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macOS Ventura: Broken iPhone/iPad WiFi Personal Hotspot for Computer: No Mail, no Ping, no ssh... web browser only
Related: Apple, Apple Core Rot, Apple iOS, Apple iPhone and iPad, Apple macOS, Apple macOS Monterey, Apple macOS Ventura, internet access, iOS, USB
re: Apple Core Rot
This problem cost me half a day on a rare and precious trip with my daughter. And a huge ball of stress, thinking I was totally hosed and would have to drive home 300 miles. And hours on the phone with Comcast and AT&T, blaming them initially. They were innocent—it was Apple’s usual feckless incompetence at work.
What should make you very uneasy is that a month has gone by (saw the issue starting Sept 1), and Apple has seemingly not noticed the problem. macOS Ventura 13.6 was just released recently, and it is still broken.
But what is stupefying is that obviously Apple has either (a) totally incompetent quality assurance, or (b) no quality assurance at all. The functionality in question is so fundamental, so basic, that assuring it works is necessarily an essential part of any QA process to release a product. Ergo, Apple has no QA process or a wholly incompetent one.
Nice work Apple. With macOS Sonoma almost out, will this ever get fixed in Ventura? The whole code base must be rife with buges to require a complex technical note like this, a note that shows these dimwits have no idea what they have wrought.
Broken Personal HotSpot Functionality
Initially I blamed Comcast for my server being unreachable, but they were innocent. Then I blamed AT&T over in the Eastern Sierra, thinking it was a local issue (not), and they too were innocent. Hours later and with blood pressure 40 points higher, I finally figured out that Apple’s broken macOS Ventura is the issue.
Manifestations
The only network thing that works is a web browser eg Safari.
Apple Mail has no connectivity.
No IP address in the world anywhere can be pinged.
No git or mail or other non-http server can be reached.
# Connected via USB MBP:DIGLLOYD $ ping apple.com PING apple.com (17.253.144.10): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 17.253.144.10: icmp_seq=0 ttl=55 time=45.510 ms 64 bytes from 17.253.144.10 icmp_seq=1 ttl=55 time=38.901 ms 64 bytes from 17.253.144.10: icmp_seq=2 ttl=55 time=51.556 ms ... # Connected via WiFi MBP:DIGLLOYD $ ping apple.com PING apple.com (17.253.144.10): 56 data bytes ping: sendto: No route to host ping: sendto: No route to host Request timeout for icmp_seq 0 ...
Details
Could it be computer specific? Possibly (doubtful), but I have very limited systems to test with, and I travel using the 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Max.
- Affects macOS Ventura 13.6 and just-prior version (whatever it was on Sept 1). How far back it goes, dunno. Does NOT affect macOS Monterey, at least not on the 2019 iMac 5K.
- All functionality works on the device providing the hotspot (eg iPhone or iPad).
- A computer connected via USB to hot spot has full functionality.
- A computer connected via WiFi to device hot spot works for web browser ONLY. All other services are inoperable—no mail, no ping, no git, no ssh, no nothin'.
- Bluetooth to the device hot spot is not an option, since Apple broke that too!!!
Workarounds
With 100% failure 100% of the time via WiFi, the only workaround is to always plug the device in via USB.
This is harder than it sounds: it takes up a precious port, a serious problem in my work setup as there are only 3 ports available. It requires the correct cable for the device. And in the case of the iPhone 15 Pro Max... requires removing the Apple silicone case because a USB-C cable will not seat with the case in place.
But at least there is a workaround... sigh.
Affected systems
On macOS Monterey, all of my devices work normally via WiFi hotspot. Which explains why I saw no problems back in July on my trip, when my MBP was running Monterey. But I can no longer run Monterey on my MBP, so that is not a solution.
