Mobile hotspot / tethering on 950XL

[daimv]

Apparently the new version no longer installs under settings, so just like a normal app. The dependencies have to be installed like another app, before interop tools. Also after installing the apo it might take a little while to show up.

 

[Tonyn9503]

Okay I figured out how to enable it on GoPhone.

1. Download the latest Interop Tools for Windows 10 Mobile. Find it in Settings > Extras.
2. Open registry browser, go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Services\ICSSVC\Settings
3. Set EntitlementRequired to 0
4. Clear DedicatedConnections (Remove any strings in it and save).
5. Reboot your phone.
6. It works

I did this and yes it did work. But, only for the first time. It stopped working; I checked on the settings and info was back on the two settings. I took it out and it came back on after I rebooted phone. Any suggestions?

 

[raiderfan247365]

I've had ATT go phone for years and have never had a problem using mobile hotspot on any Windows Phone. Let me reminisce on the phones I've had real quick: HTC HD7, HTC Titan, Lumia 900, Lumia 820, Lumia 925, Lumia 1320, Lumia 1520 and now the 950 XL. Aahh, good times.

 

[Joe920]

I did this and yes it did work. But, only for the first time. It stopped working; I checked on the settings and info was back on the two settings. I took it out and it came back on after I rebooted phone. Any suggestions?

Thanks for trying. It looks like the moment GoPhone's backend detects the Lumia 950XL it changes an account setting to 'don't tether'. It seems that this setting sticks at least for a bit, because I get the same message when trying to use my newish iPhone 6S+ on the same account. Bad ATT, bad!

 

[raiderfan247365]

Originally posted by Joe920

Originally Posted by Tonyn9503
I did this and yes it did work. But, only for the first time. It stopped working; I checked on the settings and info was back on the two settings. I took it out and it came back on after I rebooted phone. Any suggestions?

Thanks for trying. It looks like the moment GoPhone's backend detects the Lumia 950XL it changes an account setting to 'don't tether'. It seems that this setting sticks at least for a bit, because I get the same message when trying to use my newish iPhone 6S+ on the same account. Bad ATT, bad!

Do we know for sure that the problem is the GoPhone plan? I have a GoPhone plan and a Lumia 950 XL and have no issues using mobile hotspot.

 

[Joe920]

Do we know for sure that the problem is the GoPhone plan? I have a GoPhone plan and a Lumia 950 XL and have no issues using mobile hotspot.

It seems like a combination of the phone and the plan. If you can change some settings on the phone and make it work (see a few posts up) then it seems Win10 related.

This also fits my story: when I use my 950XL for tethering, the GoPhone / AT&T backend sends a message "looks like you're trying to use data, but your plan doesn't have data" or something like that. Now after having an iPhone on their network (same SIM and account that didn't work before) for a few weeks I can tether my iPad to my iPhone. This didn't work for more than a year. So something about the combination of 950XL and GoPhone is to blame.

The fact that this took weeks to correct itself also sound like some provisioning issue. I recall reading that you could fool AT&T's system into thinking that you have a different model phone by giving them the IMEI of a different phone model, but that the system would poll your phone for the IMEI at some point (days or weeks later). So my hunch is that AT&T's system reads device info (name, model, system settings?) and decides that tethering is not allowed or not possible.

 

[raiderfan247365]

It seems like a combination of the phone and the plan. If you can change some settings on the phone and make it work (see a few posts up) then it seems Win10 related.

This also fits my story: when I use my 950XL for tethering, the GoPhone / AT&T backend sends a message "looks like you're trying to use data, but your plan doesn't have data" or something like that. Now after having an iPhone on their network (same SIM and account that didn't work before) for a few weeks I can tether my iPad to my iPhone. This didn't work for more than a year. So something about the combination of 950XL and GoPhone is to blame.

The fact that this took weeks to correct itself also sound like some provisioning issue. I recall reading that you could fool AT&T's system into thinking that you have a different model phone by giving them the IMEI of a different phone model, but that the system would poll your phone for the IMEI at some point (days or weeks later). So my hunch is that AT&T's system reads device info (name, model, system settings?) and decides that tethering is not allowed or not possible.

Right, but I have a 950 XL on a GoPhone plan and have no issues tethering, I'm just thinking it's more complicated than simply 950 XL + GoPhone plan. I have the international unlocked single sim version fyi.

 

[juanitoriv]

Okay I figured out how to enable it on GoPhone.

1. Download the latest Interop Tools for Windows 10 Mobile. Find it in Settings > Extras.
2. Open registry browser, go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Services\ICSSVC\Settings
3. Set EntitlementRequired to 0
4. Clear DedicatedConnections (Remove any strings in it and save).
5. Reboot your phone.
6. It works

Do you know if this works on Cricket as well?

Edit: The Registry Hack enables Hotspot on my L640 without having a qualifying plan on Cricket

 

[JimLewis]

Re: Mobile hotspot / tethering on 950XL-SWITCHING CELLULAR DATA BETWEEN SIM SLOTS MAKES IT WORK

I have an unlocked Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM that I bought from Microsoft. I have the $45/mo AT&T GoPhone plan that now comes with 6 Gb data/mo and includes Mobile Hotspot functionality. Could not get Hotspot to work until I did the following. I have my prepaid GoPhone SIM in one slot, my old postpaid, inactive AT&T SIM in the other slot. With cellular & cellular data turned on, I went to Settings, Network & Wireless, Cellular & SIM. There, with both SIM's turned ON, from the dropdown, "Use this SIM for cellular data," I deliberately picked the slot with the INACTIVE SIM card (don't know if it works without any card in the slot). Wait at least several seconds until the banned or inactive symbol shows under that SIM heading. Then switch the dropdown for "Use this SIM for cellular data" back to the active SIM card. It may take 10 to 20 seconds to connect to a cell tower again. But after I did that, my 950 XL Mobile Hotspot functionality worked, usually repeatedly without a problem. If the Mobile Hotspot stops working, I simply repeat the procedure (alternatively, a reboot worked, too). At least in the middle of the night, probably without much other traffic, I get excellent speed by Ookla Speedtest: 29 ms PING, 34.65 Mbps down, 3.90 Mbps up with only 3 bars AT&T LTE connection tested via an old Gateway NV59 laptop hooked up to 950 XL. I have found the same switching of cellular data between active and inactive SIM slots to promote my 950 XL connecting to my AT&T 3G microcell, presumably because the phone normally prefers an LTE connection and there is no switch on the phone to turn off LTE (unlike an iPhone 6, for example). So switching SIM slots back and forth right next to the microcell allows the phone to connect, as well. :smile: