ios 6.1.3 WIFI problem

so, i had this problem. none of the ¨fixes¨solved it, in the end, i did a factory restore, and got WIFI, until,

i ¨change carrier settings¨dialogue box popped up, once i clicked change, i lost WIFI. So, i did another restore,

this time i Cancelled, update carrier settings, and everything works fine!!!.

I so do not believe it, that I decide to share my expereince!!

As crazy as it may sound!! The FREEZER trick worked (seen in another post)!

1) IPhone in a zip bag in FREEZER for 15min

2) Reboot the IPhone

3) WIFI no longer grayed out, and all working fine and connected

I guess this is the magic of APPLE and I-Phone...

I was more than sceptical, and tried everything before (Upgrade from IOS 6.1.2 to 6.1.3, Restore the I-Phone a few times, reset Network settings, enable Flight mode and Do Not Disturb + hard reboot...), and nothing worked!

15min in the FREEZER and hey Presto!!

FYI, I have an I-Phone 4s (now IOS 6.1.3), and this is a 4S that has been replaced about 3 months ago (because of WIFI was grayed out, but at that time was covered by warranty)!

Let's see for how long this fix will last!!!

Will my next phone be an I-Phone.... hhuuummm, not sure about that!

I'm about to do a 4th replacement of the iPhone 4S with Apple. I can tell you for sure, this was not 6.1.3 related, as the first iPhone was on 6.1.2 when the wifi stopped working, a few weeks before the 1 year warranty. The software restore forced me into 6.1.3 so now I'm there forever. Genius Bar guy spent an hour trying to get it working before giving me a new phone. The first one he tried didn't start up (battery not charged).

The first replacement 4S lasted 2 1/2 months. The Wifi stopped working but the button was not greyed out. Reboot caused the grey out to happen. The freezing technique caused button to work again and the wifi to work for about an hour. This time, replacement happened immediately. The tech says the button greyes out on reboot if the diagnostics for wifi detects a failure.

This 2nd replacement 4S wifi lasted 2 months. Bluetooth still works. Wifi button was working until I rebooted as expected. I then turned it off for 15 minutes. The wifi button worked but none of the half dozen routers in our neighborhood show up like they do on our other 4S.

This is clearly a hardware issue. Our other 4S has been problem-free wifi for nearly 2 years. Its model number is MD276LL/A. The new bad one is MD240LL/A. Not sure if I can ask them for specific model number this time. At the least, I'll try not to get the same bad model.

I'm glad Apple gives the replacement an additional 90 days. The next one might just become a backup for one of the new iPhones to be announced tomorrow.

What an experience mikebikemusic! I had only 2 swap of I-phone 4S so far: one, the battery just died, two, the Wifi greyed out... Going for my 3rd swap now!

Same as you, it failed within 90 days of my last swap, so they will get me a new one! Still, 3 swaps in 16 months is a bit too much to my taste!

I guess it just luck to get a good model, then!

According to TJBUSMC1973, there is NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER there. He would say that you are getting free replacements within your warranty period so you have no reason to complain.

quoting TJBUSMC1973

>It's just not a prevalent issue.

3 units failing for me within 2 months of each other. Similar for other people in this thread. There are a lot of other people who don't even realize that their wifi is failing, because 3G works just fine for them. They're probably complaining about their battery life instead. I know that's happening because it's my wife's phone that is having this problem and she never notices the wifi icon missing. It's just when I happen to hand her a ringing phone that I see it. I'd call it prevalent.

>Report it within your warranty period, and you're just fine.

It takes hours of time that I don't have to follow the instructions here http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1559, since a software restore takes quite a while to reload all the apps, then over time, we have to re-enter passwords in various apps. Then when the restore doesn't work, we have to schedule and go to a genius bar appointment so that this phone which is used for self employment is not out of commission for too long.

I've tried to train my wife to be aware of the wifi icon going away, but it just doesn't work. we came really close to missing one of the 90 day replacement periods because of this. And what if the next phone fails right after the next 90 days?

TJBUSMC1973You seem to have a lot of free time to reply to this thread with unhelpful comments. I would suggest you try doing a backup and sofware restore on iTunes to your iPhone before responding to each person on this thread so you can understand what we go though to deal with this particular hadware defect.

On September the 18th i will legally be able to tell you how to fix it.. Untill then sure u can guess the problem :)

I never said there was 'no problem'. I said that it's not a prevalent one, and not worthy of a recall.

@mikebikemusic: You don't want to follow the required troubleshooting steps in TS1559? Oh, well. Because even if you are under warranty, Apple will REQUIRE that you do those steps before they replace it under warranty. You could always just pay the OOW fee if you 'don't have the time' to troubleshoot your device. Or perhaps you can hire someone to do it for you?

And as far as doing a backup & restore? I've done it multiple times, actually. I've done almost ALL the steps I've recommended to other people. I know, from experience, that it's not that big of a deal to do these steps.

Your choices are as follows: do the troubleshooting steps, or pay an OOW replacement fee, or buy a new device. Pick one.

These are APPLE's requirements, not mine. Don't like the message? Don't whine to the messenger. Go give feedback to Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Don't hold your breath. An iOS update isn't going to fix a hardware issue. If you've restored as new, and the device wtill has greyed-out wi-fi, then it's a hardware issue.

Just FYI, jailbreaking your device or downgrading your iOS isn't supported by Apple, and voids your warranty. Therefore, your 'solution' is completely invalid, and violates the ToS of this forum.

TJBUSMC1973T You're being too simplistic about this. If I followed your advice I'd be doing all the troubleshooting steps over and over again until it goes OOW. It's not an either or situation. If the troubleshooting steps are done UW does it extend the warranty if it fails a few weeks later? NO! If you make a genius bar appointment UW and the earliest appointment is OOW, is it still UW? And you assumed incorrectly that I never tried restore. Quite the opposite. How would you feel if I assumed you replied to me without first doing a restore as I requested of you. You'll have to do another backup/restore to respond. Or, you could just let me vent and have the last word.

The reason I know how long it takes over an hour to do a restore on my wife's phone (mostly copying all the apps back - bird watching databases that run offline are big) is because I did follow the every single step in TS1559, including backup and restore, and the problem reappears after a few weeks, for each 4S. I'm sick and tired of having restore be the solution. On the first unit, after the 2nd backup fix lasted just a copule of weeks, and with 2 weeks before the 1 year warranty, I got the unit replaced which took 2 hours round trip to the genius bar, then another few hours to restrore and kickstart iTunes cloud sync then restoring passwords, etc.

On the second unit, the problem first happened in early June. After backup/restore, the wifi failed again over the July 4th weekend, and the earliest appointment I could make was the day before the 90 days would have expired. What would you do in that circumstance? Try another backup/restore and lose the warranty, or take the unit in? I chose the latter.

Now faced with a 3rd unit showing the failure and an October 6th deadline on the 90 day warranty, I have to decide whether to keep my Sept 14 genius bar appointment where I should have no problem getting yet another replacement, or gamble that it is really only a software bug that is fixable on Sept 18th. If it's (also) hardware, then it's likely to reappear post warranty.

If it's truly software only and happening since March, Apple could have released a 6.1.5 fix by now but they didn't. So, I'm going for the 90 day extension, and trying out the Sept 18th fix.

Hello TJBUSMC1973, I just stopped by to say hi and see how many other useless messages you had posted. You're a source of inspiration...

Just curious, you wrote recently:

"Just FYI, jailbreaking your device or downgrading your iOS isn't supported by Apple, and voids your warranty. Therefore, your 'solution' is completely invalid, and violates the ToS of this forum."

So, freezing your phone (or baking it) is apparently OK by the ToS, but manipulating the installed software is not? Interesting terms of service we have here... :-)

No, you do the troubleshooting steps ONCE. If it fixes the issue, great. If it doesn't fix the issue, then it's a hardware problem. And then you check to see if you're under warranty. If you drag your feet and don't do the steps until AFTER your warranty has expired, too bad.

I never assumed you didn't do a restore. You said "It takes hours of time that I don't have to follow the instructions [in the troubleshooting article]". So, you've contradicted yourself. First you said you didn't have the time, but now you say that you've done it. Which is it, Mike?

As far as the first available appointment being too close or after the warranty expires, there's a simple solution; tell Apple that you have an issue, and get a case number. Get some form of documentation that you have reported the hardware failure before your warranty expires. Get a case number. It's that simple. Use some common sense.

As far as how long this issue has been around? Long before iOS 6.1.3, or 6.X, or even 5.X. It's NOT related to the iOS update. It's a physical issue with defective wi-fi chips, related to HEAT.

You have a fundamentally incorrect understanding of the root cause of this issue. It has nothing to do directly with the software. It is the HEAT generated by the update that reveals the issue.

Report the defect while within warranty; get free replacement.

Report the defect after warranty expires; pay the OOW fee, which is about 66% less than full retail price.

Name another electronics company that replaces an out-of-warranty device for a 66% discount.

Now, again, as has been stated previously: Don't like Apple's policies? Tell Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I don't have any control over Apple's policies, and I don't disagree with them (at least in this case). And, frankly, I don't care whether you like Apple's policies or not.

If you're trying to convince me to agree with you that Apple is being 'unfair', not in this case. Find another tree to bark up. I believe firmly in caveat emptor. You agreed to certain terms & conditions upon purchase. Show me where Apple has violated those terms & conditions, and we'll talk. Otherwise, it's just a lot of sound & fury.

LOL, hi Marcio! How are you?

Yeah, where have I ever supported the 'freeze & bake' methods? Please show me a single post where I've condoned or recommended that, lol.

But nice try. Get bored, did you? Good to have you back!

Sorry to be off-topic. If there was a way on this forum to write only to to TJBUSMC1973 I would have. for everyone else TL:DR. This will be my last post on this thread.

Looking at your posting history here and elsewher and tone of your comments, you do the written equivalent of talking too much and not listening enough. The end result is you come across harsh and combattitive, rather than helpful. Some exaples, of your interactions with me:

Example 1: When you respond too quickly to a post, you misread the intention. For example, I wrote

"It takes hours of time that I don't have" and you jump to the conclusion "you've contradicted yourself." All it meant was that I'm really busy and don't want to have to stop what I'm doing to deal with a malfunction that reoccurs every few months. And then I explain in the same paragraph how I did the restore and it was only a temporary fix, but I got it returned just barely before the warranty was up.

Example 2: When you don't go back to read all the comments someone posts in a thread, you lose the context. My first comment on this issue said very clearly that this started happening to us on a 6.1.2 phone and that this is clearly a hardware issue. A later post, given more information from another member, I opened my mind to the possibility that it could be software related. You, on the other hand, are stuck on "It's NOT related to the iOS update. It's a physical issue with defective wi-fi chips, related to HEAT." The truth is, you don't really know for sure unless you work for Apple and already have a solution in hand. If you do, then posting it here would get you fired. I, on the other hand have had good experience with Apple product recalls, and as a 3rd party Apple software developer, I have worked with Apple engineers to debug and fix both hardware and software issues.

Example 3: You respond to rhetorical questions. I describe how I am able to follow the troubleshooting and just barely within warranty, get the devices back for exchange 3x in 6 months. I rhetorically said "What would you do in that circumstance? Try another backup/restore and lose the warranty, or take the unit in? I chose the latter." And you unnecessarily respond to me with "Report the defect while within warranty; get free replacement. Report the defect after warranty expires; pay the OOW fee."

I tried in an offhanded way to suggest you wait a couple of hours before responding to me and others by suggesting you do a restore first. It was in the hopes that you woudl just slow down and not be so reactive to posts. I apologize if it provoked you. Instead, why don't you try this for the next week:

Each day, review all the threads you normally post to and pick only one thread to repsond to. Write only one response that day, but make it a thoughtful one that takes into account everyone's comments together. Try to add value to the discussion.

At the end of 7 days of one post per day, see if people react better to what you have to say. OK you're on your own. I'm not posting any more about this, and there is no need for you to reply. Just take it or leave it.