Poor FaceTime connection only on my own iOS devices (not on my iMac or iOS devices of other people in the house)

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Level 1

23 points

Poor FaceTime connection only on my own iOS devices (not on my iMac or iOS devices of other people in the house)

I call my mother on a daily basis using FaceTime.

Since iOS 14, I am experiencing an issue on both my iPhone Xs and iPad Pro 2nd generation where the app will display a poor connection warning and drop video basically throughout the entire call. The issue seems to be related to my own iOS devices. When I make the call to the same destination from the same physical location from my 2011 iMac or from my partners iPad Pro (1st generation), there are no issues. All devices are connected to the same wifi network (TP-Link Deco system)

A speedtest on all my devices says an average 60Mbps download and 17,5Mbps upload speed.

A speedtest on my mothers iOS device (iPad Pro 1st generation) says 25Mbps download and 15Mbps upload speed.

My iPhone is on iOS 14.4 and I had the issue throughout all iOS 14 versions.

My iPad is on iPadOS 14.4 and I had the issue throughout all iOS 14 versions.

I have tried the following:

removed the FaceTime app from my iOS devices and re-installed it
restarting the devices
moving throughout the house (I have 3 TP-Link Deco stations) does not seem to affect anything

iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi

Posted on Mar 12, 2021 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 12, 2021 8:28 AM in response to Jan_BE

Try the following:

Restart your Wi-Fi router. If this is not fixing the issue, got to #2
On both devices, remove your Wi-Fi network ("Forget This Network" and re-establish it. If this is not fixing the issue, got to #3
On both devices, reset the network settings ("Reset Network Settings")

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 14, 2021 10:37 AM in response to Jan_BE

You have tried everything on your end so the issue is not on your side.

This discussion (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251995421) points to an interesting hypothesis: IOS 14 does not play well with older versions of IOS when it comes the FaceTime. Would your mother use an older version of iOS? Could you do a field test with your own devices - which are both on iOS 14 -? I'm thinking you stay home with the iPhone and your partner goes to a coffee shop or library providing Wi-Fi with the iPad and see if you have FaceTime connection issues. If not, and if your mother is not using iOS 14, this would reinforce the hypothesis and, perhaps, the solution would be for your mother to upgrade.

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Answer 3

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 15, 2021 10:11 AM in response to 6x6

Just went over to the neighbours, he has another internet provider, connected to his wifi router, called my mother, poor connection issue. Switched to cellular, flawless FaceTime call. So it's not my wifi router but it's a wifi issue on my devices only (either hardware or software or linked to my iCloud account). So the suggestion of resetting a device and instead of restoring a backup, setting it up as a new device is something I could try.

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Answer 4

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 15, 2021 9:55 AM in response to Jan_BE

Removing the TP-Link from the equation was a good idea but it wouldn't explain why the other devices work fine with it. If you want to completely remove your home Wi-Fi from the equation, go to a coffee shop, library or mall (and do a speed test from that location to make sure they have enough bandwidth) and see if you can FaceTime your mother without issues.

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Answer 5

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 15, 2021 10:49 AM in response to Jan_BE

That's good; it's another thing that we can cross from our list of culprits.

I'm grasping at straws here but there is a new Wi-Fi setting in iOS 14: Private Address (Use private Wi-Fi addresses in iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 - Apple Support.) It seems to be turned on by default. You could try to turn it off to see if it makes any difference. I personally doubt it because your parter's device should also have this setting turned on by default.

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Answer 6

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 16, 2021 2:00 AM in response to Jan_BE

Spoke with Apple Senior support and they advised me to do the following tests:

go over to my mother and try some FaceTime calls over there while connected to her wifi-station, see what happens
try and call some other people to make sure this is really only related to 1 destination

They are currently thinking its probably more related to the destination but there is no explanation as to why calling via cellular data works and via wifi has a poor connection issue. Some things do not add up.

I'll provide feedback when I have more news ..

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Answer 7

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 15, 2021 8:46 AM in response to Jan_BE

How about not restoring from a backup but only restoring iOS/iPadOS? See the section "If your device turns on but gets stuck during start up" in the following article: If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

This is a long shot but worth a try. If you are still having issues, I would recommend contacting Apple Support: Get Support.

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Answer 8

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 15, 2021 9:03 AM in response to Jan_BE

That's what I can't wrap my head around; it seems to be a hardware + OS combination issue but it does not make sense. You have a strong Wi-Fi connection with plenty of bandwidth, yet FaceTime is struggling.

Another long shot would be to turn Airplane Mode on, restart the device and turn Airplane Mode off again. Some users have been able to resolve Wi-Fi issues this way but I doubt it will solve your issue. Yet, it's worth a try but, if it works, I suspect that the issue will rise its ugly head again and, in any case, it would be an annoying way to use FaceTime if you have to do it every time.

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Answer 9

6x6

Level 7

20,391 points

Mar 15, 2021 10:10 AM in response to Jan_BE

I never asked but you are not using a VPN, are you? Or using some kind of anti-virus or "optimization" apps?

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Answer 10

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 15, 2021 12:16 AM in response to 6x6

@6x6 but that does not explain why I don't have the issue when I make the call from my partner's iOS devices, which are also on 14.4. We have multiple iOS 14.4 devices and only mine seem to be affected. The only thing I could try is reset one device entirely and see if that resolves the issue for that particular device.

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Answer 11

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 15, 2021 12:03 PM in response to Jan_BE

I've reset my device and configured it as a new device, without restoring an iCloud backup or linking to my iCloud account.

When making FaceTime calls over wifi, I have the poor connection issue.

When switching to cellular, calls are flawless.

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Answer 12

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 15, 2021 8:59 AM in response to Jan_BE

When I make the FaceTime call using cellular, I don't have the issue. So it must be related to wifi. But why is it restricted to my iOS devices and not occurring on my partners iOS devices or my iMac?

I'm on a TP-Link deco system, I have checked, there are no bandwidth restriction setup towards my devices. I'm going to try and connect to another wifi station and see if that changes anything.

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Answer 13

Jan_BE Author

Level 1

23 points

Mar 15, 2021 9:44 AM in response to 6x6

So I tried 6x6's suggestion but that did not change anything.

My wifi setup is as follow:

I have the wifi router from the internet provider, which is a very simple one
I have added a TP-Link Deco wireless mesh (over a year ago) and set this to Access Point mode to extend wifi range

So I thought skipping the deco and connect to the wifi station of the internet provider directly, same poor connection issue. It's a very simple router. There is not much to set and there are no throttling settings on a device level.

I could try asking the neighbours wifi password to see if it's restricted to the wifi station of the internet provider but I already contact the provider as well, they did some remote tests and see no connection or speed issues on my connection.

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