How to Resolve iPhone 16 Pro WiFi Connection Problems?

This was my issue. Had a new app from previous phone that created a local VPN. However, since this was WIFI only, it immediately killed the WIFI and then had no way of working. "VPN Status" was not connected. However, once I switched VPN apps, it immediately connected to WIFI.

Wanted to share my experience regarding the issue I had with the wifi connectivity issues when I purchased a new iPhone 16 and I hope it helps anyone still frustrated with connecting to wifi (I was more then frustrated for almost a month - my home is pretty much an Apple Eco System and this was the first time I had issues with an Apple iPhone). I went from an iPhone 13 (never had an issue with connecting to wifi) to an iPhone 16 which constantly was dropping wifi, would not open web pages, would should low bars, would display no internet connection when there was. I spent time on the phone (hours and hours) with my internet service provider (who recommended a new phone or would try to upgrade my service to a faster one and I knew that was not the issue since most days the speed was well over 900GBS - upload and download), Apple did their diagnostic and could not find anything wrong with the phone. I do not use a VPN so I knew that was the not issue. I would turn off the iPhone, reset the phone, reset the network etc and nothing worked. Three days I found a Reddit forum and one of the users reported that they turned off Wi-Fi 6E Mode and it solved the problem (the iPhone 13 does not offer this) so I looked up issues with Wi-Fi 6E Mode and although it can offer faster internet deliveries with less signal interference, it was also reported it does have a shorter wavelength and it is not as good at penetrating walls and other obstructions. So I turned off the mode in iPhone 16 and since I have done that I have had ZERO issues connecting to wifi.

Same issue with no internet connection after working fine for a couple of months. Tried multiple times restarting phone resetting network etc., no help.

Deleted the vpn and worked immediately. Re-installed vpn, worked fine, turned vpn on and lost internet immediately. Turned it off, worked fine again. Deleted vpn for good, it won’t work with the update, try again after the next update

I completely understand your frustration—WiFi issues can be super annoying, especially on a new phone. Here are some tips that may help you:

1.Forget and reconnect to WiFi in Settings > Wi-Fi.

2. Update iOS in Settings > General > Software Update.

3. Log into your Unifi router and set security to WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode.

4. Turn off Private Wi-Fi Address in your WiFi settings.

5.Try switching between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

6.Reset All Settings in Settings > General > Reset (no data loss).

If none of this works, I’d contact Apple Support or use a third-party tool—it might be a hardware issue. Let me know!

Just want to back up the VPN solution - worked for me too!

I work with technology and do a decent amount of IT work so I usually feel confident in my abilities to sniff out what the problem is, but this one eluded me completely. Strangely, it had not installed the VPN app yet through restore so it didn't even occur to me that it might be somehow secretly be sitting in settings since... you know... it hadn't been installed yet but lo and behold - VPN settings had my app AND had the "turn on on demand" toggled. Untoggled and removed VPN from Settings and voila.

Same issue. Resolved after I deleted the VPN app that had likely been loaded during setup because of a shared appstore account. All solved after I found the solution right here.

had same trouble connecting to complete restore on new phone. Deleted ExpressVPN app download and it immediately connected to wifi and finished restore from iCloud on 16promax

Fixed it, kinda. It’s not a VPN app (3rd party) issue. I dont have one of them. It’s an iphone Wi-Fi setting. This will disable any private relay (anonymizing of your IP address) you may have asked iOS to do as a privacy measure. So fair warning, Apple is not protecting you while this is turned off, but the alternative is no Wi-Fi. Thanks Cupertino!

Go to settings/Wi-Fi/choose your network you cant connect to and hit the info icon. Then go to private Wi-Fi address and turn off.

I am now able to connect to my Wi-Fibat home as did before just know that I am publicly exposing my IP address.

I had the same issues. I booked an appointment with apple technician. We tried connecting to their wifi inside the store and it worked. I tried connecting on my sister’s home wifi and it worked too. It seems that the problem is our internet connection. I had to call my ISP and it is a know issue. They will replace my modem to a newer model that will be compatible with iphone 16 as it runs on wifi 6-7. So check with your internet service provider and check the compatibility of your modem or internet plan

I register all my devices on the router using the MAC address of each device (most secure set up) the new IOS does rotating MAC addressing (for security) which causes problems with router config - if it’s a home (trusted) network set a static MAC address and register it against the router - VPN work by registering a device if you have a rotating MAC address then this will tell the VPN it is not a registered device because the registered address is rotating - if your VPN is using device IP address to register - the new IOS does the same and rotates IP addresses to prevent tracking - My just opened 16PMax came up with network channel issue - then said cannot get on the network - once I rebooted the router and did all the Apple stuff to fix to no avail - I set the phone up manually using the trusted MAC address (static) and registered it against the router all worked fine … it is a poorly designed feature of the IOS that was introduced a while ago - supposed to help with security but is a pain unless u know how to circumvent - hope that helps (p.s. - the apple pages doesn’t give a solution it just blames external factors)

rawraw33

User level:

Level 1

38 points

Dec 31, 2024 3:33 AM in response to healthteam

I completely understand your frustration—WiFi issues can be super annoying, especially on a new phone. Here are some tips that may help you:

1.Forget and reconnect to WiFi in Settings > Wi-Fi.

2. Update iOS in Settings > General > Software Update.

3. Log into your Unifi router and set security to WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode.

4. Turn off Private Wi-Fi Address in your WiFi settings.

5.Try switching between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

6.Reset All Settings in Settings > General > Reset (no data loss).

If none of this works, I’d contact Apple Support or use a third-party tool—it might be a hardware issue. Let me know!

healthteam wrote:

Finally deleted all VPNs configurations and it works.

Strange because they actually weren’t toggled on. So I don’t know why there was an issue.

Oh well, guess it’s fine for home WiFi… but need a software update from Apple because this is pathetic.

iPhone does NOT need a VPN and they are almost ALWAYS the cause of connection issues as many here have seen. They shouldn't just be turned off, the VPN Profiles should be removed from the phone completely.

Hey All,

I read all replies here and I think I have a solution that is much easier then removing and re-adding VPN configs. I have tried this on 2 separate iPhone 16 Pros with identical issues on the same network (Unifi System with WiFi 7 AP's). If you go in to WiFi settings and instead of selecting your WiFi name and entering your password, you should click "other" then type in your WiFi name and password (as if its a hidden network). While this is an odd solution so is the VPN fix, but this is much easier.

Good Luck all....

There are other good ideas like "turn off the 'private wifi address'".

It's also a possibility that you have VPN toggled in your settings even though you don't have or have deleted all old instantiations of a VPN app. I had to both delete the app and turn off VPN in settings. The app I previously used didn't change those settings back with unistall or deletion which is why I had to effectively delete it in two places. If you reset the phone from an old backup, it will probably turn your VPN back on (since it may have been that way for a long time [config'd for vpn] on your old phone and you just didn't know it -- that's my story)