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C4RLOCO Author

Level 1

53 points

iPhone5 issues with WPA2/AES Wifi

I am using a Dual- Band Linksys E2500 router with WPA2 Personal (WPA2/AES) enabled. None of my other apple products (iPhone4S, iPhone4, iPad2 and the New iPad) have had problems connecting to my router. But everything changed when I got my iPhone5.

Basically the iPhone5 is capable to connect to the WPA2-Personal wifi network but after 1-2min starts to drop network packages, hence, I cannot browse any page (not even the router page 192.168.1.1) even though I still have a valid IP and the wifi icon is shown on my top screen.

I pinged the phone from my router diagnostics page and while I can browse the web with the iPhone5, I can see no packages lost. However after 1-2min the iPhone5 cannot open any websites while still connected to the wifi, it starts to show network packages lost.

A workaround that I found was to create a "Guest" network (which is not WPA2-Personal) or even WEP. There are no issues when connecting to these alternate networks.

Can anyone out there confirm this issue?? Is it software or hardware related?? It seems to me there are issues with WPA2-Personal (WPA2/AES)

Thanks in advance,

iPhone 5, iOS 6

Posted on Sep 23, 2012 6:50 AM

544 replies

Oct 5, 2012 12:55 PM in response to mccosha

Looking at the other thread, someone mentioned having Bluetooth on vs off made a difference in the severity of his problem.

Since I still have the wonky one until the replacement comes I tried that out just now. Interesting result. I turned off bluetooth, and instead of cutting completely off after 60 seconds, it would hang, come back, hang, slow down, hang.

Before I'd thought "no AES/WPA2 connection" and "erratic AES/WPA2 connection" were 2 different types of problem, now I'm wondering if they are the same. Could be bluetooth and wifi are handled on the same chip.

Could also be a total fluke in my experiment today, but it would be interesting to see if other folks are finding their phones (still broken) but with different symptoms depending on the state of the Bluetooth radio.

Oct 5, 2012 1:05 PM in response to lncohan

lncohan wrote:

I have no connectivity to my network with my IP5. I have an Apple Airport Extreme router and have tried getting rid of WPA/WPA2 with no success. I cannot find AES or TKIP anywhere. Please tell me where to look. There don't seem to be many things I can change on my Airport and I can't even get into my phone due to lack of network connection. I am reluctant to change my AT&T from my old phone if I just have to return my new one. Thanks.

On recent Airport hardware, the ecryption for WPA is always AES. So to test your phone, set security to "none". If you can connect over "none" you probably have this issue.

There used to be an Airport security setting WPA-PSK which someone said was the same as TKIP, but if you have the most recent firmware this is likely gone.

Shaddow

Level 1

10 points

Oct 5, 2012 1:15 PM in response to Eric Maier

And also note that anytime you turn off AES and WPA2 on an N network, it falls back to an 802.11g network and 54mbit

Oct 5, 2012 1:19 PM in response to Shaddow

Yeah, it can't be repeated enough that turning off AES isn't a fix, just a diagnostic test.

Shaddow

Level 1

10 points

Oct 5, 2012 1:22 PM in response to Eric Maier

Well whatever problems I have seem to be any wireless at my house. WPA WPA2 TKIP or AES. At work I am on WPA2/AES never had a problem. So who knows what I am having. All i know is, a reboot fixes it and its good till I leave and come back.

Oct 5, 2012 1:28 PM in response to Shaddow

I still think you're onto something when you say your on bluetooth in the car, then it stops working until a reboot:

If this guy on iFixit is right, WiFi and Bluetooth ARE handled on the same chip:

http://meta.ifixit.com/Answers/View/3738/What+Bluetooth+chip+is+inside+the+iPhon e+5

Not surprising there could be interactions.

lncohan

Level 1

0 points

Oct 5, 2012 1:29 PM in response to Eric Maier

yep, that did it this time, it is the same problem. I'll call about it today. Thanks

Oct 5, 2012 1:34 PM in response to lncohan

lncohan wrote:

yep, that did it this time, it is the same problem. I'll call about it today. Thanks

Sorry to hear it but I guess it's better to know. If you get a chance, please toggle bluetooth on and off, and see if you get somewhat less severe symptoms with it off.

lncohan

Level 1

0 points

Oct 5, 2012 1:40 PM in response to Eric Maier

My bluetooth is never on as I don't use any bluetooth devices. Sorry.

Oct 5, 2012 1:55 PM in response to lncohan

lncohan wrote:

My bluetooth is never on as I don't use any bluetooth devices. Sorry.

No need to apologize, though I might be offended if I was bluetooth headset salesman :-)

My wifi is broken regardless of bluetooth, I just noticed my symptoms became *slightly* less severe with it off. It's absolutely the first thing ever that has changed its behavior since day one, so I find it very interesting.

It could be what we were thinking were discretely different wifi problems are actually all the same thing, with the severity ranging from from "greyed out wifi bar" to "works fine mostly but download speed varies a lot" depending on the severity of whatever defect in the chipset. Or heck it could be software. Not our problem to figure it out. Apple needs to.

C4RLOCO Author

Level 1

53 points

Oct 5, 2012 2:11 PM in response to Eric Maier

I don't want to give everybody false expectations but I think Bluetooth is also failing in different areas. It can definitely be related (of course, the more people feedback we can get here the better) since Bluetooth and Wifi are on the same Chip.

Check this out:

http://soundingboard.plantronics.com/thread/36988

Here is an extract from Plantronics Support Rep:

Hello everyone - we are currently testing functionality with the iPhone 5 and the Legend. Unfortunately, Apple does not release their products for compatibility testing before they come out, and due to the timing of this release we were unable do any testing with the Legend and iPhone 5 before its release.

As I've stated in other threads, there are known issues with the iPhone 5 and Bluetooth headsets, just as there were with the 4s. We're working on seeing what we can do to help remedy this issue. I can assure you your posts have not gone unnoticed.

We understand your frustration and appreciate your sticking with us, and I will keep you posted on anything I can find out as far as possible firmware upgrades or any statements from Apple regarding this issue.

Here another reply to me:

c4rloco, I am a member of the support team. We are aware that some iPhone5/iOS 6 users have reported Bluetooth problems with headsets manufactured by various companies. We are currently working with Apple to learn more and better understand and resolve any potential issues. In the meantime, please visit the support forums on discussions.apple.com for updates.

Long story short, Plantronics is fully aware about iPhone5 Bluetooth issues. What do you folks think? The Good news is that Plantronics actively working with Apple on those Bluetooth issues, IF this is affecting the WiFi problem as well (since is the same chip) then it looks to me that very same chip is being examined on a different angle.

Shaddow

Level 1

10 points

Oct 5, 2012 2:05 PM in response to C4RLOCO

There have also been a lot of posts about bluetooth quality with IOS6 as well. All my bluetooth has worked so far.

Oct 5, 2012 2:06 PM in response to C4RLOCO

It would interesting to see if the bluetooth crowd is turning off WiFi and seeing differences. But I'm not I'm not about to go over there and risk getting addicted to another discussion :-)

Thanks for posting this!

C4RLOCO Author

Level 1

53 points

Oct 5, 2012 2:16 PM in response to Eric Maier

I know!! I became addicted already. I am don't own that particular headset but I wanted to get involve to help by see if there is a relation between both issues (Wifi and Bluetooth).

My phone is working great since I posted that my replacement fixed my Wifi issues but I am still attached to this forum 🙂

C4RLOCO Author

Level 1

53 points

Oct 5, 2012 2:29 PM in response to Eric Maier

Folks, this is interesting. Bluetooth is actually influencing the Wifi connection. Look at this test that I just did on a replacement phone that is being working good.

Test#1: Bluetooth ON and Bluetooth Heaset Connected. Results 21.98Mbps on Wifi WPA2

Test#2: Bluetooth ON and Bluetooth Heaset Disconnected. Results improve to 22.77Mbsps on Wifi WPA2

Test#3: Bluetooth OFF. Results Solid 24Mbps on Wifi WPA2

iPhone5 issues with WPA2/AES Wifi