iPhone 14 won’t connect to internet via WiFi

Mi iPhone14 suddenly decided to lose connection with wifi that was connected for a couple of years. When I finally managed to reconnect, no internet. I tried all suggestions and it turned out the easiest was the solution. I disconnected Avast VPN and internet was restored. Nothing else had worked. Why it suddenly the problem surfaced, I don't know and the internet provider claims nothing has changed. By the way, the iPhone has also its own VPN.

pemurray wrote:

So I can't use VPN with iPhone?

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 may 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.

Here's Apple's advice on VPN→

Check VPN (Virtual Private Network) and third-party software to help resolve network connectivity issues - Apple Support

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.

The other use for VPN is to “steal” content that is not available in your area. I leave this question to your personal ethics.

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

Don’t worry, it is not the fault of your new iPhone, it’s new software, nor it’s virtual Sim. Apple doesn’t want to hear that your previous iPhone had no problem, nor does it care that Kempner Trevor Root Cause Analysis would ask: When a system that has worked perfectly for an extended period in the past, suddenly begins to fail, ask “ What changed?” The answer is simple- the new iPhone. Apple doesn’t care, even though I have taken “same time frame”screenshots and photos showing proof that everything else operates perfectly, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro Max says “ No internet connection.” In my case, I have a work around. Turn off Wi-Fi on my iPhone, turn it immediately back on, everything works instantly - for a random amount of time. Annoying? Enough to want to throw the **** iPhone out the window, but I can’t afford to do that.

That isn’t what anyone said. But you may have to choose a VPN designed to work with iOS, and you have to set it up correctly. However, 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 may 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.

Here's Apple's advice on VPN→

Check VPN (Virtual Private Network) and third-party software to help resolve network connectivity issues - Apple Support

And 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.

The other use for VPN is to “pirate” content that is not available in your area. I leave this question to your personal ethics.

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, unlike many commercial VPNs→About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support

You are fortunate. For those of us who do not employ a VPN, there still is no solution other than to constantly turn the iPhone 14 Pro Max Wi-Fi setting off and on again. A young man at AT&T in Costco gave me the most practical advice so far—since I already pay for an unlimited data plan, simply turn off my iPhone 14 Pro Max Wi-Fi setting and run it purely on 5G where available.

None of these steps have helped the situation. We have gone through all of these steps as well as taking both of our phones to the apple store for diagnostics to be completed. I have update the firmware in both my extenders and my router to no avail. My son and I both have an IPhone 14, and both of our phones have the same issue. I can sit beside my wife who has an older IPhone, and she has no problem while I cannot connect to the wifi in our home. All of our laptops, both MAC and Windows, connect with no issue. It is only our IPhone 14 with the newest operating system. I did not have this issue until I updated my phone to IOS 17.1. With that being said and all the diagnostics and updates that I have done, this has to be an IOS issue.

Greg,

I’m not suggesting this as a fix or even suggest it is a proper solution, but I’m curious if you still experience the disconnects if you connect your iPhone to your eero guest network?

PJSBend wrote:

It isn’t the WiFi in my case, but access to the internet via Wi-Fi. My Wi-Fi connection shows a strong signal but I can’t reach the internet, even though it is working fine.

Then that’s a problem with your router, unless you are using VPN, which can also result in that issue.

anmadaru95 wrote:

Make sure you have access control enabled from your router.

That is not particularly good advice. Access control limits your Wi-Fi network to devices whose MAC address is in a whitelist in the router. While that seems like a good idea, it means that every time a new device tries to use your network (like the phone of a visiting friend or relative, a new Internet of Things device that you bought like a kitchen appliance, or that new iPhone you just bought) the connection will fail, and you will probably have forgotten about the fact that access control must be updated. So hours later you may remember and add the new device in the router settings (or after you post here that your Wi-Fi isn’t working for one device, but all other devices are working), and if you remember how to do that. Add to that the fact that it is pretty easy to hack a router to bypass access control, and all enabling access control will do is add headaches with no tangible benefit.

Updated to 16.4 on Monday and the issue is not fix. My Iphone 14 pro max switches off of Wi-Fi when I’m not using it and switches back when I use it since doing the latest update 16.3.1. Was hopping for a fix on 16.4 but NO. Its so frustrating because the only solution, temporary solution, is to soft restart the phone but it only works for a couple of days. I try all the possible solutions listed on Apple support and nothing fix it. I called customer support and, of course, there is nothing wrong with the phone. I have a friend with a 13 pro max, he lives in a different country and before I realize the issue wasn't fix with this new update, he already sent me a message let me know about it, since his time is ahead of us. So disappointed. Please Apple do something to fix this issue instead of adding new emojis to an update that we don't care about it.

The problem is most likely in iOS 16 firmware, after that the main problems started with WIFI and devices such as iPhone 13, se, 14.

I also have a post about it

Problem with Wi-Fi after iOS 16 update - Apple Community

My iPhone 14 Pro Max went back to the local store for a second round of testing and being completely reset. I also returned to Spectrum and was given a brand new modem and a free upgrade of speed to 1gb from my previous 300mps. Thus, I reset the iPhone 14 Pro Max; installed a new modem; upgraded the Wi-Fi speed and reset the Eero mesh Wi-Fi. I looked into replacing the Eero mesh, but numerous sites rate the Eero mesh network which I installed (not quite a year ago) as one of the best for iPhones, especially the 14 Pro Max.

The bottom line is that, despite all of my time and efforts, I still have problems acquiring and re-acquiring internet connection- both at home and at work. It does seem a bit improved- now I only have to turn off and turn-on the Wi-Fi setting in the iPhone two or three times per evening rather than with every attempt to follow a link. If I had to bet, I would still put my money on the virtual SIM card as the change which is the root cause of the problem.

There are over 100 million iPhone 14’s in use. Pretty much all of them work with Wi-Fi. Have you tried the phone with several Wi-Fi networks, and had the same problem with all of them? If so contact Apple support using the Support link at the top or bottom of this page. If it is only one network the problem is the network. There is no other possible logical conclusion.

When you travel you probably use captive networks (hotels, cafes, Starbucks, etc), which will disconnect when there is no usage for a period of time with no activity. As it doesn’t happen with your home network that would indicate that the problem is with the networks you connect to traveling. Note that your phone will disconnect from any network 30 seconds after it goes to sleep, unless it is plugged in. It does this to save energy, because Wi-Fi uses energy as long as it is connected, whether it is transferring data or not. Most captive networks will consider each time the phone wakes up as a new connection, and require logging in again.