Wifi „no internet connection“ issues (iOS16)

My fiancé just started having this issue with her 12pro. It's her wifi connects, but does have internet connection. Hers doesn't work with any wifi. I tried a factory reset, and the issue stopped. But once I restored her phone from the backup the problem came back. Did you find a resolution yet at all?

These issues are almost all due to router firmware.

This can be seen by the fact that your phone will seamlessly connect to Wi-Fi and most every hotspot available.

I know that doesn't help when it won't connect to the one or ones you need it to most, but it helps show it's far from a universal issue.

If it's a big enough issue in your home, you could try substituting a different Wi-Fi router; that's not really a "solution" but may work as a workaround for you.

Check your router manufacturer to see whether they have a firmware update available for their device.

When this happens, it's almost always due to your phone not receiving a proper IP address via DHCP from your server, or not receiving appropriate gateway settings.

In either case, it's due to a failed communication between your device and your DHCP server.

Most times, that's your Wi-Fi router, but sometimes it's a different device on your network that's responsible for providing DHCP service.

Depending upon how tech savvy you are, you may want to check your DHCP server's logs to see if it's complaining about anything.

Sorry, the issue IS router related if it only happens with one router. Are you using a VPN connection? Try after deleting the VPN profile (just turning off VPN is not sufficient). Does your router have MAC filtering enabled? How many devices are connected to the router? Is the router’s DHCP address allocation block large enough for all of your devices? There are other possibilities involving router incompatibility, but these are a start.

This seemed to have fixed the problem temporarily for me. Switching to my 2.4 ghz forced the phone to somehow reset and work. I could then go back to 5 ghz ssid and all is good again even the 5g cellular. I wish I could readily reproduce this. On an up note since I updated to ios 16.1 yesterday I havent noticed this issue reoccurring yet.

Things that you may have missed in your troubleshooting:

• If you have a VPN app or profile on your iPhone delete them
• In router settings on the router’s control page, go to MAC filtering (AKA Access Control) and turn it off if it is on
• Does your phone work on other Wi-Fi networks, just not on your home network? If it does work on other networks, the only logical conclusion is that it must be a problem with your router
• Does your Bluetooth work? If it doesn’t you have a hardware problem.

If it were the update, everyone would be having the issue, and they're not; there are millions of users of the same phone as you running the same version of iOS as you not having any difficulties with WiFi.

Which Wi-Fi hot spots have you tried? For example, if they happen to be from the same vendor, it's likely an issue with that vendor's equipment.

However, if you feel there is an issue with the update or your device, make an appointment to have your phone examined.

Every Apple Store has WiFi and if you can show them your phone won't remain connected to the in-store network, that will help them diagnose the issue.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Delete the VPN profile and it will fix the problem.

VPN frequently creates more problems than it solves. But one important fact is that when you install VPN it configures itself to the specific hardware, iOS version and network that the phone uses. If any of those change it can break the VPN. So any time you change any of these you need to delete the VPN app and profile, restart your phone then add them back (if you still want to use VPN) so it can configure itself to the new environment.

Something to think about→Don't use VPN - GITHUB

There are two legitimate purposes for using VPN:

• To allow access to a private network such as a school or business when you are not on site. 
• To allow access outside of a country with a repressive government that has restricted Internet access. (This has suddenly become more important)

Any other use is risky, and can lead to problems like the one discussed in this thread. VPN disguises your location by making you appear to be somewhere else in the world. But you usually can’t control that “somewhere else”, and if it is in a location that an app isn’t approved for the app won’t work. Plus the fact that the provider of the VPN knows everything about you and your location, as well as what sites you access through the VPN. So you are totally dependent on the VPN provider’s honesty. As a start, if the VPN is free, DON’T USE IT. The provider has to make money somehow, and if you aren’t paying them then they are selling your private data to make money. But even those that charge can’t necessarily be trusted. For example, a few years ago Avast was caught selling user browsing data. They claim they have stopped doing so. 

You don’t really need VPN when using public Wi-Fi, because all communications between your device and the servers it accesses are end-to-end encrypted.

If you want VPN for privacy about the sites you visit, that’s not a good choice as discussed; instead you should download and use the TOR browser.

With iOS 15.2 and later for iOS/iPadOS and MacOS Monterey 12.2 and later Apple now has iCloud+ Private Relay, which is not VPN, but provides a safer browsing environment than VPN, and it doesn't spy on you→About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support

The problem here is connecting to the Internet is a multi-part protocol exchange despite the fact it normally seems seamless:

• Your device must connect to the Wi-Fi network. This involves connecting to the network with the proper SSID, logging in using the proper credentials for the encryption mechanism in use, if applicable (e.g. WPA2 or WPA3)

• Once on the WiFi network, your device must request an IP address, typically via DHCP. This involves broadcasting a DHCPDISCOVER message and waiting for a DHCPOFFER of an IP address from a local DHCP server to provide an IP address suitable for use on the local network. If the address is acceptable, the client sends a DHCPREQUEST packet to the DHCP server, which then responds with a DHCPACK that typically includes information requested in the DHCPREQUEST like the IP address of the appropriate DNS server(s), the default gateway for the network, and so on.

• Once appropriately configured via DHCP, packets bound for an external network are routed to the default gateway, a machine that knows how to get traffic from your local network to the Internet at large.

Why am I explaining all this?

Because the "No Internet Connection" message can mean a variety of things, including:

• A routable IP address was not provided via DHCP (usually meaning you have a self-assigned IP address of the form 169.254.x.x) - the Network Settings panel is good about pointing out when this is the issue.
• The gateway is not responding to traffic
• The gateway cannot reach the Internet for some reason

If you use a VPN, it introduces another level of complexity as the VPN inserts itself between the local gateway and the Internet at large, if you will (this is a gross simplification.)

If you are experiencing this issue, feel free to report back as to:

• Do you have a self-assigned IP address in System Settings -> Network -> Wi-Fi (169.254.x.x)?

• Is a router listed after the IP address? Something like:

• If you go to About This Mac -> More Info… -> System Report…, click on "Network" and then in the "Active Services" window, click on "Wi-Fi." You should see something like this as you scroll down:

 DHCP Server Responses:

  Domain Name Servers: 192.168.0.1

  Lease Duration (seconds): 0

  DHCP Message Type: 0x05

  Routers: 192.168.0.1

  Server Identifier: 192.168.0.1

  Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

What does it say for your system?

In this case, it's telling you it received information about your network via a DHCPACK message (see the DHCP message type of 0x5:

1: DHCP Discover message (DHCPDISCOVER)

2: DHCP Offer message (DHCPOFFER)

3: DHCP Request message (DHCPREQUEST)

4: DHCP Decline message (DHCPDECLINE)

5: DHCP Acknowledgment message (DHCPACK)

6: DHCP Negative Acknowledgment message (DHCPNAK)

7: DHCP Release message (DHCPRELEASE)

8: DHCP Informational message (DHCPINFORM)

I can't promise any of those details will show an obvious issue, but they are first debugging steps.

Finally, most of the time it is indeed due to cached network information from when a VPN client was first installed; some clients improperly save the address of the local DHCP server, and if that ever changes, DHCP will fail and you will never get an IP address, resulting in the "No Internet Connection" message (and probably a self-assigned IP address as noted above.)

Well, the most common cause of that symptom is having a VPN app and profile installed. Do you? If so, delete the app and VPN profile.

I am facing exactly similar issue with my iphone 13 pro, after updating to iOS 16.

Let me be clear here, all these suggestions below asking to check router logs or reset router won’t work, as the issue doesnt lie with router.

This issue is not router related as other devices connected to same wifi are working fine. But only iphone that had iOS 16 has issues. Internet connection suddenly drops and under wifi name “No internet connection” appears, while internet on other devices at same time is working fine.

Only after i restart my iphone, the internet issues gets resolved. It happens 2-4 times a day and is really annoying.

Resetting network settings also didnt helped.

I'm not sure how much access you have to router/modem/ISP account so these suggestions may not be applicable in all above platforms to check.

1. Do all devices have same settings? IE: Try turning off automatic joining, automatic login, and any other settings that require constant scanning of nearby devices or connections. This is also an afterthought area regarding security of your devices. Maybe there is a connection or “light bulb moment” that can further help in which route to go next?
2. How many devices are currently connected to your WiFi? Some security settings limit the number of devices. Clearing all unnecessary devices will make a tremendous difference in connection/speed/performance.
3. Check each radio frequency on your home modem. Make sure the security settings are where they need to be. 5GhZ and 2.4 GhZ channels need different settings. Some of those settings will affect old devices and/or new devices differently.

Hopefully one of these will be helpful in some way! Good luck!

Have you tried restarting your router?

What do you see if you use a different hot spot, say in a public place or perhaps using your wife's phone as a hot spot?