Unable to Join the Network Message

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Level 1

0 points

Unable to Join the Network Message

I have had my 3G Iphone for several months now and have been very happy with it. I have been able to access all WIFI hotspots around town without difficulty. Now, all of a sudden and for no apparent reason everytime I try to connect to WIFI hotspots, I am getting a pop-up message saying "Unable to Join the Network" and a "Dismiss" option. I have tried turning the phone on and off, I have turned airplane mode on and off, I have reset the network settings...and I am now at my wits end trying to solve this problem! I have full connectivity bars showing on the phone, and places where I was always able to connect to the internet now are not working (but other people are able to, so it is my phone and not the router/connection etc). When I scroll to Cellular Data there is no information. I am using the latest updated software (but this problem started weeks after I updated to the latest version of the iphone software). PLEASE help me with any advice about this problem! I own the phone outright (International version) and the only way I can connect to the internet is through WIFI (which up until now has not been a problem).

Iphone 3G, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jul 24, 2009 2:42 AM

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Answer 1

haloekes

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2009 5:44 AM in response to simmysammy

Hi there, I am currently having the same problems. after months of connecting to the wi-fi without any probs, there was this message "unable to join the network xyz". I've tried everything and I do have no idea how to solve it. any hints, comments or solutions would be highly appreciated as I am obviously not the only iPhone user with this problem.

Thx guys, hope to read from you

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Answer 2

Jul 24, 2009 9:59 AM in response to simmysammy

My iPhone doesn't see my home network at all (even when I'm holding it 6 inches from the Airport Express router)! My MacBook has five bars and I'm on the other side of the house... I've tried resetting the network settings, as well as rebooting several times, but no dice. Not looking forward to reinstalling everything with iTunes, but guess I'll have to if that's the only thing left to try...

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Answer 3

bherber

Level 1

9 points

Jul 25, 2009 3:58 PM in response to Jon in San Rafael

Similar problem here... I have a home network with WPA (21-character key) encryption. After trying 10-15 times to manually keyin the key I though I was just messing up with a typo. Now I have the 3.0 OS upgrade and I can copy-&-paste the key from an email message... I still get the "Cannot join network" message. So does that mean that iPhone doesn't connect to networks with WPA encryption? That seems pretty lame.

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Answer 4

Jul 26, 2009 11:14 AM in response to Jon in San Rafael

I just returned from the nearest Apple Store with a new phone. After reinstalling the software at the store, they confirmed it was a hardware issue. The new phone is working like it should, with a wifi connection. If you take yours in, make sure you back it up first, as they will erase everything when they reinstall.
Cheers,
Jon

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Answer 5

Deerman

Level 1

5 points

Jul 26, 2009 1:48 PM in response to Jon in San Rafael

In more than 20 different threads this 3.0 WIFI-problem is discussed and confirmed by 100s of users here - it is definitely no hardware problem! Sometimes a new iPhone helps, sometimes the problem starts again some days later.

It is in fact a 3.0 software problem. We are all shouting to Apple: Please release a software update fixing this!

And please release it in the first week of August, since the problem ruins the whole brillant iPhone experience!

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Answer 6

Jul 26, 2009 2:10 PM in response to Deerman

I'm very impressed at your ability to diagnose a complex issue that only affects a small percentage of users by simply reading internet posts. If you share your solution with apple, they should be able to meet your schedule.

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Answer 7

Payasos

Level 1

9 points

Jul 26, 2009 6:53 PM in response to Craig Baron

No surprise however that some users defend Apple to the end. The WI-FI problem stated for many of us after the 3.0 update. This must merely be coincidence for the few hundred users who have complained.. if you think we're a small percentage, have you considered the fact that probably 50% or more iphone customer's don't even participate on these forums, but I guess we don't have to count any of them.

Fact is a Fact ... WIFI broke after 3.0.

Apple should recognize and fix what they broke. I now have a useless iphone when it comes to WIFI connections. That not only affects my ability to read email, use my apps, view youtube, download from itunes... oh what, the only thing I can do now is make/receive calls. I should've bought a motorola razor then.

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Answer 8

oghowie

Level 1

1 points

Jul 26, 2009 8:58 PM in response to simmysammy

My wife and I both have the iPhone 3GS and have the problem of wifi asking us for the password even though it should already be saved on the iPhone.

At first I thought it might even be our wireless router so I replaced it and we still get the same problems.

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Answer 9

Jul 26, 2009 9:17 PM in response to Payasos

Maybe your wifi is broken; but I have no way of telling if it's a hardware problem, a firmware problem, or a wireless network problem. I do suspect that something in the firmware is having trouble with some specific wireless network configurations. Unlike some folks, I cannot magically diagnose problems over the internet and I have not seen any obvious common factors in the networks that are having problems. This leads me to believe that the problem only occurs under some specific network conditions (routers, channels, other devices, etc.).

My 3GS, 3G, and ipod touch are all working perfectly with 3.0, so if it is a firmware problem it certainly isn't affecting everyone. I will be curious to see if the actual solution is similar to all the speculation.

According to my calculations, a few hundred (or a few thousand) is a very small percentage of a few million; but I do understand that it's frustrating when you are being affected.

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Answer 10

Payasos

Level 1

9 points

Jul 27, 2009 7:42 AM in response to Craig Baron

That would truly suck.

I'm on my 4th 3G in 1.5 years... not looking fwd to a 5th.

It takes days/weeks to tweak your phone just right.

As of today, my phone detects NO WIFI signals... whether public or private.

I will try a restore before going to the apple store.

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Answer 11

Jul 27, 2009 10:29 AM in response to simmysammy

In our office there are two other people who got their iphone the same day as me at the same store. Their wifi works fine here in the office, but I can not connect. I get the same error everyone else is speaking of: "Unable to joint the network 'xyz'" and then an option to dismiss.

I would believe it was an issue with software, but there are two identical phones with the same plan next to mine that can attach to the wifi, where I can not.

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Answer 12

Aug 25, 2009 3:16 AM in response to simmysammy

I note that a lot of people are having this problem since the 3.0 software update. However, my partner's iPhone had this problem before the update. In fact, I was hoping the reset/update would resolve the issue, but to no avail. Clearly this is a common problem, and a fruitless visit to the Apple Store has not helped either. I was told to restore through iTunes, which didn't work, so am headed back to the Apple Store in the morning.

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Answer 13

simmysammy Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 1, 2009 12:28 AM in response to jelightfoot

I ended up taking my broken iphone into the shop where I bought it in Vietnam and they took it for a day and fixed the WIFI problem, which they said was a hardware one. It has been working fine....but now it is broken AGAIN!!! I can all of a sudden no longer use WIFI from my phone. It was working perfectly until a day ago.

However, NOW I am living in Indonesia, and nobody here will/can seem to fix it. They won't touch my phone at the official Apple resellers saying: "We currently cannot offer service for iPhone purchased outside Indonesia due to the regulation from Apple and Telkomsel as the telecommunication carrier." So what am I supposed to do?! My iphone is obviously faulty, but I can't take it anywhere to get fixed in my country of residence, because it is not the same place where I bought it?! This seems INSANE given the global nature of the world these days. I have no way of contacting Apple directly either...at least I can't figure out a way to.

PLEASE can anyone out there help me? I understand that my phone's warranty does not apply outside the country of purchase, and I will pay whatever it costs to fix it, but need to know where to go to do this. I am in Jakarta. The phone is virtually useless without WIFI and I am NOT happy. I now think that I should have gone the way of Blackberry, and WILL NOT be recommending anyone buy an Iphone.

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