mobile terminal continuously drops out off line when connected to iPhone hotspot

[Papilio]

My new mobile square terminal continuously disconnects when connected to iPhone hotspot. Now it is saying that it is connected but no connectivity. My phone has mobile coverage. My terminal will connect with my home wifi with no issues.

If I go into my phones settings on the terminal it says

Strength - Excellent

Band - 2.4GHz

Security - WPA/WPA2 PSK

IP Address - 0.0.0.0

Channel 13

Channel width - 20MHz

I don't know if that information is important at all, But I don't know what to do.

Is there a way of connecting my terminal directly to my iPhone?

[Stacelyn24]

Hey there! 👋 That definitely sounds frustrating — especially if you're relying on your Square Terminal out in the field. Let’s try and get you sorted!

From what you're seeing (especially the IP address = 0.0.0.0), it looks like your terminal is technically connected to your iPhone’s hotspot, but it's not being assigned an IP — which means it can’t actually talk to the internet.

🔧 Try These Steps:

1. Reset Hotspot Connection
   👉 Turn your iPhone’s hotspot OFF, wait 10 seconds, then turn it back ON.
   👉 On the Terminal, forget the hotspot network under Settings > Wi-Fi and rejoin with the correct password.

2. Update Settings
   Make sure your phone's hotspot is set to "Maximize Compatibility" (in iPhone settings under Personal Hotspot). This forces the hotspot to broadcast in 2.4GHz, which the Square Terminal likes.

3. Watch for Auto-Lock
   Your hotspot will disconnect if your iPhone screen locks or times out. Try keeping it awake during transactions.

4. Toggle Airplane Mode on iPhone
   Sometimes switching to airplane mode briefly, then re-enabling Wi-Fi/Hotspot resets the connection.

📱 Direct Connection?

Unfortunately, right now, there's no way to connect the Square Terminal directly to your iPhone via Bluetooth or cable — it must go through the hotspot or a Wi-Fi network.

If nothing else works, restarting both devices or even updating your Terminal’s software (under Settings > General > About > Software Update) might help.

Let us know how it goes — we're here to help! 💪