Weak Security WiFi on iPhone

It tells you what to do. Your router is set to use WPA and WPA2. WEP (the oldest Wi-Fi security) was broken long ago. WPA replaced it and that too is no longer secure. iOS is letting you know your router is broadcasting an easily hacked wireless security protocol, and you should turn WPA (not WPA2) off.

From your Mac or Windows computer, go into your router's web setting pages. You should be able to do this from your iPhone, too, as long as you're within Wi-Fi range of your router. Typically, you put 192.168.0.1 into the URL search field. The router should prompt you for an admin name and password. If you don't know what those are, almost all newer routers have that info on a sticker, which is on the router itself.

Once in the settings pages, go to the wireless settings. You should be able to find a drop down menu for the security options. Change it to use WPA2 only, or WPA2/WPA3 if you have that option. Save the settings (the router may tell you it has to be restarted).

One possible downside. If you have much older devices that connect to the router that don't understand any security protocol newer than WPA, they'll no longer be able to talk to the router.

When I first upgraded to IOS 14.01 and got a "Weak Security" message on our WiFi connection, our Xfinity modem/router was set to "WPA2-PSK (AES)" and our Linksys routers were set to "WPA2/WPA Mixed Personal" (and the only other possible choices were "WPA2 Enterprise", "WPA2 Personal", and "WPA2/WPA Mixed Enterprise"). After changing the Linksys routers to "WPA2 Personal", the "Weak Security" warning message on my iPhone immediately and permanently disappeared.

We have no unidentified connected devices connected to our router.

The Linksys routers are WRT1900ACCS routers purchased in the last year.

On the Linksys community forum, in response to the question "Does WPA2 on WRT1900ACS use AES as its encryption?", Linksys Communities Technical Support posted this reply (in its entirety):

"In the Wifi Analyzer app it displays as:

[WPA2-PSK-CCMP][ESS]

Which is:

1. Preshared Key

2. CCMP: CCMP stands for Counter Mode CBC-MAC Protocol . CCMP, also known as AES CCMP, is the encryption mechanism that has replaced TKIP, and it is the security standard used with WPA2 wireless networks. According to the specifications, WPA2 networks must use CCMP by default (WPA2-CCMP), although CCMP can also be used on WPA networks for improved security (WPA-CCMP)."

The summitdata.com website, under glossary/knowledge center, says this: "WPA defines TKIP as the primary encryption method; WPA2 defines AES-CCMP as the primary encryption method."

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. Note that “weak security" has NOTHING to do with your router password; it is a warning that the encryption protocol is something other than WPA2(AES) or WPA3, the ONLY secure encryption settings.

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.

Lukeharris101 wrote:

When I connect to the wifi it also tells me the wifi is ‘not trusted’ once it loads and prevents me accessing any network. MediaForce is the provider which is being blocked.

The Weak Security message is just a warning, it will not prevent you from using the insecure Wi-Fi, just as you always have when you didn’t know it had weak security.

However, the screen shot you posted has absolutely nothing to do with the weak security message. That screen shot says that meadiaforceuk.com certificate is invalid. That is a problem on their end, not on yours. You can choose to accept the certificate anyway, knowing that any content that goes through that site can be compromised, or stop using whatever service they are offering. Or contact them about their expired certificate.

This is NOT an iPhone problem; it is a problem with your router settings.

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security settings. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. 

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security. And don't forget to configure your range extenders (if any) also!

Note also that weak security does not interfere with using Wi-Fi, it is just a warning. Your Wi-Fi should still work normally, and, if it doesn’t, it is not because of the weak security message.

This is NOT an iPhone problem; it is a problem with your router settings.

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security settings. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. 

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security. And don't forget to configure your range extenders (if any) also!

After you change the router settings you should Forget the network in your phone settings and reconnect.

Note also that weak security does not interfere with using Wi-Fi, it is just a warning. Your Wi-Fi should still work normally, and, if it doesn’t, it is not because of the weak security message.

There is no context to your post. You replied to the first poster in this forum, with a question that appears to be unrelated.

If your phone says weak security that is a warning; if your connection is slow that has absolutely nothing to do with the warning. iOS 14 is telling you that your router is not set up correctly to assure that it can’t be hacked from outside your network. Your router has always had weak security; you just didn’t know it until Apple added that check to iOS 14. But weak security means that ANY device using your router can be hacked; you’ve so far been lucky that none have been. Or have they?

To fix the weak security warning you have to change the router’s connection method to WPA2(AES) or WPA3 from whatever it is now, which is probably WPA(TKIP). This will not affect any other devices on your network, other than to make them less likely to be hacked.

If your connection is slow first download the speedtest.net app or go to https://speedtest.net and compare the speed to other devices on your network with the same app (it is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and even Linux). If it is slower there are troubleshooting steps to follow, but first see what the problem is.

In my experience with IOS 14.01, Apple did not break anything, and did not prevent WiFi connections. Apple simply started displaying a "Weak security" warning message when you connect to a router that did not have at least "WPA2-PSK (AES)" security. In our case, our Linksys routers were set to "WPA2/WPA Mixed Personal". Once those routers were set to "WPA2 Personal", the warning message disappeared. (It doesn't help that various vendors use different wording for the same security. What Linksys lists as "WPA2 Personal" is equivalent to Xfinity's Technicolor modem/router's "WPA2-PSK (AES)".)

If I go somewhere else and connect to a WiFi network that has WPA TKIP security, then that security is weak, regardless of whether Apple displays a "Weak security" message or not. From my perspective, Apple did us a favor by alerting us to a weak level of security of which many of us were unaware. As a result, our home WiFi now has better security.

It needs to be WPA2(AES) not WPA2(TKIP). And if your router supports both bands it must be set for each band separately. Further, if you have a mesh network or range extenders they also need to be set to WPA2(AES). And it must be pure WPA2. Not WPA/WPA2.

Finally, after changing any router settings you must forget the network, then reconnect.

I don't think it's an Apple bug.

We had the "weak security" error after upgrading to IOS 14 until we changed our Linksys WRT1900ACS Routers from "WPA2/WPA Mixed Personal" to "WPA2 Personal". This whole thing can be confusing because different vendors label security differently. On the WRT1900ACS Routers the term "WPA2 (AES)" is not used. However, the Linksys Communities Technical Support website says that WPA2 on the WRT1900ACS uses PSK-CCMP, and that CCMP is also known as AES CCMP, the encryption mechanism that has replaced TKIP (the encryption level that causes the "weak security" error). Changing the security worked for us.

(By comparison, our Xfinity router/modem was set to "WPA2-PSK (AES)". A different label for the same thing. It was only the Linksys Routers that were causing the problem.)

TimeTicking wrote:

We have 2 iPhones 1x 8 and 1x 11 both running iOS 14 and we have the weak security warning and wifi keeps dropping off them. My mini iPad is still running iOS 12.4 and is fine. My PlayStation connects fine too. I spent a torturous hour last night chatting to my broadband supplier who checked line etc to no avail! I’ve checked my wifi setting on router and they seem to be on correct security with a totally random mix of letters, numbers & characters for password. Logic tells me now, after reading this thread that it has to be the phones iOS ????

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. Note that “weak security" has NOTHING to do with your router password; it is a warning that the encryption protocol is something other than WPA2(AES) or WPA3, the ONLY secure encryption settings.

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.

If you have a connectivity problem that is totally separate from the “weak security” message, which is just a warning that your router can be easily hacked. But the router will still work as it always has. You need to solve the connectivity problem independently of the weak security problem. Here is an Apple support article for Wi-Fi connectivity issues—>If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won’t connect to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support

Nobody from Apple will respond here and it isn't a bug. It is a new feature that just informs you that your security setting on your router is weak. If you purchased electronics used by people who support networks, or hired such a company to check your network, you would have gotten the same message. And I'm sure in the next update of Android they will add the same feature.

Check the settings on your router (both channels) and any extenders (both channels), set them to a secure security level, reboot them then forget the network on your iPhone and connect again. The message will go away and your network will be secure.

Like many here I was convinced it was an IOS bug. It isn't.

As has been stated, set routers and extenders to WPA2 AES or WPA3. Initially I did that but still got the weak security message. What is essential is to do router and extender re-boots AND use "Forget Network" and then reconnect to your wifi signals.

It's a pity there isn't an IOS App that would show all the information about the wireless signal actually being received on the iPhone/iPad.

I ended up using my Windows 10 laptop to get the details of signal. My router and extender were set to WPA2 AES, but the signal was actually WPA2 TKIP. Using forget network, rebooting router and extender, and reconnecting "forced" the change from TKIP to AES.

Liangsok wrote:

Help me pls I can’t do anything bcuz too slow🥺

That has nothing to do with weak security. It looks like your Wi-Fi connection is weak, which will slow it down. Try moving closer to the router. And not that it cannot be faster than your connection to the Internet.

Weak Security is NOT an iPhone problem; it is a problem with your router settings. It is just a warning, it won’t affect how well Wi-Fi works.

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. 

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.

ginafromdavie wrote:

i am having the same issues with my wifi weak security

Well, you could have read the Apple Recommended post at the top of the page (and just below the post you replied to), but since you didn’t...

A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. Note that “weak security" has NOTHING to do with your router password; it is a warning that the encryption protocol is something other than WPA2(AES) or WPA3, the ONLY secure encryption settings.

See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.