I removed a wireless router in my house and replaced it with a new router with a new name for the network. The old wi-fi network name still appears in the list on my iPad, and, I can still connect to it, even though there is no physical router connected on the network. How is this possible and how can I permanently remove the network that no longer exists? And simply choosing "forget this network" does not work.
iPad Mini, iOS 9.2.1
Have you tried power cycling your phone? It should disappear then, since powering the phone back on will cause it to search networks again. The network should be removed by then. The alternative is to go to Settings>Reset>Reset Network Settings, but that will reset all network settings, and cause you to have to add all of your network passwords again.
Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't work. After powering off my ipad and restarting, the non-existent wi-if network is still on the list.
Well, before going through the reset of network settings, have you turned off Wi-Fi and then turned it back on again? Does the network populate again after turning Wi-Fi off in settings and then back on again? If yes, then as a last resort, before the network reset, do a reset of the phone. Hold the sleep/wake and home buttons together until you see the Apple logo and then release. The phone will reboot. Check after that. If that does not do it, then the Network reset would be the final thing I would try. After that, you have to look at the restore from backup, and restore to factory.
Well, that didn't work either, and I'm not going to do reset of of network settings because I don't want to have input all of the passwords again the next time I connect to a network, so I guess I'll just ignore it.
I find that very strange, but then some technology has fooled me at other times. I would just ignore it for now, as it attempts to connect to this known network, and finds it is no longer there, it should remove itself from the list.
The really odd part of this is that I can still connect to it and actually have internet access, thru a non-existent network. The actual router was disconnected and removed from my house, yet the network is still there. Very strange.
The only way is to Resset Network Settings which also means, as you said, yoo have to rejoin all networks and re-pair any Bluetooth devices.
That is a puzzler. But a couple of suggestions. First, is the password for the current network that you want to use the same as the old network? If so try changing it. If it's the same it may somehow be leading your device to your current router even though you've changed the name of the network.
Tthe other idea concerns iCloud. Any network that you've connected to by any device logged into your iCloud account including your Mac, if you have one, will appear in your list of networks. Even networks I joined years ago with different computers and devices will appear in my list. So if you have a computer logged into your iCloud account go into System Preference/Network and under the Advanced tab/WiFi you will see a list of all those networks. Use the minus sign to delete all those you have no use for including the one you are having the issue with.
Keep in mind if you ever join one of those again on any device it will reappear. At one time I replaced my router, an Apple Time Capsule, with a new one and I made a slight change in the network name that I wanted to use, basically it only involved a punctuation mark, and the change was unintentional. However my devices continued to use the name of the original network and connected to it because the passwords were the same. I didn't realize this for a while because the connection was automatic. But when I saw that I had 2 similar networks in my list I was able to delete the old one and make my devices connect to the (slightly) new one.
I downloaded the i Cloud .exe file and installed on my work PC, and I would love to try what you suggested in iCloud, but I can't find anything that would get me to System Preference/Network when I log in, just some check boxes for iCloud Drive, Photos, Mail etc... and Bookmarks.
I guess you don't have a Mac. I don't know how you would do this without one that's logged into your iCloud account. That data is not accessible through the web or a pc. Other than changing your router password the only way I know of is to reset network settings on your device.
Yeah, I know about the network reset settings, which I don't want to do. But, my daughter does have a Mac, and I could log in to my iCloud account on hers, and do it that way. I'm not sure changing the password will help either. Even though the passwords are the same, the wi-fi network I'm trying to eliminate physically does not exist. No actual router is connected to my cable modem.
By no router connected, do you mean you have no wifi service where you are but you're connected by wifi to a wifi network? I don't think thats possible. Your modem must have its own router.
As far as your daughter's mac you would have to create a separate user account which is logged into your iCloud account. Logging into iCloud.com won't help. You have no access to network settings that way. On a mac under your account in System Preferences there is a Network pane that will have a list of all the wifi networks you've ever joined on any of your devices that use that iCloud account. That data syncs through iCloud but isn't accessible, other than through the mac's Network preference.
If Forget This Network doesn't do what you want then you might try Manage This Network which you would only see if your'e connected and logged into that network
I have a TP-Link cable modem that I own. No router in the modem. I had a Linksys EA6400 router that I replaced with a Linksys EA6900 router. The EA6400 network name was "Linksys EA6400". That router is gone. The network name for the EA6900 router is completely different. The EA6400 network is one that still shows up in my network list on my iPad and iPhone. That's the mystery. No EA6400 router exists anymore.
I'll try the manage this network next.
I would guess, by happenstance, that you are connecting to a neighbor's Linksys router; and the default name of the router was never changed nor password protected.
Now, if you are out in the middle of nowhere, and your closest neighbor is over the hill, scratch that thought. 😉
Have a nice day.
Permanently remove wi-fi network from ipad
