new iPad 3 and iPhone 4S "unable to join network" after iOS 6 update, multiple devices
This is NOT the "Page not Found" 404 error.
I am a teacher in a school that went one-to-one Bring Your Own Device this year. We have 750 students each with a choice of device from Mac to PC to Android to iOS. With hundreds of students with iPhones and iPads, all connected to our school's WiFi network, we have been monitoring the development of WiFi issues on iOS devices. These issues are unrelated to last night's infamous Apple login page, which was resolved around 8pm EST.
Here is what we can confirm:
- There is definitely an issue where iPhone 4S and iPad 3rd generation devices are "unable to join network" after updating to iOS 6. We use Cisco access points, and I cannot give any more information on the model numbers. Needless to say it is wholly impractical to revert firmware on any of these machines just to deal with two devices. Each of these devices were fully capable of connecting while on iOS 5.1.1. As stated before, the network supports a wide range of devices.
- I have several students who are reporting the issue with iPhone 4S or iPad 3. It is not just me.
- I did a complete wipe at school and setup as a new iPad. Still unable to connect.
- Resetting network settings, turning off cellular (of course, not all students have the cellular models), putting in airplane mode, clearing cache, turning off WiFi sync... These do not work.
- Hard or soft resets do not work.
- Devices that DO work when updated (and I say devices, because we have confirmed a number of these). iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch 4th gen, iPad 2. These all work fine.
- Several schools in the Indianapolis area are also experiencing these issues on their network.
- The iPad 3 works on my home network (Linksys router, WEP encryption).
My questions:
- Since I cannot find information about this issue beyond suggestions to revert to older firmware on specifically Netgear routers, is Apple aware of this as a serious issue with iOS 6?
- Will this also affect iPhone 5? iPod touch 5th gen? I will be testing the iPhone 5 tomorrow and will report on this.
- And now the zinger: How quickly can we expect a software patch to this crippling issue?
iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iOS 6