What To Do When Your TV Won’t Connect To A Hotspot?

So, your Wi-Fi is down, but you still want to watch your favorite show on Hulu or Netflix. You suddenly have a brilliant idea to use your mobile hotspot instead. But, for some reason, your TV isn’t connecting to the hotspot as it should.

Usually, there’s a simple explanation and fix, such as rebooting your TV and mobile phone. Or, you might be overloading the hotspot connection and need to disconnect some other devices.

Finding the right solution means you have to correctly identify the problem. This article will review the common reasons your TV won’t connect to a hotspot and what you can do about it.

What To Do When Your TV Won’t Connect to a Hotspot?

To connect your TV to a hotspot, your mobile hotspot needs to be active, and your TV should have Wi-Fi capabilities.

While most smart TVs do have a Wi-Fi card, it doesn’t hurt to double-check. There are a few models that only connect via an Ethernet cable.

But if you know your TV can connect to Wi-Fi and your mobile hotspot is active, here are some other things to check.

Verify Your Hotspot’s Password

Under your mobile hotspot’s network name and settings, you should see the password.

Verify that’s the same password you put in when connecting your TV. Sometimes people mistype a letter or a character and the TV won’t connect.

Go back into your TV’s Wi-Fi settings and connections. Pull up the connection to your mobile hotspot in the list.

Choose “Forget this network” within the settings. Then, try to set up the connection again and make sure you’re entering the password correctly.

Try Restarting and Resetting Each Device

Sometimes computers like smartphones and smart TVs need a fresh start.

Software glitches and hiccups can cause your devices to process things slowly or get hung up.

A simple reboot usually fixes the problems by clearing each device’s memory and logs.

What you’ll want to do is perform a reboot or restart on your smartphone. While that device is restarting, turn off your smart TV.

Once your smartphone is back on, make sure your mobile hotspot is on. Then turn your TV back on and try to connect to the hotspot’s network.

Here’s a best practice for restarting your smart TV.

• Disconnect the TV’s power cord.
• Let your TV sit unplugged for 60 seconds.
• Plug the cord back into the outlet.
• Turn your TV back on with your remote.

Check for Software Updates on Each Device

Because your smart TV and phone are essentially computers, they need periodic software updates.

Not having the latest version on either device can cause network connection problems.

You can check to see if there’s an available software update within each device’s settings.

If the settings menu indicates the software is up-to-date, that’s fine.

You don’t have to do anything on that device. But if there are software updates available, go ahead and download them.

Once downloaded, the updates should automatically install.

After installation, you’ll need to reboot the device if it doesn’t do this on its own.

You can avoid manually checking for updates by changing your device’s update settings. Select the option to have the device automatically check and download each time it connects.

Connect Only Your Smart TV to Your Hotspot

Mobile hotspots typically have less bandwidth than full-blown Wi-Fi service.

If you’ve got other devices connected to your hotspot, you may be at capacity. This could be a reason your smart TV can’t connect.

Try removing any other devices from your hotspot connection.

Then go ahead and attempt to reconnect your TV. You might check with your cellular carrier to see how many devices your mobile hotspot supports and its data limits and speeds.

For instance, you might have a 4K smart TV. You might experience connection problems when trying to view a 4K video if your hotspot speeds don’t support 4K content.

You might need to upgrade your plan or stick to standard video content.

Troubleshoot Your Hotspot

To get to the root cause of the connection problem, sometimes you need to isolate it.

You can do this by taking your TV out of the equation for a moment. This step involves making sure the problem isn’t with your hotspot.

Troubleshooting your hotspot means you try to connect another device, like a laptop, to it.

If you can successfully connect your laptop and surf the web, the problem isn’t with your hotspot.

Why Won’t a Smart TV Connect to a Mobile Hotspot?

Besides the potential reasons mentioned above, your cellular carrier could be experiencing an outage.

Cellular network outages impact your ability to make calls, send texts, and access any services associated with your plan. This includes your hotspot.

Another reason is your cellular carrier or plan doesn’t support hotspot access.

Some prepaid plans do not include hotspot data because of the potential to go over your limits. And it’s more challenging for carriers to collect the extra money you owe since you’re not on a billing plan.

But even if you have a postpaid cellular plan, you could’ve exceeded your hotspot data limits for the month.

That means your smart TV might connect to the hotspot’s network name, but you won’t be able to watch or download content.

Essentially, your hotspot access is cut off until the next billing period starts. The only way around this is to negotiate with your carrier and upgrade your plan if one is available.

Final Thoughts

If you’re wondering what to do when your TV won’t connect to a hotspot, we hope this article gives you a good place to start.

Typically, there’s an issue with the TV, your phone, or the hotspot connection. However, the root causes don’t require complicated solutions.

Taking steps like verifying your settings, confirming your network password, and rebooting your devices can get you back up and running.

While you might need to contact your cellular carrier for help, you can usually fix your connection problems yourself.