how can iphone automatically switch to strongest wifi signal at home

I think you're missing the point a little. As atated in this thread a few times, IOS doesn't at all aggressively check for wifi signal strength on the same, or different ssid's.

I have used extenders and AP's, it's all the same.

If you've found a complete work around for the IOS shortfall please share your steps to reproduce, I have a spare router I could try this with.

And you are missing the point that this is a 5 1/2 year old thread, and the post you answered is 14 months old. Although it provides the right answer; you shouldn't be using a range extender, you should be running the same network with multiple access points. That way not only will it solve the problem, it won't drop the connection when it switches access points.

Why shouldn't I add to a thread when it's the exact same problem I've been struggling to solve? Would you prefer I start a new thread and suffer the chastisement for repeating a thread subject?

As I explained I've used extenders and AP's, I've tried everything people have suggested in this thread in the past and nothing works because apple products don't aggressively search for wifi signal strength, they wait until there is no signal before switching.

If someone has found the golden egg it would be great if they shared the solution, but I fear they also had missed the point of the apple switching issue.

And I have to say I really do find it quite amusing how sniffy people get on apple communities.

I work in a museum (the largest museum in the world). It has hundreds of access points. As I wander the halls I never lose signal or a connection, so having multiple access points appears to solve the connection problem.

I'm using AP's in a much smaller area and the switching isn't great at all. And yes, they're setup correctly, I've worked with networks for many years.

Have you walked around watching the wifi page on an iPhone/Pad to see how often it switches and when?

As all of the APs have the same SSID it's difficult to see a switch. But it is very frequent, because the app uses the MAC address of the AP to find the location of the phone and to help the user navigate to the desired exhibit.

I have an indoor and outdoor WIFI network - I gave both the same SSID and the Pad it changing to the stronger one automatically. Nevertheless my ISP did recommend NOT to use the same SSID.

Like always - if it works - don't change.

I have tried all routers with same ssid and all routers with different ssid. As you say, if the ssid is different it won't switch. If the ssids are all the same ... I'm not sure, I can't figure out how to tell which router the phone is connected to. But it feels like its not switching as readily as I would like, some parts of the house are at times very weak, at other times very strong.

it should automatically switch, but not necessarily right away, sometimes it takes some time for it to re-check for stronger networks. you should be able to force it to join the strongest network by turning the wifi off and on again under settings.

IPhones do NOT automatically switch to a another known network, even if it has a stronger signal. Automatic switching happens only if the phone loses signal completely. I know of no device, including laptops that do this, and for a good reason: the phone has no way of knowing that other networks are actually the same network.

Your problem, if I understand you correctly, is that your extender is broadcasting on a different network than the primary router. The extender should be outputting on the same network as the primary router. They may use different channels, but automatic channel switching does occur.

the question was referring to two access points for the same network, which the iPhone does switch between automatically.

gbrenik wrote:

the question was referring to two access points for the same network, which the iPhone does switch between automatically.

No it did not. He actually said:

"The iphone is setup for both the main router and the extender (both are known networkswhich it should join automatically)"

it does matter - it is simply the standard behavior for any electronic device to not switch networks, many times because users use them to access locan content on that specific network. so if they are not the exact same SSID and network, the iphone will not automatically switch.