There are a number of things that could be affecting your hotspot's performance or connection speed. Much like cell phones, they can have temporary issues like a slow or inconsistent connection due to things like bad weather, poor signal strength, or tower outages in your area. Connection issues may be temporary, and it is possible that the problem will resolve itself in a few hours, or by the next day.
If you are having persistent problems connecting or staying connected to the internet, there are some things you can try that may resolve the issue.
If you are in a rural area, or in the interior of a building with thick walls, especially on a ground or basement floor, moving outside, if possible, or close to a window may help increase the signal strength.
Restarting both the hotspot and the computer you are using can sometimes fix connection problems.
If you have successfully connected to the hotspot before, you can try forgetting and re-adding the wifi connection on your computer:
- Turn both the hotspot and your computer on and wait for them both to power on completely.
- On your computer or tablet, click on the wifi icon, and then find the hotspot’s network (which should be “Franklin T9” or "Alcatel Linkzone 2" followed by four numbers).
- Right click on the network and then click “Forget.”
- Click on the network name again and enter the password.
If that does not work, or you haven’t successfully connected to the hotspot before, you can try a power reset, by holding the power button down for 10 seconds until the hotspot restarts.
If that does not work, you can try to power reset the hotspot by removing and re-inserting the battery.
- Open the battery cover.
- Take out the battery, and re-install the battery after 15 seconds.
- Put the battery cover back and turn on the hotspot by holding the power button.
If that does not work, you can try to reset the hotspot with the reset button (Franklin T9 only):
- Remove the back cover.
- Make sure the battery is installed and your hotspot is on.
- Press down the reset button for 3 seconds and release. Then, your hotspot will perform the reset and restart automatically.
If you are still having problems with your hotspot after trying one or more of these methods, you can bring it to the Metro Library in person, or call the Metro Library Info Desk at 918-595-7172, and our staff will try resolve the issue or they can switch your hotspot out for a different one.
