iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems

Scottyboy, you said: "I wonder if they will bother fixing the AWDL bug in iOS 8.2 or 8.3. Whenever I have AirPlay on in my network it causes the wifi to become quite erratic. Really annoying seeing as ios 7 exhibited no such issues."

I have been posting on this site for months and I have the same problem you mentioned above whenever I enable AirDrop on my iPad Air and iPhone 5. With AirDrop OFF I get speeds which generally match the ISP rate - with AirDrop ON my speeds drop to about 1 Mbps (sometimes as low as 0.1). Myself and others have posted about the article by Mr. Ciabarra in Medium that describes the bug in technical detail. It can be found by Googling "WiFried iOS 8".

Regarding the posts by Riddick, when I first called AppleCare about this issue months ago they suggested that I try Google's DNS, 8.8.8.8, and I did but this did not help. In fact I still have 8.8.8.8 as my DNS on my iPad and I cannot enable AirDrop as it will degrade my download speeds as mentioned above. A word of CAUTION here, as the Ciabarra articles states, when one changes anything in the Wi-Fi settings, DNS, APs, Forget Network, etc. one will get a temporary WI-FI bounce, i.e., speeds will be restored but this "fix" will not last for the reasons described by Ciabarra.

To answer you question I am hoping that Apple will fix the AWDL bug as this is the cause of the problems many of us are having but I am not confident at all that they will - was told by AppleCare that the "engineers" are very busy developing 8.2 for the iWatch so I am not holding my breath. Under Jobs Apple had a culture of "perfection" - now it seems that profits are the driving force and they are doing very well indeed. Apple will be replacing AT&T in the Dow Jones average and their stock keeps going up. This trend will not be sustainable if Apple software becomes unreliable, they will make a lot of money in the mean time but eventually it will catch up with them. Most people are either not having any problems OR are not aware that they have low speeds, I have two friends with dismal speeds and they were not aware of the issue as they are not techies.

I think you're right about disabling Airdrop and Bluetooth. Below are my results running the speedtest app on my iPad when bluetooth was enabled and when was disabled. I can 100% say when bluetooth is disabled my iPad does not slowdown. This disproves theorys that it is a DNS issue and/or our routers. It points to a software issue as from my understanding the WIFI circuitry and bluetooth circuity might be separate. If it was DNS enabling and disabling bluetooth would not make a difference with WIFI speeds. If it was our routers then enabling and disabling bluetooth would not make a difference in WIFI speed. It flat out points to something in the iPad, the same iPad that Apple made using software that Apple created and made available to their customers. In my mind Apple should be held responsible for breaking my iPad as they were in 100% control of the hardware and software. They should be fixing my iPad via an available software update or buy me an iPad where I can use bluetooth without close to dial-up speeds.

This problem has been going on for months and so far Apple is keeping quiet on the issue not talking about it when in fact there is a problem. It may not be with everyone's hardware but it's safe to say there is a problem.

All measurements were taken consecutively

Bluetooth enabled .16Mbps down .95Mbps up

Bluetooth disabled 19.72Mbps down 4.37Mbps up

Bluetooth enabled .25Mbps down .49Mbps up

Bluetooth disabled 12.95Mbps down 4.89Mbps up

I've done a lot of troubleshooting. It started happening around September when I installed IOS8. something. Sometimes my iPad would be fine other times it would not load pages and transfer data in apps so slow I would give up. This happened at home, in hotels, and on my mobile hotspot. When I would run speed tests my normal download speeds of 18meg would go down to about .33meg. Some days it would work some days it would not. When In installed one update it worked for a week then it came back. I noticed recently the slowdown only when I had bluetooth on even if it wasn't connected to anything. When I would shut bluetooth off I would get my speed back. With it on slow again.

When I upgraded to IOS 8.2 a few days ago I had speed back up to 18meg with my bluetooth on but once I streamed audio to my bluetooth speaker the problem came back. Bluetooth off or on and not connected to speaker my speed is good. Bluetooth on and connected to audio speed poor.

Do I think it's a hardware issue? No because others are having similar problems that started around the same time and from one IOS upgrade to another the problem is still there under different circumstances.

Also Apple emailed and called me. We installed a WIFI logger and I sent them the results. They also wanted me to answer the questions below. I think they're trying to figure out why some have this issue but not everyone. In regards to the questions below it's all about our networks and such but nothing about their IOS update. It's like they refuse to accept the fact that IOS8 might have a problem with some devices.

What's my background. I've been an IT consultant for 11 years specializing in Microsoft technology so I'm not some dummy when it comes to troubleshooting and technology.

Information about network:
* Make
* Model
* Firmware Version
* FCCID of AP/Router
* Hardware Rev (Only needed if there is NO FCCID)
* Does this problem occur if the AP/Router is rebooted?
* When was the last time the AP/Router firmware was updated?



Network Configuration:
- Network Mode (b/g/n mixed, b/g only, a/b/g/n, n only etc)

- Security (WPAv1 (TKIP), WPAv2 (AES), WPA-Mixed (TKIP+AES), WEP

- Is a MAC filter used?

- Is this a hidden network?

Who your ISP?

What is the type of WAN connection (Cable, DSL, Fiber, etc)?

What speed is your internet connected rated at?

What is the name of the wireless network?

Have you disabled WMM?

Is DHCP Enabled or is the user using static IP addressing?

Have you tried to connect closer to the Router? What is the outcome?

When the issue is experienced, do non-iOS devices work properly? Are these devices wireless? Sounds like you have other devices that are working, based on your post.


If using security, does the problem still occur with Open security?

Does the issue persist when rebooting the iOS device?

Does this issue only occur at home?

Has the user tried changing the operating channel?

Any other work-arounds? If so please describe.

What version of iOS is running on the Apple Device?

If Bluetooth is Disabled, do you still see this issue?

If Location is Disabled, do you still see this issue?

Distance from the Router(include multiple distances portraying signal strength if any)?

Do you have different WiFi name for 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz, if so which one was used?

If the customer sees an alert when attempting to join, what is the exact text of the alert?

Did this iOS device ever have expected Wi-Fi functionality? If so, please elaborate when, what changed, etc.

Quote London lad:-

Apr 9, 2015 2:53 PM
Re: iOS 8 Wi-Fi problems in response to jscheurer

8.3 seems to have provided fixes for all the problems I was having too.

So far:-

No password rejection at log on to a network.

No dropped wi-fi connexions or failed hand offs

No drop-outs when streaming audio by airplay

No massive speed drops

OK I thought it may be helpful to post a quick update now I've had a chance to run 8.3 for a while.

I have installed ios 8.3 on the following apple devices in my household: iphone 5s, 5c, ipad 3, ipad 4 and an apple TV.

As I have mentioned before I run a cluster of 4 Cisco professional wireless access points and have numerous other wireless computers and devices on the network.

Since the ios 8.3 install none of the apple devices have had any incidents of wi-fi password rejection, there have been zero incidences of the wi-fi connexion being dropped or failing to hand off from wap to wap and I can now conduct a Skype call and wander round the house being handed off from wap to wap just as I used to with ios 7. Speed tests run normally and consistently and are no longer influenced by having bluetooth or airplay enabled as they were with previous versions of ios 8.

I have tested my iphone 5s in a number of friends homes and offices where the bug previously caused problems with wi-fi and all seems to be back to ios 7 performance, i.e. working fine.

I have spoken to a number of other iphone / ipad users and also engineers at my workshops and they all say 8.3 has returned wi-fi to normal with one exception which is something I had noticed too; When ios 8 came out and the wi-fi problem first started, a symptom I encountered was an intermittent problem with starting an airplay connexion, airplay hanging, and jumping to another track after the hang was resolved by restarting airplay. I use airplay for audio-books everyday and this was a problem that started with ios8. I note that with ios 8.3 although this problem has improved and is now less frequent it's still not completely gone away and I have received the same reports from other users too.

I also notice a change in behaviour when playing audio-books via airplay, previous to ios8.3 you were able to close the music app while it was playing and then restart the same book or track from control centre without re-running the music app. Now if you do this control centre will start playing a seemingly random song rather than the book you were playing previously. Not a big problem but interesting in light of the remaining airplay problem.

With regard to people still encountering wi-fi problems, it crossed my mind that with all the nonsense 'cures' being suggested in this and other threads by people insisting there was no bug, it may be possible that some people could still be running 'odd' router wi-fi settings or 'odd' phone settings. I guess it's worth making sure that everything is set back as it was before ios 8 ?

GThrasher35 wrote:

with airdrop and bluetooth on, the d/l and u/l diminish to near 0 for me....

I am having the same problem. With AirDrop and Bluetooth OFF I consistently get my rated ISP speeds on both my iPad Air and iPhone 5. With them ON my DLs slow down to below 1 Mbps. My wife's iPad Air behaves the same and 8.3 did not change this behavior. I also have a MacBook Pro Retina (late 2014) and two Dell laptops and all show consistent speeds regardless of Bluetooth settings. My solution for now is to turn AD and BT OFF, just live without them. As you stated we will have to wait for another update to fix this bug.

Some posters have stated that we are not addressing Apple here, only other users, however this is not true. Apple employees read these posts and they have contacted several of us who reported problems in detail to install logging software and collect additional information. I was contacted by an Apple employee (Kevin) who had been asked by Engineering to obtain additional information from me. Kevin obtained my email address from my log-in name (elcpu) and stated that he contacted me as a result of my posts. We exchanged telephone numbers and spoke several times. So my recommendation to those still experiencing problems is to continue to summarize your Wi-Fi issues here. Apple will read them and hopefully will address them in subsequent updates.

I have EXACTLY the same issue. Spent forever on the phone with Apple and they even had me ship my ipad back and replace it so they could study it... Like most people report I had no issues on old IOS release on either ipad or iphone and they refused to let me roll back the upgrade of the ios even though i requested it within days of the upgrade... Bit the bullet as nothing would work and purchased new iphone 6plus. Guess what same problem!!! When I turn off everything in house that is bluetooth driven and unplug them... problem remains. when I turn off bluetooth on iphone and ipad both works perfectly... I have been convinced all along it is an IOS issue and Apple just wont own it! so frustrating,

I upgraded iphone 6plus yesterday to IOS latest release - no change. Issue still there. Done investing time in this - just living with under 1mb download or not using bluetooth which ***** as it kills enjoying my music on my speakers...

The ios 8.x wi-fi bug has nothing to do with wi-fi routers or WAPs. If a wi-fi router or WAP complies with the relevant 802.11x standard (which they must do to be sold in the UK or US) and has the correct settings, then they should work with all wi-fi devices that use that standard, as they did with apple devices up until ios 8.x. It's madness to suggest that everyone should start changing their routers or WAPs to accommodate one manufactures phone running one specific OS, and Apple are certainly not suggesting this as they have admitted to ios 8.x wi-fi problems as witnessed by their ios8.3 bug fix list.

As I have posted before, ios 8.3 fixed the bug for me as far as wi-fi speed, disconnection and password rejection was concerned but I do still have Air play bugs. Roll on 8.4.

I believe I have now solved my problem. I now appears that my particular issue was being caused the Netgear Genie app on my iPad. This has some kind of option for controlling access to media which I have never used and never activated. In addition is was showing as inactive. Despite all of that deleting the app and rebooting my iPad has completely fixed my connection issues. I will report the issue to Netgear if I can.

PS61 wrote:

Try turning Bluetooth off and see if it helps. If it does please report here.

In addition to PS61's suggestion (which works for me) you might try switching to the 5GHz band if your router has one. Various reports state that there is a conflict with the networking routine currently used in iOS 8 and Bluetooth and switching from the 2.4 to the 5 band has helps some. The drawback is that the 5GHz band has a far shorter range so if your house is large you will get better access with 2.4. According to Apple, iOS 9 should be available in the fall and hopefully will improve networking.

Nick, I am back, sorry for the delay. I am going to give you a long explanation so bear with me, I hope it helps.

I know your comment about "going mad" was in jest but regardless, let me assure you that no meds are needed, there are many having the same problems. I will start with some facts about the state of the issue and then I will offer some suggestions for your specific case.

I have been following this thread since November 2014. In summary, the problems with Wi-Fi occur on a subset of devices as the majority of users are not having issues. However those that are often report serious difficulties. I am lucky - in my own case my 4 iOS devices connect ok but have difficulties with slow download speeds when Bluetooth is turned on. They function at full ISP speeds with BT off. However my MacBookPro as well as my two Dell PCs work perfectly well with the same router (Cisco) regardless of Bluetooth settings. I have posted on this thread many times and as a result I and others who did the same received calls from AppleCare. Apple collected various logs from my iOS devices and took extensive information regarding my Wi-Fi configuration. The calls - 2 of them - lasted over one hour each. Others have reported the same. So Apple is aware of the issue and is working on it.

Apple used to use a networking routine called mDNSResponder in iOS 7 and in OS X Mavericks. With the advent of iOS 8 and Yosemite they changed to a new routine called DiscoveryD which has been quite problematic for many and its issues have been extensively reported on the web. However when Yosemite 10.10.4 came out, users noticed that Apple had switched back to mDNSResponder, easy to test with Activity Monitor. In Apple’s 10.10.4 release notes they stated “improvements to Wi-FI”. While there will always be people posting about Wi-Fi issues (on any iOS, Androids, Macs or PCs) the general consensus from technical publications and affected users is that reverting back to mDNSResponder has significantly reduced the problems encountered with the previous networking routine (I rather not post links to non-Apple sites here). According to Apple, iOS 9 will be released in the fall and hopefully there will be improvements there as well, that is all I can say at this time.

There have been some so-called “fixes” reported here and there but most of those “fixes” have not proven successful in the long run (see my post on page 206 about the middle of the page, 7/29/15, don’t know what time zone you are at, so the time stamp would not help).

In the mean time I have some questions and suggestions for you.

1. Do you have other wifi devices at home, PCs, Macs, other iOS, Androids? Do they work ok or not?

2. Are you using the 2.4 or 5 GHz band on your Asus and have you tried connecting your phone to the 5 band? Any change?

3. Do you have Bluetooth and AirDrop turned on your iPhone 6? If so turn them off (BT to off will suffice) and test again?

4. Do you have Google’s DNS on your phone? Slight chance it could help.

5. Do you have the OOKLA Speed Test App on your phone? If not, install it from the App Store (free, but assuming you can get connected and you may not, grrrrr) and compare what you get on your phone with what you get on your Mac/PC (no app needed there, just go to speedtest.net). Make sure no other device is using wifi while you are running the test (best to have them all on sleep). If your phone is not able to connect this is moot.

6. On your PC/Mac do you get anywhere close to the 80 Mbps you are paying for?

7. Have you tested your phone at a coffee shop’s wifi or the like? Even if it works ok there, that is no guarantee that your phone or iOS is ok. I can explain later if you like, but to save me the trouble, test it at Starbucks first and see, or alternatively at a neighbor’s or friend’s wifi.

8. You said that you updated the router software, how old is the router? Moot if wifi certified and all other devices work ok but curious anyway.

9. You said that you did a full restore. Did you do what is on this link:

Use iTunes to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

and if so did you restore from a backup? If you did that and you have a corrupted App or system setting, you would be restoring the corruption as well. I can help with this once I know the answers above.

10. Some have reported success by replacing their router with an Apple Airport Express but hardly a solution for all with rather new, major brand, networking equipment (Asus should be fine) and also in good up-to-date operating condition. Apple to Apple does seem to add stability.

I will comment again once I know the answers above. Also fyi there are several threads on this forum regarding iOS 8 Wi-Fi issues. While this one is the largest and oldest, if interested check this one out. Wi-Fi not working on iOS 8.4

If none of the ideas above help, just hang in there until iOS 9 is out in the fall. Trust me… ✅

elcpu

Well the upgrade to iOS9 is complete and had a few hours to play and happy to report all seems back to normal again after a year of woes. Nothing on my network was changed bar the upgrade to 9. It has been confirmed that Apple's network routine has reverted to mDNSresponder over iOS8's DiscoveryD which I assume was the problem in certain situations.

elcpu,

Well I haven't posted for a while as I got so frustrated with the IOS 8 wireless problems on my 4S that I joined the IOS 9.0 Beta program so could not comment,. Now it's been released I guess I can now say that since loading the 9.0 beta a while back, my wi-fi issues were resolved straight after loading the new version. Furthermore, I can also add that between Wi-Fi working great on IOS 7 releases, then having nothing but problems with all IOS 8 versions, and now back to wi-fi working great with 9.0 that NO changes were made, to hardware or to configuration within in my home wi-fi setup.

So as I stated from day 1, the only thing that changed between Wi-Fi working on my 4S and it not working was IOS 7 "upgrade" to IOS 8.

Now I can also state that the only thing that changed between Wi-Fi not working and it working great again on my 4S was upgrading IOS 8 to IOS 9.0 beta and now the official public release.

So to elcpu and the others on here who have held out for 9, I sincerely hope your Wi-Fi problems are now resolved like mine. Lets hope this forum has now run it's course and is redundant for the best of reasons.

Best wishes

Don

I understand from a Forbes article that ios9 reverts back to ios7 WiFi protocols. As upgrading to ios9 is fixing the problem for many people could it be that ios8 is at least part of the problem?

A little late to the "ball game" here? Regarding DiscoveryD, the networking routine used in iOS 8, please see my post on Page 219, Sept 17. (Gordon Kelly got some of his info from me).

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6546549?start=3270&tstart=0

Then please read my post on Page 220. I offer a list of suggestions for Wi-Fi issues. The #1 is: Upgrade to iOS 9.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6546549?start=3285&tstart=0

And yes, I know there are some having issues with iOS 9 now as well, will always be so with any iOS or Android or PC or Mac.

Cheers...

I was having the same issues on two iPad Airs, an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 5s. What I found was that the Settings --> Personal Hotspot was enabled by default and by turning it off on all of the devices, everything returned to normal. You might need to power off and back on the devices after turning off the Personal Hotspot.

Some self help tips and questions that have benefitted folks over the years:

What channel are you guys seeing the issue on ? Have you guys tried using channel 36 on 5 Ghz and checked if the issues resolve ? In the past with some third party routers I have seen random issues with upper channels.

Please also post your wireless router make/model details so it will help other folks who are using the same router.

Check if your wireless router is running the latest firmware as a lot of times older firmware's have interop issues and a router firmware upgrade resolves the issue.

What security are you guys using ?