Hotspot does not work.

[Metatrix]

Hi there.

Today, even though I've been with public mobile for years, I am starting to look for a new service provider because of this issue. I imperatively need to be able to use my cellphone's data on my laptop using hotspot and tethering.

When I try to connect with the wi-fi hotspot, it says that I'm connected, but without internet access.

When I try to connect with the USB tethering, it simply does not give me access to my public mobile's data (it only works if I connect my cellphone to my house's wifi, then I share this connection with my laptop, which is useless. I need to share my mobile data).

My laptop can successfully connect to any other wi-fi. So it's not the laptop.

I tried my friend's hotspot and he has a Samsung galaxy s7 just like me but with another service provider; it works just fine. So it's not the model of the phone.

I tried another friend's hotspot, a friend who this time has a different phone but is also with public mobile, and it does not work; the same problem arises.

So the problem is really identified to be with public mobile's service.

Now, before someone redirects me and tells me to look into other threads with the same problem, I have already done that. So if you are a tech from public mobile, please, go look at all the "solutions" that I've already tried before telling me to try them.

I already did. There are a lot of them. None worked.

This thread down here sums it up. Since days past, I have tried everything and all variations of those solutions, without exception, and without any result :
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Wifi-Hotspot-Does-not-Work/td-p/20640...

My laptop is an Asus Zenbook, and my phone is a Samsung Galaxy S7 if that helps.

The only thing I could think of, but I don't think it matters, is that I bought the phone in the USA. Could this be the cause? It shouldn't, a phone is a phone, right?

I would love to stay with public mobile, and if someone can help fix this, I will!

Thank you in advance for your time.

[lubmar]

did anyone figure it out?

have similar problem

first everything (hotspot) was working perfectly but after few days the internet connection is getting lost 

the phone is loosing the internet connection - the text and call is working fine but the internet not

to get the internet back again i have to restart the phone - nothing else work (airplane mode , data on/off etc. )

so it works for a bit (sometimes longer , sometimes it craps out in few minutes ...

?

so again the phone is loosing the internet only when the hotspot is on ... 

[LouCk2]

I tried to tether to my laptop for the first time ever and I had connection for about 3 hours. After that, the “setup hop spot” came up in the menu. I powered the iPhone off and on, then went back to see if the hotspot was available. No, it said to set up hotspot I had to contact Public Mobile . That’s an almost impossible task, as most users can attest. Why the hotspot feauture is no longer available to me, it’s still a mystery. Looking for answers or an alternate Mobile provider.

[Metatrix]

"Stabs in the dark" are all we can do really anyway, so that's appreciated.

Trying my SIM card in someone else's phone is a step I'll be able to take today.

I'll also move to get help from the moderators, and will link them to this thread.

I'll keep you posted when it is resolved.

Thank you so much, everyone!

[Anonymous]

 @darlicious : I'm not convinced all these different APN's are needed. I can do mobile data, MMS, wifi hotspot, bluetooth hotspot, USB hotspot - all under one APN. And that's since I deleted all APN's that the phone came up with and made my own.

That's my A31 running A11.

I'm running dual-SIM where I have another single APN for the other SIM where I only let it do MMS. So if I get the MMS notification under that SIM then I need to manually turn on data for that SIM and then it comes down.

[sheytoon]

I'm not sure, I don't have any suggestions.

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

I was just looking thru the 3 tethered mobile internet APN's I have a noticed the third on has a different value......just another stab in the dark?

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

Well I'm sorry that we have been unable to help you....maybe @sheytoon would have an idea of why the hotspot isn't working for you. You may find it easier to just send a link to this thread to the moderators to explain everything you have tried so far. Hopefully one of the moderators will be able to figure it out.

[Dunkman]

@Metatrix 

It looks like you have tried most of the common troubleshooting advice.  

Then you should contact moderator, a PM employee.  Moderators can help troubleshoot further and potentially fix things on their end.  We are all customers like yourself.  When you submit your request, copy and paste what you have tried so far into your message to them.  Private messaging system is not a live feature.  There is some back and forth conversation which unfortunately takes more time.  

[gpixel]

@Metatrix 

sorry about that. it seems you have tried everything. I would try putting your sim in another phone and test your hotspot. or message mods and ask them to reset your account. check what Apn setting are on the sim that works and copy it to the pm sim. factory resetting might be your last option

other than that the hotspot at public mobile does work... 

I guess you've already updated to the latest OS and apps.

since none of the suggestions worked. reset your network settings and restart.

• re-create your hotspot with an easy password
• make sure 2.4ghz is selected
• restart your laptop
• try to connect

[Metatrix]

I do have that second set of APN. It was always there.

The Tethered Mobile Network.

It is already exactly the same as darlicious. It always has been.

I did try the MMS proxy: mmscproxy.mobility.ca
And I did try MMS port: 8799

Sadly, none of these changes in the APN settings has resolved anything.

No APN changes have resolved anything.

Also, I did try MVNO type to GID and value to 4D4F.

Actually, by default the values of my "Mobile Network APN" were from the start exactly as prescribed here :
https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/set-up-data-on-an-android-phone
Which is :

Name: Public Mobile

APN: sp.mb.com

MMSC proxy: 74.49.0.18

MMSC: http://aliasredirect.net/proxy/mb/mmsc

MMS port: 80

MCC: 302

MNC: 220

And it was already MVNO type GID and value 4D4F.

And the values of my "Tethering Mobile Network" APN were already exactly as shown by darlicious.

Those were both the default values of both my APNs.

The screenshots I sent you were the state of my APN after I had tried many other tweaks, and reverted back to default, and then various combinations of those tweaks, and then back and on and on...

The initial settings I had were exactly what you guys have suggested me to try...

Except for your values from MMS proxy and MMS port which differed from the default values.

I still tried those though. 

But no APN settings and tweaks have any effect whatsoever on my situation.

In the beginning, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be from what PM says it should be.

I then tried many things, starting with all those things mentioned here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Wifi-Hotspot-Does-not-Work/td-p/20640...

But I also tried other tweaks from other places I googled, many APN related things without any effect, including those MMS proxy and port you suggested.

I also deleted every APN and manually redone them all.

I also reset everything I could on my phone and on my laptop that was network-related.

I also tried considering CAPS or no-CAPS in the APN values.

"for whatever reason PM+your s7 isn't adding the correct settings for you to tether. you will need to manually set this up yourself.

I understand that when you use a different sim it works. but, that's because that certain carrier is uploading the correct settings for it to work. PM is ghetto and it's not doing it. that's why your friends pm sim isn't working either"

I'm not sure that is entirely right...
Did you have to enter yours manually?
Cause I think mine were actually fine right from the beginning.
The values you see on my screenshots are the ones I was left with when I stopped my endless and fruitless tweaks.

I knew showing you guys those screenshots would obviously result in a process of starting it all over again. I so did not want to do this again... 

But hey who knows... so I just did.

Of course, you have no reason to believe me when I said I already did all that. You can only believe the actual screenshots because what if I missed something? And I understand, you are right, from your point of view this is the correct attitude.

At least I learned something: always post a screenshot right from the start cause you can't expect someone to believe just your words, especially if that person starts taking responsibility for your situation.

It's like, say you feel weird and you go to the doctor to see what's wrong with you, and he wants to take your temperature. Even if you tell him you spent the whole day taking your own temperature every minute and it's fine, and you show him the logs... He will still want and need to take your temperature himself...

Ok. So.

If someone gives me a new APN setting I have not tried yet, I will. But I doubt the problem is there.

I've already tried everything and I'm willing to try more.

But with all the troubleshooting I did, I'm 99% sure this cannot be fixed by changing anything in the APNs

I think I really need an actual expert with more specialized and specific networking troubleshooting tools, but I'm not sure where to find one.

[Anonymous]

 @Metatrix : I don't have that tethered APN and I tried what I have and it works fine. I'm on an A31 running A11. I also have an S7 but it's my secondary phone with no SIM. I'm not yet ready to swap things around to see that it'll work. It used to though.

Those two last items

GID

4D

Sometimes even 4D4F

Whether those will make any difference I don't know. Just more little things to try.

Then other APN's like from gpixel4 with the different mms proxy and port.

Nor do I have dun in my APN type.

Did you try deleting all APN's that your phone queues up and then making a new one from scratch?

And for extra laughs, flip in/out of airplane mode after you save and select. You could go extreme and restart if you like.

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

My second set of APN settings is after I choose the Tethered Mobile Internet setting.

[gpixel]

@Metatrix you need the second APN settings as @darlicious post. look at her post she has two types of APN.

one with sp.mb.com and ISP.mb.com.

you need the ISP.mb.com APN for tethering...

first copy her apn settings field for field

then create a new APN with ISP.mb.com

editing the main APN is not going to do anything... you need that ISP.mb.com to tether(hotspot).

for whatever reason PM+your s7 isn't adding the correct settings for you to tether. you will need to manually set this up yourself. maybe because your phone is from the states.

I understand that when you use a different sim it works. but, that's because that certain carrier is uploading the correct settings for it to work. PM is ghetto and it's not doing it. that's why your friends pm sim isn't working either

[Metatrix]

Alright well, sorry guys if it sounded like I was giving you attitude, I wasn't.

I'm just quite sure it won't help... but hey ok. Let's go in that direction since nothing else seems to emerge anyways.

Let's see what another round of APN tweaks can do.

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

I think you are missing the point....by not seeing your settings we are taking a stab in the dark.... rather than being able to see them and determine if we can notice what the issue is....I only gave you mine so you could try to figure out your issue by comparing the two since I cannot compare yours with mine.

So I took another stab in the dark to help you....

[Anonymous]

 @Metatrix : How about a little less attitude. We're all just fellow customers who happen to be a little more keen on the service and cell phones in general.

I spent a bit of time looking at APN's and discovered that upon deleting the ones that show up automatically, suddenly a whole raft of other APN's showed up. I deleted those too. Then I started from scratch. Now it does what I wanted to in the first place.

[Metatrix]

Well, indeed I am. The reason is because I have spent way too much time, a lot more then I wanted to, tweaking the APN according to some insight that someone gave, the putting it back the prescribed way, then changing it again to the deafult PM prescribed way, then changing it again according to some other insightful user's recommendations, then trying combinations of many of those, then coming back the default, to the point where I actually tried things randomly and started to learn about what exactly an APN is and how it's various aspects works.

I have also specifically put the following link in my original post in order to help y'all understand how much I have tried already, and where the problem is actually not. 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Wifi-Hotspot-Does-not-Work/td-p/20640...

The last thing I want to do is reproduce all those hours that lead to nothing but a better understanding of the Access Point Networks. Posting my screenshots of APN would be nothing more than starting at the beginning all over again.

I will do that only if someone has actually read all the posts of the above thread and reaches the conclusion that there is something I have disregarded in the field of the APNs and he can explain that to me in a way that will demonstrate he is an expert.

Otherwise, no way I'm starting this fruitless marathon all over again.

Again, confirm to me that you have the knowledge of what I already tried and that you are not demanding that I do same things twice, and I will indulge you. Otherwise I'll keep being reluctant because there may be many people asking me to do the same things over and over again.

So yeah that's why I'm am reluctant, but if reading that you still want me to post screenshots of my APNs, because you truly think you have a grasp at what the problem could be and you already have an idea of what might be wrong, ok, I'll be super happy to indulge even if it doesn't work.

But if you just want to make sure that my APN settings are correct, and maybe suggest adding "dun", or changing something that I have already said I tried, this is where I'd spend 30 minutes writing about why I am reluctant, rather than take 2 minutes to do something that implies following advice I have already followed 100 times.

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

Are you reluctant to give us screenshots of your settings and networks? Its a lot easier for us to all compare our phone's to yours to see what the missing factor is?

[Metatrix]

It is not a problem of setting up a hotspot on my Samsung device.

I can hotspot other service providers, but not public mobile.

To be clear, the Samsung guide on how to set up the hotspot has been no help whatsoever. It is just the basics, like a user's manual, and it does not even scratch the surface of my problem.

I have been troubleshooting this in all the ways I could think of, it is not a problem of the basic use of the device. I never used my data saver, and I did verify it being off.

Thank you for trying to help.

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

Have you gone thru samsung's step by step guide on how to set it up? I have had no issues in the past hotspotting my data from my A3 to my tablet. But I'm no techie so I had to follow it carefully....and remember to turn my data saver off before doing so....

[Metatrix]

Good thinking, but it's not that. I tried my friend's phone (he is with PM) and it had the same problem, even though his SIM card is brand new (like 3 weeks old)

[Metatrix]

I cannot at the moment, because I don't have access to another phone.

I could try for troubleshooting purposes, but it wouldn't help much even if I can make it work on some other phone. Because I do not intend to change my phone in order to stay with public mobile. If I had a cheap phone I would consider it, but I paid too much for it.

I'd rather go with Videotron, I tried their SIM card and I can hotspot their internet without any problems.

[Metatrix]

I have tried virtually every possible mobile hotspot configuration.

Please read the linked thread I provided in my original post, and consider that I have very calmly and carefully tried everything related to the APN that could be directly or indirectly pointed to in there.

Then please consider that I have spent days not just tweaking, but also understanding what Access Point Networks are and what their various categories are.

Then consider that I have mentioned this in my previous post because I was foreseeing that people would suggest simple things that I have done many times and that I do not want to spend time doing all those things again and therefore have given sufficient information for people to realize exactly where I am at in this process.

Then considering all this, if you still think you have an angle on my problem that has to do with the APN settings, and that it has never been mentioned before, then please tell me what this angle is.

People have suggested many APN tweaks in previous threads and I have tried them all. Please, go look at those and come back 🙂

Thank you for your willingness to help.

[totalUser]

Can you try different phone? A relative of mine couldn't do it on umidigi they had to borrow a nokia and had no issues

[gpixel]

@Metatrix screenshot your mobile hotspot settings so we can see what they look like

[gpixel]

@Metatrix 

I can confirm that my hotspot is working on my laptop. so pm in general is not the issue...

 

 

[Metatrix]

You should read the link I posted on my original post. It is a thread that has many solutions to this problem, and it has been solved for many people, one of them might work for you. 

[darlicious]

@Metatrix 

It sounds like its your sim card that is the problem. Have you had it awhile?That seems to be the one factor that you haven't been able to get around. The moderators can reset your account and reprovision the sim card to see if that changes anything.

Sim cards are currently $4.99 at CCS so replacing your sim card could solve the issue but I can't say for sure. If it does resolve the issue after asking the moderators to do everything on their end then you could ask for a credit on your account. (save the reciept)

[Metatrix]

"Maybe screenshot your APN settings.  There might be a few suggestions about adjustments."

Well, the public mobile APN settings for Samsung galaxy s7 are quite clear. Also, between adding dun, changing the MVNO, and checking the correct spelling and casing of everything, there is nothing so deep in the APN settings that my hours of tweaking and following extensives posts about it would have missed, really.

"If you tried everything and nobody else in the community has any better ideas, you might want to submit ticket for moderator assistance.  

Click on the chat bubble icon on the right lower corner of website to start ticketing process to contact moderator.  Type: hotspot issue. Follow the prompts to submit ticket. "

Yeah thanks, I guess I'll try that this might be my last straw.

[gpixel]

@Metatrix 

do you have 2 APN types or just 1?