't be updated) can't support WPA or WPA2, but Windows (all versions), Mac OS and Linux (all distros) should be able to support all of them, the encryption standards shouldn't be causing the issue

Like I have said in my previous posts, the iPhone seems to take a extremely long time (longer than usual anyway) to have a Wi-Fi device connect to it, and unlike Mac OS, which doesn't have a timeout (at least I haven't noticed a timeout), Windows on the other hand does have a pretty short timeout, so if it doesn't connect right away, it's bound to fail, it is possible that the iPhone takes longer to connect than Windows will allow, and therefore, Windows times out before the iPhone has a chance to connect to it, hence the issue (and the error message)

It is funny though, I connected my Xbox 360 (a Microsoft product) to my iPhone not long ago to connect to XBL, and the Xbox picked up the iPhone in no time, no issues connecting to it

[aboaz]

Question:  Is the Wi-Fi password on the iPhone the WEP encryption key?  If it is my lap top Windows machines will not accept it as a valid key.  I have had no problems using the hotspot feature with my MacBook Pro.

[mikedamirault]

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aboaz wrote:

Question:  Is the Wi-Fi password on the iPhone the WEP encryption key?  If it is my lap top Windows machines will not accept it as a valid key.  I have had no problems using the hotspot feature with my MacBook Pro.

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Kind of, the Wi-Fi password on the iPhone is an encryption key, but I don't think the iPhone allows you to use WEP encryption, I think it's WPA encryption only

It is possible (though I'm not sure why) that your Windows laptops don't support WPA encryption, and therefore isn't compatible with the iPhone's Wireless Hotspot feature

The main difference between WEP and WPA, is that WEP only accepts hexadecimal digits (1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5 ,6 ,7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, case sensitive), while WPA accepts any digits (1-9, A-Z, case sensitive)

Do you have Windows (Bootcamp) installed on your MacBook Pro?  If so, have you tried rebooting into Windows and seeing if you can connect to the iPhone in Windows?  If the MBP connects to the iPhone while running Windows, that means it's a hardware issue on your Windows running laptops, but if it doesn't work on your MBP while running Windows, that means it's an issue with Windows, and it could be a possibility that Windows isn't compatible with the iPhone's Wireless Hotspot feature, in my experience, if you are running Windows 7, Windows 7 does seem to have a couple issues/bugs with it's Wireless Zero Configuration feature

[Purfict]

Sorry I am new . I am having the same trouble with my iPhone. I've had it about a month with Verizon and I can't use the hot spot either, and if it does connect to wifi it will get disconnected in the middle of something.

[Purfict]

Oh, I have win Vista home pre, on a toshiba laptop

[mikedamirault]

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Purfict wrote:
Oh, I have win Vista home pre, on a toshiba laptop

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Have you tried connecting a different Wi-Fi capable device to it?  (home or mobile game consoles, Wi-Fi capable TVs, other Wi-Fi capable cell phones, laptops, desktops, Wi-Fi capable PDAs or handheld PCs, Macs, etc.)

If you have tried it with another Wi-Fi capable device and it works, then it means that it could be an issue with Windows Vista, if it still doesn't work on another device, then chances are the problem is with the iPhone

the iPhone's Wireless Hotspot feature seems to have a big compatibility issue with Windows based operating systems, I personally think it's due to the time limit Microsoft set for searching for an access point, causing it to time out