iPhone wifi not working

We're on the Apple Discussion board, so freedom of speech doesn't work here. I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm just being serious. It's their board, and they can delete what they want.

Hopefully it means a solution is coming!

After doing a heap of reading and trying out all the suggested fixes I have come to the conclusion that on a certain percentage of phones in the process of updating the firmware hardware weaknesses were exposed and the phones are now busted. No software is going to fix them.

We have 2 iPhones with Telstra Next G. I had my new iPhone 32GB 3gs for a few months and also got one for my partner only a few weeks ago. Mine lost wi-fi connection about a month ago, and hers about 2 weeks later from mine. Both have up to date software.

Same issue, it can detect my wi-fi network name but cannot connect to it, so i have to resort to using 3g to connect. Some days it does connect and most days it does not after doing the reset.

Sometimes mine will connect perfect full wi-fi coverage, but at same time hers will be unable to connect, or only have very low wi-fi strength unable to connect. ....Go FIG!

Anyway I think apple need to update thier logo to a lemon if they do not want to recognise this serious issue.

Apple are you reading this? do you care?

Hmmmmm re-inserting the sim card seems to have boosted the wi-fi signal to full and connects ok. Hopfully wont have to do this often, will monitor.

I concurr with tinkleberry above - the problem seems rooted in hardware but somehow is made more sensitive with software changes.

They type of connector used for the WiFi is a face mating pressure contact connector which relies on a very small spring metal (beryllium copper?) ring to maintain mecahical force and thus electrical contact between the signal contacts of each side of the connector. While that connection remains tight there is little problem. It may be that thermal and mechanical stresses eventually reduce the contact force and allow some corrosion creep into the connector - a more severe shock or perhaps even a thermal excursion may be causing a reduction of the contact face pressure sufficient to allow development of a thin film of contaminants on the surface which could grow to the point that eventually the pressure is unable to break through the insulating layer.

This failure mechanism could explain the "freezer fix" as well as the "slap fix" that some have reported - each of these could conceivably re-establish a good connection at the signal contact but would eventually again fail - just as reported by so many - because the underlying causes of insufficient pressure and contamination are still present.

In the world of larger connectors this would be a repairable problem, but the size of these components make the repairs unreliable or even more problematic. Replacing only one half of the connector (the flat ribbon cable side) may not solve the problem since in this small size both of the mechanical mating parts tend to deform on initial connection (when the phone is first assembled) and do not behave well when de-mated and re-mated with a different mating connector.

Our hope is that Apple has also identified this failure mechanism and is seeking a supplier of connectors or a redesign to make the mechanism and thus the connection more robust. Until then, I think I'll take the AppleCare protection.

JLG89: I cannot believe this but it worked. I had to do it more than once and possibly it will be needed in the future. But so far the 'slap' was the only thing it worked for me. Will keep you posted. Big Thanks!

Same issue here. It's just not seeing any wifi networks. I tried the various fixes mentioned here:
- Reinsert sim card - nothing
- Flight mode on / off etc. - nothing
- Slap - nothing
- Finally freezer - I don't believe it, now it's working!!!

I guess once it has warmed up, it will stop working again. Hope I will be able to get an iPhone 4 soon, but until then, I can at least use the freezer method when I want to download something large.

Really seems to be a hardware issue, doesn't it?!

So thanks for the trick,

Tina

Tried the freezer and the bump - mine is still greyed out 😟

Well, it lasted for about 2 minutes, then it was gone again. Maybe I should try the -70°C freezer next time... we also have liquid nitrogen here - but that will make it difficult to touch it 🙂

Tina

In the configuration of my 2-Wire Gateway, I changed Wireless Network Security from 'WEP-Open' to 'WEP-Shared' or 'WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK'... now wi-fi works on my iPhone 4... but my other devices fail... seems iOS4 (or?) is not supporting 'WEP-Open' protocol... Have not tested 'Security disabled'... FYI...

saw a post about changing to 802.11b "only" instead of "automatic" or "g". That solved it for me. So until Apple comes out with an update/fix I have to use a slower connection but at least now it works. Luckily, I have a dual band Time Capsule so I also have an "n" network for high speed connections.

I cannot now see any WiFi networks on my 3GS, although it used to work just fine till a few weeks ago. But if I fire up the yFyLite network finder app, it works perfectly, showing me all kinds of networks. I can even connect with the app, and it will (finally!) come up in my Settings area. But connection is lost when I leave the area, and I have to go through yFyLite to start the connection each time. Something is definitely broken in my iPhone, but it does not seem to be the hardware itself.

This is stupid! I bought an iphone 3g december of 2008. i lived on the coast for most of 2009 then i moved back home and one of my speakers went out so i took it to the apple store. they told me that my warranty had been breached due to the indicator being pink! i know i never let it get wet at least no more then any other phone ie sweat and dampness due to humidity. so i had to pay for a new 3g ok i could deal with that as of may 2010 i have completely lost all wifi and due to the fact that my warranty expired late last year i cant used apple for this problem. THIS is stupid!!!!!!!!! so i have tried everything to get my wifi to work and the freezer thing worked. my phone worked for about a week and then my wifi was gone again now if i do the freezer thing again i works for about 5 to 10 mins. i hate the fact i had to even try the freezer thing.. but come on apple fix your phones wifi and and those **** receptors for wetness!!!

This has recently happened on my 3G. Have tried everything, firmware downgrade from 4 to 3.12, numerous reboots, network reset etc ad infinitum. One thing that did work was the freezer trick. Just a few mins and a reboot and up comes the wireless only to fail again a minute later. Once heated up the phone does not see any wifi networks. I have ordered a couple of replacement wifi aerials (very cheap like under 3 bucks each)from ebay and I'll replace the existing aerial and report back here.
As a matter of note, IOS4 was buggy, slow and prone to crashing. I have ended up going from 3.12 up to 4.01 and the speed seems to be fine. Occasional app crash but nothing like 4 as it was on the verge of unusable. I can certainly live with 4.01.

I popped my 3G IPhone into a zip lock bag and into the freezer for an hour and left it running. On taking it out I went straight to for the settings and turned on wifi. Immediately my home network was available and connected. Leaving the phone in the bag to reduce the possibility of moisture problems with the circuitry, I watched the wifi and after a few minutes the network started dropping then picking up again, then dropping and not able to connect then as expected back to finding no network. So I really don't think this is anything to do with firmware/software. It is a fault with either the wifi/bluetooth chip or the aerial. As stated on my previous post I will report back here after instaling a new wifi antenna. If that fails we are left with just the chip. Problem is, they are relatively expensive.