iOS 8 5GHz WiFi issues

I read and tried most suggested fixes in replies to this question.

My problem, re-stated: Cannot connect older iOS devices to 5GHz Wi-Fi band.

Newer iOS devices (iPhone 5s, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Mini 4) happily connected to my Asus RT-AC66u router over either 2.4GHz or 5GHz, when router was configured with all standard options enabled and 5GHz Wireless Mode="N/AC mixed" and 5GHz Channel bandwidth="20/40/80 MHz" and 5GHz Control Channel="Auto" or "40" or "44" (I'd long since abandoned higher 5GHz control channels, as I'd read that iOS devices did not work well with DFS channels).

...but my iPad 2, iPad 3 (retina) and iPad Mini 3 would only connect to the 2.4GHz band -- responding to 5GHz connection attempts with, "Unable to connect..." and demanding I re-enter my router passkey (but then refusing to connect, even when I entered the correct passkey).

Prompted by many of the suggestions in this forum topic, I started adjusting configuration settings. Here's what worked:

Choice of 2 Work-arounds: (1) or (2), below (no need for both), restored 5GHz connectivity:

1. Change 5GHz Channel bandwidth to "20 MHz" (only)
   Impact: All 5GHz Wi-Fi connections run more slowly, as devices capable of 40 MHz or 80 MHz are forced to cram packets into the lesser portion of the spectrum
2. Disable "WMM" in Asus RT-AC66u's Professional menu for 5GHz band
   Impact: As-yet unknown, but web searches indicate that the WMM feature is intended to give higher priority to streaming media packets, such as video, audio or VoIP, so I'll have to watch for frozen videos or choppy voice calls

As indicated, I found that selecting either (1) or (2), above, did the trick.

For now, I've opted for (2).

Every device I have updated from iPhone 5s to three different models of iPads have all had extremely frustrating wifi issues. After trying to join the devices to the very same network from which they downloaded the ios 8 software, they refuse to connect. The network and the router are not the problem. After several reboots on each device, resetting the network settings and forgetting the network, the only thing that has worked is manually setting the IP address, subnet, gateway and DNS. After setting all of those they will "connect" but they do not have internet service. I then have to go back to DHCP and after waiting about a half an hour, the devices will connect to the network. Even then the connection is very spotty and will drop often. Everything else I have in the building has no problems connecting to this network and I have had no problems before yesterday with any iDevice connecting.

Is anyone else experiencing wifi issues after upgrading? The iPads without cellular service are basically bricked without being able to connect to a network.

I know this doesn't address the 5 GHz vs 2.4 GHz issue but my router is running 2.4 Ghz. I think ios 8 wifi is totally hosed for some devices.

Same problems as above, wifi is really bad. My 5ghz option disappeared from the list, and my regular connection is terrible. Wifi calling is unusable. Using iPhone 5s with IOS 8.0 and Airport Extreme router.

There's definitely something going on. I've had rock solid WiFi at my house for the last year with iOS 7 and after the upgrade yesterday the the WiFi just suddenly stops responding on my 5S and I have to toggle it in order to get a response again.

Same boat here. Updated my 5S and iPad 2 to iOS8 and both are having trouble with wifi. Sometimes they'll connect to the 2.5Ghz network and stay, but if they connect at all to the 5Ghz network it seems to lose and regain the connection constantly.

Had no issues with either device pre-update. Several other wifi devices (including a 4S and a 5C) remain connected fine, so it's definitely related to the update.

That being said, there does seem to be a possible correlation with my Netgear WNDR3400 router at home, as both the phone and iPad connect and stay connected at work and at Starbucks. Signal strength shows a little lower than normal, but no outright disconnects.

Edit: Just a thought, has anybody here tried changing the wireless channel that 5ghz is using on their router? I'm seeing that suggestion pop up all over the place. If I remember right, mine at home is set to a specific channel while 2.5 is on "auto." Maybe that's the difference? Will definitely give that a shot this evening.

After upgrading to iOS 8, my iPad Air only has a stable connection at 2.4GHZ; using 5GHz causes it to lose internet (but not necessarily wifi link). Fortunately I can set up 2 SSIDs on my router and so 'force' the 2.4GHz connection.

To expand on my reply: it is still happening as of last night. My WiFi indicator doesn't actually disappear, but all WiFi traffic stops until I toggle the phone's WiFi switch. Using an ASUS RT-N66U

I'm having the same problem with my iPad Air since upgrading to iOS 8, Still has full strength wifi signal but all traffic stops until I toggle the wifi switch. I'm using an ASUS RT-N68U.

The same issue here, I just updated my iPhone 5 believing I will have a "new phone" but how wrong I was. The phone is super slow, the WiFi connection is terrible, the applications don't work properly and even my phone reception is not good any more (1/5 dots for reception). I guess apple was right by saying it was the biggest software. Really heavy and with many issues.

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Yup. Exact same issue with an ipad mini. Did anybody try a system reset and restore? I'm holding off updating my iphone until the kinks are all worked out. I use 5ghz a lot but can use 2.4 ghz (my router supports 4 ssids).

I also have a ASUS RT-N66U router. I had wireless issues from the get go on my iPhone 5 on IOS 7. It would always stay connected but my Internet speeds would be horrible to non-existent. It wasn't much of a concern for me because I had unlimited data so I stayed off WiFi. Once I no longer had unlimited data, I began troubleshooting. I found that WPA2 AES was causing the issue. I changed it from AES, which if I remember correctly meant that I had to drop down to WPA (at work so I cant verify) and it started working like it should. You just want to pick the most secured connection without using AES. Seems like the iPhone using AES was causing the issues. Not sure if this will solve your issues, but it is worth a try. Don't use WEP if you don't have too! I believe this issue to be hardware related with the iPhone 5 as no software updates, wipes, or anything has ever fixed the issue.

The issue here is more that people with no problems are suddenly losing their WiFi after upgrading, not so much that it is slower. Mine will be working fine for five minutes and the *poof* gone until I toggle it.

In my case the iPad just can not see the 5Ghz network anymore, got to use the 2.4 Ghz to use network, of course was all working until iOS8 so definitely a problem with the upgrade.

The same here too. My iPad Air keeps disconnecting and I have to toggle and turn the wifi off and on aagin to reconnect 😟 since I updated!

Iphone 5s on ios 8 using wifi data even in idle condition.. everthying is turned off such as background app referesh , automatic updates, photo streaming,location service,..but also keeps on using wifi data.. any suggestions?