Weak Security WiFi on iPhone

Problem solved!

It turns out it was my range extender that was transmitting a weak security signal. My Apple devices were happy and didn’t issue a weak security message when I turned the extender off. Not knowing what extenders actually do, I naively assumed they took in a weak signal, amplified it and then sent the identical signal out again. That is obviously not all that happens, the signal is re-transmitted using whatever security settings the extender applies. Clearly, with my extender that was too weak for Apple’s liking.

I then started to look into the extender’s settings - I had never done this before. The settings were extremely basic, but on checking the firmware, it was way out of date. I downloaded and installed the latest version. That version allowed access to many more settings including the security ones so I set them to WPA2 and AES.

Now feeling confident the extender would work OK I connected my Apple devices to it —— WEAK SECURITY!!!!

I checked the extender’s signal via Windows 10 and it showed WPA2 AES is being broadcast. Not quite sure where to go from here, but I’ll continue battling with the issue. I’m like a dog with a bone when I hit problems like these. In the meantime I can live without the extender.

The main reason I got it was to strengthen the 5GHz signal to a room that’s a fair way from the router - I’ll use the stronger 2.4 GHz signal directly from the router until I get to bottom of this issue, or find some other way of boosting the 5GHz signal.

Thanks to everyone, especially Lawrence, for your help and patience. 👍

Can't recall if you've already checked this (and I'm too lazy to go back and read 😁), but look at the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands on both the router and the extender. Each bandwidth has to have its security settings changed separately. One device or the other may still have WPA as the choice on only one bandwidth.

I now have the extender issue resolved.

On the extender I refreshed the network settings that were set up during the firmware update by rescanning and reconnecting. I then rebooted the extender.

Hey Presto! Both signals from the router and both signals from the extender no longer issue a weak security message.

Right On! The extenders are the culprits! When they are removed, the weak security warning disappears. Therefore the extenders need to be able to offer the wpa2 option, otherwise the message will appear if the extenders are used.

Ultimately, while this article is pretty good, the proposed fix didn’t work. After seeing the “Weak Security” message on my iPhone 11, followed the instructions here to access my Netgear router local UI (all good) and was poised to change the protocol; however, WPA2 is already the current setting. Sheesh. Not helpful.

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.

NO, it’s not an Apple issue. It’s an issue in your mis-configured router, which has always had weak security. You just didn’t know it until now. You can ignore the warning and your network will continue to have weak security. There’s nothing Apple can do to fix the incorrect settings in your router or in your range extenders, if you have any.

Even when the extenders are configured correctly with wpa2 the message appears. The following statement made by Lawrence Finch is accurate: "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. "

Scale2020 wrote:

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.

WRONG! It appears on any device running any version of 14 IF THE ROUTER IS MISCONFIGURED. It has nothing to do with the phone. I have 4 devices running a version of iOS 14, and none of them display the message because my router is configured correctly. I’m also currently at an inn with Wi-Fi, and their router is configured correctly, because I do not see that message.

When the router is configured correctly the message doesn't appear. However, the message appears when you are connected to extenders that don't have a separate WPA2 option. WPA/WPA2 (TKIP or AES) is not good. You need a separate option of WPA2 (AES) as you had specified earlier.

Wrong

i have 3 devices on iOS 14 and 2 still on 13. X. Router is WPA2. 14 shows weak signal. You can blab all you want, and it’s bull. it’s a iOS 14 bug. Out with the old bugs in with the new. Anyone having this issue, just give it some time. They’ll have a fix in an update. Unfortunately, out with the old bugs in with the new’ will still apply.

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.)

Can anyone help? I had this issue randomly after my wifi working fine for a week on my new iphone 12. However, suddenly i had this issue. I've gone into my router settings and changed it to what it says it needs to be. the 'weak security' message is now gone, but still no internet connection even though it says it's connected? internet is working fine on all other devices. fyi i have virgin media hub 3 wifi

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 ????

Again, i have to reiterate what i wrote at an earlier. This is most probably an ios bug, and they will eventually de-bug. I wouldn't go messing around with router settings, because things can go pretty wonky. Give it time, there'll be a fix.