iPhone 4 cannot connect to home Wi-Fi

Let's see if this might help.

My wife changed from a 3G to a 4s. Wifi connection became haphazard - so I thought: here we go...

We had encountered some on-and-off LAN problems at home before, so some time ago I changed all IP addresses to static.

That had solved most of the problems. Not really all, because every now and again (not more then about once a week) the iPad2 refuses to connect after re-awaking; switching off and on the wifi connection was (and is) sufficient to have it working flawlessly for the session and longer.

Anyway, when I was setting and resetting the IP connection on the new 4s, I noticed something odd.

First, I set the IP address to 'Static'. After that I would fill in the address itself, the gateway and the DNS addresses.

During this editing, the field 'Static' would sneakily keep reverting to 'DHCP'. That would of course ruin the whole operation.

Once I kept close attention to the end state of the whole editing operation, things were going ok. No problems since.

It might be good to paint the full picture to get things straight.

Components in the LAN:

SpeedTouch ADSL-modem - DHCP server switched OFF

Linksys/Cisco WAP - DHCP server switched OFF

Several Windows PC's, Windows 7, static IP addresses

MacBook, Lion, static IP address

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1 Redsn0w, static IP address

iPhone 4s, iOS 5.0.1, unbroken, static IP address

iPad 2, iOS 5.0.1 Absinthe, static IP address

Important: ALL of the static connections need to have one or more DNS server addresses attached in the Settings dialogue. If not, no device will be able to make any connection. Look at the info from your Internet provider for that.

After editing the LAN settings in this way, it might be a good idea to soft reset your router/WAP.

Also (IMPORTANT) leave the power off for at least 30 seconds. This will clear some caches that might keep giving you trouble.

Hard resetting the router (PLUS switching off power) should only be a last resort.

Why this works? My guess is, that after re-awakening an iDevice, the iPhone and iPad keep asking for IP-addresses even though the previous one has not expired or is cached somewhere. Telltale: every now and again, one of the Windows PC's kept seeing IP address conflicts.

Setting everything to Static avoids resulting address conflicts.

The fact that in the workplace these problems seem all but absent suggests that there the IP lease times and cache flushing intervals are routinely set different. Maybe. Sorry, too much trouble to go check all that.

Only the iPad2 now keeps giving some (bearable) problems as described above. Might even be Absinthe.

Please let me know if this does any good for anybody?

Success, good luck,

-Ruud

I am bth a Verizon and AT&T user of iPhone 4's. Even though my iPad2 connected flawlessly, neither of my iPhone 4's would. However, after rebooting the router, everything is fine. THX Logikal1 !!!

Check out the Router's Wireless MAC Filter. Your iPhone Might be blocked on Your WiFi

Hi,

I just registered to share this note. I have an iPhone4 and it was connecting to my home wifi smothly. All of a sudden it could not access my home wifi . Any other wifi is OK. I checked many possible solutions even removing the wifi passowrd did not work.

I noticed I did not change the admin password of my router. It was the default one so anyone could have access to the settings of my router. To my surprise I checked the Wirelss MAC Filter under the Wireless Tab of my router. I found out that one MAC address was there in the Prevent from accessing my network. I then checked my iPhone4 's MAC address (Goto Settings>General>About and its listed there). It was the SAME. I don't know how this happened but I immediately removed the MAC address of my iphone from the Router's Prevent List. It ALL works perfectly. AFTER THAT< i changed the router admin password from the ADMISTRATION TAB.

It's OK now. I hope you might find this helpful.

okay, I feel like a real dodohead. I went into a tizzy after the last update. I've been having battery problems since the last update, and then this update knocked out my wifi. I went to the Genius Bar and fought with the guy for half an hour, saying "This is ridiculous, just give me a new phone". He wouldn't do it. Came home and read about turning off the router for 30 seconds or MORE. (I had been turning off the router for only about ten seconds) Wireless connected. (Of course, this was AFTER a factory reset! *sigh*)

So - remember to turn off your router for at least 30 seconds!

Now, hopefully, the battery deal is fixed too. Good luck everyone! 😊

Hello i am having the same problem my phone will not connect to wifi......when i first got the phone it wouldn't connect, then all of a sudden it magically started working. I used it for a few months then all of a sudden BOOM! it won't connect to my parents wi-fi, my wifi or any wifi at all.....it comes up then when i click on it, sometimes i have to enter the password it says unable to connect GRRR!!! recently my wifi won't even show up when it searchs.....IT IS DEFINATELY NOT MY WIFI! i have a ipod, tv, computer, and laptop all connected to it. I tried factory reseting my phone, my network settings, my router and everything....can someone please help me? also on a side note my phone tried updating on thursday and error 3194 showed up and wouldn't update...it actually crashed my phone for awhile any suggestions? I was having the wifi issues way before this

I need this wifi to work so i can use facetime with my daughter....its also costing me a fourtune in data charges.........PLEASE HELP!!!!

Message was edited by: MarvelousMartineau

@MarvelousMartineau

My advise would be to contact Apple support. Maybe even goto the an Apple store, an expert can help diagnose the issue and even replace the phone if nessecary. That's where you'll see the quickest and most hassle free remedy.

I myself have had a wifi issue for more than a year on my iPhone 4. The problem is intermittent and seamingly without reason. Wont work at home but works elsewhere. My wifi/router works currently, but that's not guaranteed tomomorrow. I've read more forums pages on this issue than I care to tell you. I've tried so many things I don't know what if anything may have helped. I'm still not convinced my issue is with my iPhone, but with how the router(s) communicate with my iPhone.

Yours issue sounds different in that you can't connect to any wifi.

Try connecting to several different wifi signals. Do a hard reset of your router(s). Hold the reset button down for 30 seconds. Try to connect. Goto to your router settings and ensure that the MAC address of your iPhone has not become block by your router.(because your iPhone doesnt even see the wifi signal) if so remove it. Try to connect again.

If you can't connect to any wifi, I'd say that may be a hardware failure, Apple experts can determine if that is indeed the case.

Their are apps available from the app store that allow you to FaceTime without wifi, you pay a price in quality of image, and of course extra data charges apply.

Hope that helps in someway.

Like many of you I had this problem too and I offer the fix I found today:

The iPhone 4 and 4S (the one I have incidentally) can not use a pure "N" network and the neither can they use a 5GHZ only network.

If you have access to the router, turn on 2.4GHZ and ensure that it is set to mixed (b/g/n). If you don't have access to the router and can't make changes, wifi probably won't work for you.

While I have the 5GHz set for my laptops, adding the 2.4 allows me to now do over the air updates.

Hope this helps.

I also am unable to connect to home wifi. This behavior seems to have started after upgrading to 5.0. I'm now on 5.1 with no change. Apple has replaced my iPhone 4 but that hasn't helped. Can you please tell me how to find my router settings? Everyone talks about it but I have no idea where to find it.

I am having the exact some problem. The iphone 3s's in the house arent having the problem. I noticed it occured after I did the latest software update. I was at work today for 12 hours and it stayed connected the whole time. Resetting, forgetting the network, ect didnt work for me either!

Just to let people know since I upgradeed my firmware on my iphone4 to: 5.1(9b176) my wifi signal RECIEVER STRENGTH has been reduced.

This is a fact as I have 2 iphones, one on the old OS and one on the new OS,

I presume the Apple TECHS in thier wisdom reduced the signal reciever in the phone to make the battery last longer, this is really annoying as I keep dropping my wifi at home and unless I keep checking it,, my internet keeps eating into my monthly broadband allowance.

Jusy hope Apple restore the signal strength back to what is was previously in the next firmware update!

Thank you, that worked for me. I had unknown device connected to my network and then the problem started. Have no idea how my iphone suddenly appeared on the blocked apple devices list. I am using Cisco Linksys btw.

Thanks a lot

Hi William

I have just upgraded my mobile to the IPhone 4S.

Unfortunately I am unable to connect my Iphone to my SKY wi-fi.

Sky 71514 is shwoing under 'Choose a network (with strong signal). When I click on SKY 71514 it asks for my password (I am presuming this is my sky password). It then tells me 'Unable to connect to SKY 71514.

I have one other connection - my laptop, which is working fine.

Can you help me. I do not understand technical jargon.

Thanks

Hello to everyone!

Same here, after the latest update I experienced the same wifi connection problems with my Iphone 3GS. All other wireless devices are connecting to my Belkin 600DB router just fine. And yes, i restored my Iphone multiple times from from many different backup points and NO change. Finally, I reset my router (took out ethernet cable coming from modem and unpluged router's DC jack) and after couple of minutes pluged everything back. That fixed my problem and I hope it will fix yours too.

Hi guys...

I just change my home password to 128 Bit WEP key.. I cannot get my Iphone 4S connect to it.. I don´t have the new iOS 5.1... how can I just put the new password that I get in my network in my iphone??

thanks!!

You don't need any up dated software / Firmware !!

Connect ethernet cable from your mac or laptop/ PC to your router

You can't generate your new passwords wirelessly!

Enter your router address into the address bar

Enter your user name

&amp; Password

Go into router wireless settings

Make sure your router's SSID is set to "discoverable"

Make sure your router is set to g+b networks

Write down the password your router generates correctly.

"SAVE" the new settings that you have created on your router

This must be entered completely in UPPER CASE , on any wireless device

"Not easy on an iPhone"

I think that possibly, you may not have entered it completely in UPPER CASE !

(There is really no need to have a massive 128 WEP password, try using a

64 bit smaller one, remember only you know this random password once your router

Generates it)

Hope this all makes sense

Sy