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iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

WI-Fi problems on iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina display and iPhone 5S after upgrading to iOS 8.

Typical results from OOKLA Speedtest before upgrade: Ping 17 ms, Upload 21 Mbps, Download 4.4 Mbps

Typical results after upgrade: Ping 39 ms, Download 2.9 Mbps, Upload 0.47 Mbps

iPad 2 with iOS 7.1.2 get 15 Mbps download and 4.4 upload on the same network.

Resetting network settings on the iOS 8 devices did not improve the performance.

Changing band on the router from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz did give me back the speed on all devices.

However the speed occasonally drops on the iOS 8 devices, and the signal strengt can go from full til lost connection without moving the devices.

Also sometimes the Wi-Fi SweetSpots app report 0 mbps when the signal strenght is indicated as full and then suddenly go up to around 58 Mbps again.

It is almost like the device is trying to use cellular network that I do not have on the iPads before it suddenly switches back to Wi-fi nettwork again.

I am thinking about going back to my iPad 2 with iOS 7.1.2 that is working perfectly until the Wi-Fi issues are resolved.


Any help will be very much appreciated!

iPad Air Wi-Fi, iOS 8

Posted on Sep 20, 2014 9:17 AM

Reply
3,343 replies

Aug 21, 2015 4:12 AM in response to Scottyboy99

Please also do not waste money on a new router or waste time doing another restore of your phone. There is no guarantee a new router will fix the issue. I would really like you to test the airplay/Bluetooth first and also look at old_chaps suggestion. We may be able to see what is causing the issue. If it is Bluetooth or something like that then at least the workaround will be to switch it off until iOS9 comes out. If the issue still persists after it's release then I think you should then look to try and swap out the phone.

Aug 21, 2015 8:34 AM in response to nickrob84

Good morning Nick, 10 am here in Houston, so actually good afternoon to you... Looks like you are getting more than you bargained for with all the comments and of course read or ignore any or all at will, including my own. For whatever they are worth my thoughts are imbedded in blue below. Cheers...


In response to elcpu's post:


I have had the wifi issues ever since the release of iOS8. < not surprising as many have iOS7 and before no issues at all. < this is because iOS 7 used mDNSResponder whereas iOS 8x uses DiscoveryD up to this day, every single version including 8.4.1 8.3 and the mDNSResponder change did absolutely nothing and 8.4 is as bad as it's ever been. < I either did not make it clear or you misunderstood. Of course 8.3+ did nothing at all, mDNSResponder is still in use, so there was no "mDNSResponder change" in 8.3+, it has so far only been changed for Macs running 10.10.4+ Actually there were some WiFi issues "fixed" in 8.3 which helped some. This was an attempt by Apple to retain DiscoveryD and improving its performance but subsequent calls to users and logs pointed out to them that the 8.3 "fixes" did not suffice for a large portion of those affected (again a small subset of all the users, but large enough to be significant). The same was happening with OS X Yosemite and Apple did change the networking routine there - back to mDNSR... starting with 10.10.4. I am very pleased to report that my rMBP has been rock solid ever since 10.10.4, Bluetooth enabled and all, it works superbly with my Cisco Routing/AP system which is more elaborate than I initially described. Please draw your own conclusions as you should, but consider this: My Mac now running mDNSR... and my two Dell PCs work perfectly and at the risk of being pleonastic, let me say perfectly again - whereas my four iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) all misbehave to some degree on the same Cisco system. iOS is still using DiscoveryD so what would logic tell us.... gee!! iOS 9 will be released in the fall. Other than looking at an excellent Preview on Apple has provided on its webpage, that is all that is officially known about it at the moment but hang in there if you get my drift!!

1. Yes, we have numerous wifi devices at home and have staged my own tests with my wife's Samsung Galaxy S6 and a Windows 8 laptop using Twitch.tv. I will stream a channel on my iPhone 6 that will inevitably drop out within a couple of minutes whilst the S6 next to it will be faultless along with the laptop. Also have numerous devices connected with no issues via ethernet so I know the internet connection itself is fine. < this is exactly my own experience, all non-iOS and all Ethernet A/V works well, same ISP, same router of course, but my 4 iOS do not. Gee is it my ISP/Routing system or is it iOS? I am thinking !!!!!!! LOL. Also of note, after 5-6 hours on the phone with AppleCare during several calls after I first noticed the issue (after the iOS 8 release) one of my iPhones was replaced for free by AppleCare even though it was slightly out of warranty - from my end AppleCare has behaved superbly, I know some are not pleased but I would give AC high marks - they did not have to replace this phone at all and they did not have to spend 5-6 hours on the phone with me. Regardless the replacement did not help, behaves the same as the old one, but they tried âś… At the time I did not know about the DiscoveryD issue but knowing what I know now, I would not have bothered. My old phone was pristine but I did get a new one with a new battery, so a small pay off. The calls above were initiated by me. The calls several of us here on forum received from AppleCare to inquire about the issue and collect logs/data were initiated by them (about 2 hours on the phone on these) so in total AC has spent 8 or so hours with me...

2. I use the 5Ghz band on my router. 2.4Ghz seems a lot more stable but again doesn't fix things. < this is surprising, it is supposed to be the other way around and it certainly is for me. My 5 GHz is far more stable however the 2.4 band has far more range (as expected). I live in an L shaped rather large house and I have an additional AP by the far end of the L to improve range. I am using the 2.4 now because range is more important to me than Bluetooth (Bluetooth works far better for me on the 5 as it should). I could buy more APs of course and may resort to that while converting all to the 5 band. But since I know that iOS 9 will be out in the fall... I use BT for AirDrop on occasion but have to accept the crawl speeds, at times below 1 Mbps. Of course a simple click on the control panel reverts all back.

3. I will turn off bluetooth and report back. < would be curious to know the results This frustrates me though as I like to have bluetooth on for pairing with my car. < If it works better at home with BT off, you could toggle BT on/off with control panel for the car but what a pain...

4. I have tried both Google DNS and OpenDNS with no luck. < not surprising, I mentioned that it would be a long shot.

5. I have the speedtest.net on my phone. Produces the same results as my iMac connected via ethernet.

6. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4599152620

7. I have wifi at work and although it is only something like 15mb/2mb it is a dream to use because I don't get the dropouts. Why this is I don't know and it's difficult to investigate what equipment they are using as it's a secure system. < many here reporting the same. The "skeptics" here often say that this "proves" the issue is your home system but it is not that simple. Apple has found out that iOS 8 as-is with DiscoveryD works perfectly well in most environments, that is why so many are not reporting problems, but they also have found out that there are some environments where it does not (some combination of phone and ISP/router specifics) and they know that it should work on those as well and they are addressing it. Pleonastic again, recall that they had the same issue with Yosemite and their fix was to revert to mDNSR... so again, hang in there.

8. I have tried numerous firmware on my router. The latest stable Asus firmware, custom firmware that is supposed to be an older build where the wireless was most stable etc... no luck.

9. At some stage I must of done a restore from scratch with no luck. I may try again. I also have a genius appointment on Thursday to see if I can get the phone replaced to rule that out as well. < this could very well solve it. I can say with confidence that no two phones are ever completely alike, just like any other electronic or mechanical equipment.

10. I have touted this idea before but was reluctant because of the cost and the risk of it not doing anything. I may buy one at the end of the month though to rule another possibility out. < I would wait until iOS 9 comes out although if you are in a hurry going Apple to Apple has a chance.

I am more than happy to wait for iOS 9. I am a big Apple fan < my wife and I also and love the ecosystem (which practically my whole life is built around) but the wifi issue is becoming a deal breaker.


Many thanks for replying and providing all the details, I think many here appreciate it, myself for sure. Best of luck...

elcpu

Aug 21, 2015 8:46 AM in response to elcpu

A question for you elcpu.


Do you have a theory that explains why the vast majority (myself included) are not suffering the same issues under ostensibly the same conditions, or why one router works (work) and another does not (home) how could discoveryd be involved?


I see that you have considered your theories carefully, but why are there so many circumstances where they fail to fit the pattern? Have you considered the effects of having a researcher who believes he knows the answer and its affect on his research?

Aug 21, 2015 9:26 AM in response to Csound1

Let's see what Nick reports back on when he turns off Airplay devices and Bluetooth at home. Maybe the reason he sees no problems at work is because a corporate environment are not going to have things like Airplay to trip his phone's connection up. Hopefully he can eliminate these as possible causes - if it does improve things then at the very least it's a workaround until iOS 9.


I can only speak from my own experience, didn't have too many issues in wifi hotspots but at home across several access points I have setup there were some strange behaviours going on. Switching off Apple TV and Airport Express made everything work fine. It wasn't bad enough to constantly switch them off. But it didn't affect all our devices, 1 iPad mini and a third gen iPad was fine whilst my 5S and another iPad mini struggled to consistently display airplay devices and was slow accessing apps that allowed browsing of NAS drives within network, not too mention occasional slowing throughput on speedtest(ookla) app. So not all devices doing the same thing. And of course now I have iPhone 6 plus to replace the 5S and now see no issue whatsoever on this. It's a horrific troubleshooting exercise for Apple I know, like looking for a needle in a haystack but all people can do is hope for iOS 9.

Aug 21, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Scottyboy99

Scottyboy99 wrote:


Let's see what Nick reports back on when he turns off Airplay devices and Bluetooth at home. Maybe the reason he sees no problems at work is because a corporate environment are not going to have things like Airplay to trip his phone's connection up. Hopefully he can eliminate these as possible causes - if it does improve things then at the very least it's a workaround until iOS 9.

That certainly should be tried, nothing to lose but, "maybe" is not helpful, if there is a difference in the environments whether or not brought on by Corporate policy it may tell us more than we now know. Does the workplace block ports, does it use 2.4 or 5ghz bands, or is it the sun/moon alignment at the office that is simply more favorable. Maybe's, Should haves and Possibly's are another way of saying "I don't know why"


My own meagre research has concentrated on antennae and location, both of which have a significant effect on reception. Antennae are what they are, too small for proper reception over a 360deg radius, that's where location comes in. Using a Tektronix RF analyser I mapped my house transmission (polar chart) and found many areas of low signal strength, some only a foot or two from a high strength area. I still don't see a systemic issue with software, just the usual RF weirdness carried out at meagre signal strengths in a multi path rich environment.

Aug 21, 2015 10:18 AM in response to old_chap

Something else you might like to try, there is another app that checks speed (free in App Store) - CloudCheck

In addition to speed you can move around & it shows wi-fi signal so you can identify and dead spots. There was a post about this some weeks (maybe months) ago in this thread



Good suggestion, old_chap. When time permits I will check it out myself. Thanks for the tip.... âś…

Aug 21, 2015 10:29 AM in response to elcpu

Right, been home for a few hours now and given a small test alongside windows and android. Switched off both Bluetooth and AirPlay then rebooted the phone and unfortunately it doesnt seem to have done a lot. Still getting those mini disconnects. Unsurprisingly, Android and Windows are behaving as they should with no issues along with the Ethernet devices.


Im struggling now really. My heart says to try an AirPort Extreme even if it does come at a cost risk but then I think about and I think if there was something wrong with the router then the non iOS devices would behave similarly?


Next port of call is a clean restore with no iCloud backup. Although this will take me hours to get back to how I am now I will try over the weekend.


If that fails then I suppose it's the wait for iOS 9.


How does the iOS 9 beta wifi perform?


Again thank you for your help.

Aug 21, 2015 11:21 AM in response to nickrob84

nickrob84 wrote:


My heart says to try an AirPort Extreme even if it does come at a cost risk but then I think about and I think if there was something wrong with the router then the non iOS devices would behave similarly?

There is no "cost risk" involved, buy an Extreme, test it, take it back within 14 days for a refund if it fails. Testing is better than assuming.

nickrob84 wrote:


How does the iOS 9 beta wifi perform?

No-one participating in the Beta program whether developer or public can answer that question without violating their NDA with Apple. Best not to tempt them by asking. 🙂

Aug 21, 2015 4:59 PM in response to nickrob84

Nick, I do not have nor have I ever had any Beta products installed on any of my Apple devices or for that matter my Microsoft PCs. I strongly advise against it unless the person is a developer. We are not allowed to discuss Betas here anyway.

Regarding a new router, my 2 cents… wait a bit before you buy one. Then again here in the US I could buy one at the Apple Store and return it within 14 days, don't know if the same policy applies in the UK, likely yes. I would try this myself but I have a more complicated networking system at home than what I have discussed here so far and Apple’s Airports will not let me do what I want. Apple is well known for making things simple at the expense of user control. I have multiple APs and my AT&T / Cisco system allows me great flexibility throughout my home.

A recent poster on another thread had similar issues a couple of weeks back, had an old Airport which he did not mind replacing as it was getting "arthritic", bought a new Express (not an Extreme) and it worked for him. There is no guarantee for you of course but assuming that your 6 does not have a hardware defect, I would give it a 75%+ chance that it will work. Going Apple to Apple greatly enhances compatibility.


The issue at hand is simply the “iOS radio hardware/software accessing the router and maintaining a stable connection” and while mDNSResponder in iOS 7 worked well (not perfect) with just about any up-to-date, WI-FI certified router (as it should), DiscoveryD does not. Apple attempted to fix DiscoveryD without success (at least so far) and thus reverted back to mDNSR with OS X 10.10.4.

Regarding the complicated topic of why some devices work and some don’t with the same router - and why some work in various places and not others - without getting too technical here, there is a general misconception that all iPhone 6 (how do I say sixes, not 6s as there is no such thing) should behave the same, barring defective hardware/software. Yes ones and zeros are just that but how they interact with the hardware is another matter. The answer generally lies with manufacturing "tolerances", i.e., no 2 iPhone 6 (I'll skip the s) are ever the same, no 2 Airport Extremes are ever the same, no 2 car pistons are ever the same.... They may meet tolerances and specs established by the manufacturer for wifi radios, displays, chips, etc. but the ones and zeros will behave ever so slightly different in one versus the other. The same applies to 3rd party routers, no two Cisco xxx are ever the same either, and pairing the tolerances of a phone with the tolerances of the 3rd party router adds to the complexity. The routers may be Wi-Fi certified, meet specs, and have up-to-date firmware but they will vary router to router.

As I mentioned before, I have spent around 8 hours on the phone (or maybe more) with various AppleCare reps starting in Dec 2014. I initiated the first call. The original call was escalated to Level 2 after about half an hour with Level 1 (a waste of time that one has to go through to get to 2 but Level 1 solves a lot of simple issues). Level 2 could not resolve the issue of course. My phone and router settings were all verified by a very knowledgeable tech, Bob K. (which I now have on speed dial as he gave me his direct number after hours of effort). Bob "remoted" in to my PC while my phone was connected to iTunes, spent considerable time looking at all he could, but to no avail, then arranged for me to get a new phone at the Apple Store courtesy of Apple, even though mine a 5, was out of warranty already (I must say that Apple has great customer support, way beyond what they are obligated to do). Bob then escalated the case to the Engineering/Development team.

My original phone was in pristine condition but the exchange resulted in a new phone with a new battery, my payoff for the effort. As an aside, the replacement phone lasted one day only. Picked it up one evening at the Genius bar, was told that the phone was brand new because Apple does not replace defective phones with refurbished ones (kudos to Apple). Regardless, the next day the display developed large vertical bars, went back to Genius, they played with it a bit and gave me iPhone #3 which I now have….

In late January I received a call initiated by AppleCare as a result of my posts here and asking to take logs and other info from my devices. AC then tried to set up a conference call with an engineer, the tech, and myself at a given time in late January. I could not make that timeframe as I was headed to a sunny blue water climate for two weeks and thus got dropped - likely some other chap got moved into the queue instead and I did not hear from this tech again. In March I received another call from a different tech, based on my posts here again, and asking for the same information, logs and details from all my devices. No offer was made to patch me to Engineering at that time. Neither of these two techs could hold a candle to Bob.

In your last post you stated “Next port of call is a clean restore with no iCloud backup. Although this will take me hours to get back to how I am now I will try over the weekend.”

Here is a suggestion for you for what ever it is worth. Before you do anything further, connect your 6 to whatever computer you use for syncing. Then do a backup to the computer through iTunes (the default dot will be on iCloud so make sure you change it to computer). Make sure you can then see the time stamp of your last computer backup on iTunes. Then disconnect from the computer and do a backup to iCloud, that way you have both. Now go to your phone itself (with either a 100% charge or better yet, plugged in). Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings, and let it rip. When prompted select Set Up As New (and not from iCloud backup). At that time you will have a brand new phone (well almost) assuming the hardware is not defective. Then do the minimal setup necessary to simply allow you to get to Wi-Fi. Then test away and see. One of two results should ensue.

Result #1. Your phone now works well with your Wi-Fi. Bingo! Two choices now, continue setting everything from scratch which depending on what you have could take you many hours - it would me. Second choice, go back to your computer, restore the backup there (more reliable than the iCloud backup) and test again. If it still works you have saved yourself many hours of work. If it does not, you have a corrupted backup because the phone as previously set up had a corrupted configuration or app. Your only choice now is to repeat the Erase All and set up as new all he way.

Result #2. Your phone does not work well with Wi-Fi even after the Erase All and even when set up as New. You either have a defective phone OR we are back at square one with the decision regarding an Airport Extreme and/or waiting for iOS 9. At that point if it was me I would restore the iTunes backup and wait for 9 as I do not want to replace my AT&T / Cisco setup. If you, however, have a 14 day trial option on the Extreme you have a decision to make. Looks like no trip on the Eurostar for you this weekend.

Cheerio,

Carlos (my real name instead of the screen elcpu)

iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

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