iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

Also, if your router operates at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, it's usually best to establish unique SSIDs for each. It's also *normally* more reliable to have the 2.4GHz side at 20Hz (not bonded at 40Hz or "auto"). Keep the 2.4GHz off of any channel other than 1, 6, or 11, despite how counterintuitive that may be.

Note: I really want to help. I've suffered iOS 8 wifi problems of my own and posted on this thread previously.

FWIW, after installing 8.1.1, I've not noticed any wifi connectivity issues on my 5S handsets. For the potential benefit of anyone who remembers my initial post, I was able to flash the AC66U back to an Asuswrt-Merlin build and the wifi remains stable.

On a 5s. Wifi on 8.0 and 8.1 was unusable at home (e4200v2 router), but worked fine at the office. 8.1.1 is slightly better at home and still fine at the office.

I have noticed that Bluetooth on/off has a huge impact - over 10 Mbps - at home and a small but noticeable difference at work. This is different from 8 and 8.1 where Bluetooth setting made no difference for me.

Note at home everything was fine prior to 8. Android devices unaffected at home.

Differences from home to work:

- home has many neighbouring wifi networks, work none

- work has very strong lte signal and home weak - this should not matter

- different router at work

Issues here, too. Have two 2nd gen ipad mini wifi+cellular and two iphone 6+s all running on wifi in the house no problem. Had two 1st gen iPad minis on ios 7.1.2 wifi only working fine earlier.

Upgraded to ios 8.1.1 on both of the 1st gen ipad minis, now neither gets internet connectivity. I say that because they see the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks from my Asus RT-N66U router (latest commercial firmware) no problem and even connect and lease an address and can see the gateway (e.g., login to the router admin panel from safari on both of the ipad minis). However, they can't get out to the internet...neither hostnames nor ip addresses work.

Found a workaround, though - I had an old AirPort Express 802.11g running v6.3 that I was using only for airtunes/speakers. It's plugged in downstream via ethernet from my Asus router, NAT/DHCP on but wifi radio off. I turned its wifi radio back on again, set for WPA2, and viola- both ipad mini gen1 wifi units were able to connect to it AND get out to the internet through the same router they were on earlier. switch back to the asus - no dice. back to the airport express, no problems.

I went one step further - if i put the Airport Express into bridge mode, (disabling NAT and pulling the IP from the upstream asus router), the ipad minis stopped working. When I put it back to 'share a public ip address' (enabling NAT once more within the already NAT'd upstream network), it started working again...

My bet is that iOS8 (at least on my 1st gen ipad mini wifi units), has a problem with NAT. or maybe being double-NAT'd is somehow insulating it from a problem upstream? or maybe it only likes 10.x.x.x RFC1918 address space (what it is on my express vs 192.168.x.x on my asus)

dunno yet... but not happy about it.

I lost my wifi today after updating to 8.1.2. Fixed by putting the iPad into static address mode. Not a good solution for mobility but works when at home. I suspect the new soiftware is rejected a good DHCP response and thrashing around the IP space.

Switching the DNS to Google's server does not help. What happens is that when you reboot you get a new lease and as before it will work for a while and then it will revert to slow speeds again. I will post in great detail later today but what I have discovered after 5 days of work and perhaps as many as 12 hours on the phone with Apple Care Level 2 is that any change from one router to another or any change in the router from one band or one channel to another restores the good connection but after a few hours (2-12) the same old slow connection comes back. At the moment I have 3 access points live in my house and all I have to do is switch to a different one and speeds return ok but if I leave the device (MacBook Pro, 2 iPad Airs, 2 iPhones) on that AP then it will revert to slow speeds after awhile. There is clearly an issue with iOS and also OSX (but less so with OSX). I also have 2 Dell PCs running old Windows 7 and they work perfectly with any AP all the time. In over a week now of testing I always and I mean every single time without fail get 14-15+ Mbps with the Dells (on a nominally 15 Mbps) using OOKLA Speed Test whereas all the iOS and even the Mac falter after a few hours on any AP. I have connected to my neighbors Comcast xfinity ISP to make sure it is not my U-verse (could not be since the Dells always work) and the problem occurs there also. I have also installed a different speed test app on 2 of my iOS devices (Speed Smart) to make sure there was nothing wrong with the OOKLA App but Speed Smart reports the same. BTW I am on my third iPhone as 2 of them failed, hardware wise. I am beginning to feel that Apple hardware / software is not reliable. My wife had an 11 year old Dell that was retired due to an obsolete slow processor but it worked flawlessly through 11 years with no failures or serious issues. Our current Dells are 3 1/2 years old (on same Wi-Fi also) and I have never seen any connectivity issues like I see with Apple.

Salvo, no problem with your English whatsoever. I am sorry but you have no options to solve your problem until #$%& Apple decides to fix iOS 8.1.2 and issues 8.1.3 which hopefully will take care of the problem, emphasis on hopefully. I am a PhD Engineer (sorry, not trying to brag, just saying that I am familiar with networking and computers, some would call me a techie). I have spent over a week on this issue as I mentioned on my previous posts and all you can do is go to your router and change the channel or band (does not make any difference what you change) or if you have a second router then go to it. What you will find is that the change, any change, will restore your connectivity with higher speeds but only to drop again after 2-12 hours. Then if you change again all ok for a little while. Note that as I have mentioned before I have two Dell PCs on Windows 7 and they consistently every single time show perfect speeds and connectivity using OOKLA Speed Test and my problem is limited to my 5 Apple devices. I was told by an Apple Care Senior Level 2 rep that the Engineering/Development Team is swamped. Tim Cook should devote less money to hype events like the October introduction of the iMac 5K and more money to the Engineering/Development team but I am not holding my breath. As long as the Apple store is full of customers, marketing will be more important than performance.

Just as info. I was using a Linksys EA3500 N router and had the WiFi dropping issues like many. I tried everything in this post and nothing worked. The other day I bought a new TP-Link AC router and no more dropped WiFi. I have this new router setup exactly like my previous router. So I guess something in the design is different enough to make it all OK. I believe that with each new OS Apple assumes that all hardware is at the latest new design and does not check for older compatibility very well. I see this on their Mac OS changes as well. They should do more testing and not assume everyone is going to go out purchase the latest components every time they make a update. I would like to hear if others have had any luck with the latest routers or am I just lucky with the one I got.

this info may help

we have an ipaid air 1, an iPad mini 1, an iPhone 5, an iPhone 6.

WE generally stay connected EXCEPT when i set my phone to start an iCloud backup. The moment it starts my router locks up and all devices lose the wifi. My SSID disappears from the air until i power cycle the router.

ADditionally we we have a laptop, desktop, roku, fire stick. Nothing has any issues until I start the iCloud backup.

i am hoping this info will help identify the issue. Would be curious to know if your issues go away if you turn off backup on all iOS devices.

AGain I'm not Airport Rxtreme savvy but why 7.6.4 and a not the latest version?

AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.7.3 - Apple Support

also how about tsheley's process?

Airport Extreme and Cisco DPC3008 terrible Netflix Streaming

Was using the iPad the other day and after a couple of sites it would no longer ping a google server. I noticed my router only had an IP and gateway on the Wan side and no DNS. Rebooted both several times and nothing. My Charter Broadband was receiving a 192 WAN address and then I noticed my Wireless was giving a 192 address on the Lan as well, Conflict? So I changed my Lan IP's to be a 10.X network and everything came up and so far the iPad has been working. Has anyone tried changing the local WAN ip subnet to a 10.X instead if the router default of 192.x - Haven't had a freeze in a week.

I have posted in the early days of this post stating that this appears to be an Apple issue with the latest update.

I have tried many suggestions that have been put forward and had some success but ultimately none solved the issue of disconnecting.

I have recently installed a Meraki AP and I no longer have the issue of disconnecting.

For me the issue is with the BT Infinity router, and I have had 2 both with the same issue.

This also effected Android phones but not OSX or Windows 7 or 8.1

Hope this helps

You using a 2.4 GHz channel or 5 GHz?? MY speed tops out at 44Mbps on 2.4 GHz channel... However 5 GHZ gets bursts over 100 with the DNS server I set in my router and the ipv6 DNS I use in my iPhone 6 plus.. R6300 has top speed of 1300 Mbps... Just can't buy that speed yet... Best bursts I get on download are over 150 Mbps.. And I only pay for 50 Mbps.. Old wifi is limited in speed... 5 GHZ is faster...... but 2.4 GHz has better range... The radio waves are farter apart and go through walls better... 5GHZ waves are closer together and that limits the range.... One other tip... I stuck a nail in the wall and hung the Wi-Fi like a picture... It's at the hight of my eyes on the wall.... Get it off the floor.. Out from behind the desk or laptop... And away from sitting 2 inches from your laptop.... Whatever the case may be... Get it as high on the wall your cable will allow...

BIG TIP*** Use cloud check app from App Store... Has wifi speed test and sweet pot speed test... So you see what speeds you get by how many feet you are away.. Like a signal checker.... This helps you find dead spots as you walk around it shows you what speeds you COULD get standing in that spot... Has audible indicator so you can hear as your wifi signal gets weaker and stronger..... I use no extenders for wifi and can walk anyplace in the house and have 3 bars on my iPhone/iPad wifi... even in the basement... Wifi is upstairs on the wall hanging like a picture in the middle of the house...

Apologies for that last. Just keeping tabs on those who have reported success through various means although I'm not sure if the steps taken held. Will continue to post periodically.

Maija59

Mar 1, 2015 6:31 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to sethugunja

"I have had this problem too, this has sucked up my time for the whole day with resets, reboots changing settings everywhere I can access - then finally I simply turned on my airplane mode and "WIFI" started!!"

Tbirdvet

Jan 16, 2015 5:13 AM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to elcpu

"The other day I bought a new TP-Link AC router and no more dropped WiFi."

americangirl_chelsea (to E-2043) 3 weeks ago (Show more)

"Happy to report that since updating (sic: my phone) that I got my 6 nearly 5 days ago, my wifi has been super. No dropping or being sluggish"

navigaremondo

Feb 13, 2015 8:00 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to E-2043

"I finally caved in and bought a new router, a TENDA 300 Mbps, model W309R+. My wifi hasn't dropped since, neither on my Macbook nor my iPad 3."

Lodds

Feb 17, 2015 1:10 AM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to E-2043

"I have posted in the early days of this post - I have recently installed a Meraki AP and I no longer have the issue of disconnecting."

jimmy1264

Feb 16, 2015 1:27 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to E-2043

"I changed my Lan IP's to be a 10.X network and everything came up and so far the iPad has been working."

From Forbes Magazine:

"The first: WiFried lives on. The infamous bug which causes heavily degraded, and sometimes entirely broken, wireless performance has not been squashed by iOS 8.2.

The scourge of WiFried has resulted in dedicated websites and a quick Google search turns up more than 70,000 results. WiFried has also resulted in the single largest iOS thread on Apple’s official Support Communities forum. At the time of writing the thread has amassed 646,780 views and nearly 2,000 replies across 133 pages.

Furthermore correspondence regarding WiFried has turned somewhat nasty. In recent months a number of thread users have accused Apple of deleting their comments and trying to sweep the issue under the carpet. I have been contacted by some of these users directly. Obviously it is impossible to confirm or deny these allegations, but it shows how emotive the topic has become."

So I'm guessing we must wait a bit longer and HOPE that apple engineers fix this issue in the next iOS update..... Honestly I think they simply have not been able to find a solution, since it is an obvious problem that they certainly know about.

Guess they spent all their resources on the watch release and the iOS update that would accommodate the new product (plus new potential customers), and simply have not or did not address the wifi issue because of lack of resources or simply because they are complaisant since we are existing customers..

Bottom line:

Wifi issue not fixed because..

1) Engineers have not been able to find a fix

2) Apple devoted all engineering resources to watch release

or

3) Microsoft business model... let the already captured market do the testing and report their efforts on forums like this to narrow the "fix" field for their engineers, and then later release the fix with reduced overhead