iPhone5 issues with WPA2/AES Wifi

Just wanted to say that I had a white iphone5 32 gb Verizon phone with the same issues, would connect to my wifi but no data would transfer. Took it to the apple store and they told me it worked fine. Kept reading the forums and found out that it was a wpa thing so I went back to the apple store and made them set up a secured network. When it didn't work he put in an order for a new phone. Took a few days but got my new phone and everything works perfectly now. Has to be an internal hardware problem in my opinion.

My new phone will not pick up wifi signals. Did your phone acknowledge avaliable wifi connections just not connect? I think my phone may have a problem. Thanks.

I also had the WPA2 issue on my black iPhone 5 16 GB AT&T version.

The first six digits of the mac address on my first iPhone 5 were 88:53:95, and it had the WPA2 issue, I would be able to connect but surfing the web was at a CRAWL! WEP and WPA would work fine, as did unsecured networks. Week 38, Factory F2

I went to my local apple store, described the issue and they got me setup with a replacement almost right away.

I am happy to report that I have NO LONGER HAVE ISSUES on WPA2 networks after getting the replacement. The first six digits of the mac address on my replacement iPhone 5 are 54:26:96. ALSO Week 38, Factory F2!!

I know its weird but both phones were made at the same factory (F2), during the same week (38). My first iPhone 5 had the WPA2 issue and the replacement iPhone 5 does not! Maybe it has more to do with the Mac Addresses than the production factories and production weeks??

I do not think that this is a software issue, it seems like a hardware issue. I didn't change anything as far as my network settings and my replacement iPhone 5 magically works perfectly, while my first iPhone 5 always had the WPA2 issue, from the start!

To me that sounds like a hardware problem.......

So I received a new phone after visiting the Genius Bar. Of course they had never heard of the issue before me. I offered up the case number that was offered by Eric Mailer on this forum. They said they could not look it up and they had no way of setting up a WPA2/AES network to see the issue. I setup my new phone there and checked the MAC address on the new one. It was different from what seems to be a pattern on here. The MAC addresses that begin with 88:53:95 all seem to have this issue. As soon as I got home, I joined my network and I was relieved. They also told me that they can only exchange the phone once and if the problem was not fixed I would have to wait for a software update. I replied with I paid for a working phone and I expect to get what I paid for. I kept it simple, and after a long day I just wanted to go home. That is my update, I feel very lucky to not be stuck with another iPhone that cannot operate on a WPA2/AES network. Apple should recognize this issue and more importantly, let there retail stores know about it.

I was using WEP at home but was curious after reading through the posts here. So I switched to WPA2/AES. I'm not having any issues.

WiFi Address: 98:B8.....(Apple)

Production year: 2012

Production week: 37 (September)

Capacity: 16GB

Factory: F1 (China, Zhengzhou - Foxconn)

This is NOT just an iPhone 5 issue. Ever since I "upgraded" my iPhone 4 to iOS 6 the WiFi here at work has been flaky. It's a Netgear with non-broadcasting SSID and WPA2-AES.

After a reboot the WiFi works fine for a day or two, then I'll notice it's sluggish again. When it's sluggish, I can go into Speed Test and it will hang, most typically partway through the download test. Rebooting makes Speed Test work again (for a day or two).

It's a Verizon iPhone 4. The carrier update only appears to be for the iPhone 5 so I'm still at 13.0, but I don't see my cellular usage skyrocketing.

After reading the ZD net article there's more information on what's going on under the hood. Remember when I asked you why your phone kept renogiating? It looks like the iPhone5 is in fact re-negotiating with some routers for a reason. And it appears also to be about caching WPA2-AES keys. Here's my theory.

According to the article, the iPhone 5 is sending out a BSS Transition capabilities code. This code is apparently compliant with the 2012 version of 802.11n

However, most routers use the 2009 version of the specification, which reports back that the code that Apple is sending is incorrect. Hence it fails to negotiate and "stick', even if various "fixes" change the state of the router since the problem re-appears.

So there is a change to the specification, and Apple is using the most current version.

They are using this version to support 802.11r which allows one to easily roam between routers by how it deals with the encryption key.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11r-2008

Yea, Apple is pretty agessive in supporting new standards, I just wish that when they do things like this they have a fallback mode that detects that 'this router obviously doesn't support the new specs so maybe try old the old specs as a fallback'

The only other weird part is that people are getting new phones and it's clearing up all thier problems.

As a network engineer you know you have to support regression testing. So obviously they did that.

So, yes I agree it should not break anything currently to be able to bring in the new features. And I do find it odd that it's limited to only a set of people, and works fine for others since whatever routers were out there would be equally as random. The "fixes" that people did made little sense like using google DNS instead of your normal DNS.

Some of the those phones are broken, and some are not. Some routers are incompatible, and some are not.

One router manufacturer has apparently shipped a firmware upgrade to make it compatible with the iPhone 5.

The thing is that the iPhone 5 passed WIFI certification testing so it should work with any other WIFI certified current equipment to connect, and stay connected. Unless of course it is a problem with the router sending out some management request and getting back a reply it does not accept.

It is after all connected 24/7. But not authorized to transmit data on that connection unless the whole WPA-2 AES process completes successfully. So it can still be "connected", and not transmit data which seems counter-intuititive. And that brings us back to the WPA-AES key caching and renegotiation theory.

Or sticking it in the freezer.

This is the second phone I have had with issue and charred off with it, Apple need to pull their fingers out, I can confirm mine is 68 96 wifi address and thus Apple Chip ............... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Im not going for a 3rd replacement will return and say adios!

Phil, in your opinion, do you see this as ultimately something that can be remedied with a phone software/firmware update or are we looking at router manufacturers being forced to update their specific firmware to handle the current specification ?

SABSAB1 wrote:

This is the second phone I have had with issue and charred off with it, Apple need to pull their fingers out, I can confirm mine is 68 96 wifi address and thus Apple Chip ............... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Im not going for a 3rd replacement will return and say adios!

That's disheartening. I'll be testing my replacement on the secured "breakroom" network before leaving the store.

On the question of routers, I'll just say these words of Phil's are very important: "Some of the those phones are broken, and some are not. Some routers are incompatible, and some are not." My phone for example, won't work at home on the lastest model Airport Express (bought just a couple months ago), won't work at my office, on whatever that is, and won't work on the Apple Store's secured network.

From a consumer standpoint, if you've got other iOS devices, running iOS 6 running fine on your network, it's reasonable to expect the iPhone 5 to "just work" too,

If you can get your phone to connect to any router running AES encryption, you have a different problem, maybe related, but not what the OP started this forum about.

After my 3rd phone call with Apple they are sending me a replacement. Mine is an AES issue however it is not my router since a friends Iphone 5 works just fine on my home network along with all my other Apple devices with IOS6. It was my iphone 5 that had the issue. The Apple rep was friendly and helpful but cryptic in his answers. He admits there is an issue and Apple is working on it. He made it sound like they don't know if it is a software or harware issue. I had to send them some files and they want my phone for testing. He also said there is no guarantee that my replacement will work. It sounds like a lottery if you get a good phone or not.

Thanks Eric will go to store tomorrow as weirdly rest network settings and now picks up wifi! But we now have no service on the phone with the odd connection to the SP, will get them to run checks, change sim and hope that phone ok and not provider or sim! Was looking Fwrd to the iPhone 5 and now tainted my view I expect the kit to work and not have all this hassle ! Will get a Galaxy if it continues! Thanks for your advice

"The new iPhone 5 - you may not be a Network Engineer when you buy it, but by the time you get one working, you will be. Only from Apple."

It's truly one of the most educational products Apple has released in decades! Who of you hasn't learned a new thing or two about networking this past week? And many of you got free, personalized one-on-one instruction from an AppleDon'tCare rep! This is an insanely great feature folks, not a bug! ;-)