Connect a device to Android phone via phone Hotpspot wifi but no internet access provided to device

[Android Central Question]

I have a phone with Android 8.
I turn off it's WiFi. Turn on it's hotspot.
Phone is now connected to phone data network only.

I ensure that phone data is on.
I double-check by opening phone broswer and loading a new webpage.
All is good.

Then I open WiFi on another device.
I find phone WiFi hotspot generated by the phone and successfully connect.
But cannot access internet.

Have tried connecting to phone hotspot from
Android tablet, IOS tablet and Win10 PC.

All report good WiFi connection but no internet access.

I have tried hotspot creation on two Android phones with Vodfone.

Both permit devices to connect to hotspot but do not permit access to internet.

Vodafone say that they permit hotspot on the phone.

Any ideas or similar observed behaviour anyone? Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Did you actually speak to someone from Vodafone about this, or are you just referring to something you found on the web regarding this question? Make sure you talk to someone directly and ask them if your wireless plan includes wireless tethering. Not all plans include this unless you pay an extra fee. Or there might be a monthly limit to how much you can tether, and you may have already exceeded that limit.

 

[pressbuttonb]

B.Diddy. Thanks for pitching in. Yes I checked with Vodafone and they stated that there was no limit on tethering. They do not care how I use up my monthly data allowance 80).

 

[B. Diddy]

What happens if you leave the wi-fi radio on? I believe the phone has to use the wi-fi radio to broadcast the hotspot, so turning off the wi-fi radio shouldn't be necessary. (Turning it off shouldn't cause problems either, but just see what happens if you leave it on.)

 

[pressbuttonb]

Hi B.Diddy. Anther useful point. Ta!
On the two Android phones I have access to the WiFi switches off automatically when the hotspot is activated. (And vice-versa).
This make sense since if there was a WiFi network to connect to then one would not need to use a phone hotspot.
Interestingly I tried creating a hotspot on a Vodafone Iphone6. When I accessed ithe iPhone hotspot from the iPad and Android Tablet I could access the internet fine. This tends to eliminate Vodafone as the suspect. An odd point finally is that the iPhone WiFi does not turn off when the hotspot is turned on. But the hotspot turns off if mobile data is turned off which does indicate that traffic sent to a mobile hotspot does not require the hosting phone to have plain vanilla WiFi switched on. Though they are all using 802.11 of course.
So I am still stuck with either two new different Android phones have both got broken hotspot hardware OR there is some issue with a recent Android update. The former explanantion is unlikely but since I have not come across anyone else with my prob I don't see how it can be an Android bug. Shrug.

 

[Rukbat]

This make sense since if there was a WiFi network to connect to then one would not need to use a phone hotspot.

The hotspot gets internet via mobile data. It connects to the phone via wifi - so wifi has to be on - for both the phone with the hotspot and the device connecting to it.

After that, if the device connects to the hotspot (via wifi), the connection to the internet is the responsibility of the hotspot software.

You have 2 connections - a wifi connection from the device to the hotspot, and a TCP/IP (by mobile data) connection to the internet. The whole purpose of the hotspot (aside from routing) is to provide a connection between the two.

What you're getting is called a "limited connection". See if Vodaphone tech support can help you if you ask about a limited connection using the hotspot. Otherwise, try running other hotspot or tethering apps from Play.

 

[pressbuttonb]

Thanks for replying Rukbat (Nice name, fine books). The Android phone is definitely running as an AP even though the WiFi icon is off as I can see the channel on inSSIDer on the tablet. I guess that Google interpret the Wifi icon as you want the phone to talk to another AP. So all is well with the WiFi projected by the Android phone when it runs as a hotspot.
Have already spoken to Vodafone and they say "It ain't us chief, we love you runnning hotspots on your phone".
I also have an iPhone wihch runs horspot and links the tablet nicely to the internet via Vodafone.
So I think that I will have to follow your final excellent advice and start looking for an Android App to managed generation of hotspot on my phone.

 

[Rukbat]

Finally, someone who knows of Miss M. Let us know if you find an app that works. I keep a list of links to good apps for people needing one for something.