Says I’m connected then the WiFi icon at the top left disappears. What do I do to fix this?

Wi-Fi normally connects to a router, which assigns an IP address using a protocol called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). But it’s possible to also use Wi-Fi to connect a group of devices to each other rather than to the Internet in what is called an ad-hoc network. Ad-hoc networks use IP addresses in the range that starts with 169.254.0.0. Each device in the ad-hoc network creates its own IP address in this range. When you connect a device to a network it will ask for an IP address using DHCP. If it doesn’t get an IP address assigned within 30 seconds it assumes that it is an ad-hoc network and assigns itself a random address in that range.

There is a common failure mode in many routers where the DHCP “daemon” process in the router fails, and it stops assigning IP addresses, so a new device connecting to the network will self-assign. But any device connected to the router that already has an IP address will continue to work. This makes it look like the problem is the phone, because everything else connected still works, but it’s actually the fact that the router is no longer assigning IP addresses. While it can happen to any device using the router the problem is more common with phones that disconnect when they go out of range, and reconnect when you get “home” and thus get a new IP address assigned. Rebooting the router restarts the DHCP daemon and resolves the problem.

The reason it happens with many different routers is that most routers have the same underlying open source operating system. It’s primarily a problem with routers more that a few years old; newer ones from top tier manufacturers have resolved this problem.

There are several possibilities. One is that your Wi-Fi router is not connected to the Internet, but you would get a message that says “no Internet connectivity” in red under the name of the network, so that’s probably not the reason. Let’s do some diagnosis:

Tap on the i to the right of the network name and look at the IP address. If it begins 169.254 (e.g., 169.254.103.12) that means the router did not assign an IP address to the phone when the phone “requested” one. The way to fix this is to restart the router by removing all power from it for 15-30 seconds. This is a fairly common router issue, especially for routers more than a few years old. After restarting the router turn Wi-Fi on the phone off for about 30 seconds, then turn it back on and try to connect again.

If it is a correct looking IP address (most likely starting with 192 or 10) on the phone you need to go to Settings/General/Reset - Reset Network Settings. The phone will restart so you will have to log in with your passcode again, and you will have to re-enter any Wi-Fi passwords, but you won’t lose any content on the phone.

Try these and let us know the results. If it still doesn’t work we need to dig deeper.

To start off I would call my WiFi company that I'm using and asked for technical help and let the technical person help you solved your problem and it is much faster then waiting for a answer here on the Apple discussion.

Well, it could also be the router manufacturer. Most broadband providers do not supply a Wi-Fi router, so they won’t be much help.

Your suggestion to restart the phone is always a good first step for troubleshooting almost any problem. After all, there is a centuries-old saying: “When in doubt, reboot” 😏

That’s mainly why I suggested it — most of the problems I have can be fixed by restarting!

I found what you said really interesting. I didn’t know the first few digits were different depending on if it can assign an IP address or not!

Would you please explain what a “Wi-Fi company” is?

I think they mean a broadband provider.

It could be due to bad connection, but I can see that your connection is strong.

Have you tried restarting your iPhone? (Restart your iPhone – Apple Support).