iPhone 3G - wifi not working after upgrade to OS4

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iPhone 3G - wifi not working after upgrade to OS4

After the OS4 update completed last night, I am not able to access wi-fi networks. At home, I can't see my own wifi network nor any of the neighbor's networks which I could previously see. At work, I can see the wifi network but am unable to connect to it.

I bought the 3G only 15 months ago and now I don't know if it is going to become a lemon. I have heard rumours that you are not allowed to downgrade to OS 3.1.2 which was working very well for me - is this true? I didn't see any warnings in itunes and I did backup my phone before saying OK to the upgrade.

I have tried all of the diagnostics I could find on the forum:
- resetting the router
- resetting the iphone network settings
- disabling cellular data
- turning off security on my wifi network (still couldn't see it)

Is my only option to do nothing and live with a broken phone, hoping that this is addressed with a software update? (i.e. my own fault for upgrading?)

Hopefully there will at least be an announcement of which problems apple is working on a patch for so I know whether I should be patient or if I need to try and research some more desperate measures such as trying to find a way to downgrade to 3.1.2 (which could lead to even worse problems... but honestly I would rather take the risk then not have wifi access anymore.)

If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thanks.

PC, iOS 4, mac

Posted on Jun 23, 2010 8:49 PM

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Answer 1

dmiannay

Level 3

869 points

Jun 23, 2010 8:53 PM in response to koro_77

Did you perform a hard reset of your iPhone? Hold the Sleep and Home buttons simultaneously for about 8-10 seconds till the white Apple logo appears. After the phone restarts, check your wireless again.

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Answer 2

koro_77 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 23, 2010 10:06 PM in response to dmiannay

No I hadn't tried a hard reset. I just tried it now and unfortunately no change. (I'm posting this response via my cellular data connection)

Thanks for the suggestion though.

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Answer 3

Jun 27, 2010 3:52 PM in response to koro_77

Same problem!

The wifi on my iPhone 3g 16gb was working great and then I installed OS4 and now it is dead. It sometimes picks up a feint 1-bar signal when I am right next to the airport, but usually it just stays on 3G network. This is a disaster. Same problem at my office. Had a great signal before installing OS4 now have no signal.

I've reset the network. Restarted the phone countless times. The wifi is working great on all my other devices. It's definitely a problem with the phone and OS4.

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Answer 4

uglyk1d

Level 1

0 points

Jun 27, 2010 8:21 PM in response to koro_77

Yeah i'm having the same problem. I went to an apple store today and they did a hard reset for me but still no luck. I wish i hadn't of upgraded to the os4! hopefully apple will come out with a patch to fix this!

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Answer 5

koro_77 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 27, 2010 8:43 PM in response to koro_77

Update: after trying all workarounds that I could find I decided to downgrade back to 3.1.2 firmware to see if this would fix it. After downgrading, wifi is still broken in the same way. So I am thinking that either the OS4 updated some type of setting that doesn't get reverted by the older firmware or OS4 may have actually fried the wifi chip.

I saw a few forums were people reverted back to 3.0 FW and that worked but I haven't tried that yet.

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Answer 6

Jun 28, 2010 9:35 AM in response to koro_77

I have an iPhone 3G 8 gig. I live in Albuquerque, NM which has no problem with the 3G network. Once I did the install for OS 4 I could see that it was taking up 75% of the space on my iPhone. All my apps were laggy. Once I was using the internet, I could get out of it. my phone would lock up. If i rebooted it would just stall. I redid everything on my phone according to the FAQ, and the problem worsened. I would loose phone signal, router signal. It would ask randomly for pass codes from getting into my phone to voicemail. My apps would stall out and fail repeatedly. And if talking on the phone, I could not leave the call. The phone would flicker and die. I have a new iPhone 4 coming and now regret ordering it, as I hear more and more people talking about how bad the new update works on their 3G's, 3GS's and IPhone 4

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Answer 7

Cmansky

Level 1

0 points

Jun 28, 2010 6:15 PM in response to uglyk1d

Same problem here. I believe the inability to find Wifi networks has something to do with the new internet tethering feature. I'm noticing that the 'Internet Tethering' display in 'Settings' > General > 'Network' is hanging (constant churning / searching icon and animation). Anyone else with Wifi access problems seeing same issue inside of network settings?

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Answer 8

NHKatie

Level 1

0 points

Jun 28, 2010 6:51 PM in response to koro_77

I had the same problem after attempting to update last night (on my 3G). The loss of wifi was the least of my worries, however. The update process wiped out my entire phone and reset it as a new phone, and never performed the back up. So, I wasn't able to restore from a back up. It's a glitch in the update, nothing that I did, or didn't do. The issues are too long to list... UGH!

After hours on the phone with AppleCare Sr Support last night, and 5 hrs at Apple Store today (no exaggeration!), they replaced my phone entirely. Luckily, I had a MobileMe account so, I was able to retrieve/restore my contacts and apps (although the data within my apps was lost - so I have to go through all of them again). Also lost all iCal data... two years worth... not sure how that happened, since that was also synced via MobileMe... the whole update is a mess... If you haven't updated yet, I would wait to update until they work out any kinks.

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Answer 9

filid

Level 1

0 points

Jun 28, 2010 9:10 PM in response to koro_77

There is another thread here about having no wifi in iOS4 on updated iPhone 3G/3GS: iOS4 on 3GS - No WiFi http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2456329&start=60&tstart=0.

My findings are to be found at: http://www.klammeraffe.org/~brandy/iOS4WLAN.html

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Answer 10

koro_77 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 1, 2010 3:02 PM in response to koro_77

My faith in apple is restored. I made an appointment at the genius bar and took my phone in this morning. They went through all of their tests, culminating in restoring the phone as new from a known good computer. After observing that the phone could still not connect to the in-store wifi network they immediately replaced the phone for me. I was in and out in less then 30 minutes.

Luckily the replacement phone is running 3.1.3 and performance is back to where it was before. Needless to say, I won't be upgrading my iPhone 3G to OS4 anytime soon! This has been a very frustrating two weeks but I am glad I am left with a working phone in the end.

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Answer 11

dlazo

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2010 3:41 PM in response to koro_77

I also got my iPhone 3G 16GB replaced with a new one running 3.1.3, wifi is there.
The draw back: the apps that where updated to be compatible with OS4 won't work in 3.1.3 any more
😟

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Answer 12

felex

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2010 9:46 PM in response to dlazo

dlazo wrote:
I also got my iPhone 3G 16GB replaced with a new one running 3.1.3, wifi is there.
The draw back: the apps that where updated to be compatible with OS4 won't work in 3.1.3 any more
😟

bro, same problem i have...i upgrade also my 3gs to os4.. 1 day i try to connect.THANK god i connect just i have reset all settings,,NOW IM CONNECTED ..dont wory guys i will try to updated if it happens again to me..

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