[Re-Titled by Moderator]
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.
The only reason to have WPA or WEP on is a wireless device you own is so old, they can't connect to any protocol newer than that.
For users having problems with WPA off, the only real conclusion you can come to is their router is a piece of junk and should be replaced.
TVillasenor wrote:
So, a problem with that security mode (WPA2 AES) is that it can be too restrictive on people's devices.
Yes, and the problem with WPA/WPA2 is that it can be hacked easily, which is why there’s a security warning from iOS 14. WPA2 was released as a standard 16 years ago, so any product that still only works with WPA and not WPA2 is either over 16 years old or is so cheaply made it is probably vulnerable to being hacked and used in denial of service attacks, most of which come from hacked cheap personal devices such as security cameras and baby monitors. Anyone who has any device that only works with WPA should destroy it, as the device itself is a security risk both to the user and to the Internet community in general. Do you really want strangers around the world accessing your baby monitor?
I first noticed this 'weak security' notice on my iMac yesterday after the latest Big Sur update. It was also on my iPhone. I have a mature Virgin Media Hub so I contacted VM this morning. An assistant took me through the procedure to change the settings in the hub and assured me that, whatever Apple says, the network is now secure. My iMac still shows the warning but after turning my iPhone on and off, the warning has disappeared!
Now, Virgin Media says the network is safe; the iPhone no longer warns that the network is unsafe; but the iMac still shows the warning (unless I am using the network I use from iMac to my printer!). What to believe?
I’d have a chat with Apple Support, then.
Internet provider suggested I change the modems password. Assured me that it was properly secure on their end.
WPA/WPA2 Personal
WPA2 Personal
are two options
and then the same but Enterprise on the end??
WPA2 Personal should be OK. It usually means WPA2(AES); it’s not an official designation, however. But if it’s very old (more than 5 years) it may need to be replaced.
With my 6s, I had to turn WiFi off and then back on (in the phone's settings), then shut the phone down and turn it back on before it would finally stop whining about security.
When you click on the Security setting it is a dropdown with other choices. What are they?
In addition to WPA/WPA2-Personal there should be other choices.
It is running IOS 14.2.
The weak security wifi message appears on all phones that run 14.1 and 14.2. The message doesn't appear in previous versions.
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.
This does appear to be a wider issue with ios14. I use Virgin Media hub 3.0 and have taken the same steps as described above (using WPA2 only), however still the message ‘weak security’ appears.
This message does not appear on previous devices in our house yet to upgrade to ios14.
Any advice would be appreciated.
We are getting this same message, saying our security is set to "WPA/WPA2 (TKIP)" and we should use "WPA2 (AES)" or "WPA3", but our router is in fact set to "WPA2-PSK (AES)".
Is it possible the error message is simply wrong?
This is the exact same issue I'm seeing. I get the weak security message, but confirmed my router of 2.5 years is in fact running WPA2-PSK (AES). GIven this didn't occur prior to my upgrade to 14.0, i'm guessing its a bug in IoS.
Upgraded to IOS 14. Get the security message.
Correct router settings confirmed. Router has always been set to Private and WPA2 AES encription. My 2.4ghz channel doesn't show the security warning on all upgraded IOS devices. My 5ghz channel shows the warning on all upgraded devices.
The error message does not show on one IPad not yet upgraded. The issue is with the upgrade and IOS 14's handling of 5ghz NOT my router settings. I'm just going to ignore it until there's a fix to the upgrade.
Weak Security WiFi on iPhone
