iphone 4s wifi greyed out.

hi i restart all the settings for my iphone 4s but it seems not working. Still wifi greyed out. What happen to APPLE. Is there any ways to resolve this kind of problem?

Posted on Jun 18, 2013 3:50 AM

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472 replies

Jul 27, 2014 11:30 PM in response to TJBUSMC1973

Spot on Buddy,


I am a tech, and the way you explained this is 100% on spot. If people have tried the firmware restore and all sorts of resetting and still have the issue. its hardware, and its the heat management chip which is malfunctioning, causing wifi to grey out and also sometimes BT.


And like you said, Doing Software updates/restores don't cause the problem.


They just bring out the Pre-existing problem, and make it visible to the user.


Regards

G

Jul 29, 2014 12:05 AM in response to john_2595

I tried all of the above (Airplane Mode, Reset Network settings, even a full Erase and Restore), but none of them worked for me.


Then I decided to combine information from several threads and figured that if it is an overheating problem, the solutions for avoiding overheating may work. I therefore switched off all the options under Privacy-Location Settings-System Services and eventually even decided to completely switch off the Location Services completely anyway. I don't know (yet) why (I understood that Location Services generate quite some traffic, causing at least some temperature increase) but for me this is already working for a few days.


It is a shame of course that in case you wanted to keep your Location Settings working you can't when you face the WiFi issue, but on the other hand, why have it continuously switched on anyway....? Anyone with an explanation why this may work?

Jul 29, 2014 12:21 AM in response to RedDevil___

Hey RedDevil


Any network related service on an iPhone does use a significant amount of power and processing. Hence if you have you phone on airplane mode your battery life is unbelievable. Obviously processing generates heats which is going to make the whole device warmer, causing it to affect the wifi chip.


You solution is a temporary one and not the best as alot of iPhone users use location services etc.


I would highly recommend getting that chip re-flowed or replacing the whole Logic board. But from what i know Apple wont re-flow just that chip.


Depends if you got extended warranty or anything of the sort, that might be your best option instead of getting a new phone or paying a fee for getting the chip re-flowed.


Hope this makes sense:)

Regards

G

Jul 30, 2014 11:27 AM in response to john_2595

I've tried everything suggested, and my WiFi is still greyed out.

My phone is out of warranty (I'm assuming, as I never purchase 'extended warranties', on principle. I've saved thousands over the past 10 years by doing so!).

Living in Norther Ontario, I've NEVER seen a Genius Bar in my life - I'm not traveling 10 hours to Toronto to find one!


Of course the problem is Apple's fault. This isn't a 'once off' issue.

The issue existed at the time of manufacturing.

BUT, it wasn't revealed until an iOS update, far after the warranty expired . . . so how was I suppose to know way back then.

The iOS update should have reset the warranty period, at least for new issues revealed by the update.

But of course, the fanboys say its our fault. Hmm. They are quite funny to listen to, and to try and understand their misguided reasoning!


Pay $200 for a refurb - or jump ship and put that $200 towards an Android.

The wi-fi doldrums have forced me to feed my phone to the fishes, I hate being hornswaggled!

Android . . . ahoy matey!

Jul 30, 2014 10:07 PM in response to KodeSource

I have tried everything from repair to heating, freezing....at the most it stays for 4-5 days. But at times, wifi goes off even after a few hours and does not come back after the heating/freezing, etc. Finally, I gave it up...I just bought an Asus android phone for $100. Takes care of all my requirements. Finally, abandoning the iphone 4s which was bought for $550...

Aug 2, 2014 10:29 AM in response to john_2595

I've had my iPhone 4S 64GB for over two years now and yesterday morning I got the dreaded iPhone 4S wifi greyed out screen. Never had this before and I updated to iOS 7.1.2 when it was released. So my phone has the latest software. Performed a network reset and even a complete restore (DFU mode) but it did not help. Next, I took it to an Apple store where the tech did the same resets with negative results and the only thing he could offer was to replace the phone ($199). The phone was working fine, except for the wi-fi.


There is a "solution" on the internet that worked for me. Apparently this has something to do with a thermal reset or unseating of the wi-fi chip. The posted solution was to heat up the phone with a hair dryer until a "thermal warning" comes on your screen - at which point you power the phone off, put it in a ziplock bag, and put it in the freezer for 10-15 mins. Take it out and restart it after a little while! From what I've read, this might work since it softens the solder a bit and then resets it in the freezer, reestablishing contact. Who knows.


I did this, except that I did not heat it all the way to a thermal warning, but rather until the phone felt quite hot. I just blew hot air up the connection port, the top, and the back. When it felt quite hot, I powered it down and did the freezer thing. And wow, my wi-fi came right back on! it's been on for a couple of hours now. No idea how long this will last. From what I read, some have had permanent success and some just for a few days. So who knows but there it is. Obviously I imagine has the potential of damaging the phone if the heat is excessive so it might not be advisable… but it worked for me! There is a YouTube video you search for see that illustrates this technique.

Sep 6, 2014 11:40 AM in response to john_2595

My wi-fi grayed out on me yesterday. One second it was working and the next it wasn't. Considering the poor 4G I get in my area (and in my own house), this is an extreme inconvenience, and basically makes having a smart phone worthless as it takes ten minutes or so to load a webpage or app. I've tried Apple's suggestion of resetting network settings, as well as Ralph's suggestion (airplane, do not disturb on and off), and freezing. However I am unable to take Ralph's suggestion of backing up and restoring my phone because every time I try, it says "iPhone cannot back up because the iPhone has been disconnected" when it clearly has not. I'm wary about contacting Apple support considering the last couple times I've had to use them, I've spent money for nothing because they didn't help one bit. Looks like I may be getting a new phone. I don't know what help I'm looking for here, if any, but if anybody has any suggestions, that would be great.

Sep 6, 2014 8:56 PM in response to j3ssicawoodruff

I tried the hair dryer and freezer thing. I think it works for some people, but it didn't work for me. The only thing that worked was the airplane/do not disturb solution. Also, I'm pretty sure he mentioned the heat that gets created from too many apps running location on you. I didn't think that could be my problem because I didn't think I downloaded that many apps. When I went to my settings and looked in my location services there were SOO MANY apps running location on me!!! All of my running apps, weather, etc. So I deactivated all of them, like Ralph says to do, and only reactivated the few that I use daily, weather, facebook, etc. This has kept me out of the grey so far! When you tried this did you turn your location services back on immediately? I'm just wondering if you don't have the same problem I did. I just kept my location services off for a few minutes until I went into my settings and realized how many apps were actually running location services on me. Maybe try again and keep the location services off and only activate a few?


Best of luck! Such an annoying problem!


-Susan

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iphone 4s wifi greyed out.

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