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iOS 9 wifi connectivity problems

I have two typically frequented wireless networks. The network at my house, and the network at my university. My personal network is encrypted using WPA2-Personal over both 2.4GHz, and 5GHz via 802.11ac. My university uses WPA2-Enterprise over a similar protocol. After updating to iOS 9, neither my iPhone 6 plus, nor iPad Air 2 can consistently connect to the university's wireless network. I noticed that resetting the network settings temporarily solved the problem on my iPhone, and it was able to connect for a few hours; but has never solved the problem on my iPad. When I left for about an hour, and came back to the university, my iPhone again could not connect to the internet; and my iPad following suit. Two outcomes are occurring: either after the encryption key is submitted, the iPhone doesn't acknowledge anything besides asking for the encryption key again; or it says incorrect passcode. It would appear as though the encryption key handoff is either timing out, or incompatible with the network. Most likely, iOS 9 has inadvertently lost support for specific types of 802.11x networks, or it's simply a bug.


Note:

  • I have confirmed the encryption key by disconnecting, and reconnecting on my MacBook Pro: to rule out the possibility the passphrase has changed.
  • Re-Booted both devices
  • Cycled Wifi (turned off, and back on)
  • Reset the network settings on both devices.
  • Soft-Reset (Holding down the power and home buttons) on both devices.


Because both devices had trouble simultaneously it is hardly likely that it is a device-specific issue - which rules out a factory reset.


I have read similar problems with other people on the support forums. Hopefully Apple can patch this issue with a quick iOS 9.0.1 before the release of iOS 9.1. I'd like to use my wifi at my school 😢


Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you are having similar problems... Best of luck!


-Jacob

iPad Air 2-OTHER, iOS 9, 128GB, Gold

Posted on Sep 17, 2015 7:00 PM

Reply
96 replies

Sep 30, 2015 12:39 PM in response to SHRMN8TR

Thanks for the reply! I came across this solution whilst I was doing my initial research. I suppose I have no choice but to meet with IT and discuss a change in key exchange protocol; assuming I want to continue using my Apple products at school. However, I originally ruled this solution out due to simple logic. Apple simply cannot lose support for whole network infrastructures. A large number of gross sales are derived from a reasonable university's staff, university's inventory, and a university's students; wherein wireless networking is crucial for operation. Apple cannot expect these universities to adapt themselves just to update to the latest version of iOS - meanwhile loyal customers like myself update immediately to appreciate new features, merely to find that iOS has lost support for their entire network infrastructure. Apple is doing itself no favor with iOS 9 adoption, assuming this is indeed a purposeful change. Now I'm afraid to upgrade to OS X El Capitan, I cannot afford to lose wifi capability at my university. Now that my rant is ended, I'll get a hold of my IT department and see if it is indeed a problem with the key-exchange mechanism; I'll post an update soon. Thanks again for the post! SHRMN8TR 🙂

Sep 30, 2015 9:51 PM in response to Spockk

Spockk, are you running AdBlock on your Safari? A friend of mine was complaining that his sonos wouldn't work after he downloaded adblock and he saw some of his websites would take super long to load. Can you check? Disable it and see if the sites load in Safari, he was able to do that and it worked. Personally, I have not had problems with adblock but it's a long shot. Also, which sites are you on? My usual sites load just fine on Safari or Chrome.

Oct 1, 2015 8:29 AM in response to SHRMN8TR

I also am having line of the same issues. I have a brand new 6s Plus, and a iPad Air 2. The phone works fine with my home wifi network (WPA2 encrypted, all standard settings including a broadcasted ssid). The iPad however, does not properly connect to my Home wifi on iOS 9.01. It obviously worked before iOS 9.0 because I downloaded the update via the same wifi connection (I think, unless it was accidentally downloaded via phone tethering at the airport). Nevertheless, this is the problem:


the iPad sees my wifi network, then continues to attempt to connect to it (spinning connection circle to left of network name), but does not connect. I CAN get the iPad to connect to my tethered iPhone. But that is not a long term solution for me since my iPad mostly lives at home and I travel frequently.


I've tried everything mentioned above except restoring a previous OS version (which I don't have). I'm very disappointed with Apple...

Oct 1, 2015 12:57 PM in response to Jacob Alford

I had to install iTunes for Windows on my PC. Then I downloaded the entire 9.02 operating system for 70 minutes. I connected my iPad Mini 2 to my computer with lightening to USB from my charging connection. I installed it by finding my iPad In my computer iTunes app. It wiped out all my iPad settings,, bookmarks, and favorites setting it all to factory settings. I have gone hours without disconnects. It is like it was before the IOS 9 upgrade.

Oct 1, 2015 2:18 PM in response to SHRMN8TR

TThank you so VERY much for responding to my plea for help.


UNfortunately, that did not resolve the problem. I do have Adblock installed but that didn't do it.


not all sites stall and don't connect, just some. i frequent sports sites and message boards mainly, like Bigblueinteractive and Fantasy Football today.


THe the weird thing to me is I can go on the site through Google search, but I can't save the site as a favorite and then get back on though the favorites. no one I've talked to can figure it out and I've yet to find someone address this problem on any website.


LEt me know if you come up with some solution. I'm all ears and I check this site daily, just hoping to be back like the way it was in IOS 8.

Oct 2, 2015 3:28 AM in response to Jacob Alford

Hi all,


I am also having a similar situation.


I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 5.

Upgraded to iOS9 and my iPad will not connect to my home network (I get an error that it is unable to join the network). The iPhone and all my other wireless devices work fine though.

In my office I am able to connect with the iPad.


Both my home and office networks are running WPA2.


I tried forgetting the home network. No change.

I tried rebooting the iPad. No change.

I wiped the device to factory defaults and set up as a new iPad (so I obviously did not restore a backup in case there was an issue there). No change.

According to https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT201299 Wi-Fi Assist is not available on the iPad 2, so even though the iPad has a SIM, I presume that is not causing the problem.

Oct 2, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Jacob Alford

Same problems here.


Brand new iPhone 6s (AT&T version). 9.0.2, Airport Extreme Base Station. 5ghz (although I've tried it on a 2.4ghz network with the same problems).


Right when I toggle the wifi on, I'll run a speediest with results as high as 50mbps download. But halfway through, it'll seize up and the numbers will plummet. Upload will be significantly lower, if the test even finishes. The next test through will be around 5mbps at best, with lots of pauses. And that's if it finishes. Usually by the third test (in less than 90 seconds since I toggled the wifi on) it won't even be able to Ping and I'll have to toggle everything off and on again.


My iPhone 5, running 8.1.2 is getting 50+ mbps download and upload.


I've wiped and reloaded the phone several times. I've disabled wifi networking. I've reset network settings. I've tried to manually change the DNS. Wifi assist is off. I've reset the router. I have no VPN.


The only thing I haven't yet tried is dropping this phone off my 11-story building, but I'm pretty close...

Oct 5, 2015 12:49 AM in response to Jacob Alford

I too am having this problem with my iPhone 6 and ipad not connecting to the internet despite having a full signal since updating to IOS9 and now IOS 9.0.2.Nothing has changed and it is so frustrating as it all worked ok before .We keep rebooting to no avail. I was thinking of upgrading to the 6s but now will probably not.Sort this out please Apple

Oct 5, 2015 11:05 AM in response to SHRMN8TR

Alright, just checked with my IT department; and explained the lack of support for a specific "Diffie-Hellman" key exchange protocol, and the need for 1024 bit security in its regard. With looks of surprise, (how could someone with a Mac and an iPhone be so knowledgable about IT stuff?) they told me "they looked into it", and "thought they tried something." Hopefully they patch this security "flaw" soon... OR Apple comes to its senses and renews support for older wireless network architectures!


Good luck to everyone with similar issues! It is all very frustrating.


-Jacob

Oct 7, 2015 9:23 PM in response to Jacob Alford

Ok, I'm pretty much in the same boat as most people here, but I have a few things to add...


I have a brand new 6s and like most the wifi has sucked. Signal is much lower than my 4s (running 8.4.1) that I have right next to it no matter where I am in relation to the router or at different sites. That I see as problem #1. (and yes I have wifi assist off).


The second problem is I will arrive at work and I look for available wifi connections and the phone will show my home network and it actually showed a friends network that I had visited the night before also, both with strong signal strength. Obviously if you try to connect they don't work, but they will reappear in the list after a failure sometimes, no more that twice though. This is problem #2


I also have the problem with the WPA2 enterprise network at work. Most times I can't even see the network. We also have a guest network that is just WPA or WPA2, not enterprise, but could not connect to it either. Both networks would only show up if you pretty much stood underneath one of the repeaters. If you tried to connect you would get "cannot connect" errors or "incorrect password" errors even though the passwords were correct. Problem #3


Now the weird part... we have several HP printers that have wifi access. They typically were the only things that would consistently show up in the available network list, never fail. I never would connect to them because they are located at certain individuals desks they are strictly local printers, not shared on the network, plus I had no need. They also are open networks, no security at all. I accidentally connected on day by tapping the wrong thing one day. IF you connect to one of these printers, suddenly the WPA2 Enterprise and Guest network show up and guess what? I can then connect no problem for most of the day without problem. If you get to a dead zone for wifi in the building it may drop off and you may need to actively reselect the network and it will most times connect right back up. Several people (at least 5-6) at work were having the same problem and if they link to any of the printers that show up, they suddenly see the Enterprise and Guest networks and can connect just fine.


Now every morning I have to connect to the printer and then reconnect to the Enterprise network. Another thing seems to be that if you "Forget" the printer network so that it doesn't hop to it when the enterprise get a little low on signal, it seems that a good bit of the time it will not reconnect unless you rejoin the printer network. Leaving it in there seems to cause less problems.


On a side note, I've also noticed that the Cellular reception is not as good as my 4s either. Not sure where that falls into the puzzle...

iOS 9 wifi connectivity problems

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