iPhone 16 Pro Max has slow Wi-Fi with HPE Instant On and UniFi.

It may be possible that the router has barred or blocked your Mac's MAC address (Media Access Control) on your router. The MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to each network interface card (NIC) in a device. By blocking a specific MAC address on the router, you can prevent that device from connecting to your Wi-Fi network.

The process of blocking/unblocking a MAC address varies depending on the router's manufacturer and model. Here are general steps to block a MAC address on most routers:

1. Open a web browser on a device connected to the router's network and enter the router's IP address in the address bar. You can usually find the router's IP address on the bottom of the router or in the router's manual.
2. Enter the router's username and password when prompted. If you haven't changed them, the default credentials are often found on the router or in the router's manual.
3. The location of these settings may vary depending on the router's interface. Look for a section related to "MAC filtering," "Access Control," "Wireless Security," or similar.
4. In the MAC filtering or access control settings, there should be an option to add a MAC address to the blocked list or delete a Mac Address from the blocked list. Enter the MAC address of the device you want to block/unblock and save the changes.
5. Apply the changes and restart the router: Once you have removed/added the MAC address to the blocked list, save the settings and apply the changes. Some routers may require a restart for the changes to take effect.

After blocking the MAC address on the router, the device with the blocked MAC address will no longer be able to connect to the Wi-Fi network. Keep in mind that MAC address blocking is not foolproof, as MAC addresses can be spoofed or changed on some devices. For enhanced security, it's recommended to use additional authentication methods such as strong Wi-Fi passwords and encryption protocols.

Possible Fixes:

1. Disable Private Wi-Fi Address: for both iOS and macOS
   1. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap on your work network, and turn off Private Wi-Fi Address.
   2. The router may have whitelisted a specific MAC address; make sure the phone is using the correct one.
2. Turn Off Wi-Fi Assist: for iOS devices
   1. Go to Settings > Cellular > Wi-Fi Assist and toggle it off.
   2. Sometimes, this setting can interfere with connecting to hidden networks.

See the pic below for a Mac

Possible Fixes:

1. Disable Private Wi-Fi Address:
   1. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap on your work network, and turn off Private Wi-Fi Address.
   2. Since you’ve whitelisted a specific MAC address, make sure the phone is using the correct one.
2. Turn Off Wi-Fi Assist:
   1. Go to Settings > Cellular > Wi-Fi Assist and toggle it off.
   2. Sometimes, this setting can interfere with connecting to hidden networks.
3. Ensure iPhone Saves the Network Properly:
   1. After manually entering the SSID and password, make sure Auto-Join is enabled.
   2. If the issue persists, try Reset Network Settings (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings).

Thank you for reaching out. 🤗

Try these steps to improve your iPhone internet speed:

• Toggle Airplane Mode on and off to reset the network.
• Check Wi‑Fi or cellular signal strength; move closer to your router or switch to a stronger network.
• Reset Network Settings under Settings ➢ General ➢ Transfer or Reset iPhone ➢ Reset ➢ Reset Network Settings.
• Disable any VPN connections and restart your iPhone or tell Siri: "Restart".
• Learn how to update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS.
• Learn what to do if your iPhone won’t update.

NOTE: According to Apple: After a software update is installed for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS and visionOS, it cannot be downgraded to the previous version.

Need more help?

• United States: 1-800-APLCARE.
• Contact Support.
• iPhone Support.
• iPhone User Guide.

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian | Community Volunteer

_mpn_ wrote:

What's surprising is that both Steve Jobs and Wozniak worked at HP, and Ubiquiti was founded by an ex-Apple engineer. Yet both HPE and Ubiquiti don't work well with an iPhone 16 Pro Max. Considering how popular iPhones are in America, and yet my old Pixel 3 (from 2018!) has better Wi-Fi here than a 16PM despite being Wi-Fi 5 vs 7. While Asus competes with Apple in laptops and phones yet an Asus router works.

If you are saying, “What’s surprising is that both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked at HP, and Ubiquiti was founded by an ex-Apple engineer. Yet both HPE and Ubiquiti don’t work well with an iPhone 16 Pro Max,” I feel the discussion is moving away from the actual issue.

Rather than focusing on who is to blame or drawing conclusions based on the backgrounds of the companies or their founders, it would be more productive to concentrate on identifying the technical cause of the problem and finding a practical solution.

Fault-finding and assigning blame may provide a temporary sense of satisfaction, but they rarely help resolve the underlying issue. In fact, they can distract from the troubleshooting process and make it more difficult to arrive at an objective solution.

Technology problems are often caused by a combination of hardware, software, configuration, compatibility, network conditions, or even a particular firmware version. The fact that someone previously worked at Apple or HP does not necessarily have any bearing on how a particular product behaves today.

So, instead of turning this into a blame game, let’s focus on the facts: What exactly is not working, under what conditions does it happen, what has already been tested, and what can be changed to fix it? That approach is far more likely to solve the problem than trying to establish who is at fault.

In short, let’s troubleshoot the problem rather than troubleshoot the people or the companies behind it. That will help us get to a solution much faster.