Wifi „no internet connection“ issues (iOS16)

Again, the "Internet went down" part of this sounds suspiciously like the failure of a DHCP renewal.

What is the router? Does it have security features of any kind?

I ask as some routers will explicitly refuse to pass traffic for devices it didn't assign an IP address to, so even though your device may have retained its 192.168.x.x address, something failed in the renewal process and the router won't pass traffic for it any more.

Does your celluar data work when you have these wifi issues??? When this happens to me I try turning off wifi and it vonnects to the 5g and I still have no internet connection with any of my apps. It’s odd as my other ipad and iphones not running ios 16 doesnt have this issue. I only started noticing this after 16.0.1. The only way I was able to resolve it for a few weeks is just restarting my phone.

I am having this same issue after I upgraded to iOS 16. My iPhone 11 Pro Max is doing this exact same thing, but my iPhone 8+ and iPads are not. They are all on iOS 16. The iPads dont leave the wifi range and Im afraid to take them anywhere as they may start acting up. But I have been troubleshooting with Applecare and they replaced my iPhone 11 with a new one and then it did the same thing. I just received a second new one and it is doing the same thing too. I am still waiting to see what Applecare is going to do as we have trouble shooted the heck out of these phones. I have also called my wifi and internet provider and they have performed a bunch of tests and dont seem to find any issues. (It was all working fine until iOS 16) Anyway, I am glad I found this discussion, as at least I know it is not just me with this issue, and it has given me great things to look for and test on my own to try and get this fixed. I wish I could go back in time when the phone actually did what it was supposed to do. Thanks for all this info!

Are you using VPN on the phones? If you are delete the VPN app and profile, then reinstall it. Or better yet, don’t reinstall it as VPN provides little or no security and can even compromise your security, as not all VPN providers (even large ones) are trustworthy.

Im having the same issue and I did try to connect to several different wifi networks, and it did the same thing (connects to wifi, no internet connection) on a few networks and on one network it worked for a little bit then the no internet connection message popped up. Its very frustrating.

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.

Hi Lawrence,

Updated to 16 last night, and found today that I had the issue that is the subject of this conversation. My iPad Air was connected to my router, but had no WiFi connection. My wife did the same with her iPad Air, and everything was fine. Everything else we own that uses our router was also okay, so I figured it was the device not the router. I tried numerous fixes that I found online with no change. I'm not particularly tech savvy, but I checked out the IP address as you recommended and found it began with 169.254, which you said is a router issue. So, in spite of the fact that everything else was working, I decided to reset the router and voila! My iPad IP address now starts with 192.168 and is working as it should. (Of course, based on what others have written, I guess I can't be certain how long this fix will last.)

Thanks for your input, Lawrence.

Laurence David

Also, check your router settings for anything labeled “limit address tracking", and disable it.

My particular router is an Asus, running openWRT (that I badly need to firmware update lol) - I'm headed home to try these fixes and if anything sticks I'll let you know.

Another EXTREMELY temporary solution, and not at all ideal in my opinion, is to activate your “guest" network, and connect to it… This also has worked for a few people lol. I would actually suggest setting it up as unprotected initially, and then if it happens to seemingly fix the issue, put a password on it and see if that affects anything.

Good luck! And remember: you are not crazy. It is NOT "your router", even if making adjustments on said router seemingly fixes the issue! Your phone worked fine BEFORE it was updated, and then it did NOT. That's the ONLY relevant matter here. all we are trying to do with the router, is mitigate whatever the issue is, from the other side. So while you MIGHT fix the issue through your router's settings, it is STILL IOS 16.1+ that caused the problem in the first place.

It is your router.

Something about your router doesn't like the way iOS 16 is sending traffic and it is failing.

If you have a good router, nothing iOS 16 does should bother it, and that's indeed the case for many routers.

Telling people to shut off "limit address tracking" - despite the security implications thereof - is not a valid solution, though arguably it may help on some routers that are in need of firmware updates.

As you said “something about ios 16 sending traffic”. Even turning wifi and going to celluar doesnt work. You would expect data to start working if you were to jump off the wifi and go back to celluar data.

Totally dismissing a router issue is not the greatest of suggestions. It’s all about each individual devices settings.(router/modem/WiFi/Apple device/etc.) one simple change in security settings can upset the whole system. Troubleshooting an issue like this complex and takes time and patience especially if someone isn’t tech savvy. (As a nurse for 20 years I’ve always said using a bandaid and quickly wiping up the trail is ok in some cases but tracing the origin of the blood and treating the wound will always remain the better choice.)

Remember this: 2.4gHz channels may be considered “slower” but it can handle more interference than 5gHz channels. The security settings within each of these channels affect devices differently especially in regards to age of device.

I literally just updated my iPhone to iOS 16.1.1 after that my entire phone settings has changed. I had to re-enter wifi password and fix my entire settings. Is this normal my fellow humans ? My entire settings has changed up after the update. I’m okay with that but what am I supposed to do now especially how the update changes everything ?!???!!

Sorry for the delay but I'm still working through a few things that are still sketchy.

Ultimately, I have solved a good deal of my issues (it appears atm) through... Sigh... My router. Need some salt if anyone has any.

Settings I came across that I knew I had different for various reasons:

1) due to a crap alarm panel, my 2.4 and 5ghz bands were being run on different SSIDs. I recombined them since I no longer use that service.

2) prior troubleshooting for smart home devices had my channel settings different from recommended. 2.4ghz moved to 20 and all channels for 5ghz

3) upgraded firmware

4) had Charter check signal integrity from modem

I didn't do this in stages - all at once.. since these changes, both iPhone 12s have improved greatly with stability. If I had to hazard a guess, perhaps a problem jumping SSIDs or something.

In any event, what worked for me prob won't work for you since this problem seems widespread and varied, popping up for some people only after certain updates sometime after 15.3-ish based on a few days of reading.

But it is always wise to eliminate the other hardware in between you and the internet first. don't let anyone tell you that your latest update had nothing to do with it, but if there's anything I'm sure of after all this reading, it's that the only person that's going to solve this problem will be you - don't even plan on any update providing assistance and take things into your own hands.

Good luck!

I also have the same issue others in my household do not. Have reset router, reset network settings, restored the device and still no wifi. Will repeat all processes again but I am not holding much hope.

So my iphone 13 pro max was working perfectly fine today - then I updated it to iOS 16.1.2 and now my phone won't connect to the wifi.

As I have Alexa all over my home and I'm typing this on my laptop that is connected to my network -- and it was working just fine literally right before the update WTH is going on? I've read these comments trying to blame routers.. and its not the router.

This is a bug in the update. And a fairly serious one.