WIFI disabled - Greyed out since iOS 7 update on iphone 4s

While I can understand the frustration, if it were an iOS update, the issue would have occurred in iOS 6 when many others were reporting the same issue. The device is not iOS but the hardware failing.

As for the user having a contract with a carrier, that is not Apple's issue. The device still works perfectly fine (minus Wi-Fi) and can fulfil the remainder of the contract.

Not having Wi-Fi does not make the device a feature phone or dumb phone.

Tarrantion82 wrote:

Most apps these days require an internet connection or some kind of data connection, without WI-FI this costs loads more money, but that isn’t the only issue.

They certainly do, which is why I'm happy that I still have my unlimited data plan. I cannot imagine being forced to throttle my data usage to stay under a cap after having this unlimited plan for the past 5+ years.

Tarrantion82 wrote:

Other than reset network settings has anyone managed to get WI-FI working again >?

A restore from backup and as new would certainly be worth a try.

Beyond that, the next least expensive option would be to search out a 3rd party repair place. Considering the device is out of warranty, there really isn't much downside to going this route, beyond the possibility that the device becomes completely unusable.

I had two iPhone 4s with the same problem, My first phone wifi greyed out after 11 months, so it was under warranty and replaced from Apple. The replacement's iPhone wifi greyed out too after 32 days and replaced again (replacement Iphone have 3 months under warranty). Now i have the 3rd iPhone 4s in a year, and hope to be more lucky...

I sorta got it working. Chilling the phone in the fridge (along with, possibly, rebooting or resetting network settings) enables me to turn on the WiFI and, if things are going well, connect and use the connection. However the WiFi connection drops constantly and is almost entirely useless. And then once the phone warms up again it's completely back to square one: A smartphone that is good for 2GB per month of data usage.

So this does appear to be both a software and a hardware issue. There may be some defect in the WiFi chip or soldering that is too much for the new software to handle or that the new software doesn't like or that some bug in the software is unable to manage.

Is this the sort of thing that a repair shop can fix? Does anyone know? And does anyone know how long it would take and cost to repair this?

Or is the only solution to exchange it for a new phone?

Side note: I'm seeing several panics from the last few days in the diagnostics data.

I think it's crazy to say this is strictly a hardware issue. Take a look at the posts & views on this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5328365?start=0&tstart=0

They involve customers with greyed-out wifi buttons, no wifi connection at all, or sporadic wifi connection. ALL of these issues happening AFTER the iOS 7 update. This seems like a pretty convenient time for Apple to say it's a "hardware" issue.

i can help u with a temporary fix .. it means that it will works maybe for 3 or 4 days and ur wifi will go for dim again

All the random solutions point to a hardware problem with the wifi adapter in the phone. People solving it with hair dryers, freezers, running the led for long periods (heat) all point to hardware.

I have an appcalled "Flash Light" which simply turns the camera LED on so it can be used like a flashlight. I switched the LED on and left it on continuosly for about 30 minutes.

The complete opposite actually. The led will cause a temperature change after being on for a while. Apparently the wifi adapter is very close to the Led inside the phone.

use this application to turn on ur LED and leave ur iPhone for like 30 minutes and like what i said , it will cause a temprature change.

after 30 minutes , catch ur iphone and turn it off , leave it for 2 minutes and then turn it on , and u will be able to use ur wifi again

best regards

Agreed. Took my 4s to the 'genius' bar today and was told by the 'genius' that it's a hardware failure and it is just a coincidence that it happened when I installed iOS 7 - 'sometimes an upgrade triggers a failure of a part in the phone'. Said they cannot repair the wifi hardware, it's integral to the phone and 'not designed to be replaced'. Warned me that if I try a 3rd party repair, they will refuse to take the phone for repairs ever again. The only thing they could suggest is buying a new phone, and of course they are out of all the 5s models except 64 gig. Too bad I am addicted to apple products, it's really a love/hate relationship at this point. Honestly none of this is too surprising.

Same problem with my 4s. Since New Year i've got 2 devices exchanged in Genius Bar under the terms of worranty, One of them with wifi grayed out after update to iOs 6.1.3. And now after this update to iOs 7 my 4s was "randomly" choosen for this "hardware issue". It's a brand new one and it had no wifi problems before. I think it's not a coincidece at all.

I share every single point and the experience you had . Mine the Wifi button went greyed out and guess what ? My warranty also leave exactly 20 months . I am sure is software bug, if you go to Setting -> General -> About -> Wifi Address !!!! It is blank !!!!! , for those working functionally , here suppose to have an address .

So , Apple Technical pls fix it immediately how to have this address back .

try to use my method , it will helps

tried it twice, didn't work. phone is now with a 3rd party repair company for diagnostics.

So, this worked--my spouse (I was in the forum here.....) put the phone into airplane mode, put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes, and then did a network settings reset, and mine is back up--for now....

This is my THIRD phone in a week--luckily, I had the extended warranty, so got free replacements. My first phone would occasionally drop to 4G in the house and I could rejoin--not a problem, just a pain. Then, on Saturday--BEFORE I updated to IOS 7.0, it went out. I got online tried all the fixes in the help support forum, including the update to IOS 7, and no luck.

I went to the Genius Bar and because I sitll have 13 moths on my warranty, they just outright replaced my phone. I came home restored it from backup so I could have my Candy Crush levels and contacts (!!!) back, and it worked for about a day and a half and then went out again. I tried to restore and reset again, no love, went back to the Genius Bar and the guy told me the problem was that I restored from a faulty backup. I was told to restore to factory setting and sync. I did all that and stil no wifi. I stripped the phone back to factory reset settings and no wifi.

I took the second phone back to the genius bar and got a third phone. They helped me set it up as a new phone, all but sync of personal data, and I came home and synced, via the cloud, so as to not lose all my data. However, I am back to level one in Candy Crush :-( , and several wasted hours of resetting all my privacy settings, alerts, etc. etc. AND, I'm pretty sure the problem is not solved. Hardware or software?? Hard to say from my end. The wifi was jenky for a while before it went out (before the update...), but after two new phones and I am still having this issue? That definitely sounds like a software issue to me, or else Apple is doing a lousy job remanufacturing their phones (hmmm... could the same phones and issues be going out to new customers over and over??).