Macbook laptop can't connect to Hotspot Connection

[ESuzume]

Hi, we've been able to connect our phones and tablets to Rivian Wifi without issue. However, I am completely unable to connect my MacBook to the hotspot. Hassle as I like to work while I charge! Tried soft reset, etc. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

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[godfodder0901]

Hi, we've been able to connect our phones and tablets to Rivian Wifi without issue. However, I am completely unable to connect my MacBook to the hotspot. Hassle as I like to work while I charge! Tried soft reset, etc. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

The Rivian hotspot uses WPA3. Does your Mac support it/is it enabled?

 

[jjswan33]

I can confirm that my MacBook connects to the hotspot without issue.

 

[ESuzume]

The Rivian hotspot uses WPA3. Does your Mac support it/is it enabled?

Yes.

 

[ESuzume]

I can confirm that my MacBook connects to the hotspot without issue.

Did you have to do anything special to configure it? I'm on Sonoma 14.5. All mobile devices connected seamlessly. It is just the laptop that is an issue. Thank you.

 

[jjswan33]

Did you have to do anything special to configure it? I'm on Sonoma 14.5. All mobile devices connected seamlessly. It is just the laptop that is an issue. Thank you.

I don't recall doing anything special. Good luck sorting it out.

 

[RivAW]

Hi, we've been able to connect our phones and tablets to Rivian Wifi without issue. However, I am completely unable to connect my MacBook to the hotspot. Hassle as I like to work while I charge! Tried soft reset, etc. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

How old is your MacBook? The WiFi security may not be compatible with Rivian WPA3. I have at least device that won’t connect for this reason (and older iPad mini).

 

[mikehmb]

Did you have to do anything special to configure it? I'm on Sonoma 14.5. All mobile devices connected seamlessly. It is just the laptop that is an issue. Thank you.

I'm on 14.6.1 on this machine, and 14.4.1 on another, and both connect seamlessly.

As others have said, Rivian uses WPA3 so you may need to play with your network configs.

Also - and I hate to be the resident IT guy here - reboot your computer. (lol seriously)

 

[ESuzume]

Thanks, all. My computer is actually super new -- MacBook Apple M3 Pro, with latest OS. It is def compatible with WPA 3, and I have rebooted several times. I'll ask my network guys at work. Maybe they will have some suggestions. I bet it something really simple that I am just not thinking of. But whatever, if I figure this out, I will post for others who may have the same issue.

 

[Chewy734]

I have the same laptop as you and didn’t have a problem connecting to the WiFi hotspot in the truck.

If you have your connected iPhone nearby, sometimes when you go to connect your laptop, it’ll ask on your phone if you want to share the WiFi password to your laptop. So maybe you can try that way?

 

[godfodder0901]

Thanks, all. My computer is actually super new -- MacBook Apple M3 Pro, with latest OS. It is def compatible with WPA 3, and I have rebooted several times. I'll ask my network guys at work. Maybe they will have some suggestions. I bet it something really simple that I am just not thinking of. But whatever, if I figure this out, I will post for others who may have the same issue.

Just a couple more thoughts:
Have you ever been able to connect this laptop?
How many devices do you connect at once? There is a maximum of 8, but you likely aren't hitting that limit. Right?

 

[ESuzume]

Thanks all. I just got my R1S, and have never been able to connect the laptop, just mobile devices. And no, unless my kids are holding out on me, we have never maxed out on number of devices! Lol. I actually do reach the Rivian server and am prompted to enter the password. It evens says and shows it as connected, but there is no data flow. I should have said that in post #1!

 

[BCondrey]

Is there a limit on the number of concurrent connections to the hotspot? I would probably do a full reset and try again.

 

[godfodder0901]

Is there a limit on the number of concurrent connections to the hotspot? I would probably do a full reset and try again.

Yes, it's 8.

 

[sub]

Thanks all. I just got my R1S, and have never been able to connect the laptop, just mobile devices. And no, unless my kids are holding out on me, we have never maxed out on number of devices! Lol. I actually do reach the Rivian server and am prompted to enter the password. It evens says and shows it as connected, but there is no data flow. I should have said that in post #1!

Are you sure the mobile devices you say are working are actually getting data from the car?

Some (all?) phones have a setting that instructs the device to use the cellular connection if the WiFi is not working. So even if you are "connected" to the WiFi you may be using the phones cellular data rather than the cars WiFi.

If the car doesn't actually have any Internet to share, the phones may be silently falling back to the cellular connection and making it look like it's working when it's not. Your laptop doesn't have a backup cellular connection, so it is more obvious that it is not working when you try to use that device.

Check your IP address with the phone not connected to any WiFi. You can get your IP address by doing a Google search for IP address. Then connect to the car's WiFi and refresh the page. If your IP address does not change, then you aren't actually using the car's WiFi.

If the phones aren't actually working either, the first thing I would try is rebooting the car. Also, do the built-in internet features work? The native Spotify app? Maps? It's also possible you're in a dead zone with no AT&T signal.

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