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Level 2

367 points

Unable to connect iPhone 4 properly to Time Capsule

I am unable to properly connect my iPhone 4 (running iOS 4.2.1) to my home network running a Time Capsule. My iPhone 4 shows the network. If I click on the network to connect, often after entering the password I am told the iPhone is unable to join the network. Sometimes, I can connect, and I get realistic values for the phone's IP address, DNS, and other items, but after a short time, I can no longer do anything that requires WiFi. The WiFi symbol still shows, and I still appear to be connected, but surfing a web page, going to Facebook, etc., just hangs.

I completely re-set the Time Capsule back to factory defaults. I've also completely wiped the iPhone clean and restored it from scratch (as well as resetting all network data, and forgetting my home network and re-adding it). None of these procedures has changed the problem behavior.

I've gone to an Apple Store and spoken with a Genius. While there seemed to be no problem with my phone, I was given a new one (great service). The problem remains.

The Time Capsule is a simultaneous Dual Band II. It runs 802.11 n only on 5 GHz, and 802.11 b/g only on 2.4 GHz. The two networks have different names [MyNet and MyNet (5 GHz)]. It runs WPA2 security. It is set for wide channels (turning this off did not help), and channels are selected automatically.

I have several Macs, an iPad (running iOS 4.2.1), an AirPort Express N, and an Apple TV (first generation), an Apple TV (second generation) that have no trouble getting on MyNet (5GHz). I also have a Blackberry Bold 9000 that has no trouble getting on MyNet (using 802.11 g).

The Time Capsule is running in bridge mode because my home internet is FiOS, and comes into the house as a MoCA cable connection without ethernet, so the FiOS router supplies the ethernet connection to the Time Capsule. The FiOS router supports WiFi, but only 802.11 b/g, so I usually turn it off and let the TIme Capsule run the WiFi. The FiOS router performs all DNS activities.

This whole setup worked flawlessly until recently. I have the Time Capsule visible through Back to My Mac everywhere I go, and all my other devices connect just fine -- as the iPhone used to do. (Could it be the recent firmware upgrade for the Time Capsule?) Everything still works flawlessly, except for the iPhone 4.

When I enable the FiOS router's independent WiFi (b/g), running WAP2 with the same password as my Time Capsule network, and have just the iPhone connect to that network, all is perfect.

I'd prefer not to have to run the FiOS WiFi network JUST for the iPhone, since I'm in a fairly dense development with LOTS of WiFi near me and want to avoid even more congestion.

Does anyone have any suggestions? The Apple Geniuses say the next step is to replace my Time Capsule, which I will do after backing up its backups, but it seems that there is a problem between iOS 4.2.1 and the new (7.5.2 Time Capsule) software. I'm guessing, since I can sometimes connect but then lose connection, that this is some kind of WAP2 problem, but all my other devices work just fine. I do not want to run a non-protected network, or a network protected with WEP or WAP, since they are older and less secure protocols.

Thanks in advance.

MBP (late 2008); MBA (original); Mac mini (late 2009) running Win 7 w/BootCamp, Mac OS X (10.6.4), Displays: Dell 30", Apple 24" LED Cinema; iPhone 3GS/32; TV; TimeCapsule 1 TB

Posted on Jan 3, 2011 10:48 AM

Best reply

Allan Sampson

Level 10

123,677 points

Posted on Jan 3, 2011 11:44 AM

I have a Time Capsule dual band which I purchased and have been using before the iPhone 4 arrived on the release date. Since the iPhone 4 supports "N" on 2.4 GHz only, my dual band is set up as 802.11a/n (5GHz) and 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz) with my iPhone 4 connected to my 2.4 GHz "N" network, and my MBP connected to my 5 GHz "N" network. I'm using WPA2 Personal for the network encryption and I'm using an 8 character passcode.

Can you connect your iPad to either network - your 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz network? If so, the only difference with the iPad's wireless card is it doesn't require connecting to a 2.4 GHz "N" network as with the iPhone 4, so this does not lend itself to there being a problem with your Time Capsule - not unless your iPad can't connect or maintain a connection to the 2.4 GHz "N" network as well.

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62 replies

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 12, 2011 4:49 AM in response to Tesserax

Well, thanks for trying!

plcn

Level 2

325 points

Jan 12, 2011 5:00 AM in response to Linda Custer

Hi Linda.
A stupid question: Did you try to reset the Network Settings on the iPhone? Also I would try to reset TC to factory defaults to see if it helps. I had issues extending my netowrk after 7.5.2, and I managed to solve them resetting the TC to factory defaults.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 12, 2011 5:10 AM in response to plcn

Yes, I did both of those things very early on. Thanks; it's an excellent suggestion.

Among the very first things I did was re-set the network settings, and I have done that several times. I also had the Genius at Apple give me a brand new phone, and I did a restore.

I re-set the Time Capsule to factory settings, but there are a few things (such as bridging) that I HAVE to do because I have FiOS/MOCA, and need to use the FiOS router in order to have an Ethernet connection to plug into.

Unfortunately, none of these modifications has made a difference.

Again, what is so frustrating is that my Kindle, Blackberry, and Epson printer all have no trouble connecting to the 2.4 GHz network flawlessly.

simastu

Level 1

0 points

Jan 12, 2011 12:07 PM in response to Linda Custer

I will try to go back to the Apple Store and get an appointment with a Genius. I want to know what they are saying. Unfortunately, my time capsule is out of warranty. I hope that won't be an issue for them.

I don't think I can make it to the Apple Store before Friday but I will let you all know the results.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 12, 2011 12:59 PM in response to Linda Custer

For whoever might stumble on this discussion, I should mention that I don't think bridging the Time Capsule is the problem here, but I bridge the TC rather than the FiOS router because bridging the FiOS router leads to problems with FiOS's on-demand and widget TV services.

Also, the iPhone worked just fine for many months with everything the way I described, until 7.5.2 or 4.2.1 or both came into the picture.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 12, 2011 1:02 PM in response to simastu

Thanks for your update.

Apple is always happy to offer Genius advice about setup and problems for free, regardless of warranty status. I have also experienced them replacing Apple equipment for free out of warranty under certain limited circumstances when the problem is their fault.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 13, 2011 1:56 PM in response to Linda Custer

I've checked the Time Capsule log, and it doesn't seem to offer any clues to this iOS connection problem.

Can anyone think of any other diagnostics that might isolate the problem? It looks like Apple is ankittle bit away from releasing new iOS or TC software that might possibly address this. In the meantime, I will need to donaomething I have never needed to do before with this equipment -- run a separate G network on the FiOS router (adding WiFi congestion) just to let the iPhone connect.

How are others working around this problem? I know I can just do 3G, but that doesn't give app updates over 20 MB, FaceTime, and similar.

Thanks for all the help I've gotten! It is great to share ideas and know I am not alone.

This cannot be happening to all iPhone and TC users. I wonder what is different for me.

Jan 13, 2011 10:34 PM in response to Linda Custer

For what it's worth, it looks like I'm having the same problem, but with an iPhone 3G running iOs 3.1.3.

To summarize:
-I have a fairly new 2 TB TimeCapsule running 7.5.2. Until approximately yesterday, my iPhone had been able to connect to the TC wifi without issue. The iPhone can connect to other wifi networks without issue.
- My wife's iPad continues to connect without issue, even if I have it forget this network. (I don't have any other wifi devices I can easily connect with to test). I can probably remove the wired connection from my imac to test, but based on others' experience, I'm skeptical.
-There haven't been any obvious changes: no new software on either the TC or the iPhone, no new WiFi in the neighborhood, no moving of equipment, etc.
- I've tried all of the suggestions on this thread, including factory restore of TC, changing channels, disabling 802.11n, resetting network settings on the iphone, etc. to no avail. I'm stumped.

I don't necessarily suspect 7.5.2; I installed this TC in late December and it immediately downloaded and installed 7.5.2. I have, therefore, been using 7.5.2 without issue for several weeks (but have no baseline for comparison).

The only thing in the TC log is:
Jan 13 22:28:07 Severity:5 Associated with station (my phone's MAC address)
Jan 13 22:28:10 Severity:5 Disassociated with station (my phone's MAC address)

I (only half jokingly) am starting to suspect a 1/11/11 bug. 🙂

Oh, and I don't connect in bridge mode. The TC is directly connected to a cable modem hooked up to Comcast

Message was edited by: rotomonkey

Jan 13, 2011 11:05 PM in response to rotomonkey

Well, just for the heck of it, I power cycled the TC (again).

The problem seems to have fixed itself, so there's that.

It'll be interesting to see how long it lasts. If it drops out again I'll reply back. Maybe there is a 7.5.2 bug that gets affected by long uptimes.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 14, 2011 12:12 PM in response to rotomonkey

Thanks for the info. I'm guessing your situation is different than mine but who knows.

As for my situation, I can reproduce after power cycling, so I don't think that's the problem. Just a very short uptime will do it.

I've never seen a "severity 5" in my TC log.

Glad you're back to normal.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Jan 16, 2011 8:55 AM in response to Linda Custer

Dang, this is discouraging. I see some echoes of this problem out there on the web, but I would expect it would be much more prominent if it were something general. I can't for the life of me figure out what exactly is causing this.

simastu

Level 1

0 points

Feb 6, 2011 11:25 AM in response to Linda Custer

Linda,

I've been busy lately and didn't have the chance to go to the apple store. But the other day I tried some different settings and now everything seems to work perfectly (my Mac, my Iphone and my old iPod touch too). Here what i did:

- Created a different SSID for the 5GHz network
- Enabled wide-channels
- Manually changed the 2.4GHz radio frequency to channel 6.

Everything else is the same (guest network enabled, wpa2, radio mode automatic).

It has been working perfectly for 2 days. Yesterday I had a continuous ping running to my iPhone and didn't lose a single packet.

My guess? Maybe interference on the 2.4GHz channel? I am not sure... but now it's working and I don't wanna modify anything anymore...

Try and see if it works for you too!

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Feb 6, 2011 4:59 PM in response to simastu

I've used WiFi Scanner to verify no one anywhere near me is on Channel 6 besides me. I have wide channels (although changing that doesn't help). I still can't get this to work at all -- the problem is exactly as I stated initially.

ALL my other equipment (except iOS 4.2.1 on 2.4 GHz) connects just fine.

Glad it's working for you.

Linda Custer Author

Level 2

367 points

Feb 20, 2011 12:32 PM in response to Linda Custer

Still having this problem. No end in sight. Ugh.

gglynn

Level 1

0 points

Feb 24, 2011 12:16 PM in response to Linda Custer

Linda..I have the same problem as you. iPhone 4 was working with TC fine then one day "unable to connect". iPad connects fine as do 2 iMacs. I'm using a neighbor's WiFi for my iPhone now but would like my (4 month old) TC to work. Have re-cycled TC, iPhone..no luck.

Unable to connect iPhone 4 properly to Time Capsule