iPhone 5 wifi issues

I have no problem connecting to my network or any other network. Download speeds are just inconsistent (upload speeds are stable & on par with my other iDevices). Browsing on Safari is very fast. Streaming Youtube videos is sluggish, same goes for large apps downloads.

I have tried to use Connectify in order to transform my Mac & my other PC into hotspots (or WiFi repeaters in this case). With the Mac, the issue is still present. With the PC, downloads speeds are consistent, faster but still slower than what I get with my other iDevices.

(You could use Mac OS X integrated internet sharing in System preferences but you need to hook it up to a router ethernet port)

Could you guys try that ?

In my opinion, my iPhone 4S works better than the iPhone 5. I paid $300 for the iPhone 5 32gb which basically works the same as the 4S except for the longer screen and a couple of additional changes. I just don't like loosing my unlimited data and get stuck with something I am not happy and satisfied with. Maybe in time when all the minor flaws of the iPhone 5 have been fixed, maybe I will consider upgrading. But now, I do not regret my decision of staying with my iPhone 4S.

Thank you for your thoughts, qkpham.

I believe that it has to do with packet losses. Small files or browsing are less likely to be affected by that while large downloads such as streaming videos struggle. I first thought it could be because the iPhone 5 was to sensible to the signal/noise. It may be a combination of all those factors..

I think Perfect70 had a combination of problems. A few Verizon customers have already weighed in that the wfifi instability is not fixed with the update. Some features of the phone will use cellular in the background when wifi is not available.

Mean of Verizon to make you give up unlimited to upgrade. ATT is far from perfect, but I'm still grandfathered. Going in for a replacement tomorrow.

If your problem is that it won't stay connected on a password protected AES encrypted network (e.g. Airport router on default WPA2 security), likely no do-it-yourself fixes will work permanently.

I've been trying everything on here for a week, and went in to the Apple Store today where the tech did a deep reset. She was upfront, and said come back for a replacement if it wasn't fixed. It wasn't, so I'm going back tomorrow.

If you go to Apple store and they say it's working because it connects to their unencrypted in store wifi, do not accept that it's fixed. You have to test it on an AES encrypted network. (e.g. any Apple Airport WAP set to default WPA2/Personal security.) Fiddling with router settings is a rabbit hole. The only truly salient point I've heard on that, if your other iOS devices are working fine on your network, was from the Apple tech who asked if I had mac id filtering on.

Pretty simple diagnosis: set your WAP to open (no password). If it connects & stays connected, your wifi radio is working. If you switch it back to WPA2/Personal and it drops off (usually just after a couple minutes) you likely have the AES encryption/decryption problem so many of us are experiencing.

Some smarter folks than me on here indicate this AES stuff is done in hardware, so I wouldn't count on a software fix that's not a kludge, and definititely don't wait longer than your return period. (30 days if bought from Apple, could be much shorter if bought from a carrier.)

Well, we have to separate the WiFi issues into 2-3 categories :

a) iPhone 5 that can't connect to an AES encrypted network

b) iPhone 5 that have no problem to connect to any network but have inconsistent speeds

c) Some may have a combination of both

So far, none of the fixes proposed work on my iPhone 5 (case b)

There is a chance that it is only software related. I have tried the WiFi at different locations yesterday & speeds were very decent and stable. I will do some more testing tomorrow with both my iPhone 4 & 5. If I can isolate the problem to my network then it should be easy to fix it by myself if iOS 6.0.1 does not fix it.

I would think software, network conditions, or amazingly stupid if a repeat of iPhone4, antenna bridging issues. Because your radio is working, and your security is working. Those of us in the AES camp would love to have your problem, but we can't stay connected long enough to tell. For the 2 minutes at a time I can stay connected after a Network Settings reset or restart, it's blazingly fast. Heaven help us if once we can get connected, via repair or replacement, we face the variable speed issue.

Since we have the same type of issue @lookn4wifi, may I ask you more informations about your iPhone 5 ? Just enter your serial number (Settings>General>About) on that site http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

I would like to check if our iPhone 5 are part of the same batch.

Here is my informations:

Name: iPhone 5 (GSM model: AT&T and Canada)

ModelCode: iphone_5

Model Number: MD636

Group1: iPhone

Group2:

Generation: 7

Machine Model: iPhone5,1

Model introduced: 2012

Production year: 2012

Production week: 36 (September)

Colour: Black

Capacity: 32GB

Factory: F1 (China, Zhengzhou - Foxconn)

It is annoying not having the Mbps downloads I'm paying for through my ISP. I'm not have too much difficulties with the way things are now. I got through an ABC app show and Netflix movie today with no buffering. Safari YouTube froze up on me yesterday though.

I don't want to return an otherwise flawless (as far as I can tell) device if 6.0.1 or Time Capsule firmware update will resolve.

Name: iPhone 5 (GSM model: AT&T and Canada)

Model Number: MD636

Group1: iPhone

Generation: 7

Machine Model: iPhone5,1

Model introduced: 2012

Production year: 2012

Production week: 37 (September)

Colour: Black

Capacity: 32GB

Factory: DN (China, Chengdu - Foxconn)

I had the Wifi problems with two new 64G iPhone 5's - for one week. Tried EVERYTHING in the book - full restores, resetting the Network configs, putting HTTP proxy to Auto, a Clean Install, multiple reboots. NOTHING WORKED. My phones show the WiFi connections are up - but no data transfers happening - when I had WPA2 encryption enabled.

Apple Support did not have any solutions.

I think I may have finally solved it. Here is my wireless network situation - one Router and multiple Access points. I discovered that more than one of these devices were on the Same Wifi Channel (using the same SSID)and this probably had my new iPhones (with their superior antennas) in a tizzy.

I went in and set the channels on my routers/access-points to 1, 6 & 11 -- so that there was no channel-collision.

My iPhones needed NO changes - and viola - NO MORE problems - the WiFi (WPA2 enabled) connections stay up and data transfers work continuously.

Give it a try folks - and please let me know if this works!!

@lookn4wifi > No fixes work on my iPhone. Your iPhone seems to be ok with a DNS.

RKA_1234 > iPhone 5 may be too sensible to noise. Packet drops are causing the sudden drop of speed we see in SpeedTest.. I will try tweaking the channels again. I've also lowered RTS & Fragmentation Treshold + beacon period.. Unfortunately, my router is a stock Clear Hub Express. Not much settings I can tweak.

qkpham>>> When my iPhone 5 would wedge - with the strong Wifi signal level - but no connectivity - I ran some diags - and saw "DNS lookup failures" --- but I think it was primarily because of the WiFi channel collisions that I described earlier. (Basically - the iPhone 5 - sees strong signals, the channel clash messes up connectivity and then you have a DNS lookup problem).

Does it work for you at the office? Mine doesn't. That's the acid test. I just discovered there's now a discussion group specific to the AES encryption issue. Check it out. The only reliable fix is a replacement machine. And a lot of folks are getting bad replacements too.

If your other iOS devices are working on your network, so should your iPhone 5. Heck I've never had a single problem with ANY device on my WiFi network, Samsung, Sony, Chumby, whatever.

It's not that the iPhone 5 is some kind of special princess that must sleep on silk sheets (with the AES issue) it's simply defective. Report the problem and return it.