Wifi drops when phone is locked after 10.3.3 update

I came across another website where people actually try to help with problems and don't just try to tell you that you don't know how your own phone works or worked for that matter.... here is the link:

https://forums.imore.com/iphone-se/369114-wifi-turns-off-when-iphone-goes-into-s leep-mode-locked.html

That's exactly my problem described in details there, which I believe is yours too.

It seems some people there managed to recover their wifi connection behavior after a hard reset of the phone as a new device all together. I have not done so! Just sharing with you. Got so many data and settings in the phone... don't know where to start. And the problem is that if ones full backup and full restore afterwards, problem might just returns to the phone as well. I guess high probability there.

Seems that update to iOS 11 has fixed the issue for me.

Like I suggested in my initial message to you, it may be all orchestrated... in the end, you've got no choice but to upgrade software and later on hardware too...

I think the main issue here isn't the fact that the wifi going dormant after 20 to 30 seconds, but the fact the wifi actually lose connect to the router.

I have an iPhone 6S Plus and when I connect to my ISP router it keeps getting disconnected FROM the router.

If I connect to any of my TP-Link devices it won't disconnect.

I did the test, I connected my iPhone to my ISP router and after 20/30s it stops replying to pings from my computer, the SAME behavior can be seen when I connect to ANY TP-Link router I have.

BUT, the main difference here is: When I connect to my ISP router and disable Mobile data, after 20/30 I stop getting notifications.

If I connect to my TP-Link router, after 20/30s (already getting ping timeout) I still get notifications.

I have an iPad, the same behavior can be seen on it (ping timeout), except it never gets disconnected from my ISP's router. (notifications keep coming just fine)

Summary: While connected to TP-Link router (example) it will stop replying to ping but still receive push notifications AND the Wifi Symbol is VISIBLE the moment I unlock my phone.

While connected to my ISP router it will stop replying to pings just like before but I will NOT received any push notifications AND when I unlock my the phone the wifi symbol will not be visible but it will return after 1 or 2 seconds.

conclusion: while it's true that the wifi radio seems to get into a low power mode after 20/30s it is not true that it will disconnect from the router itself. I have an iPad and it doesn't gets disconnected from the router, even after minutes of inactivity (I can still see the iPad connected on the Routers Active client list), the same can't be said for my iPhone, after 20/30s it will disappear from my the Active client list of my ISP's router.

I hope the conclusion is clear enough to help people understand the issue.

This is untrue.

I have two routers at home, if I connect to my ISP I get this issue if I connect to my personal router I have NO ISSUES with wifi dropping.

My Wife's iPhone 7 doesn't have any issues with either.

It is by design that it enters a low power mode and stops replying to pings, that's true, but it is not true that it disconnects from the wifi.

See my previous post where I gave a pretty good explanation of what actually happens.

You and everyone else who noticed this unusual dropping of WiFi behavior in your iPhones have valid and real concerns. I myself had always have my iPhone consistently connected to WiFi even when the phone is locked. Recently however, my phone will completely disconnect from the WiFi after it idles and locks the screen. Once I unlock the phone, the WiFi will try to pickup and reconnect to the router again, none sooner from 30 to 60 seconds. And it is indeed very frustrating.

But don't worry folks, you can definitely prevent the WiFi from disconnecting from your iPhone when it goes idle and locked. Another user has already mentioned a simple solution in here but was ignored.

Go to Settings

Wi-Fi

Select your network

And turn off Auto-Login

Now your iPhone will not drop it's wifi connection to your router.

Will this affect your battery performance? Perhaps. Did Apple design this feature in their phones to save battery life? Perhaps. Is it a feature since the very first iPhone? Perhaps. But, is it possible to consistently have a WiFi connection while your phone is locked? Absolutely yes.

If all else fails, set the email app to check email every 15mins. This will FORCE iOS to connect to WiFi for a few mins.

I can see as follows:

Settings -> Wifi -> Tap the " i " with the circle around it next to your network name and Toggle Off Auto-Join

Do you mean Auto Join is Auto Login?

Looks like you were right.

Restoring backup restores the bug, wi-fi again drops.

I will try restore again and set up iPhone as new, without any restoring from backup.

Every iPhone on every version of iOS has worked the same way for 10 years. The reason is that WiFi uses power continuously when on; if it stayed on and connect to a router it would drain your battery very quickly. That's why WiFi turns off 30 seconds after the phone goes to sleep. More recent hardware has a wake on connect capability, but the stimulus must come from the network. It cannot come from an internal app.

There is no problem to fix. There is nothing that you can do except to connect the device to power. The iPhone has always disconnected from wi-fi when on battery and the device is locked and idle. I know that you are contradicting this, but that is the way it is. The device will reconnect as soon as it is awakened.

You're going to be told that "This is how iPhones have behaved since Day 1, a billion iPhones have done this ever since they were first introduced, yada yada yada" in 3...2...1...

Here's how I know the situation is different from how it used to be: I sync photos via Dropbox, but I only sync over WiFi because I don't want to use data syncing photos when I'm out and away from WiFi. I also only update my Apps over WiFi, for the same reason. Data plan preservation.

Until recently, Dropbox AND the App Store would do their thing when I'm on WiFi, and would continue to do their thing even when the phone would go into idle/dark mode. I could wake the phone 30 minutes later and all the apps would be updated and all my pics would be uploaded to Dropbox.

That no longer occurs. When those services are doing their thing and my phone goes idle/dark, and then after a period of time I wake my phone, both apps tell me that their services have been suspended (or whatever) and that I need to reconnect to WiFi to continue the upload/update (which reconnection does happen automatically, but only after I've woken the phone).

I know, I know - "But that's how iPhones have behaved since the very first one rolled off the production line and since iOS 1.0 and every later upgrade/update was released. This is nothing new."

BS. Apple changed something, and it stinks to high heaven.

Apple was actually following WiFi standards, all devices that used WiFi would drop the WiFi connection when they entered sleep mode and in the early days WiFi could not trigger a remote wakeup although cellular could. When Apple changed the behavior so that an iDevice could maintain a signal if connected to power they actually went outside the standards which were later changed. There have been no major changes since then for more reasons than just power. You should send your change requests to the consortium. When you do drop the bold and underline, it is unprofessional and off-putting. And at least recognize who is actually doing the dictating.

From an earlier post way back in this discussion (bolding, italicizing, and underlining removed from that original post 😉).

Note: Note that even when

UIRequiresPersistentWiFi

has a value of

true

, it has no effect when the device is idle (that is, screen-locked). The app is considered inactive, and although it may function on some levels, it has no Wi-Fi connection.

TuneIn Radio does keep wifi alive (and replying to pings; I can also see traffic on my router) even when the phone is locked and its screen blanked - whether my phone is plugged in or not. So clearly it can be done, though I don't claim to know the design behind the ability. Perhaps these other apps need updating in some way to copy this behavior...

you know what's really boring? when people think all the ones complaining here are stupid.

This test only proves that the wifi goes into a low power mode or something similar.

If I enable airplane mode, manually enable wifi and connect to my personal router, a TP-Link one, after 30s locked the wifi icon will NOT go away AND I'll still receive push notifications.

If I do the EXACTLY same thing but connect to my ISP Router, a Mitrastar, after 30s the wifi icon will go away AND I will stop receiving push notifications.

If this doesn't show to you that the wifi was never fully disconnected, then I guess you can just stop replying here because you are not helping at all, just causing confusion.