macOS won’t use iPhone Hotspot if Ethernet is up but offline 😕
Hi everyone,
I recently faced a frustrating issue on macOS when my Internet provider had an outage. My Mac was connected to the router via Ethernet, but since the router had no Internet access, I tried to switch to my iPhone’s Wi-Fi hotspot.
The problem: macOS refused to connect to the hotspot as long as Ethernet was active, even though Ethernet was physically connected to a router with no Internet. From the system’s point of view, Ethernet was “up,” but in reality there was no connectivity.
This seems like a design flaw: I should still be able to join a Wi-Fi hotspot regardless of whether Ethernet is plugged in.
Try it yourself...
- Connect your Mac to your router via Ethernet cable.
- Disconnect your router from the Internet by unplugging the WAN/DSL/Fiber cable, while keeping Ethernet physically connected (alternatively, more advanced users who don’t feel like getting up from their chair can simulate the same in other ways 😉)
- Turn on your iPhone’s hotspot.
- Try to connect to it via Wi-Fi on your Mac.
Result: macOS won’t allow you to connect to the hotspot. It keeps prioritizing Ethernet, even though it has no Internet access.
When macOS detects that Ethernet is physically connected but has no Internet access, and the user tries to join a hotspot (or any other Wi-Fi network), the system should display a dialog like this:
“Ethernet is active but has no Internet connection.
Do you want to temporarily disable Ethernet and connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot instead?”
This would avoid user frustration and make network switching much more seamless.
Would love to hear if others have run into the same issue...
iPhone SE, iOS 18
