Flint Million

Q: Manually removing stored Wifi networks from iPad?

I have a rather interesting question:

As we all know, iPad will remember wireless networks we connect to by way of the settings app. Whenever those networks are in range, iPad will automatically connect to them. (This also applies to iPhone/iPod touch)

Suppose that you at some point logged into a network, using the settings panel, but you later wish to remove it from the list of saved networks (e.g. you're giving the iPad to a friend to use, giving it away, etc.)

So far, the only way I know of to do this is to be in range of the network in question, then select it in the settings panel and choose Forget This Network.

This to me represents a potential security risk. Suppose that you pair your iPad to a corporate work network. Later, you decide to loan out your iPad. All the person you loaned it to has to do is go in range of the office network (Which is heavily guarded by WPA2, we'll assume) and poof, they're in, because your iPad saved the network. Someone who is not authorized just penetrated a LAN.

Normally, you could simply remove that network from the remembered networks store prior to loaning. Mac, Windows and everything else seems to have a way to remove remembered networks manually. However, on the iPad (and any other iOS device) I can't find a way to get the device to forget a known network, unless I happen to be in range of that network at the time. Is there a way to do this?

FM

MacBook Pro 15"/i7/4GB/500GB/DVDRW, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Jan 30, 2011 10:18 PM

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Q: Manually removing stored Wifi networks from iPad?

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  • by HMSCelestia,

    HMSCelestia HMSCelestia Mar 23, 2015 12:38 PM in response to Aring0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2015 12:38 PM in response to Aring0

    Aring0 wrote:

     

    If you are not on the network and want to delete it without a wipe.

     

    Settings> General> Reset> Reset Network Settings.

     

    But this would erase all of them I believe so you would have to input passwords for networks at home etc.  Ill check with Wireshark this weekend to make sure it's not sending probe requests after the reset.

    Super late, But just wanted to +1 that this comment.

  • by rmb3005,

    rmb3005 rmb3005 Feb 14, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Flint Million
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Flint Million

    How about this wi-fi issue, my ipad mini is showing a wi-fi network that is non-existent.  I removed the router,so there is no longer a network by the name that I gave it, yet it still appears in the list, AND, I can still connect to it.  How is this possible?

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Feb 14, 2016 7:06 PM in response to rmb3005
    Level 9 (79,660 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 14, 2016 7:06 PM in response to rmb3005

    it's someone elses router you are picking up.

  • by rmb3005,

    rmb3005 rmb3005 Feb 15, 2016 3:12 AM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2016 3:12 AM in response to Chris CA

    It's not someone else's router. I can log into it with the password I chose. The network name was the router model. It was a Linksys EA6400 router.  The network name was "Linksys EA6400".  This was a router I added about 8 months ago, and took it out of service a few days ago (2/13/16) and replaced it with a newer router with a different network name, so the network no longer exists, yet it still appears in my list of networks on my iPad and my iPhone.

  • by dilbert41,

    dilbert41 dilbert41 Feb 15, 2016 5:43 AM in response to rmb3005
    Level 4 (3,692 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 15, 2016 5:43 AM in response to rmb3005

    Are you using a wifi booster or extender in your network ?  If you are then you MAY be linking to the extender rather than directly to the router.

  • by gngdutch,

    gngdutch gngdutch Mar 25, 2016 2:45 AM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 25, 2016 2:45 AM in response to Chris CA

    and many years later it seems that is STILL the only way to 'forget' out of range networks on an iPad?

    reset to delete ALL networks in memory . . .

     

    I came across this post whilst searching for a secure solution after a great - but creepy -  live hacking demo using the Wifi Pineapple to set up a wifi honeypot, reading everyone in the room's WiFi memory to (potentially) gain access to any open networks, displaying a very informative list of family names, airports, hotels and coffee bars these network names revealed (as dj0 highlighted here a couple of years ago).

     

    It is good to be more aware of why it is SO important to clear this memory on mobile devices (especially if you have ever connected to an open network) and I find it rather hard to believe that over all these years Apple has not tackled this glaring privacy and security risk - or perhaps I missed something recently?

     

    Giving the ability to indicate when you connect to a WiFi network that it is 'untrusted' or 'temporary', and as such either to not commit it to memory, or set a time-frame for that memory could go a long way to improve this situation in a more user-friendly way. As well as giving access to this list to manage of course. And even if you were to set up your own man-in-the-middle to scan and display your wifi network memory it seems that you cannot forget a network unless you are connected to it - so this will only help for open networks and require more advanced hacking to manage the rest . . .

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Apr 2, 2016 10:21 AM in response to gngdutch
    Level 9 (79,660 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 2, 2016 10:21 AM in response to gngdutch

    Suggestions here -> http://www.apple.com/feedback

  • by SyberCorp,

    SyberCorp SyberCorp Apr 6, 2016 1:55 PM in response to Flint Million
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 6, 2016 1:55 PM in response to Flint Million

    I know this is an old topic, and this may have already been mentioned here before but, in the event you have an iDevice AND a Mac (of any type) that shares the same iCloud account between them, the WiFi profiles are a part of what is sync'ed so, taking that into account, you can remove the WiFi profile from your Mac that you want to remove from your iDevice, which will be removed once the iCloud data is sync'ed.  This is the ONLY way (without jailbreaking the iDevice) that I know of to remove a single WiFi profile from the iDevice instead of removing them all by means of a network reset or a full device wipe.

  • by mrcolrtoo,

    mrcolrtoo mrcolrtoo Jul 8, 2016 5:38 AM in response to SyberCorp
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 8, 2016 5:38 AM in response to SyberCorp

    i tried that many times(deleting from mac)... and the accounts would come back to the mac. BUT as soon as i did the network reset i LOST all of the accounts on my mac too. such a SCREWED up system. one should be able to have per device network settings. Another note when i added networks to the iPad it added it to the iPhone right away but never added it to the mac... RME

  • by marintaxpro,

    marintaxpro marintaxpro Jul 11, 2016 10:59 PM in response to Flint Million
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 11, 2016 10:59 PM in response to Flint Million

    On my iPad I don't have the "forget" option. I have that option on the uninflected network but the networks I need to delete the only button shown is "connect".Anyone know alternate ways of,deleting networks that automatically connect (unlike the network I installed which requires password frequently). Appreciate any help.

  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Jul 12, 2016 8:32 AM in response to marintaxpro
    Level 7 (27,879 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 12, 2016 8:32 AM in response to marintaxpro

    "uninflected"??? 

     

    If there's no Forget option when you tap on the , that means the iPad has not connected to it previously, so there is nothing to forget.

     

    It should only say "Join Network" if that is the case.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jul 12, 2016 9:02 AM in response to marintaxpro
    Level 5 (4,746 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 12, 2016 9:02 AM in response to marintaxpro

    Hello marintaxpro,

    As already observed in this thread, the only way to delete networks that you're not connected to is to reset all network settings. See Settings>Reset>Reset Network Settings. Then you can enter the ones you want as you connect to them.

  • by ShagCA,

    ShagCA ShagCA Jul 12, 2016 9:42 AM in response to marintaxpro
    Level 4 (2,517 points)
    iPad
    Jul 12, 2016 9:42 AM in response to marintaxpro

    marintaxpro wrote:

     

    On my iPad I don't have the "forget" option. I have that option on the uninflected network but the networks I need to delete the only button shown is "connect".Anyone know alternate ways of,deleting networks that automatically connect (unlike the network I installed which requires password frequently). Appreciate any help.

    Sounds like you're seeing a list of available WiFi networks to join. You can't delete those if you have not joined any of them.

  • by marintaxpro,

    marintaxpro marintaxpro Jul 13, 2016 3:21 PM in response to ShagCA
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 13, 2016 3:21 PM in response to ShagCA

    These are mostly networks that were originally valid and set up by me, for me at an earlier time but no longer in use.. There are also networks that show SSID with very similar names to the correct network that are shown as connected to computers (PCs, Macs, & Linux) Since I've had an issue with RATs - caused, so I'm told, IP v6 hijacking. After those networks were taken out of commission with replacement routers, static ip address and new modem these networks (as well as the RAT issue) have remained. Glassware and ADS security have shown that computers on network have "alternate data streams". They all show as "connected" to my computers but do not respond to the original passwords I created. I realize that question is complex but it has cost me a few MACs so I'm hoping to find a solution. When taken to Apple Store these networks do not appear.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Jul 13, 2016 3:41 PM in response to marintaxpro
    Level 5 (4,746 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 13, 2016 3:41 PM in response to marintaxpro

    Sorry, I mistyped in my previous post. Use Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings to forget all networks. It's the only way to forget saved networks not connected.

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