iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

The main problem with the 2.4Ghz band is that it is very crowded. WiFi is not the only use of the band. Portable (not cellular) phones, microwave ovens, alarms, doorbells and so on crowd the band, many poorly regulated and/or engineered. The 5Ghz band is less crowded (although you'll still find home phones and alarms in there) but is slowly getting more use. So the band with the best range is also the most crowded. Something usually gives.

I live in a large house in the suburbs, not much interference other than what my own devices generate (as you post above). I have multiple APs to provide Wi-Fi throughout. My house was also prewired with CAT6 Ethernet so my A/V equipment, etc. does not rely on wireless, a plus when streaming from the web. In a crowded but small environment the 5GHz band will do quite well thus my recommendation to mattheganz. It would reduce Bluetooth interference.

<Edited by Host>

elcpu wrote:

The main problem with the 2.4Ghz band is that it is very crowded. WiFi is not the only use of the band. Portable (not cellular) phones, microwave ovens, alarms, doorbells and so on crowd the band, many poorly regulated and/or engineered. The 5Ghz band is less crowded (although you'll still find home phones and alarms in there) but is slowly getting more use. So the band with the best range is also the most crowded. Something usually gives.

Gee... for once every thing you said is technical, not offensive, and is actually correct. I live in a large house in the suburbs, not much interference other than what my own devices generate (as you post above). I have multiple APs to provide Wi-Fi throughout. My house was also prewired with CAT6 Ethernet so my A/V equipment, etc. does not rely on wireless, a plus when streaming from the web. In a crowded but small environment the 5GHz band will do quite well thus my recommendation to mattheganz. It would reduce Bluetooth interference.

My work requires that I pull Spectrum licenses or operate in narrowly defined ranges, defined by the FCC. That has caused me to invest in some excellent RF Spectrum Analysers which answer many questions regarding the commercial 2.4Ghz band. I use 5Ghz (with repeaters) or run cable when I want reliability.

don_wan wrote:

The list of " fixes" from Csound1 was actually posted by mmurray47 in April. My question is whether any of the quoted problems/solutions have been properly researched?

don_wan, the answer unfortunately is no. There was no research to see if the “fixes” actually worked. The one about turning Airplane mode on is obviously not a fix, we know what happens when you do that. Also for instance, one of the reported fixes is by tbirdvet, a very experienced user with lots of iOS knowledge and many technical contributions to this forum. tbirdvet was quoted in the list as follows:

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.”

If those posting the list would have researched this a bit further they could have seen that the following day tbirdvet posted the following:

tbirdvet

Jan 17, 2015 6:59 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to tbirdvet

Well issue just returned after several days of being OK with my new "AC" router so I guess unless Apple fixes iOS we are out of luck.

He also followed up with these:

tbirdvet

Jan 18, 2015 6:28 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to London Lad

Just reinforcing what you and others have said that hardware will not fix the issue. The more proof the better and maybe Apple will do something (but I'm not holding my breath).

tbirdvet

Feb 10, 2015 4:44 PM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to gadgetadam

Apple engineering called me about 10 days ago to get more info about OSX WiFi issues. I told them I had no OSX issues but did have IOS8 WiFi issues. They then stated that the IOS team would contact me in 2-3 days to have me install some special software on my phone to record the issue but they never did. From the discussion I had with them it appears they are aware of the issue.

tbirdvet

Mar 31, 2015 4:14 AM

Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

in response to Csound1

I noted this before but Apple Engineering called me and stated that they see a high WIFI issue not only with IOS8 but also with Yosemite and they wanted some information from me. I would not be surprised if the OS issue causing this problem is common between the two. Granted since not all users have this issue it is more difficult to pin down but just for the record there is an issue for many users according to Apple so we should not argue the point in this forum.

tbirdvet indicated in another post that his new router at best reduced the frequency of Wi-Fi drops but it was not a solution to the problem. Many thanks to tbirdvet for following up and keeping us informed. Hopefully iOS 9, which Apple indicates will be available in the fall, will resolve the issues.

So, are you suggesting that posters should not try to fix their problem?

Thank you, elcpu. Very informative summary about tbirdvet's experience. In one of his posts he states "Apple Engineering called me and stated that they see a high WIFI issue not only with IOS8 but also with Yosemite. I would not be surprised if the OS issue causing this problem is common between the two." I think he is correct. Apple replaced discoveryd with mDNSResponder in OSX 10.10.4.

Would not all users be seeing issues instead of just a handful?

Pete

Pete

This has been discussed several times, whilst there are millions of Apple devices, it may seem that only a small number are experiencing problems

But how have taken the time to post on hear? Many are probably not aware of this forum

It has been suggested that it could be the interaction between the device and some routers

There was also a suggestion that there might be a batch of wireless chips that did not meet Apple's standard

All of these appear in detail on previous pages

And even though only a small proportion of people experiencing the problem, that is scant consolation for those that are

petermac87 wrote:

Would not all users be seeing issues instead of just a handful?

Pete

Not necessarily. There are many instances of faulty technology affecting a subset of users. As an example, someone mentioned here that a certain brand of air bag inflators has been recalled but not all vehicles equipped with the inflators have exploded. As tbirdvet said "since not all users have this (iOS WiFi) issue it is more difficult to pin down but just for the record there is an issue for many users according to Apple".

have you tried restoring it.

Thanks

elcpu, good bit of research and well presented. With the simple fact that resetting the phone / router / ap / network etc, usually does provide a temporary respite from the Wi-Fi issue, taking a post of a 'fix' at face value is fundamentally flawed, if that post has not been followed up with a later confirmation that the issue had indeed been resolved. Unfortunately a forum of this type does not lend itself to this kind of audit in the same way as a normal type of fault reporting system would,

PS61 wrote:

petermac87 wrote:

Would not all users be seeing issues instead of just a handful?

Pete

Not necessarily. There are many instances of faulty technology affecting a subset of users. As an example, someone mentioned here that a certain brand of air bag inflators has been recalled but not all vehicles equipped with the inflators have exploded. As tbirdvet said "since not all users have this (iOS WiFi) issue it is more difficult to pin down but just for the record there is an issue for many users according to Apple".

Just as there is evidence that a subset of the affected subset of users did something and fixed their problems. Different fixes = Different problems.

+1

Pete

Csound1 wrote:

So, are you suggesting that posters should not try to fix their problem?

elcpu simply looked at what you had posted as a collection of definitive 'fixes' for iOS 8 Wi-Fi-Fi problems and presented his findings. To speculate there was a hidden motive is off topic

don_wan wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

So, are you suggesting that posters should not try to fix their problem?

elcpu simply looked at what you had posted as a collection of definitive 'fixes' for iOS 8 Wi-Fi-Fi problems and presented his findings. To speculate there was a hidden motive is off topic

It's a question, even you should be able to see that.

Csound1 wrote:

don_wan wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

So, are you suggesting that posters should not try to fix their problem?

elcpu simply looked at what you had posted as a collection of definitive 'fixes' for iOS 8 Wi-Fi-Fi problems and presented his findings. To speculate there was a hidden motive is off topic

It's a question, even you should be able to see that.

I did respond earlier but Csound1's subsequent response to my reply got deleted by the moderator, so my initial reply became a victim. As Csound's original post is still here, I assume I can respond again. All I said was that elcpu posted his findings after researching the list of 'fixes", however Csound1 did not ask a question about elcpu's post, rather the question that was asked was speculation about why elcpu had posted.