Personal Hotspot is slow on a Mac

A Mac on a hotspot depends on the cellular signal, the carrier's hotspot rules and the Wi-Fi link to the iPhone. Background data on the Mac also takes its share.

Fix this with your agentCopies a prompt for Claude Code, Codex or any agent that can use Terminal.

My Mac has this problem: Personal Hotspot is slow on a Mac. Read https://kilobat.app/guides/hotspot-slow-on-mac.md and work through it with me. Install the Kilobat CLI if it’s missing: brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat. Run the guide’s Terminal and kilobat checks yourself and tell me what you find. List the steps only I can do. Ask before you change any setting.

Applies to: Current iOS versions and macOS 14 and later. networkQuality is in macOS 12 and later.Checked: 7 November 2026

Symptoms

  • A speed test on the iPhone is fast, but the same test on the Mac is slow.
  • Every download on the Mac stops at about the same low speed.
  • Video on the Mac plays in low quality on the hotspot.
  • The hotspot is slow even when you only read email.

Likely causes

  • The carrier caps hotspot speed. Many carriers give hotspot use its own allowance, then slow it to a set speed. Some plans cap hotspot speed all the time.
  • A weak or busy cellular signal. The hotspot shares the iPhone's cellular connection. Coverage and network load change the speed.
  • Maximize Compatibility is on. It makes the hotspot use 2.4 GHz. Apple says that this can reduce performance for connected devices.
  • Background data on the Mac. Sync, backups and updates can use most of the link. See Mac uses Personal Hotspot data in the background.
  • iCloud Private Relay in speed tests. Apple says that speed tests can show lower results with Private Relay, because it uses a single connection.

How to check

  1. Disconnect the Mac. Run a speed test in the iPhone's browser. This shows the cellular speed.

  2. Connect the Mac again. Run a speed test in Terminal.

    networkQuality

  3. Hold the Option key and click the Wi-Fi icon. Look at the band, channel and Tx Rate of the hotspot.

  4. On the iPhone, open Settings > Personal Hotspot. See whether Maximize Compatibility is on.

  5. See which processes use the hotspot now. Press q to stop.

    nettop -P -t expensive

  6. In the carrier's app, look at the hotspot data that is left and the speed after it.

How to fix it

  1. If the iPhone is also slow, move to a place with a better signal, or try later.

  2. If only the Mac is slow and Maximize Compatibility is on, turn it off. Then test again.

  3. Keep the iPhone near the Mac. Apple says that the devices must be within 10 metres of each other.

  4. Try a USB cable. It avoids the Wi-Fi link to the iPhone. See Connect a Mac to an iPhone hotspot with a USB cable.

  5. Pause sync, backups and updates while you tether. See Stop Software Update downloading on a hotspot.

  6. Turn on Low data mode for the hotspot. Choose System Settings > Wi-Fi, then Details next to the hotspot.

  7. If the plan caps hotspot speed, ask the carrier for a plan with more hotspot data or a higher speed.

With Kilobat

  1. On a phone hotspot, Health says when every download stops near a speed that carriers use as a cap.

  2. See the verdict and the measurements behind it.

    kilobat hotspot

  3. The finding is free. The measurements behind it are part of Kilobat Pro. See hotspot limits by carrier.

  4. See live upload and download for each app. This is free. See See which app uses data on a hotspot.

    kilobat status --watch

  5. With Pro and the network filter, Kilobat switches to Essentials on metered networks. Only the apps you allow can connect.

  6. In Settings › Filter & rules, turn on Pause updaters on metered networks and Pause cloud sync on metered networks.

  7. Kilobat skips its own scheduled speed tests on metered networks.

Questions

Why is the iPhone fast but the Mac slow?

The carrier can treat hotspot traffic in a different way. Also, the Mac uses a Wi-Fi link to the iPhone, and it runs more background tasks.

Does 5G make the hotspot faster?

It can, where 5G coverage is good. Apple says that 5G Auto moves to LTE when 5G is not noticeably better.

Does iCloud Private Relay slow the hotspot?

Apple says that it can lower the results of speed tests. It says that browsing stays fast.

Sources

Checked on 7 November 2026.