WiFi Speeds (iPhone 12 Pro Max)

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.

We tried everything including reset iphone, router, seperating wifi channels, testing with different connections with apple support. At the final step I talked with the engineering team for a week. Due to my investigation, problem occurs with 2.4ghz networks only. They were saying 2.4ghz networks are naturally slower than 5 ghz but I tried simultaneously with different devices on 2.4 multiple times and each time my device was way slower.

After multiple genius bar visits, they changed my device and problem is gone 👍🏼 So obviously, some batch of production was faulty with wifi antenna. Or chip, i don’t know.

brashaadt wrote:

I was on Wi-Fi and 5G/lte. Verizon’s digital secure VPN was the culprit. Soon as I disabled it, internet speeds instantly improved

When you use VPN your connection speed is no longer determined by your connection to your router or your router’s connection to the Internet. Your speed is instead limited by the bandwidth of the VPN connection plus the encryption and decryption overhead of every packet.

Most people should not be using VPN, unless it is to tunnel into a private network such as a company or a school network.

Here’s a commentary on this: Don't use VPN services. · GitHub

Sammax12 wrote:

I Had the issue,

The only thing that helped was Turning on Configure Proxy Automatic.

Wifi /press on Your wifi network / Configure Proxy / Auto..

As that is the default, I assumed that everyone with this problem had their proxy set to automatic. There is no reason to ever set it to anything else. If it is not automatic your speed will be limited by the speed of the proxy server you are connected to, or, if you are using VPN, to the speed of the VPN server. But VPN connections will ALWAYS be slower than direct connections, even with a competent VPN provider, because every packet must be encrypted and decrypted twice, once at each end of the tunnel, which adds considerable overhead.

The majority of people do not use proxy VPN services. Your particular case makes sense but unlikely the common cause.

I do believe the actual common cause is people who run a speed test over a 2.4 GHZ connection expecting higher speeds. 2.4 GHZ is limited below 100 Gbps, with more people now having newer 5 GHz or dual band modems on service above 100 Gbps this becomes an issue.

my home has two bands, one is 2.4 GHz and it can only reach about 90 Mbps, my other band is 5 GHz and it provides me 350 Mbps. Each of my two bands are named differently so I know which is the 2.4 and which is the 5.0 GHz. I didn’t notice my phone was connecting to the 2.4 as before I upgraded my home from 100 mbps to 300 mbps it didn’t really matter, but with my new higher speeds, to benefit I have to connect to the 5 GHz...

Some people name both of their router bands with the same name and password.... if so, that’s not good practice.

I hope this clears things up, I do not believe there is any issue with my or anyone else’s iPhone 12 pro max, just operator issues.

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.

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.

As others have suggested, are you sure that you do not have a VPN enabled?

Also, this sounds a lot like what would see if you are connected to your WiFi router on the 2.4 GHz band rather than the 5 GHz band. Some WiFi routers have separate SSIDs for the two frequencies, so if yours does, make sure you are connected to the right one.

My iPhone 12 pro max have this wifi issue. When I playing the Brawl Stars game, the game will become laggy on wifi connection. The game is running in normal on Celluar connection.

Reset the network router, re-add the Wi-Fi access point, toggle low data mode, turn off Bluetooth reset the network setting on iPhone are NOT gonna work.

Only turn OFF Wi-Fi Networking Services at location services -> system services is WORKING on my iPhone.

Ref: https://piunikaweb.com/2020/12/04/iphone-12-series-slow-inconsistent-wi-fi-speeds-reported-by-many-users/

I have the same issue, wifi is reduced speeds in the range of 5-20Mbps while other devices are all 150-200Mbps. I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max and either speed will be 100% fine, reduced to the 5-20Mbps range or simply not work at all, and need to shut off wifi(on phone) to run off carrier internet. Other devices in house are always upwards of +150Mbps throughout different hours of day with multiple devices running. I decided to try on different networks, tested on my work network and a friends network, always the same result of throttled slow speeds on only this phone. My house, work, friends house do not share the same service provider nor equipment, paired to 3 networks experience the same issue of inconstant speeds (often always in range of 5-20Mbps max speed). At my work, I've also experienced the wifi just stop working, same issue that happens often at home. I've tried 2.4 and 5.0, doesn't make a difference in throttle speeds or wifi stopping to work.

I called apple being phone was only a month old, ran through basics with support and they decided to replace the phone under warranty. Well, new phone arrived and right out the box it couldn't download my backup from icloud fast enough, backup was showing estimated download time of 7-8hours. At that time, I tested my network speed on 3 other devices (iPhone Xr, NVidea Shield, PC) all three completely different devices had 150-200Mbps.

I called apple support to inform issue of this new replacement device, apple didn't even try to troubleshoot some ideas/issues, they requested to change the replacement device...guess they are hoping 3rd-times-a-charm.

Nonetheless, it's obvious an issue is with the iPhone 12 Pro Max hardware OR firmware itself and not the settings with the 3 wifi networks tested. Yes, I could try playing with this new replacement for security settings, toggling private address, toggling bluetooth, disabling wifi assist, restarting router, forcing my internet company to replace router..but at the end of the day I paid for this new iPhone 12 Pro Max and I shouldn't need to jump through hoops to get it to work on a network my previous iPhone 7 Plus did and every other single device in my house works just fine. Can you imagine going to a friends house and asking them to correct the router security settings because the network is bad and the my iPhone 12 Pro Max wifi speeds are toggled; I know exactly what my friend is going to tell where-to-go...that would be rediculous!!..LOL

I will be sending my first iPhone back today and once apple unlocks the funds for the security deposit, I'll be sending back this replacement to start the process on the 3rd-times-a-charm replacement.

It was an easy fix for me. My WiFi router has the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands listed separately. My iPhone 12 was auto joining the slower 2.4. I went to settings and turned off the auto join for the 2.4 and on for the 5.

I was having the same issue. Which Speedtest app are you guys using? I’ve always used Speedtest.net app by ookla. My isp speeds its 200mbp and I was only getting 25mbps sitting next to the router. What I did was tried doing a Google search and tested the speed through the web browser and instantly got a little over 200mbps then I uninstalled and reinstalled Speedtest.net app and speeds are now normal. The bug might be with the Speedtest.net app

I did have an issue with mine, wifi would just randomly stop working but still be 100% connected to the wifi modem. Didn’t matter if I was on 2.4 or 5ghz. Most of the time come morning it was guaranteed not be working, I would need to cycle the wifi button on phone on/off multiple times. Sometimes I could get it working but often I would cave and just use my cell phone internet.

I tried every setting/procedure from Apple tech support possible with no luck on my 12 pro max.

In roughly 5 months, I went through 4 iPhone’s and 5 wifi modems before I managed to get the issue resolved. (Fingers crossed it stays resolved).

My issue sent me on a wild path because it would happen at home, work and at some random places. All these different places did not share the same ISP but did use the same brand of wifi modem.

When my home ISP technician came to my house to try and resolve the issue a 4th time, they decided to install a different brand wifi modem. Since that moment, the wifi issue I’ve had documented in this group has been 100% resolved.

At work I had experienced the same issue on a different ISP but the same concerned modem brand, I solved the issue by using a new router from bestbuy and not pairing to the ISP provided modem.

The modem brand that forced an issue was Hitron, my home wifi ISP changed to a Arris brand which solved the issue. For work I bought a router from Netgear abs resolved that issue instead of connecting with the Hitron modem.

I had the same issue. Bought 2 new iPhone 12 Pro Max. 1 of them have me 550 Mbps (normal) while standing in front of my wifi router, other was capped at 260 Mbps no matter what. I tried it on Speedtest to start with and then checked with Wi-Fi sweet spot to rule out router/modem and ISP. It was clear that This particular iphone had the issue. I fixed it with this:

settings > Wi-Fi > disable private address

right after that issue was fixed. I enabled it again and didn’t get the issue back… so it seems to be a big with private address feature which needs to be toggled as a workaround.

Not sure if this is mentioned in all the responses but I've been fighting speed issues and the ability to run multiple apps at the same time. My phone is on the AT&T cellular network when I'm not at home - which is important. After two weeks I found the problem - I have the AT&T VPN app on my phone. One I go into Settings and turn of their VPN then everything works like it did the day I got the phone.