iPhone WiFi disconnects when locked

Can you not simply keep your phone in “Airplane Mode” ?

I frequently work in a region w/ ONLY WiFi calling (no wireless carriers) …

… and my phone stays in Airplane Mode for months on-end w/ no interruption in WiFi calling.

Obviously, YMMV.

You might want to talk to your cellular carrier about a device called a micro cell. It is for people in your situation who don't have a good cell signal at their house. It generates a cellular signal using The carriers signal from a WiFi source. I had to use one at my old house and they work very well.

Who is your carrier?

You're welcome.

I did some Googling and it looks like Vodaphone does offer Micro Cell devices. Give them a call and see what they can do for you.

Here's a Wikipedia page explaining micro cell or Femtocell as it is also called. They mention Vodaphone as one of the cellular companies offering these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtocell

The wifi on my iPhone disconnects when it locks.

So too does the Wi-Fi disconnect on every other iPhone in existence when it "locks".

You'll need to convince Apple to change things by providing feedback to them.

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

larry666 wrote:

iPhone X

iOS 16.7.15

The wifi on my iPhone disconnects when it locks.

There are all sorts of suggestions across the web as to how to stop this happening … I haven't found any that work reliably and most just don't work.

In this forum, I've read that this behaviour is intentional, to save battery life, although if the phone is plugged into a charger, it stays connected.

But the same doesn't seem to happen with the mobile connection disconnecting when the phone locks to save battery life? Why not?

Some users, including myself, require reliable wifi calling at home having no mobile signal. I keep missing calls as a consequence …

So, what is the situation? Is there any reliable way to keep my locked iPhone connected to the wifi to ensure I don't miss calls apart from keeping it plugged into a charge?

The situation is the phone is doing exactly what it was designed to do. When the phone is not plugged in to charge, Wifi disconnects when the phone is locked and it reconnects when the phone is unlocked. Wifi should not stop calls from coming in if the phone is locked. That's what you pay your carrier for. Cellular does NOT disconnect when a phone is locked. There's nothing to fix as there's nothing wrong.

If your device is connected to a public, hotel, institutional, or other managed Wi-Fi network, the network may be configured to automatically disconnect inactive devices after a period of non-use. This is a common practice to conserve network resources, improve security, and ensure fair access for all users.

As a result, a device that remains idle for some time may lose its network connection and need to reconnect when it becomes active again.

Under normal circumstances, you should not experience the same behavior on a properly configured home Wi-Fi network. Home routers are typically designed to maintain device connections continuously, even during extended periods of inactivity, unless specific power-saving, security, or connection-management settings have been enabled.

Use captive Wi-Fi networks on your iPhone or iPad

"iPhone WiFi disconnects when locked Except it seems such devices are now illegal here in the UK because they can interfere with other nearby mobile phones although used ones available of, for example, eBay.[...]"

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Performing (Potential) Illegal Tactics:

If "Illegal", then I'd let this be, and take this up with your federal/local governance. There may be a legal way around this --one not mentioned on the Internet.

larry666 wrote:

lobsterghost1 wrote:

larry666 wrote:

iPhone X

iOS 16.7.15

The wifi on my iPhone disconnects when it locks.

There are all sorts of suggestions across the web as to how to stop this happening … I haven't found any that work reliably and most just don't work.

In this forum, I've read that this behaviour is intentional, to save battery life, although if the phone is plugged into a charger, it stays connected.

But the same doesn't seem to happen with the mobile connection disconnecting when the phone locks to save battery life? Why not?

Some users, including myself, require reliable wifi calling at home having no mobile signal. I keep missing calls as a consequence …

So, what is the situation? Is there any reliable way to keep my locked iPhone connected to the wifi to ensure I don't miss calls apart from keeping it plugged into a charge?

The situation is the phone is doing exactly what it was designed to do. When the phone is not plugged in to charge, Wifi disconnects when the phone is locked and it reconnects when the phone is unlocked. Wifi should not stop calls from coming in if the phone is locked. That's what you pay your carrier for. Cellular does NOT disconnect when a phone is locked. There's nothing to fix as there's nothing wrong.

You didn't read my question in full, did you :-)

I have no mobile signal at home and rely on wifi calling for phone calls.

You're right and I missed that part. Kurtosis12 offered a great option for you, however.

They are not illegal in the UK, scroll down about a third of the way in this article and they talk about the Vodaphone Sure Signal device -

https://www.alphr.com/technology/5298/mobile-signal-boosters-whats-legal/

Chattanoogan wrote:

Can you not simply keep your phone in “Airplane Mode” ?

I frequently work in a region w/ ONLY WiFi calling (no wireless carriers) …

… and my phone stays in Airplane Mode for months on-end w/ no interruption in WiFi calling.

Obviously, YMMV.

But I think their issue is when the phone is locked and not plugged in to charge, Wifi disconnects as it's supposed to do.

Again, mine stays locked and active on WiFi — even when “unplugged” from a power adaptor — 24/7.

As does everyone else's in the region; with WiFi calling service on all the major carriers.

Maybe the WiFi network operator is employing a special / one-off technique to keep everyone’s WiFi active ???

It’s certainly NOT anything subscribers need to “add / configure” on their phones.