Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
NoMan
Newbie

It appears that Verizon is playing some games, given that the recent decision by the FCC said they could not charge for the hotspot service under the equal access provision of the spectrum they purchased. Big red got hit with a $1.25 million fine and told to stop charging. So it appears that they are now taking the service away and playing dumb about it. The best solution is to go to www.fcc.gov/complaints, take the last option, fill out the form and let the FCC whack big red for you. You can even upload the screen shot or save this web page as a PDF and upload that as evidence.

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
kovey
Enthusiast - Level 2

This is not a solution.  The feature just never initialized properly.  The solution was to re-enable the feature as described above.

Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
KEV815PAN
Contributor - Level 1

Kovey, are you aware that if you have Verizon's GPS Mapping System Turned On, that you are Prohibited from using the 4G Hotspot? I still have Unlimited Data with my IPhone 5 and IOS 6.1.0 Beta (I am in the Apple Developer Program so I have Access to the Beta's) and the Personal Hotspot works just fine just as long as I don't turn on Verizon's Real Time GPS System (I use Apple's GPS Maps System Instead), VCAST Music, Movies, and/or TV Shows, and/or NFL App (they require you NOT to sign up for them as they do NOT allow Sharing of those Features). Just FYI.

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
kovey
Enthusiast - Level 2

KEV815PAN, you're talking out of your ass, quite frankly.  Verizon GPS mapping has absolutely nothing to do with this issue or 4G tethering.  Read the accepted answer.

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
iSRS
Enthusiast - Level 1

For anyone stumbling upon this, I was having a similar issue (though never got an error message). Called Verizon support, explained the issue to them, referenced this thread, and was up and running within 3 minutes.

I also had moved from a 4 to a 5, restore from a backup.

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
MattRob5678
Enthusiast - Level 1

jbatchelor wrote:

I called Verizon and they mentioned that you can't turn on/configure your personal hot spot until you turn off your wifi connection.  In other words, you can't configure an outgoing wifi signal while your phone is running on an incoming wifi signal.  Go to Settings ->WiFi and make sure it is turned off.  Then attempt to configure your Personal Hotspot.

Thank you, jbatchelor!  This solution worked perfectly for me!  I simply turned off Wi-Fi, and when I returned to Settings->General->Cellular->Personal Hotspot I no longer got the pop-up box shown in original post.  Instead I got the Personal Hotspot screen.  And now on the main Setting screen I have a new Personal Hotspot menu item (4th from top) that gives me direct access to that screen.  Glad to know I don't have to visit a Verizon store!

Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
MattRob5678
Enthusiast - Level 1

It's not false information, because it worked for me exactly as described.  It's possible different people have different situations.  And jbatchelor's solution only takes 10 seconds to try.

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
Lrknowlton
Enthusiast - Level 1

I was able to activate my personal hotspot by doing the following steps. 1. Turn off wifi. 2. Do a reset on phone by holding power and select button until apple logo appears. 3. When phone powers back on, go into settings >  general > cellular. >  personal hotspot.

You should then be able to turn your wifi back on.

Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
jasnegosky
Newbie

Hi - I did all of these steps and still get the same message in the original post that says I have to call to set it up.  I did that and the lady told me that it costs $20/month.  Is this right? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks! 

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Re: Can't enable Personal Hotspot on iPhone 5, iOS 6
kovey
Enthusiast - Level 2

The cost for hotspot tethering depends on your plan.

For those on Verizon "Share Everything", it's included at no extra cost. 

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