TheDevilsAdvocate

Q: Forget a network on iPhone and it comes back later

Tell me if this has happened to you.

 

You go to the supermarket, and there's an open wifi hotspot there that doesn't require a key, but you have no need for that wifi right now.  my iPhone automatically connects, making it hard to receive messages because this wifi ***** or doesn't have proper connectivity or has a sign on page you don't want to fool with.  So I just want to forget it.  So I do, go into settings > wifi, find the network, hit the i and hit "forget network."  It's forgotten... for now.

 

I come back some other time, and it reconnects to this network!!  I then have to forget it all over again!

 

I have the setting for "ask to join networks" turned off.  Per the note below the setting it says "Known networks will be joined automatically, if no known networks are available, you will have to manually select a network."  With this on, a popup is constantly coming up asking to join networks getting in my way.  I want the phone to automatically join my home network, work network, and a few other networks like family houses that have wifi.  I do not want to connect to this **** supermarket network, ever.  the note imples to me that I have to go into network settings and select a network to join it, and then if it's known it will connect automatically, whereas with this on it always asks to connect, always.

 

Something I noticed is that when I go to my wifi settings on my Mac at home and look at saved networks, it seems to remember every network I have ever joined including this supermarket wifi.  I clear out this list, and at some point it all comes back!  Is icloud remembering all my networks and not allowing me to blow them away?

 

I've reset my network preferences to see if this helps and the issue eventually comes back.  I've not tried switching to a new icloud ID, which really isn't an option at this time.

 

Thoughts on how to correct this situation?

iPhone 6s, iOS 9.3.3

Posted on Aug 4, 2016 11:54 AM

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Q: Forget a network on iPhone and it comes back later

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  • Helpful answers

  • by think.different,

    think.different think.different Aug 4, 2016 11:58 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 3 (746 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 4, 2016 11:58 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    Yes, iCloud will sync networks across devices, to "help" you. You can wipe it by un-syncing each device and removing it then slowly adding them back one by one.

  • by TheDevilsAdvocate,

    TheDevilsAdvocate TheDevilsAdvocate Aug 4, 2016 12:32 PM in response to think.different
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 4, 2016 12:32 PM in response to think.different

    unsyncing?  As in logging out of iCloud, removing them from my mac and logging back in?  i can't remove them from my phones, and if icloud remembers them, won't they just add them back?

     

    Last time I tried what I described above they call just came back.

  • by think.different,

    think.different think.different Aug 4, 2016 12:57 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 3 (746 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 4, 2016 12:57 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    on ios you can log out of icloud, but I think you actually you can just turn off the keychain sync part of iCloud on each device, bar one of the macs. It is in the keychain that the networks are remembered.

     

    iOS devices - Settings > iCloud > Keychain > off

    osX - System prefs > iCloud > Keychain > off

     

    With the Mac you are still logged into, go to System prefs > network > wi-fi > advanced > wi-fi > and delete all preferred networks. Then go back to iCloud and turn back keychain. This should then pull down and network settings to this device only. If rouge network appears, delete it. this should then sync back to iCloud.

     

    For each mac then delete preferred networks and turn on iCloud keychain, hopefully, this will then sync down from iCloud without the rouge network.

     

    For each ios device then delete preferred networks (settings > wi-fi > each network in turn > forget network) and then turn on iCloud keychain.

  • by TheDevilsAdvocate,

    TheDevilsAdvocate TheDevilsAdvocate Aug 4, 2016 6:41 PM in response to think.different
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 4, 2016 6:41 PM in response to think.different

    Unfortunately this hasn't worked so far.  Turned off keychain like you said, then removed a bunch of networks.  I then turned it back on and soon after the networks all came back.  I deleted them again and am waiting to see if they come back.

  • by TheDevilsAdvocate,

    TheDevilsAdvocate TheDevilsAdvocate Aug 10, 2016 4:32 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 10, 2016 4:32 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    They still came back.  It's as if iCloud is syncing them and keeping them as the master list and forgetting them on my mac or iPhone is ignored they just come back later.

  • by think.different,

    think.different think.different Aug 11, 2016 7:47 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 3 (746 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 11, 2016 7:47 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    Okay.

     

    So you turn off iCloud keychain for every user on every computer and device to is logged into your iCloud account.

     

    Then try this... Frequently asked questions about iCloud Keychain - Apple Support, scroll down to the last question "Can I remove my iCloud Keychain from Apple's servers?"

  • by TheDevilsAdvocate,

    TheDevilsAdvocate TheDevilsAdvocate Aug 11, 2016 1:35 PM in response to think.different
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 11, 2016 1:35 PM in response to think.different

    Yes, every user on every computer and device.

     

    Okay so wifi **passwords** are stored in the keychain, but not wifi server names unless there is a corresponding password/key.  This is an unsecured wifi station.  When I go to the keychain and search for the wifi name I'm looking to remove, it's not there.  The password for my home wifi station is there but if I were to search for, for example, xfinity it's not there.

  • by think.different,

    think.different think.different Aug 13, 2016 11:11 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 3 (746 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 13, 2016 11:11 AM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    I can't test any of this my end as I do not sync the keychain via iCloud. I use 1Password to sync password/credit card info as it works in all browsers and not just Safari.

     

    I would imagine that any preferred networks would also show up in  System Prefs > Network > Wifi > Advanced > WiFi and you would delete from here.

  • by lantrix,

    lantrix lantrix Sep 15, 2016 6:15 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 15, 2016 6:15 PM in response to TheDevilsAdvocate

    Having the same issue. let us know if you have solved it yet; as its **** annoying. I wonder how you actually find a list of which devices have the iOS keychain synced ...

  • by TheDevilsAdvocate,Solvedanswer

    TheDevilsAdvocate TheDevilsAdvocate Sep 25, 2016 9:10 AM in response to think.different
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 25, 2016 9:10 AM in response to think.different

    I would like to reiterate this has nothing to do with saved passwords in keychains.  Passwords are saved in keychains, but the actual name and preferences of the network are saved elsewhere in iCloud.  for example, infinity WAPs are all over my city, and I am constantly trying to say to forget them, but then my phone reconnects later.

     

    However, since updating to Mac OS sierra and iOS 10, I deleted the stored WAPs and they have not come back for a couple days now.  I think upgrading is the solution to this problem.