Mobile Hotspot broken on Windows 11 pro build 26300.9032 - ics

oleg kaz 0 Reputation points
2026-08-10T13:56:54.6633333+00:00

Hello. I’m having a problem with Windows 11 pro dev 26300.9032 Mobile Hotspot.(router-laptop-hotspot-iPhone)

I’m trying to share my PC’s Wi-Fi connection through Mobile Hotspot to an iPhone

The problem is that the device cannot complete the Wi-Fi connection. It keeps showing “Connecting…” indefinitely. Sometimes Windows Mobile Hotspot shows the device as connected, but the device itself does not actually establish a Wi-Fi connection or get Internet access.

I tested this with VPN completely disabled, including after a fresh Windows restart, so the problem also occurs without any VPN running.

What I checked/tried:

  • Updated the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver to the latest Intel version.
  • Disabled/enabled Mobile Hotspot several times.
  • Restarted Windows.
  • Removed and recreated the Mobile Hotspot connection.
  • Checked the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter.
  • The hotspot adapter gets 192.168.137.1/24.
  • Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service is running when checked.
  • Cleared the ARP cache.
  • Reset the TCP/IP stack with netsh int ip reset.
  • Tried different phones.
  • Tried manually setting DNS on the iPhone (1.1.1.1 / 8.8.8.8).

Current adapter state:

Local Area Connection* 10 — Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2 — Up

IPv4:

192.168.137.1/24

However, when the iPhone tries to connect, Get-NetNeighbor does not show the iPhone's IP/MAC address. It only shows the broadcast/multicast entries. The iPhone remains stuck on “Connecting…”.

netsh wlan show hostednetwork also reports:

Hosted network supported: No

and:

Status: Not available

Could you please help me diagnose why Windows Mobile Hotspot / Wi-Fi Direct is not allowing the client to complete the Wi-Fi connection?

At this point I would like to solve the Windows Mobile Hotspot connection itself first, without involving the VPN.

Windows Insider program | Windows Insider preview | Internet and connectivity
0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Lucus-V 12,525 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-08-11T16:29:16.88+00:00

    Hi oleg kaz,

    Thanks for the detailed troubleshooting. Since you're currently running Windows 11 Insider Dev build 26300.9032, the next step would be to determine whether this is a Dev-build regression or a broader Windows/network-driver issue.

    Could you please test the same scenario on a stable Windows build (GA/Release version of Windows 11) if available?

    If the issue does not reproduce on a stable build, that would strongly suggest the problem is specific to the current Dev Insider build. In that case, please submit the issue through Feedback Hub and include the troubleshooting results, Windows build number, and Mobile Hotspot behavior to help the Windows engineering team investigate the regression.

    If the same behavior occurs on a stable build, please let us know so we can continue narrowing down whether the issue is related to the wireless adapter, driver, or another networking component.

    Was this answer helpful?

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.