Issues with hotspot - NOW TV

[Bogle_Eric]

Hi everyone - I'm hoping someone has some pearls of wisdom and can help save me!

For two years I have been connecting my Now TV stick through my iPhone's hotspot (long story, but only internet I have access to).

Last week, I upgraded my iPhone to an 11 and since then, I've not been able to connect my Now TV through my iPhone. 

When scanning for networks, it very rarely picks up any, and if it does pick up my phone, the hotspot name is displayed incorrectly. For instance, my hotspot name is 'anna's iPhone', but it displays as 'anna\xe2\x80\x99s iPhone'.

When I try to connect, it won't, and normally it saves my password automatically for me to try again, but it's no longer doing that.

I've just asked my boyfriend to try his iPhone, and I can connect to that no problem, but that's not a solution, as I have unlimited data to watch the TV, and he doesn't.

I have tried updating both my phone and my NOW stick to make sure they are on the current version, but that doesn't help.

I should also point out that I can connect my laptop to my hotspot with no issues at all.

Can someone offer any advice please?

Many thanks!!

Anna

[MI5]

@Bogle_Eric 

Does your laptop display the hotspot name correctly or the same as your Now TV stick?

[Bogle_Eric]

Yes, my laptop dispays it correctly, and connects.

[MI5]

@Bogle_Eric 

I think the problem with the stick is the way in which the newer iPhones handle wpa.

I would try renaming your iPhone to just "anna" Do not include any special characters or spaces.

You can do this in Settings>General>About.

[Bogle_Eric]

Thank you - I just tried this, and the name is now showing correctly (as Anna) but it still won't connect

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@Bogle_Eric 

OK good, that has proven my theory but you will need to speak to Now TV support as your stick will require an update to be able to process the data from the iPhone.

I'm sure they are aware and will either have a workaround or a update pending.

You may also find that it will connect eventually if you keep trying.

[Bogle_Eric]

Lovely, I will do that - thank you for your help!

[MI5]

Let us know how you get on please.

[djbsuffolk]

Unfortuately I wouldn't hold out much hope for a fix from Now TV if it is down to them - I gave up on Now TV because they refused to accept there was an issue with streaming live events (the quality of the stream drops constantly), despite the customer forum being filled with comments about the issue - In the end I just walked away from them - terrible customer service. 

[MI5]

For the technically minded, the code in the Now TV wifi protocol needs to be edited to "echo -e $(sudo iwlist wlan0 scan | grep ESSID)".
I've not got a NowTV stick to see if it can be hacked or not.