Choice: Auto connect to unknown WiFi -or-Get unwanted messages every time

Not correct. I had a meeting for several hours in a hotel recently and when I went to use my phone I noticed that it had connected to the hotel Wifi network (which was unsecured). As my mail checks every 15 mins that means it was being downloaded on their network, which not what I want. Could this happen in an area with poor cellular connection / no service? There was some service when I went to use my phone but maybe it was a weak signal and had disconnected whilst I wasn't using it?

I've never been to the hotel before and didn't have an iPhone the last time I was in that town, so I've definitedly never logged onto that network and it wasn't a generic SSID - it was the hotel name and I've never logged onto another SSID with that hotel name.

That is when I switched "ask to join networks" on and hence the irritating messages every time I unlock my phone and use safari / mail.

I think the current method needs to be reversed in approach so that I have to go to settings to join an unknown network manually (which I do once in a blue moon), rather than the iPhone telling me about every network in the vacinity every single time I go to use mail / safari. I'm quite fine using the cellular data connection, but I do want to automatically connect to my home Wifi.

Thanks for your reply. I have reset the network settings as per your instructions. Only time will tell whether that has fixed it, the incident I described was the only occurance I was aware of (kinda hard to check this when the phone's in your pocket!). What about the scenario where there are unsecured networks available but there is no cellular service? Would it connect automatically then?

I still think that the logic of the OS is back to front. For instance, if I want to use an unsecured public hotspot and I first turn on VPN for security, what happens next time I'm in the vicinity of that hotspot? Presumably it will auto-connect but without the VPN because I'm not aware that it's connecting when it's in my pocket.

For the handful of times I want to use public networks it'd be far more convenient to have to got to settings and chose to connect than have these messages popping up every time I unlock my phone. Or the other equally unappealing option of auto-connecting to a network I used once but don't necessarily want to use every time I walk past it.

Message was edited by: EtherNet

No, sorry for confusing the issue. I had never connected to the hotel network that I mentioned in the earlier post. I didn't have my iPhone the last time I was in that town. This is the issue - automatically connecting to unsecured networks without my knowledge.

Following on from your responses, I also concluded that the situation I mentioned - where I use a VPN for public networks but not the rest of the time - is a flaw in the OS logic. I maintain that it is far more convenient to go to >settings to connect to a unsecured network every time rather than to be either - prompted about every network in your vicinity when you are out (because you have "Ask to join networks" turned on) - or automatically reconnecting to a unsecured public network without VPN just because once upon a time you used it with VPN.