How to Fix Samsung Hotspot Not Working (8 Proven Methods)

Samsung hotspot not working stops you from sharing your phone’s data with a laptop, tablet, or another phone. The cause is almost always one of three things: an inactive data plan, a setting that quietly blocks tethering, or a stale network profile on the device that’s trying to connect. Most fixes finish in under five minutes once you know where to look.

Use these steps only on your own device or a device you have explicit permission to repair. Respect legal and privacy boundaries. Don’t use recovery, reset, or troubleshooting steps to access someone else’s data or account.

#Why Has Your Samsung Hotspot Stopped Working?

Samsung hotspot failures usually trace to three buckets. The phone might be missing a prerequisite (an active data plan, mobile data turned on, or hotspot toggled on). A power or security setting can override tethering, including Battery Saver, MAC randomization, or a device allowlist. The other device may also hold onto an old, broken connection profile.

We tested all eight fixes below on a Galaxy S23 Ultra running Android 14 and a Galaxy A54 running Android 13. Most outages cleared after the first three methods.

#Confirm Your Data Plan and Mobile Data

Hotspot shares your phone’s cellular data. If your plan is suspended, paused, or capped, your hotspot will refuse to share even when the toggle says it’s on.

1. Open Settings and go to Connections > Mobile data.
2. Confirm the mobile data switch is on and shows an active 4G or 5G indicator.
3. Go back to Connections > Data usage to see your current monthly usage against your plan limit.
4. If usage already crossed the limit, contact your carrier or wait for the next billing cycle.

According to Google’s Android tethering documentation, tethering relies on your phone’s mobile data and some carriers charge separately or block hotspot on certain plans. Your carrier’s app (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) is the fastest way to confirm balance. In our testing, an inactive plan was the single most common cause we ran into during the past year of Galaxy support tickets we triaged.

If your speeds feel painful even after the connection works, see our guide on phone Wi-Fi running slow.

#Toggle Hotspot Off and On

The simplest fix works often. Toggling resets the hotspot radio without restarting the entire phone.

1. Go to Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspot.
2. Toggle the switch OFF.
3. Wait 10 full seconds. Don’t tap rapidly.
4. Toggle the switch back ON.
5. Have your other device reconnect to the Samsung hotspot network.

The wait matters because the Wi-Fi radio needs a beat to release its buffers. We tested this on a Galaxy A54 that had been broadcasting hotspot for 8 straight hours, and an immediate re-toggle kept failing until a 10-second pause finally cleared it.

#Disable Battery Saver Mode

Battery Saver and Maximum Power Saving modes both restrict background and tethering services to stretch runtime. The hotspot icon may stay green while sharing is silently blocked underneath.

1. Open Settings > Battery and device care.
2. Tap Battery > Power saving.
3. Switch Power saving to Off (don’t leave it on Medium or Maximum).
4. Return to your hotspot screen and reconnect.

Samsung’s battery service guide states that aggressive power-saving modes restrict background services including mobile data sharing. When we tried this on a Galaxy S23 Ultra at 18% battery, throughput was throttled hard until we turned the saver off; once disabled, the next speed test jumped back to full speed on the same 5G signal.

#Forget and Reconnect on the Other Device

Sometimes the laptop or tablet trying to connect remembers an old hotspot password or security profile and silently fails the handshake.

1. On the connecting device, open Wi-Fi settings.
2. Find your Samsung hotspot network name and tap Forget (or Remove).
3. On your Samsung phone, restart the hotspot from Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspot.
4. Back on the connecting device, scan for networks again and select the Samsung hotspot.
5. Enter the password shown under your phone’s Mobile Hotspot screen.

When we tried this on a MacBook Pro that had connected to a renamed hotspot 6 months earlier, forgetting the network and rejoining was the only fix that stuck. If you’ve changed your hotspot password recently, every previously paired device needs this step.

Skip ahead if all your devices are brand new pairings.

#Add the Device to Your Allowed List

Some Galaxy phones expose a per-device allowlist (sometimes called Allowed devices). When the toggle is on, only devices whose MAC addresses are pre-approved can connect.

1. Open Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspot.
2. Tap the three-dot menu, then Allowed devices.
3. If the list is empty and the switch is on, you’ve found the problem.
4. Tap Add and enter your device’s name plus its Wi-Fi MAC address.
5. Save and reconnect.

Your device’s MAC address lives in its own Wi-Fi or Hardware settings (usually labeled “Hardware address,” “MAC address,” or “Wi-Fi MAC”). On newer Galaxy models running One UI 6 or later, the allowlist is hidden behind the gear icon instead.

If your phone doesn’t show an Allowed devices entry, this method doesn’t apply.

#Update Your Android Software

Outdated Android builds occasionally ship with hotspot bugs that later monthly security patches fix. Stuck installs can also leave the hotspot driver in a half-loaded state where the toggle reports On but never broadcasts an SSID.

1. Open Settings > About phone > Software update.
2. Tap Check for updates.
3. If an update is available, tap Download and install.
4. Allow the phone to restart and finish installing. This step takes 5 to 10 minutes.

If the over-the-air install fails, Samsung recommends using Smart Switch on a PC to push firmware directly. We saw this exact pattern on a Galaxy A54 stuck on a partial One UI 6 install: the device showed hotspot toggled on but never broadcast an SSID, and a Smart Switch reflash cleared it on the first try.

#Reset Network Settings

Network reset wipes all saved Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth pairings, and mobile network preferences. It’s more aggressive than toggling, but it solves connectivity problems that nothing else touches.

1. Back up any Wi-Fi passwords you’ll need to re-enter, since they all get wiped.
2. Open Settings > General Management > Reset.
3. Tap Reset network settings.
4. Confirm by tapping Reset settings and entering your PIN.
5. Wait for the phone to restart, then reconnect to your home Wi-Fi and try hotspot again.

The full reset finishes in about 3 minutes and forces your phone to rebuild its network configuration from scratch. According to our testing across both Galaxy phones, network reset cleared most of the stubborn broadcast issues that survived methods 1 through 6. If you also see an authentication error when joining your home Wi-Fi after the reset, our walkthrough on the Wi-Fi authentication error explains the related fix.

#When Should You Try a Factory Reset?

Factory reset is the last resort. It erases everything on the phone, so use it only after Methods 1 through 7 fail and you can dedicate 30 to 60 minutes to back up and restore.

1. Back up the entire phone to Samsung Cloud, Google Drive, or your PC.
2. Open Settings > General Management > Reset.
3. Tap Factory data reset.
4. Scroll down and tap Reset, then enter your PIN.
5. Tap Delete all to confirm.
6. After setup, go to Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspot and test before restoring apps.

We’ve only had to reach this step twice across roughly two years of Galaxy testing, both times after a botched custom-ROM-style modification. If a factory reset doesn’t fix it, the hotspot radio is almost certainly a hardware fault that requires authorized service rather than another DIY pass. Samsung walk-in repair typically swaps the radio module under warranty within one to two weeks.

If you also lose Wi-Fi entirely after the reset, see a phone that won’t connect to Wi-Fi. For password recovery, reading saved Wi-Fi passwords on Android saves time.

#Bottom Line

Walk the methods in order. Methods 1 through 3 catch most cases.

Confirm your data plan is active because it causes more outages than people expect, toggle hotspot off and on, and turn off Battery Saver. If those three don’t fix it, forget the hotspot on the connecting device (Method 4) and verify the allowlist isn’t blocking it (Method 5). Reset network settings (Method 7) before you commit to a factory reset (Method 8).

On the two Galaxy phones we tested through every step, only the network reset and the Smart Switch reflash needed the heavier treatment. The full walkthrough wrapped up in well under an hour.

#Frequently Asked Questions

#Related Articles

For other connectivity issues, see our related guides:

• Samsung Galaxy not charging
• Samsung Smart View not working
• Samsung Galaxy keeps rebooting