Strange WiFi problem on iPhone 3G after 3.0 update

At least once a day since the upgrade...

Apple... Say something... ?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

ok ive been following this thread for 3 days now.
My iPhone is a brand new from Apple, after 2 weeks of usage - suddenly wifi doesnt find any networks. Now, i believe this was caused after i used a GPS software for over an hour. Like people here mentioned, the iPhone was noticably hot, but not extermely hot (id say around 45 celcius which should be normal. heck, i live in israel where the outside temp is around 40 now).

Tried the freezer trick and it worked - got full reception for 15 mins.

My thoughts:
- After speaking to that tech someone recommeneded here in IRC, he said he's trying to reproduce this problem on purpose with no luck. He says he thinks its only on some iPhones, and not because of 3.0 - maybe a manufacture damage. which makes me think we should all try to see the commonalities of our iPhones - by serial or maybe by manufacture date. what do u think?

- It scares the **** out of me if this is a hardware problem, and i really think it is, because of the freezer test. When wires are heated, they transfer data slower - this is a a physical law. So maybe we got the wifi corrupted so it has only a very thin cable left to transfer data, thus when freezing it - this cable is enough?
It scares me because wifi chip is not separate - its part of a logic board which is basically 90% of ur iPhone and very expensive.

- Did anyone try to replace the wifi antenna ? it costs 6$ in eBay - and maybe its the one who got fried? techs out there, plz try...

- Maybe the 3.0 firmware somehow adds some kind of heat limitation which wasnt there before - causing a normal-heated or slightly heated chip to stop working to prevent damage - and they will turn it off? unlikely... seems like hardware no?

- The guy who said he installed 3.1 beta and it didnt help - proves this is not software...

plz calm me down, somehow... i cant replace my iphone in apple because i dont live in usa.

Message was edited by: yonido

Folks,

I've had this issue a month or more now but twice now, for no apparent reason, my iPhone has detected my home wifi and enabled it to stay connected for a while. Last time it lasted about 6 hours then failed again. However, I've noticed a trend and thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has similar....

I normally charge from the USB cable and it is fair to say I don't leave it hooked up once charged, and frequently it doesn't get anything more than a few minute top-up. However, on the two occasions it has worked:

1) It was charging in the car from very low and left connected when fully charged for several hours.
2) This time it was charging from the mains (having shut down due to low power) and remained connected for several hours after. It detected wifi a while after being disconnected.

There is a side of me wondering whether this issue could be power related, i.e. somewhere in the system it having a higher than correct threshold for the wifi turning off due to low power? Maybe the over-charging takes it above that threshold and it'll work until back below it, but a quick charge by USB never quite gets it there? Perhaps that threshold was screwed somehow and can be corrected with an update?

I'm going to see how long it keeps working for today and potentially drain it off fully and leave it hooked to the mains overnight again as this is the only glimpse of progress I've had with it despite multiple resets, restores and even the freezer test (which failed). My old iPhone classic works fine with this image restored onto it, as does my wife's with OS 3.0.

Simon

Message was edited by: woodheads

As I have mentioned before on the thread many pages ago this IS a hardware problem and is due to heat breaking down the WIFI chip. Once damaged the reception will for a time work but will get steadily worse each time the phone warms from usage until complete failure. The freezer trick will work for a time, but will fail once the phone warms...

Changing router setting will NOT solve the problem as you cannot do this for all routers you roam and connect with.... Anyway this is a HARDWARE PROBLEM.

Heat will break the chip with extended usage.....

Apple will NOT respond to this or any other thread on this forum...

If you use the wifi allot it will eventually die....

I've followed this tread for 3 weeks now and I've consulted many sites, including Dutch ones, so please hear me out

I doubt that this is a hardware problem, since everybody has this issue (a couple of days) after the 3.0 update. Of course it could be that 3.0 causes hardware failures but that does not explain why this issue can be resolved by simply downgrading the baseband (which is the modem firmware). Downgrading the baseband is risky and I really don't recommend doing this, but it proves to me that this is a software issue. Also, replacing the iPhone with a brand new one isn't helping (user: rocket99 halfway page 31) so this is more proof to me that it can't be caused by using a lot of wifi all the time

Halfway page 26 of this tread you will find a user named PBG412867 who links to a person that managed to downgrade his baseband, user Dam2-7Tem on page 32 did this too and I've found this same solution on the dutch website iphoneclub.nl. Again: use this as proof, not as a solution! downgrading baseband isn't the same as just downgrading your iPhone OS and comes with much greater risks, depending on your bootloader

@Yonido, CALM DOWN 😉 this is not yet proved to be a hardware issue. 3.1 is still in beta and every beta has had a new baseband version so far. Knowing Apple (from their development time with the smsbugfix ;-)) they still have to make a proper baseband version, since they just started to give this issue some attention (page 31, post from Ryan3587). Somebody already mentioned that people on the french forum replaced the antenna without luck

@woodheads, it would be interesting to test your theory, but I havn't had any similair experience, nor have I heard about this in earlier post, but please keep us updated!

@pew, I appreciate your pessimism, and Apple will indeed not reply to this forum, but still I hope that people with similair problems keep posting here. A large amount of people with this issue cannot be ignored and eventually the pressure of the media (caused by a 34page forum ;-)) will force Apple to fix this

@rbrt86
wow, great post! i finally feel we're getting professional here and not just 'change your router settings' mumbo jumbos 🙂

These downgrades ARE somehow calming, but i think these guys had the 'No Wifi' error (where youre wifi is grayed and disabled & u got no MAC address), or they got a very low signal - but not what we're experiencing where the wifi netwoks simply dont appear. From previous experience - no wifi CAN indeed be solved by downgrading BB, but its a different problem.

Yea, BB downgrading is a mess, u need 5.08 or lower. ive done it in my old iPhone.

Would LOVE to hear about someone that had the freezer test positive, and downgraded the baseband, and got it to work.

AND one more thing re battery - my old iPhone had a problem where it had No Wifi/No Bluetooth/No IEMI problem. If i would drain the battery TOTALLY to a point which even the red bars dont appear, and its completely empty - and then charge it - when it turned on - i got the modem up again (for about an hour because of HW problem). so this indicates that a dead battery somehow turns the modem/wifi chips totally off / resets them in a way. If someone can test if this one helps us, im waiting for mine to drain...

overall we need to seperate between - grayed/not finiding networks/problematic connections but finds networks.

Message was edited by: yonido

@rbt86 great post. Very helpful to clarify matters.

I'm using the 3GS, and it has enormous issues with wifi, sometime snot connecting, sometimes completely sluggish, usually no response and no throughput whatsoever.

I had first experienced this when the WiFi network was set unsecured; no throughput.

I then set the network up WPA2-AES and used a simple 8 char passcode. No dice, very intermittent wifi, very slow connection, sometimes no throughput.

My housemate has a 3GS as well, with no problems whatsoever.

Just yesterday I set my router to be unsecured again, and I am seeing consistent blazing speeds from the handset. When i get home today I will try it again, to see what issues I could isolate or identify.

The various suggested fixes being thrown around here are ridiculous; I can't be putting my bloody phone in a freezer, and I can't be flipping on and off airplane mode.

You may get some mileage from these triangulated tests I tried a few weeks ago:

http://nabidana.com/2009/07/15/iphone-3gs-wifi-speed-inconsistency-report/

There's a PDF to download of the test details.

I was led down a couple of blind alleys which you may wish to take further:

1. It's to do with location services. I don't think I agree with this
2. It's to do with interference on wifi channels
3. It's to do with encryption on wifi channels.

If I had to guess (and everyone else is, so why not) I would say there's something going on with sleep modes and battery conservation. I won't elaborate.

Hi All
Went to my Genius appointment today, replaced it straight away.
My device was out of warranty and he didn't even look at the problem.

My advice, take it in to a Genius and get a professionally trained Apple Team Member to check it out!

Good luck to you all!

I can only think this is a hardware fault if I'm on my 3rd phone, surely?
1st one worked until I downloaded an application, which stop making/receiving calls. Second failed to stay connected to wifi. It would load a web page, half way through drop out, then try to reconnect after a couple of seconds. This last phone wouldn't even see any wifi anywhere, but only after I first connected it to itunes on my iMac, and as a new device too, not even a restore!
What ever it is, no one seems to have an answer.

null

rocket - maybe when they replace a phone they dont give a completely new one but a 'refurb'? so it has its own issues everytime..

just speculating

Is there a way to find out?

I had mine replaced, and it completely solved my issue.

I've tried all possible solutions, multiple routers, and ways to restore it.

My history here http://dreeZruleZ.com/iphonewifi.htm

Best of luck everyone!

I think there's too much speculation going on...

Ever since I replaced my iphone (17 days ago) all problems are gone, WiFi signal is on full strength 95% of the time, like others have said, the release of the 3.0 software may have coincided with independent hardware failures.

I strongly urge people that are still on the warranty period to simply head on an Apple store and replace the phone. Even if its very far, it beats having no WiFi and paying data fees, they can then feel free to speculate or rant with a phone that at least is in working condition.

with respect...

Message was edited by: jazzistic

null

I am windows xp user. After the 3.0.1 update on my Iphone 3G the Wifi is not working. I do not have the warranty anymore. I am not sure of what to do now. Any help in an email form is appreciated.
thanks

I think you should go to an apple store with it regardless of warranty. Quite honestly some of the posts here are blinding me with technobabble! I've bought a product which has now ceased to function as it should and it is therefore up to Apple to sort it out.

I will be taking mine back today and I'm sure will get a good response.

I will let you know.

Macbook Pro iPhone OS 3.0