iOS 7 wifi "unable to join the network"

This finally worked for me:

Reset network settings by tapping Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Note: This will reset all network settings including:

• previously connected Wi-Fi networks and passwords
• recently used Bluetooth accessories
• VPN and APN settings

Didn't work for me.

Problem:

• Unable to connect to home wifi network (ISP is Bell Fibe, using Sagemcom F@ST 2864 router/modem).
• Choose a network shows several available wifi networks with good signal strength. My home network appears on the list with 3/3 bars showing
• Clicking on my network starts the connection process but results in “Unable to join network” message.
• Fixes tried:
  • Turned wifi off and then back on (tried several times)
  • Restarted iPhone (tried several times)
  • Reset iPhone (tried several times)
  • Clicked Forget this network, then tried to reconnect (verified password is correct)
  • Tried Reset Network settings
  • Restored from backup done prior to iOS 7.0.4 upgrade
  • Rebooted router

Background:

• Never had any problems with wifi connectivity on iOS 7.0.3 or previous versions of iOS – was able to connect to home wifi network and others
• Upgraded to iOS 7.0.4 via iTunes last night. Upgrade executed without issue (no warnings or error messages)
• No firmware update is available for router
• Other devices can still access my home wifi network without issue (wii, laptop, blackberry, 2 other iPhones and 1 iPod running older versions of iOS)

Just got back from Apple store. Wifi worked fine there. Explained the situation to the attending Genius. I was expecting him to blame my router or cloud patterns or the weather on Mars, but he ran some short diagnostic tests and said they were "inconclusive". Then said "you need a replacement phone". Good thing I still had 14 days left on the warranty. Gave me a new phone and I was on my way. Still have to see if it works with my home wifi network.

I also had a few hits on this problem in the Verizon wireless community. Many of those threads are suspicious of hardware. Verizon is replacing phones that are still under warranty. So..... I called them we went through a few of the steps that many of you have been taking and decided to ship me a new phone. Once it arrives and I can do a few tests, I will report back.

3 things that I am suspicious of:

1) Hardware - an antennae issue and the like. Suspiciously arpound the same time as the IOS 7 upgrade.

2) Software - bug in the IOS 7 upgrade and not resolved up to 7.0.4

3) MobileIron. I first started noticing the WiFi connection problem after upgrading mobileiron. MobileIron now allows certificate based connection to my corporate network.

I am still hopeful (at least for me) that this is a hardware problem resolved by Fed/Ex in a couple of hours.

Update #2: got home after work yesterday and new iPhone will now connect to my home network. This phone is still on iOS 7.0.3, and I will not be upgrading until this wifi BS is resolved.

It appears that my threads are not kept together in this discussion form. Let me recap:

Having problem connecting as this entire discussion shows. In particular I cannot join a network if more than 6-10 ft. from the router. I still show signal strength, I just cannot connect. Multiple routers in multiple networks. Even my network hotspot fails I have tried all the tricks in this discussion. Called Verizon. They replaced my iPhone 5. Luckily it came with firmware 6.1.4! So I connected and verified that I can still connect to my wireless router from many many ft. with this new phone. IOS 7.0.4 is next.

I have updated the software to 7.0.4. Everything still works perfectly.

I also installed MobileIron. Again this works perfectly.

The difference is not router upgrades. It is not a new IOS. The ONLY difference was hardware. Hope yours was under warranty too!. Thanks Verizon!

Something in the upgrade process impacts the hardware. Not sure if it's a heat issue or what, but the fact that Apple was willing to give me a new phone with only 2 weeks left on the warranty when their own tests were "inconclusive" tells me they know something is wrong.

Just wanted to report my experience.

My son's iPod Touch (4th gen) just started this behaviour this evening. Note that the iPod is running iOS 6.1.5, so this is not (necessarily) an ios7 issue - though it may have got worse with iOS7.

Anyway, I did everything. Airplane Mode on/off, reset network settings, restart phone, switch HTTP Proxy to 'Auto', changed to static IP. OK, not quite everything - I didn't put the iPod in the freezer...

The solution? Nothing. It fixed itself. Once everything was back at its normal settings, it suddenly found its mojo and started working again.

So try not doing anything. Leave it for an hour or so and see if it's managed to make a connection by itself. I can see this won't work in all cases - there doesn't seem to be a one-stop solution for everyone - but just try seeing if the problem goes away by itself, as most problems in life do. :)

(Your mileage may vary. May take more than an hour. I'm only reporting my experience.)

My son's asleep now, but he'll be a happy boy in the morning. Now I have to go and be Tooth Fairy to his younger brother. :)

Stephen Coltrane wrote:

The solution? Nothing. It fixed itself. Once everything was back at its normal settings, it suddenly found its mojo and started working again.

Glad it worked for you. For many of us though, there's something more significant going on. Following up on my previous post (where my new iPhone worked ok), it began repeating the same behaviour: when I left the house and then returned (several times today), it would refuse to join my home wifi. Out of frustration and being willing to try any random solution, I enabled "guest wireless network" on my router. This means that "guest wireless network" users can tunnel through to the internet but cannot access local drives or other resources (which isn't a concern to me). When looking at the list of available wifi networks on my iPhone I can see both GJS99 and GJS99_guest. Choosing guest works perfectly for my iPhone and also for my daughters' iPhones,iPods, etc.

I've since left the house and returned and my phone reconnects automatically. Again, the fact that I never experienced this problem over the last 5 years (with a number of iOS devices) leads me to believe that there's something flawed in the Apple world: either a software flaw that directly causes connectivity problems, or a software flaw that reveals/exacerbates a hardware issue.

Stephen Coltrane wrote:

Now I have to go and be Tooth Fairy to his younger brother. 🙂

Just curious: what is the tooth fairy paying per tooth? At our house the going rate is $2...

I have a different case than most of what I read here:

I could always connect to my home wifi and certain random networs since update to ios 7, but I can not connect to most new networks that I try to join...or my office... which is a bummer

I called Apple, they said that if I made a complete restore it is probably a hardware issue. Unfortunately for me I have been moved to another country where the is no Apple suppot for Iphones...so im stucked

Dont think ever going to spend 700 dollars on a phone that gives trouble like this again....especially with all my androir co-workers being able to connect just fine and paying waay less for their phones

The Airplane mode => Reset network settings => reboot router fix doesn't work for me: 2 iPhones (iOS 7.04 and 7.03) and 1 iPad (7.04). (FWIW, I can't control turning Airplane mode back off as directed because when I reset the Network settings the devices reboot and come back up with Airplane mode off by default.)

We are in a vacation home trying to connect to a Netgear router. The problem only surfaced 60 hours ago after a week of working without incident. We have no issues with a second, Linksys, router except it's too far away to be reliable. Neither router has access security set.

Anybody notice that In the vast majority of cases Apple declares the problem "a hardware issue"? You don't suppose that's because the easiest and cheapest solution for Apple is to put you on a new, "virgin" phone -- often charging you $150-$250 for the privilege -- instead of devoting engineer time to figuring out why vast numbers of 7.0x upgraders are having the problem? Naw, I didn't think so. Based on this and other experiences, I think issues only become "bugs" for which Apple takes responsibility if 100% of users are affected.

I like Apple products - I switched 3-4 years ago after 25 years as a MS loyalist - but I'd jump ship too if I could get my head around having to replace hundreds of dollars worth of apps. (If Google would work out a plan with its app developers to credit previous AppStore purchases of their apps, I suspect they'd see a mass migration.)

|| cannot join a network if more than 6-10 ft. from the router.

I can't join one Network if my phone is 6-10 INCHES from the (Netgear) router and can connect to another (Linksys) that's ca. 75 feet away.

PS regarding "hardware issue": Two phones and an iPad, all failing at the same time with one router and not the other? I'm not a trained troubleshooter but that strikes me as a coincidence of monstrous proportions.

Have tried all the suggestions, with no luck on new i devises. Old one's work fine. Agreeable its not a router issue. Our temp fix is

"Under settings, turn off FaceTime and iMessaging, sign onto wifi" works, but only temp. This all ***** big time...

let me know if the above works you you?