Since 3 days now my iphone 3G(3.0) can not connect to a wireless network. Before it connect automatically at home or at work but now it says "Unable to join network". I have reset the network even restore my iphone to default settings. Still it can not connect to a wireless network. But what I dont understand is that it finds wireless networks but can not connect to it even to a free wireless network it keeps on displaying "Unable to join network"
I have called AppleCare they told me to do thesame things I have done.
Any body having thasame problem? Is it hardware or software problem? Please can any body help me? iPhone is no good without wifi...
Obviously having the same problem. Haven't tried freezer method yet but I suppose I will. The worst thing that could happen is my Iphone stops working altogether providing me the impetus to disengage with At&t and Apple. Interestingly when my Iphone is connected to my Macbook the Macbook loses its connection to the internet so...I don't know.
I see that one person replaced their iPhone and the Wifi started working again. Has anyone else replaced their iPhones with a resolution to this problem? If so, maybe it is a hardware issue of some sort. If others have had success with this, I might do the same.
My problem is very similar, I have a netgear 834 router, with 2 pc's, 3 laptops, an iphone itouch psp etc connected all ok. I got myself an iphone and connected to my home network, it shows on the home screen but when i try to connect to the app store or safari, it almost seems to default to the "o" network of connectivity, i am quite competent on iphones/tunes/pods etc so have tried all the resets etc. I find it amazing that in my house alone we have no less than 9 apple products from imac to shuufle to workbook pro and to try to get an answer from apple is like blood out of a stone, hopefully someone alse can do thier job for them and help me
In reply to Illinimom1... I turned my phone off and left it in the freezer for 15 min. It's five days later and still no problems connecting! Good luck!
After a lot of trawling to try and find some answers here is some startling news.
The article in the link below refers to throttling on the WiFi chip that was removed in a firmware upgrade of the last 2.0 series iPhone OS. Without the restriction the WiFi chip seems to overheat which may explain why some owners are getting positive results when they put the iPhone in the freezer for a time.
Becuase I am in a country that apple does not have a support center, I have to use the other apple technical support, and this is what I found out:
the problem in the hardware (wifi chip) and apple knows about it. Many phone where shipped from apple with hardware defect. this is the reason apple does not answer any of the comments.
This cost me over US$400 TO FIX. Thanks to Apple.
Same wifi connectivity problem. Genius Bar tech said Apple Engineering has not issued any kind of alert about this problem to store techs. He cautioned strongly against putting phone in freezer (said it could kill battery) and expressed doubt about the temperature theory. However, my own observations support the temperature theory. My wifi connection started out strong in the morning (after a night of non-use in a 65-degree room) and then began to deteriorate with use and/or pocket-induced body heat. I found that a few minutes in the refridge restored wifi capabilities, but only for a day or so, depending on use. There does not appear to be a software or setting work-around for this issue. Luckily for me my phone was under warranty so Apple gave me a new one.
I too am having this problem. I took my 3G in this morning the apple store, and was told the wifi antenna was bad so they replaced it. Brought it home and now I can at least find my wifi signal but still get the error "unable to join this network" Keep in mind that 2 weeks ago maybe less it was working just fine. I have turned off all security and nothing will work. I am waiting on a call from an apple tech here in the next 15 mins I'll post up what they say.
I am from India. I had faced the same problem a few months back. Had to give my Iphone to the dealer from whom I had purchased. He sent it to the Apple service centre in (Bangalore, India). After 5-6 days, i was told some problem with the phone and got a new replacement.
Further the Iphone wi-fi connectivity is very poor. My wife (Nokia E51) catches networks at places where Iphone does not catch.
So... second trip to a Genius (soho not 14th st this time) and low and behold my phone is fixed. I went in because quite randomly my power button stopped working. The genius said he would take the screen off (something the previous guy did not do) and found a loose screw. SOMEHOW this has fixed my WiFi problem as well (at least it has been working since Sunday). It is worth noting that I could not hear anything rattling around in my phone, but if you've got nothing to lose this might help.
Fixed!!!! Not sure how much this will apply to others, but I too had a huge problem with my iPhone 3G not joining wifi networks. It was fine for over a year, and then started refusing to join some networks about two months ago. It got so bad the last two weeks that I could not connect to ANY wifi; not home, not work, not anywhere.
I tried every recommendation on every thread on this subject (except the freezer). The big unknown was whether this was a software/firmware issue (and whether it was with iPhone or with wifi router) or a hardware failure. I finally decided to try to connect to my MPB with an ad hoc wireless connection so that I would at least know whether my iPhone radio was working. It connected! This told me that at least the iPhone wireless radio was functioning.
So, I decided to go one step further and connected my MBP to router via ethernet and then set it for internet sharing out through the onboard airport. My iPhone connected once again and was able to share the internet connection (blazing at 6Mps on iPhone). So I was happy that I at least had a workaround until someone figured out the iPhone to wifi problem.
I was about to post my results of my "workaround", and thought for the sake of thoroughness I would try connecting to wifi to confirm that I was still getting "Unable to join network" error. To my surprise, it connected!!! I tried all other routers and access points within range and it connected flawlessly to every one. It has been several hours now and I have switched networks, work the iPhone from sleep, and rebooted iPhone; each time the wireless reconnected without issue.
Not sure if this will work for anyone else, but if anyone has a Mac computer that can broadcast internet sharing, try getting an ad hoc connection directly to the computer and post your results. At least for me, this tells me that at a minimum the issues is NOT a iPhone wifi radio hardware failure. Seems odd that once the iPhone was able to connect to one, it was able to connect to all. I am not a software engineer, but sounds like an issue with the iPhone OS.
BTW: My iPhone originally came with the 2.x firmware and I updated immediately after each firmware release; never had a wifi issue. With Firmware version 3.1.2, the iPhone worked fine with this version from day 1 of release until just a couple of weeks ago. I upgraded the firmware to 3.1.3 yesterday morning, hoping it would fix the wifi issue (did not help). ONLY after I made a successful ad hoc connection did everything come back. Currently playing nice on wifi with v3.1.3.
victim of a same problem with iphone 3g 3.0 16gb....searched for the solution all over the internet for weeks in a stretch....finally what worked for me was the FREEZER TRICK...
