MacOS – Why is the instant hotspot on Yosemite / iOS 8 inconsistent

On newer OS X, you can access these advanced features from the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar. Hold shift and option (only) when clicking on the icon:

The debug menu has most of the action oriented items you'll need:

I've never seen resetting the module work better than powering it off, but I'm sure theres cases where that saves a trip to the repair shop.

Logging is useful, but the logs are very very large, so keep that in mind and set a reminder to turn it off tomorrow.

On older OS, you needed a developer tool to systematically remove pairing records and HID devices. Bluetooth Explorer ships with Xcode 3. (as of today, early June 2011 - this is something available at no cost if you agree to the terms of the free developer program. It might also be bundled with Xcode 4 - available with paid download or paid mac developer program - but I can't vouch for that) You can also browse the developer documentation for free to learn more about bluetooth implementation.

The explorer has a detailed window with many settings to automate resetting devices for testing. Here is a portion of the window showing that not only are the local mac settings cleared, it will reach out to Apple Bluetooth devices and reset their internal state as well.

Since bluetooth has to start very soon in the boot process (and is part of the setup assistant since new macs that have no accounts have to know how to set up Bluetooth keyboards and mouse out of the box) it's not just a simple user preference file but instead a system level preference and stored in several locations.

You will be able to make your mac factory fresh to test bluetooth with the Bluetooth Explorer.

This one drove me nuts but I believe this will work for most of you:

Basically the APN settings for the Hotspot were missing.

If you can browse the internet on your phone and you can activate your Hotspot but you get the yellow exclamation mark on the computer's wifi or the 'Network cable unplugged" with USB tethering, try the following:

1. Open Settings -> Mobile Data -> Mobile Data Network
2. Check the APN/Username/Password settings under "Mobile Data" (most of the time username and password - if used - are identical, if not search APN settings on your provider's homepage)
3. Enter the same settings under "Personal Hotspot" further down on the same settings page
4. Return to Settings Menu
5. Switch Mobile Hotspot off and on
6. Connect to your Hotspot -> Internet on your computer should be working now

The problem appeared for me while roaming/after changing sims, basically every time the network settings get reconfigured and the APN settings automatically change for the roaming network/new network.

Hope it works for you too!