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iOS 8 5GHz WiFi issues

Since upgrading to iOS 8, my iPhone no longer lists my 5GHz network in the list of available networks; the only network it shows is my 2.4 GHz one. My iPad Mini (still on iOS 7) and my MacBook Pro are picking up the 5GHz network just fine, so I believe this issue is because of iOS 8. Is this happening for anyone else?

iPhone 5, iOS 8

Posted on Sep 18, 2014 7:50 AM

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109 replies

Mar 21, 2017 9:33 AM in response to untidyscrawls

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).

Sep 18, 2014 8:00 AM in response to untidyscrawls

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.

Sep 19, 2014 5:35 AM in response to untidyscrawls

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.

Sep 19, 2014 7:21 AM in response to untidyscrawls

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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Sep 19, 2014 8:10 AM in response to untidyscrawls

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.

iOS 8 5GHz WiFi issues

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