iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

danyboy2012,

I have a 4s as well with same issues since the day I "upgraded". I have improved, but not fixed wi-fi by going to settings - iCloud and turning everything off except 'Find My iPhone'. The result is wi-fi is useable more than it was before but I did that, but still in no way acceptable.

I also seem to have another bug which I don't recall happening before 8 - I have a habit of plugging in my iPhone to the charger when I get home but sometimes I don't get the usual 'ping' to indicate it's charging. The battery indicator may show plenty of charge but no lightning icon to show charging. If I then switch off the iPhone and back on again I find the battery is actually really low and then it starts charging.

Hope this may help you.

😮 Doesn't anyone read this thread before they post more rubbish about routers and settings etc etc?.

This problem was diagnosed, with proof, months ago. Please Google and then READ "WiFried: iOS 8 WiFi" before posting more stuff that is only going to confuse novice users and waste their time.

I did more testing on my iPhone 6 with iOS 8.1.3

Here is my observation: (If you are APPLE tech person please please read as this may give hints to actual problem)

From the day 1 I am observing WiFi disconnections. (was on iOS 8.1.2 and now upgraded to iOS 8.1.3)

Wireless connects, I can browse the internet. But when pinging iPhone IP address I notice 3-7% packet drops.

I do not notice packet drops with other phones so it can not be router problem.

Ping drop may be acceptable to some extent but my main problem starts after iPhone is locked.(while WiFi is kept on)

Here is what I do to replicate the issue:

I start continuous ping to my iPhone IP address and lock the iPhone.

iPhone pings for about 90 seconds and then ping response stops coming. (This may be deliberately done to save battery by not responding to ping)

After that if I send a message via whatsapp to iPhone from other phone and it reaches my iPhone (iPhone makes notification sound). This means even if ping stopped WiFi was still working. Surprisingly even ping response also starts coming! Ping again stops, after a while.

Packet monitoring on my gateway also notices occasional DNS request and connection to apple.com or icloud.com. When iPhone sends such requests, that time too, ping starts back! And then stops again after a while.

Now I STOP the ping to iPhone. (which means no incoming packets to iPhone)

After a while (say 4-5 minutes) iPhone WiFi disconnects completely. i.e. this time there is no activity going to apple.com or icloud.com. Sending message to iPhone also does not work.

This means iPhone WiFi was awake as long as PING to it was ON. Once Ping stopped - after some amount of inactivity, WiFi goes off completely.

Then I un-lock the iPhone. I can see "WiFi" logo on status bar indicating that WiFi is ON but when I open Mail application, it stays stuck on "Checking for mail". When I open whatsapp, it stays stuck on "Waiting for network"

If I disable and re-enable WiFi everything works again!

Hope this gives some clues to the real reason.

Thanks

More update which looks like FIXED the issue. (WORKAROUND but not a real solution)

Note down IP address of your iPhone and ping it continuously.

Example:

ping -t 192.168.0.10

On Linux you can ping every 10 seconds instead of 1 second

ping -i10 192.168.0.10

Please tell me that it has NEVER been jailbroke. If it has never been jailbroke, here are some standard repair procedures:

First, try a system reset. It cures many ills and it's quick, easy and harmless...

Hold down the on/off switch and the Home button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo. Ignore the "Slide to power off" text if it appears. You will not lose any apps, data, music, movies, settings, etc.

If the Reset doesn't work, try a Restore. Note that it's nowhere near as quick as a Reset. It could take well over an hour! Connect via cable to the computer that you use for sync. From iTunes, select the iPad/iPod and then select the Summary tab. Follow the on-screen directions for Restore and be sure to say "yes" to the backup. You will be warned that all data (apps, music, movies, etc.) will be erased but, as the Restore finishes, you will be asked if you wish the contents of the backup to be copied to the iPad/iPod. Again, say "yes."

At the end of the basic Restore, you will be asked if you wish to sync the iPad/iPod. As before, say "yes." Note that that sync selection will disappear and the Restore will end if you do not respond within a reasonable time. If that happens, only the apps that are part of the IOS will appear on your device. Corrective action is simple - choose manual "Sync" from the bottom right of iTunes.

If you're unable to do the Restore (or it doesn't help), go into Recovery Mode per the instructions here. You WILL lose all of your data (game scores, etc,) but, for the most part, you can redownload apps and music without being charged again. Also, read this.

Hi tkdsouth,

Don't waste your time with Philly_Phan or mmurray47, they believe that the problem is with the users, not iOS 8. Like Pope Paul V they cling to a rigid belief regardless of the facts offered here or in other reputable sites. For you (the two above will not accept) here are two links in MacRumors, a well respected site. There are many more in MacRumors and other sites. Also Google "WiFried, iOS 8" to read the Ciabarra article, pretty technical but right on.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/22/ios-8-issues-battery-drain-wifi/

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/22/ios-8-issues-battery-drain-wifi/

My phone like yours worked perfectly with iOS 7. Without making any changes to the router or ISP, when iOS 8 came out the problems started. My phone has been replaced twice with brand new phones. It is not Virgin, I have AT&T, my next door neighbor has Comcast, I tested with his router and ISP, same issue. I also spent about 5 hours with a very knowledgeable AppleCare Level 2 Tech and he could not resolve it. Apple keeps calling many of us to obtain data so I am hoping that at some point the will issue a fix. Even MacRumors was holding their breath that 8.1.3 would solve but that was not the case. The AppleCare Tech told me that the engineers are swamped as they are frantically working on iOS 8.2 for the upcoming iWatch and that is taking priority. Since Apple's profits are going through the roof their is limited incentive to fix.

as mentioned: Airport Extreme 7.6.4

The Cisco does not play a part. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I tried using just the Cisco router's wifi - and got the same results. I did supply the Cisco router info to Apple along with my findings on during the 'test'.

The Cisco pipes the cable internet straight into the Apple Airport Extreme via an ethernet cable, which then assigns DHCP and sends the data to the recipient. For wifi devices, this is where it is slow (mac circa 40-60Mbps, ios8 devices 2-30Mbps). Plug a mac via ethernet in the Airport and you get 100Mbps. NO, that's not a mistake - 100Mbps. Just so we're clear here, the cisco easily can pump, via the Airport Extreme using Ethernet, to my MacBook Pro Retina 10.10.1 - 100Mbps from my ISP. So data is getting from my ISP, through the cisco, through the Airport to my mac that fast, all the cables, ISP etc are fine. It is only wifi (and here I stress again - Apple's wifi) that it slows down.

2 macbook pros, side by side, on the airport extreme, 5m away. Copy 64GB of data = 2 days 'approx'. That's unacceptable. The 2012 running 10.9 clocks in at 450Mpbs TX rate - the brand new macbook pro retina 2014 clocks in at 150Mbps....... I mean, FFS. That's using Yosemite. Yes, I have screen grabs of all of this. So between the wifi chips, the os and the airport - there's a fundamental issue here.

I stand by my complaints on Yosemite and iOS 8 - that wifi is &^U%^. This is Apple's problem - not a third party.

I get a few people on here are trolls. I do. I also get a few people on here simply don't do enough to isolate their issues. I do. I can also be mystified to fellow posters that do not put any specs, or configurations of their setup (yes, that's what you should be showing everyone). But, for the love of all that is pure and techie, you 'non-believers' need to get your head into a space where these issues are occurring - for some of us. This is very real and it's *^%&^% frustrating.

A little more "let's get to the bottom of this" and a little less "go away troll, get a refund". Can we get some actual support in here for a change?

Unsure if this a solution for all but 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. I now got an iPhone 6 and it too seems to work without any issues. Still having location issues on my Mac (locating a position where I have never been connected) and my iPad which locates my previous address 200 km away.....but that is of course an issue for another thread 😟

Let's back up. What changed when my iPad started sporadically getting slow then normal speeds? The only thing that changed was IOS 8. I get the same results on not one, not two, but three different APs. When it slows down it drops to about .05 Mbps. This has NOTHING to do with APs and everything to do with a software update that Apple put out so upgrading my network gear will not fix it. Speaking of that all three of my APs have the latest firmware/software. What I was trying to say about roads is the proposed solution of driving on a different road does not address if there is a problem with the car/iPad then driving on a different road might temporary seem to resolve the issue when it in fact does not and/or you might be forced to travel on a "bad road/bad AP".

Here's a diatribe you might understand:

navigaremondoFeb 13, 2015 8:00 PM Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems
"Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problemsin response to E-2043

Unsure if this a solution for all but 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. I now got an iPhone 6 and it too seems to work without any issues. Still having location issues on my Mac (locating a position where I have never been connected) and my iPad which locates my previous address 200 km away.....but that is of course an issue for another thread" 😟

Not sure if this was suggested before but has anyone registered their ios Mac addresses in their router so the device is always given the same ip address? I did that a LONG time ago to try to get wifi sync with iTunes to be as stable as possible. I wonder if the iOS device keeps all the ip addresses it got and if that can cause it to go squirrelly when it wakes up to renegotiate...

you might need to disassociate your wifi after registering it.. Hopefully ios would delete all info about the wifi profile when it's deleted. For fun I'd suggest register, disassociate, reboot ios, re-join.

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!! I was hesitant to turn Airplane mode off again but when I did the WIFI still working. Too simply but true in my case, hope this fixes for others as it did for mine. But apple should fix this, don't allow someone to tell you its a device fault and too bad buy another- I'm sure with all similar problems people are having and that different things fix it for different people its not the fault of the device itself but the IOS has issues, my phone worked fine before upgrade no coincidence I'm sure, and other devices including another apple that hasn't, and one that has, had upgrades all working fine- to tell me password incorrect when I know its right over and over. another simple fix I tried from very much earlier posts I found was to enable 3G, 4G off then on again this didn't work for me but did for others I thought it was pretty lame after I tried it but going on how lame my fix was its worth a try for others as it is the same concept. GOOD LUCK

I don't know if this will help any of you. But I use Google fiber ipv6 DNS on my Apple device.. iPhone 6 Plus and iPad mini... Never had Wi-Fi issues... I also used the same DNS on my iPhone 5/5s.... For some reason it just works the best.. Here you go... Just replace your DNS in your Wi-Fi and you should notice better performance... Hope this fixes your problems.. I have never had one Wi-Fi issue with any Apple update on any of my Apple products... However I close all apps and give the iPhone/iPad a fresh restart and turn the screen auto lock off before install.... so the install isn't interrupted... I just turn the screen brightness down to 10% or so... Hope this helps...Google fiber ipv6 DNS posted below... Even if you don't have ipv6 service... It helps so try it before you don't think it will help... Just erase and back out one screen and your wifi will replace your DNS number with old DNS number you had before test if you don't think it helped...

Google ipv6 DNS..... 2607:f8b8:4044:802::1011

Riddick - is partially right in my case... (OLD CHAP) the DNS is below the IP and subnet mask and router values..go to wifi, click on the one you're connected to.. now see the settings and go down to the DNS . click on it and change it for 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 or the Google open DNS..

RIDDICK

I tried so far 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and although it seems to be more stable, it still drops the the VOIP capabilities. I also tried once the phone was on wifi (VOIP) to have something constantly streaming, like pandora.. well for three hours the VOIP stabilized.. I got calls and made calls and they were all on VOIP. I tried that with the DNS that is handed to me by my ISP (Comcast), and this did not work as well... SO.. we have pretty much ruled out router issues, IP issues, ISP issues and APPLE needs to fix the the "apparent timeout" which could be associated to the DNS.

keep in mind that apple was the last manufacturer to launch VOIP, this was done last fall 2014.. The reason they did not do it earlier was because they we have "facetime", but after much debate they felt they could loose customers if they did not add this feature. Well as I mentioned in my original post, The "post-Job" era of apple seems to have adopted more of a Microsoft approach which is to launch with minimal testing and let the consumer drive the testing and retroactively launch updates that fix the identified problems.. Apple did not used to have update after update after update, when they launched you could expect a much more stable and well tested product and o/s.. Its no surprise that the stock price has gone through the roof.. I'm guessing reducing the cost of testing has increased the profit margins... capitalism and such with a mix of conspiracy theory LOL...

SERIOUSLY.... APPLE get it together!!! EVEN Fortune Magazine has told you about the seriousness of this problem. for my part I'm looking into LG and android if this is not resolved soon. Keep in mind that my cell signal with ALL carries is a disaster, so I NEED VOIP to make and receive calls!!!

Run DNS benchmark speedtest... I post links a few posts ago... Use fastest DNS you get from benchmark in your home router or wifi.... Use the google fiber ipv6 DNS on your iphone DNS.... Touch settings.... Wifi name you are connected to..... Touch blue i on riht side....then insert Google fiber ipv6 DNS. DNS must be change at every wifi you use.... And every new wifi you sign in for... Keep DNS in notes or email... Then copy and paste when you access new or old wifi Locations to change default DNS installed from internet provider.

google fiber ipv6 DNS.....2607:f8b0:4004:802::1011