Whenever you experience Cricket wireless hotspot not working, you know you’re in a lot of trouble. Luckily, we have the solutions that you are looking for!
Either your mobile hotspot is on, but your connected devices are not getting internet, or it simply would not turn on.
If this is your case, your phone may not be getting the internet signal from Cricket, or there is something wrong with your phone’s settings and software.
To restore your Cricket Wireless hotspot and get it to work as intended, you want to restart your hotspot using the Quick Settings panel on your phone. Turn it off and turn it back on again. You also want to repeat the process with your mobile data, as these mostly do the trick.
Before you do anything else on your mobile device, let’s first look at the root of the problem.
There are several causes, and it will make your life a lot easier if you can identify these before performing the troubleshooting steps.
Why Cricket Wireless Mobile Hotspot Not Working
This particular problem arises if your phone is not getting the internet from Cricket Wireless.
It could be an outage on their end of the settings changed on your phone. For the most part, it’s a connectivity or software cause.
1. Carrier Issues
Cricket Wireless may be experiencing problems on their end, which causes you to lose internet connectivity.
This will also affect your mobile hotspot since it relies on data coming from your carrier.
2. Data Signal Strength
Your internet speeds depends on your signal strength. If you have no bars, you will be suffering from low speeds.
Running out of data will also cause your hotspot to stop working.
3. Wrong Settings
The reason why your hotspot is not working is that your device is misconfigured. You may not have turned it on, or your VPN is still active.
4. Bugs And Glitches
A small error in the software can cause your hotspot to malfunction. Bugs and glitches can happen, and you need to flush them out.
If your Cricket Wireless hotspot stops working, these are the problems you can encounter.
We can now proceed to the troubleshooting steps so you can finally resolve this issue and share your internet with your other devices.
How to Fix Cricket Wireless Hotspot Not Working
Before you do anything else to your mobile device, you will want to perform a quick restart.
Yes, turn it off and turn it back on again. If the cause of your hotspot issues is a glitch, a restart will resolve it.
Doing it first will save you a ton of time if it works since you did not go through the rest of the troubleshooting steps only to find out that a restart is what your device needed.
Now, in case restarting your phone does not work, let’s proceed to the rest of the solutions so you can finally settle this issue.
Solution #1: Restart Your Mobile Hotspot Setting
Sometimes restarting just your mobile hotspot will do the trick. The solution sounds simple enough, but certain bugs and glitches can happen that way.
All the notifications indicate that your hotspot is turned on, but your phone might not have switched it on. Give the switch a quick toggle, and it should fix things up.
Here’s how to restart your mobile hotspot:
On your iPhone
- Go to your phone’s Settings.
- Select Personal Hotspot.
- Look for the Allow Others to Join option.
- Toggle it off, then turn it back on again.
On your Android device
- Go to your phone’s Settings.
- Navigate to Connections.
- Click on Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
- Toggle it to the On position.
Alert: After switching it on, make sure to look for your hotspot password on the same page.
Pro Tip: You can toggle it off and on via the Quick Settings on your phone. It’s best practice to go into your phone’s settings as it might be switched off.
Solution #2: Restart Your Mobile or Cellular Data Setting
If you’re relying on your mobile or cellular data to then share with a WiFi hotspot, it’s possible the error can arise from there.
It’s not all the time that your mobile internet is up. There are instances when Cricket Wireless will encounter problems that will cause you to lose your internet.
It’s also possible that a bug or glitch can cause this issue where your phone says your mobile data is on, but your hardware components are not working as intended.
If this is your case, you want to restart the settings to turn on your mobile data.
Here’s how to restart your mobile data:
On your iPhone:
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
- Select Cellular or Mobile Data.
- Toggle the switch off and then on.
- Restart your phone, so the settings take effect.
On your Android device:
- Go to your phone’s Settings.
- Click on Connections.
- Select Data Usage.
- Toggle the switch to deactivate and then activate Mobile data.
- Restart your phone for the settings to take effect.
Tip: Although you can toggle these settings via Quick Settings, we recommend going through your phone’s Settings menu.
Solution #3: Turn Off Battery or Power Saving Mode
Power saving mode is one setting that disrupts features like mobile data and hotspot. Having this setting is certainly handy if you want to extend your battery life for the day.
However, if you want to share your internet, turning on power-saving mode is surely something you should not do.
Now, you could make it work, save a bit of battery power and use your mobile hotspot feature. However, this setup is more prone to experiencing issues.
Here’s how to turn off power saving mode:
On your iPhone:
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
- Navigate to Battery.
- Toggle Low Power Mode to Off.
Alternate: You can also turn off Low Power Mode from the Control Center if you have added it there.
On Your Android Device:
- Go to your device’s Settings.
- Select Battery and Device care.
- Tap on Battery.
- Toggle the switch opposite Power saving mode.
Alternate: Similar to iOS devices, you can turn Power saving mode from the Quick Settings panel.
Solution #4: Broadcast on the 2.4 GHz Band
The WiFi hotspot feature on phones is surely a lifesaver. This is especially useful if you are traveling and your only way to connect to the internet is through your phone’s mobile data.
The hotspots use the 5.0 GHz band by default. This is certainly great, but not all devices are capable of using the 5.0 GHz WiFi band.
You will know this is your case since the device you want to connect to your hotspot will not be able to detect it.
If this happens to you, here’s what you should do:
On your iPhone:
- Go to your phone’s Settings.
- Select Personal Hotspot.
- Toggle the Allow Others to Join button to turn it on.
- Click on Maximize Compatibility to switch to 2.4 GHz.
On your Android Device:
- Go to your phone’s Settings.
- Navigate to Hotspot & tethering.
- Click on WiFi hotspot.
- Tap on AP Band and select 2.4 GHz.
- For newer versions of Android, Toggle the Maximize compatibility switch.
Pro Tip: Using the 2.4 GHz band is usually slower, so we don’t recommend using it if your devices can connect with 5.0 GHz.
Solution #5: Reset Your Network Settings
If you are having trouble with your mobile hotspot and internet connectivity in general, it’s time to perform a network settings reset.
This will reset your WiFi connections, cellular settings, VPN settings, and others that you have previously used. It’s an excellent way to clear your networking configurations.
Now, since this clears almost all of your networking settings, it’s safe to say that you should only do this if none of the steps above resolve your issue.
The good news is that it will not delete your apps or files, but it will give you a clean slate in terms of network connections.
Here’s how to reset your network settings:
On your iPhone:
- Go to Settings, then General.
- Select Transfer or Reset Device.
- Tap on Reset.
- Click on Reset Network Settings.
On your Android Device:
- Open Settings on your phone.
- Navigate to General Management or System.
- Click on Reset or Reset options.
- Tap on Reset network settings.
- Confirm your choice and wait for the process to complete.
Note: Performing this will clear all your settings, including WiFi passwords, so be prepared to type them in again.
If resetting your network settings will not fix the problem, you can also attempt to update your system’s software.
As a last resort, you can contact your phone’s manufacturer as they will be able to provide more technical help.
Read Next: How to Switch Cricket Phones Manually?
Bottom Line
You now know how to fix Cricket Wireless hotspot not working. These are all simple troubleshooting steps, and you will be able to perform these without any technical experience.
You will now be able to use your hotspot and share your internet connection with your other devices.
Kevin has over five years of experience working in various Tech startups and providing Technical solutions. He has contributed to many Tech publications and websites.