Nexus 6P Hotspot Disabled for ATT Unlimited Data Plan Users only?

[Almeuit]

Re:

OP, maybe update the thread title so we target the grandfathered unlimited data users.

Good idea - fixed.

 

[y2jdmbfan]

Re:

To all the people that have a tethering plan, this is not for you. Not trying to be rude here, its great to know that the hotspot is working for you which it very well should. I'm referring to the people that have had the Nexus 5 (or other android phone), and was able to tether with out issues with an ATT grandfathered unlimited data plan. That has now moved over to the Nexus 6P and is now not able to tether.

Technically you shouldn't have been able to tether at all with Grandfathered data on AT&T, so I don't expect Google to do anything to fix this.

 

[raphymartinez]

My issue is that even right now (on cricket) I can put my sim card in my Nexus 5 or Moto G and it works, switch it to 6p (or 5x) and it doesn't. I guess what I'd like to know is, what's different?

 

[camdeoliviera]

y2jdmbfan: I understand that "you shouldn't have been able to tether at all with Grandfathered data on AT&T" and have expressed this a multitude of times throughout this thread. I think most people that are posting here with the unlimited data plan understand this. I believe the people in the thread are not "[expecting] Google to do anything to fix this." we are more wondering why it is different from our Nexus 5 and most other android phones that the Nexus 6p has lost its ability to hotspot. And to clarify so not to receive silly answers, I'm not referring to the specs of the phone.

 

[luvx77x8o4]

I am on ATT on 2 6P's one with unlimited data and one 2 gb data plan and i am unable to enable the hotspot. It says go to att or call 611 to enable. I was able to do it before on the nexus 5.

 

[joesedroid]

Im using mine on cricket, came from an Amazon fire phone. Service has been awesome with both. However I had tethering/hotspot free with the Fire phone. When I put my sim in the 6p it now says to call ATT to activate hotspot. kinda blows.

 

[timthemac]

So I have the same problem and I am on cricket. On another website I found the following and it worked for me.

open the sim tray but don't take out the sim card.
push the sim tray back in the phone.
wait 4-5 seconds and then activate hotspot in the settings->more->tethering

It's annoying to have to do this each time but it's a workaround for now. Hope it works for you all too.

 

[raphymartinez]

Thank you. At least for now, this is working for me.

 

[camdeoliviera]

Still the same issues no progress yet. Have tried the work around and cant seem to get it to work either. ive also heard if you give them your nexus 5 IMEI it will allow for tethering again, but thats just a rumor so far.

 

[rmkilc]

I get the same error on my Nexus 6P when I try to enable tethering using my AT&T SIM card. Tethering works just fine when I put my SIM card in my iPhone 6s Plus. Using a friends AT&T SIM card however, tethering works just fine on my Nexus 6P, but I get an error on my iPhone 6s Plus.

According to an AT&T rep on AT&T chat, the device you are using needs to be entered in on their end in order for tethering to work properly, even though everything else works (data, calls, sms, mms). For example, if you are using an iPhone, your plan needs to be setup for an iPhone. And vice-versa for an Android phone. Otherwise tethering won't work.

This seems totally counter intuitive to the whole purpose of SIM cards. Why even have SIM cards if you still have to call AT&T to switch devices? From the customer's prospective, there aren't different data plans depending on the device you have. If AT&T insists on setting it up differently on their end depending on your device, it should all happen automatically whenever you put your SIM card in a different device.

 

[isimme]

rmkilc -you're on an AT&T Unlimited Data Plan?

 

[isimme]

camdeoliviera-
-go to settings->more->tethering & portable hotspot (leave this screen up and open)
-open your sim tray but don't take out the sim card.
-push the sim tray back in the phone
-wait 4-5 seconds and then from your open and on screen at
settings->more->tethering & portable hotspot
toggle on Portable Wi-Fi hotspot
*1st time you do this it will open with the default Wifi hotspot SSID and Password
In order to change it, while it is still active with the default credentials,
go to settings->more->tethering & portable hotspot->Set up Wi-Fi hotspot
and setup your own SSID & PW, after which you will have to repeat the previous
steps(the old eject sim card routine) to work again
**Each time you turn off the portable hotspot or for example turn off your phone you will need to do the old eject sim card routine

 

[rmkilc]

No, a modern shared data plan. No unlimited.

 

[isimme]

rmkilc- this thread is really for an AT&T Unlimited Data Plan as stated in the thread title. Your issue with tethering is simply a provisioning problem which can be fixed by either calling AT&T and updating with your new device's IMEI or if that doesn't work then with a new sim(should be free in an official AT&T Store unless the employee is a jerk or you're a jerk to them) setup for your new device but you really shouldn't need a sim..

 

[N4Newbie]

...
**Each time you turn off the portable hotspot or for example turn off your phone you will need to do the old eject sim card routine

Just a fair warning: I think it likely that SIM trays and the phone's internal contacts are not designed for potentially hundreds of cycles. In probably 95% of phones, the SIM tray is pulled out one time to insert a card, pushed in, and then never touched again.

 

[jamesc760]

Maybe you can try adding this to build.prop :

net.tethering.noprovisioning=true

Reboot your 6P and see if tethering works?

 

[Stephman]

Maybe you can try adding this to build.prop :

net.tethering.noprovisioning=true

Reboot your 6P and see if tethering works?

I believe you have to root your phone to do that. I don't feel like rooting, just to have to unroot to get the next Android update, then have to root again to get tethering working.
...I may begrudgingly do that at some point

 

[JoeyZhao]

I just received my Nexus 6P, I'm upgrading from a Nexus 5 on ATT, and I'm unable to launch the hotspot. I was just on my Nexus 5 last night, fully upgraded to 6.0 and all, and was able to launch the hotspot just like normal for the past 2 years. When attempting to launch the Portable WiFi hotspot it gives me an error stating "To enable portable Wi-Fi hotspot on this device, go to att.com/mywireless or dial 611." Now I'm 'grandfathered' into unlimited data so giving this up is not an option, but I was curious to see if anyone has found a solution or is having the same problem with ATT. A coworker just got a Nexus 6P as well and is on T-Mobile, does not pay for a hotspot, but is able to use his on his 6P.

Its really just due to old BYOD devices has been doing no entitlement check for Tether hotspot previously. After a while carrier found out and start forcing OEM to do entitlement check and hence the problem for people with unlimited plan. Your option is either

1. Root the device , disable Huaweientitlement.apk or add a line in build.prop to disable that
2. Root the device, get a third party app such as foxify to bypass the system tethering routine

 

[DLK1]

1. Root the device , disable Huaweientitlement.apk or add a line in build.prop to disable that
2. Root the device, get a third party app such as foxify to bypass the system tethering routine

For the first option I have rooted and the edited the build.prop file by adding the following to the end of the file. net.tethering.noprovisioning=true

This worked for me and I can use the built in tethering option just like I did on the nexus 5. I also try the second second option using the app called Wi-Fi Tether Router. The second option works quite well also.

 

[camdeoliviera]

Great, it seems I have no other option, I will have to go back to a rooted device. I appreciate the information on this topic. Mostly everyone in this thread has been more then helpful. Happy Holidays to everyone and thank you!