WiFi Speeds (iPhone 12 Pro Max)

MAPE15 wrote:

well 2.4 is limited I think maximum 450mbps thoretical right?

Well, theoretical is just that, and throughput will generally be half of the maximum under the best of circumstances. 2.4 GHz is doing very well if you can get 50 mbps, 25-35 is more likely. Your 2.4 GHz network will run at the speed of the slowest device connected to it, so if you have any IoT devices connected such as doorbells, cameras, music players, etc your iPhone will run at their speed. If you want to test this Turn off all other devices so your phone is the only one connected, then restart your router. If the phone is the only device on the network you should get much faster speeds at 2.4 GHz. But why bother? Just use a 5 GHz connection. 2.4 GHz is crowded (there are only 11 channels) and has narrower bandwidth. 5GHz has a theoretical maximum of 6-9 gbps (although there are currently no devices that support beyond 1 gbps).

OTOH, 25 mbps is fast enough for almost anything you can do with an iPhone. There just aren’t many functions or apps that can take advantage of faster speeds.

Ho is it that my wife and I went 4 years without issue without Apple updates, perhaps Apple is creating updates to make our devices absolutely slow. I have many friends and families who did all the updates and their devices became useless bricks while mine worked great.

My iPhone now is new, and came with the latest update 14.3, I’m choosing to keep it that way. And, there’s nothing wrong with this phone... if it ain’t broke, don’t mess with it!

No one posting in this thread works for Apple, and almost no one posting in the forum works for Apple except Community Specialists whose job is to answer posts that haven’t had a response in a day or two. I didn’t know you have 14.3, but when 14.x comes out if you don’t update your phone you won’t fix bugs in 14.3 (and there are some, like slow Wi-Fi) and it won’t fix newly discovered vulnerabilities. But that’s your choice.

But, as this thread has become a whine-fest with no additional useful contributions I’m leaving it.

I’ve not seen any relationship to slow speed and Bluetooth off. It’s still slower than iPhone 11 at same locations however difference is greater at higher internet connection rates. I upgraded to gigabit cable and saw the tech get 700Bps on his test equip direct connected. With iPhone 11 500 MB’s or more but 12 pro max usually half. 250-400 rarely at top end

I recently found a way to see if our speeds on all of our iPhone 12 devices are true. I saw that using Speedtest.net app, you have to test lots of different servers to see your average speed and maximum speeds. Like for example one server I selected specifically receives 600-800mbps on my iPhone 12 mini consistently. However most servers on Speedtest.net app, I only get 200-400mbps speeds at maximum no matter time and day. There also could be bandwidth/congestion issues affecting our devices ability to achieve maximum speeds on top of these modem firmware issues. It is definitely something to evaluate.

You are correct. There is some inconsistencies. I personally think this is iOS 14 problem. In general ios 14 has a lot of problems.

What I have noticed in my situation, iPhone 12 Pro Max has a problem to connect to stronger signal(closest mesh router(wired)).

The WiFi issue is broadly spread to all new software for Apple TV and iPad OS as well.

iPhone 12 can switch back to 4G LTE from 5G.

Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data > Select LTE

I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max and I tried it and works like any other iPhone, I downloaded an app and downloaded in seconds. iPhone was not even ready for 5G network. It was very successful for me.

I finally solved the ridiculously slow wifi speed (just got my iphone 12 pro max today).

Turns out my VPN was kicking in while trying to configure/test everything else out.

Bottomline: I had to use cellular data to download the VPN (because it was only partially downloaded), then once it was downloaded, i disabled it. Then.... voila... wifi speed was back to "crazy fast"

Just a thought.... look at your VPN (to if you can disable it)

worked for me.

Reset your Network Settings.

Go to: General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings.

You'll have to re-enter your Wifi network info but it helped my situation. Also, don't rely on Fast.com for testing. Use the Ookla Speed Test found in the App Store. I saw 'huge' differences that ultimately told me the iPhone is fine.

Please note that this not just an issue with the iPhone 12 Max but possibly all iPhone 12’s. I upgraded to my iPhone 12 from my iPhone 7 back in late October 2020. I’m currently running iOS 14.3. I also have an iPad Air 2 (vintage 2016) running on iOS 14.3. My WIFI router is a Netgear N300, WNR 2000 v3. I had no speed issues with my old iPhone nor my current iPad. However, my new iPhone WIFI speed is 100 to 200 times slower on “Download Speeds” than my iPad and older iPhone. And no, the 100 / 200 values are not a typo. My “Upload Speeds” are OK and are the same as my old iPhone and current iPad. I did reset my network connection and no difference was seen. Also note that my cellular speeds are not an issue, this is strictly a WIFI issue. I suspect that this is an Apple issue and hope that they address and solve it soon.

I've been working with apple support for a month( I still left ticket open in case we discover reproduce/behavior changes). I'll praise apple support rep for dedication in trying to understand behavior with me. However, even after upgrading internet 700Mbps to try to show the discrepencies (against older iPhoneX), I'm in same situation as last month. Better wifi speed does exagerate what we notice. The problem is it's just the test that shows this, its difficult to show an app having a problem so i left ticket open. I've even tried nuclear option of defaulting phone to factory / erasing/content/reset networking. I've since restored my backup but its essentially same to default. I'ts slower as i move away from each of the satellites(mesh/basement office), those actually test higher, even over the backhaul (1.7Gps), but i typically test near the RBK50 main router/living room (which should be able to handle 5GHZ speed each channel of which should support 866Mps in 802.11ac for satellites or main router. upload speeds no longer relavent to me since they dont expose an issue in 5-20Mbs range.

My take, after upgrading to 12 pro max, I no longer saw the 200-400Mbs speed i used to see on IphoneX in bedroom (200Mps spectrum cap), and after upgrading to 700Mbps spectrum cap, I typically only see 160-200Mbps bedroom, 200-300 living room, 400Mbs office. My gut explaination/feeling is upstairs worse because of 12 pro's less robust handling of interference that might be worse at main level (ground level) than my iphoneX had. all of which is moot because phone 12 works, just hard to demonstrate even though we clearly have more reason to believe its slow. I never suspected iphoneX or my dell laptop to ever be slow the same way, which I did convey to Support however without consistent numbers in reproduce it's so hard to get buy-in. They are just all over the place when i run a test on 12. and before upgrading or my laptop always consistent.

Well at least it’s not just me. We pay for 1Gb service and consistently get >700 mbps speeds across our WiFi on all devices. I got the 12 Pro Max for Christmas and the speeds have been horrible - never more than 40 mbps. My husband has the 12 Pro and he is getting 400+ consistently. The X and XS Max get the higher speeds as well with no changes to any device settings. Every time I go outside I also have to restart my 12 Max because internet hangs - it seems to have major issues switching from 4G to 5G. So disappointed in the speed and dropped connections on this 12 Max. It’s definitely the device because everything else we have works just fine.

Try Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings.

You'll have to re-enter your WiFi access point and password but it restored my 12 Pro Max. I get Xfinity 100mbps service and the Speedtest came through at +/- 110mbps.

I have wifi 6 through Verizon FiOS and rarely get the speeds on my wifi 6 devices that I pay for with my gigabit service. Verizon seems to throttle me on top of the congestion and wifi interference issues. I’ve done everything including using 3rd party router and no changes.

That's true, thanks for the added context. When I tested on my Max XS speeds were 500-700ish and I really never thought much about speeds - I just knew it was fast. The new phone not so much. Even after I reset network settings (as many in this thread suggested) I only get 120-150 down on the 12 Pro Max. My husband is sitting four feet away and he is getting 575 on his 12 Pro (not Max). I am out of ideas.