Laravel 5.6 - Auth::check() Failing

I used the laravel spatie backup in my system, and all my functions such as creating a new backup, deleting, and downloading are working locally. I tried to deploy my website on a free hosting, everything seems to work except the delete and download function. Upon investigating, I have seen that it fails because of the Middleware I have created for the download/delete route. Here's my StaffMiddleware where only accounts with the staff role can access it.

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{

        if(Auth::check())
        {
            if(Auth::user()->role == 'staff')
            {
                return $next($request);
            }
            else
            {
                return redirect('/'); 
            }
        }
        else
        {
            return redirect('/');
        }
}

When I try to access the download function, it redirects to the homepage since the Auth::check() line fails in my middleware. Note that I am logged in and authenticated while accessing the download function. This only happens in the live server, but all of the code works locally. Can you please help me on this one? Thanks!

via Chebli Mohamed