Does iOS 9 require an SSID to be broadcasted in order to join a wireless network? On previous versions of iOS I was able to connect to my home wireless network when hiding the broadcast of my SSID.

Does iOS 9 require an SSID to be broadcasted in order to join a wireless network? On previous versions of iOS I was able to connect to my home wireless network when hiding the broadcast of my SSID. Currently, I can only connect to my home network with iOS 9 if I'm broadcasting my SSID. Also, I found an article on Apple Support from 9/11/2015 that "recommended" that the SSID be broadcasted, but it wasn't required. Thanks.

Posted on Sep 16, 2015 6:44 PM

39 replies

Sep 30, 2015 12:12 PM in response to Mario Aurelio

IS Apple taking a note on this? im waiting for an update that addresses this to move my other devices from iOS 8.X. We feel less secure by taking out these security blocks. Luckily my iPhone has unlimited data.

Sep 30, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Sedruolm0

Apple takes note of what you say when you call them, what you chat with them about online, what you discuss with a genius at an Apple store, and what you tell them at http://apple.com/feedback. Apple does not participate in this forum, so they DO NOT take note of what is said in this user-to-user forum.

iFaqeer

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2015 12:22 PM in response to Sedruolm0

I've got an ticket open with Apple Support on this issue and their support uptil this point is absolutely useless and very poor. You talk to the person on the other end and you can tell that they are just total clueless on what the problem is even when I told them the exact steps to reproduce this at will. Typical scripted/canned answers. Just plain awful support.

Oct 3, 2015 1:23 PM in response to Mario Aurelio

I'm happy to announce that iOS 9.0.2 has addressed the issue with not being able to connect to a network when MAC Filtering is enabled!

iFaqeer

Level 1

0 points

Oct 3, 2015 1:28 PM in response to Mario Aurelio

I'm running 9.0.2 and it did not fixed the issue related to MAC address filtering in my case. I can reproduce this issue at will. As soon, as I enable MAC address filter, with my iPhone's MAC address in the "allow" list, the Wi-Fi on the iPhone disconnects immediately. So, it may be working for you, but not for everyone else.

KiltedTim

Level 10

224,964 points

Oct 3, 2015 1:29 PM in response to Mario Aurelio

Mario Aurelio wrote:

I'm happy to announce that iOS 9.0.2 has addressed the issue with not being able to connect to a network when MAC Filtering is enabled!

Um... ok... what does that have to do with this discussion? Or did you simply "forget" to mention that aspect of the problem?

Oct 3, 2015 4:58 PM in response to iFaqeer

Sorry to hear that. I know how frustrating things can be when they don't work. If it's an issue that is still outstanding with iOS, hopefully they will address it soon.

Oct 3, 2015 5:24 PM in response to KiltedTim

It's been mentioned a number of times in this thread, as well as in other threads. The problem only occurs if the SSID is not broadcast AND MAC filtering is enabled. The problem did not occur if MAC filter was not enabled.

Oct 3, 2015 5:26 PM in response to KiltedTim

***Please read.***

Mario AurelioSep 20, 2015 8:02 AM Re: Does iOS 9 require an SSID to be broadcasted in order to join a wireless network? On previous versions of iOS I was able to connect to my home wireless network when hiding the broadcast of my SSID.
Re: Does iOS 9 require an SSID to be broadcasted in order to join a wireless network? On previous versions of iOS I was able to connect to my home wireless network when hiding the broadcast of my SSID.in response to wifiguru

From Erik @ Apple Support:

"After speaking with you, I started messing around a little with my network and router settings to see what I could do connect to a hidden network with my iPhone. I have a Airport Extreme router, and I restored it to factory settings and set up the network all over again as well as changing the WPA2 password from what it was before. After that was complete, I was successful in connecting to the hidden network with all of my devices including my iPhone 5s with iOS 9.

Not sure this work around will work for you, but just a suggestion. In the meantime, I did send out the engineering request regarding this issue and the engineering team confirmed they received the request."

Therefore, if you Reset your router it should address the issue with the SSID Hidden, and I believe it isn't necessary to change the password. Although, there appears to be an additional issue with MAC Filtering enabled.

I was going to try Erik's suggestion, but as luck would have it my router (Cisco/Linksys E4200 V2) stopped working yesterday. Therefore, I went to best buy and bought a Linksys EA 3500. I installed the new router and it did connect with the SSID Hidden.

After finalizing the configuration of the router I realized that if I enable MAC Filtering (which I have always utilized) I encounter the same message "Could not find the network." The moment I disable MAC Filtering, any device running iOS 9 automatically connects to the network. Therefore, it appears devices running iOS 9 cannot connect to a network if MAC Filtering is enabled.

This latest development was forwarded to Erik at Apple and I will post any updates when received.

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Does iOS 9 require an SSID to be broadcasted in order to join a wireless network? On previous versions of iOS I was able to connect to my home wireless network when hiding the broadcast of my SSID.