How to disconnect iPhone from WIFI without 'forgetting' it?

My internet connection died whilst my router still continued to work (so I could still pick up wifi but had no internet connection). I wanted to tether my laptop to my phone so I could use 4G instead, but my phone was still connected to the shody WIFI.

I couldnt just turn off the WIFI on my phone as then my laptop would not be able to tether. I didnt want to 'forget' my WIFI connection as I do not know the password.

Is there anyway to simply disconnect from a WIFI signal?

Solution 1:

Turn off auto-join. I’ve searched for this several times and always thought it was a stupid design by apple but I finally worked it out. In your iPhone settings, turn WiFi off then back on again. If it connects to your home WiFi automatically, click on the i (information) symbol next to the connection. Turn off the ‘auto-join’ option. Then you can turn WiFi off then on again to drop the connection without forgetting it. As the original post I’m replying to is five years old now maybe I’m the only one dumb enough to still be having this problem. But maybe not. :)

Solution 2:

So I'm assuming you're tethering your laptop to your phone via wifi from some app? Can you just turn wifi off, then go to the tethering app and enable tethering? If wifi is off I imagine it should turn it on and switch to it's tethering mode.

Also, a note: The phone should stay connected to the cellular network while wifi is on.

Solution 3:

You could use Bluetooth or USB to tether your connection to the laptop. That would allow to deactivate wifi and let the iPhone connect to cellular.