Strange WiFi problem on iPhone 3G after 3.0 update

Hello all,

I have been struggling for the past 7 months or so trying to get my wifi working after the 3.1 update. Wifi worked fine for about 5 days before I updated from 3.0.1 then just refused to find any networks at all. I had tried all possible fixes known to man and still no wifi. I had bought the phone second hand so it had no Apple warranty. After reading posts that people have resorted to baking their precious iphones I decided to take the plunge myself. I am a bench engineer so I have a few tools that I could use. I decided not to go for the baking of the whole phone and just opted for re-flowing the wifi circuit only, this way if all else fails the rest of the phone functionality should remain operational. Here is what I did:-

I downloaded the iphone motherboard schematic(google) and observed the 2 white components to the left of the wifi chip. The white component nearest the chip looked kind of like an inductor and the one furthest away looks like a little resistor network, these 2 components connect to the wifi/Gps antenna, so I concentrated my efforts on these. I applied a small amount of rework solder flux to the 2 components and used my gas soldering iron with a hot air blowing attachment fitted and re flowed the solder connections putting a little pressure on the inductor as the solder connections are underneath the component making it difficult to re-flow. I allowed the PCB to cool down for 5 minutes or so, then re-assembled the phone. After powering up the phone not really expecting any results I turned on the wifi and hallelujah wifi detected my network. I connected to the network first time with no problems and for the last 4 days now the wifi has been working like a dream connecting to my works wireless network and my home network first time and never dropping the connection. Facebook/Safari/Mail and any other internet connecting applications all work flawlessly with no connection issues. I will keep you posted if anything changes.

I hope this information will be helpful,


Regards,


Jimbob


P.s. Remember to take great care if dismantling your phones, google is your friend...

Excellent post, jimbob2010. 5 stars. It sounds like you reflowed the wifi from the battery side (opposite side of the emi shield). Did you remove the emi shield or leave it attached? Or did I misunderstand.

Hi Simpleserve,

Yes i had reflowed the 2 components next to the wifi chip on the battery side opposite the EMI shield. I left the shield on as the wifi chip is exposed on the other side of the PCB. For those people who find reflowing the components next to the chip unsuccessful you could try using the hot air blower on the wifi chip itself, but the actual chip and some other components i.e surface mount caps are hard to access due to the metal shield covering the chip. I found this out using a magnifier.

My cooked version still going strong! Stress testing it time to time and seems to work fluently.

For anyone who baked their iPhone in the oven and had a negative result please read this feedback by Scott http://www.iphonetiquicia.com/iphone-wifi-oven-trick/#comment-66

He baked his motherboard FOUR TIMES! At one point his PCB was flat lined. But after the fourth bake his phone came back to life and even had wifi working.

Baked my PCB for the second time today, still no signs of life, but still not losing hope, will give it a try again.

Has anybody tried doing it the safer way? Mine is still working brilliantly after 5 days, my battery life is brill and the phone does run cooler.

Message was edited by: jimbob2010

Hi all. After much reading, today I decided to attempt the reflow. I took your info into account jimbob2010 as you can see on this page: http://www.m0ukd.com/iPhone/

I'm so glad it worked for me! Been streaming audio over WiFi for 6 hours now and still going strong. Lets hope it lasts!

Regards, John.

Another success! I picked up a thermometer at a hardware store ($7) and set the oven to almost 400. Put the logic board in (emi side underneath) and baked for 8 minutes. Opened the oven and shut it off for 30 minutes then took it out for another 30. Installed it and turned it on and voila - wifi again!
My issue was wifi failed to connect a week after updating to iOS4. It would never find any available wifi. Bluetooth would only be seen if I stacked my phones on top of each other, but wouldn't connect.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'm really happy it worked!!

Another success! I picked up a thermometer at a hardware store ($7) and set the oven to almost 400. Put the logic board in (emi side underneath) and baked for 8 minutes. Opened the oven and shut it off for 30 minutes then took it out for another 30. Installed it and turned it on and voila - wifi again!
My issue was wifi failed to connect a week after updating to iOS4. It would never find any available wifi. Bluetooth would only be seen if I stacked my phones on top of each other, but wouldn't connect.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'm really happy it worked!!

Great news, jimbob2010. I'm going to buy the tools you used and try it out.

By great news I meant great news your wifi is strong, your iphone is cooler, and your battery life is improved.

Awesome news wayoutthere007! Another wifi restored!

My wifi mysteriously stopped working on my 3g after the update and now wont even work after reseting the phone downgrading and also resetting the network settings it comes in sometimes but wont detect a network at all then also my bluetooth stopped working as well and i have been through pure havic with apple about this i guess my 200 bucks that i spent on this crap means nothing because of their software update and my hardware is not i repeat not damaged IVE HAD IT CHECKED I NEED HELP I WANT TO ESCALATE THIS TO CORPERATE!!!

Sorry to hear of your bad luck, but i'm afraid if your iphone is no longer under warranty you don't have much chance of apple sorting it out for you. You may have to resort to extreme actions like the rest of us have done.