IOS 11.4.1 and wifi problem

Thanks for clarifying, crashcris.

@Mohammedarshad and anyone else: For clarity, this is not a Virgin Media issue. The reason I say that is because I have a rather old non-Virgin Media router that has not had a firmware upgrade or configuration change in years, and suddenly a new version of the iOS is having issues on that router, while my prior iOS versions work fine, so this was definitely something Apple introduced. Hopefully, your new router will resolve the problem for you, but that cannot be the acceptable fix for everyone affected to go out and try to find some other router that hopefully works with this version of iOS. Apple needs to take ownership, identify the issue, and resolve the issue.

Many thanks to those in this forum who pointed in the right direction.This issue has been driving me crazy for the last few weeks. My new Virgin router has arrived and is running a treat. My SE has not lost its connection since installed some six hours ago and I'm thrilled! When I contacted Virgin they were well aware of the problem and the new router was free of charge. Thanks again folks!

No, the issue is not limited to the iPhone8, nor is it limited to Virgin Media routers. I have an iPhone 6 and a DLINK router, and had no issues for years until the 11.4.1 upgrade. The issue is with the update, and thus software based. However, some people are reporting some success replacing certain hardware. However, given the nature of the issue, any such success can only be viewed as a workaround, not an actual fix to the root issue.

If Apple are still signing 11.4 and if you have access to a computer you could try downgrading, can’t really think of anything else other than watch the other discussion to see if anyone comes up with a solution.

I spent all my weekend finding out what problem occurred with my wifi - and it´s definitely the last update. I did all those things you did - no chance.

So I share your hopes...

Last means would be downgrading IOS.

I have run into an issue too, but in my case the wireless mostly works, and then it’s as though I temporarily drop connection, as though the device is hunting for a new network or busy performing some other activity. Some apps like the Apple Store will time out. Others go into a wait state. Pages loading in the browser freeze and sometimes do not restart. I’ve tried hardbooting the device, resetting my router, renewing leases on both my router and the device, and resetting my cable modem. When I reset my router, things seem to get better for a period of time, but then the issue returns. My other devices that I are still at 11.4 do not seem to suffer the same problem, so I am fairly confident it’s the 11.4.1 update, which is why I have not upgraded any other device.

I had a phone call from Apple Support today. They recommended me to reset my IPhone, then install my backup and downgrade the IOS version...

But they seemed not to know about the problems - I can hardly believe it. As even newspapers write about IOS 11.4.1 they should try to solve the problems! So I am not going to reset my IPhone - at least not in the next weeks. Because after downgrading I would have to install all new versions of IOS one after the other...

mogli1955 wrote:

You can install an earlier version, I think 10.3 or so, even if the page gets you a warning. They said, you can install anyway, just because Apple does not recommend you to downgrade (safety), but it´s not dangerous to your phone - they said...

You can’t downgrade if Apple no longer signs that version, and they stopped signing 11.4 a week or so ago, so you definitely can’t downgrade to something much earlier like 10.3.

Note the above applies to the majority of us, but there is a “possible” non-legitimate way which basically intails “hacking” the software/device, with all the risks and legal consequences that brings I will stop here.

There seems to be a widespread problem with Virgin Media and the latest version of iOS. Of course, VM and Apple blame each other look the other way.

I don't know if there is an issue for other ISPs but this is laughable.

Yes I have exactly the same problem with my iPhone SE since updating to iOS11.4.1

WiFi Router - Virgin Media SuperHub 2 with 2G and 5G Networks

My iPad pro also updated to iOS11.4.1 connects to WiFi without any problems

iPhone SE used to have no problems with WiFi but now disconnects after a while, despite showing three bars on the WiFi signal strength, it is unable to access the internet. If this happens on 2G swap to 5G and its fine for a while, then the same thing happens, swap back to 2G repeat…..

What I have done to try and fix it .....

Rebooted Virgin Router

On iPhone SE Closed down and re-started, Re Booted, Forget Network for both 2G and 5G and then reconnected, Reset Network, Renew Lease and still the problem persists.

Have spoken to Apple support and they suggested taking my phone in to repair, but as so many people have this issue am reluctant to do that.

You are lucky there then Chris. Been there tried that had no effect whatsoever. The problem persists.

This bug in iOS11.4.1 is affecting so many people who are using Apple products they have to get it sorted sooner rather than later surely ⚠

Resetting Netwrok Settings is worth a try, but it did not work for me or others in this and other forums, neither has the complete reset of the device - once reset and iOS11.4.1 loads the problem persists 😠

crashcris, that’s actually useful to know that the reset of network settings and reboot did not work. It shows that the issue is likely something more deep rooted in the OS, rather than some parameter being overwritten then being corrected with a reset. I really think the only way this will be resolved is through analysis by the Apple developers and thorough testing. Thanks for passing along the update to us. :-)

@SiHancox, thank you very much.

Thanks wendy_is. Yeah, it’s definitely not a chipset problem, especially regarding older routers, as this would have been a persistent issue over many releases of the OS and would have affected other device manufacturers too. When you think about it, the only change that occurred was the software update from 11.4 to 11.4.1, and 11.4 was working just fine with those chips. Apple just seems to have a hard time acknowledging culpability, which is a real shame, because most people have more respect for companies that acknowledge mistakes and show earnest efforts to correct such mistakes than those that try to shift blame and throw out red herrings in an attempt to obfuscate a situation.

So after reading through all of the comments I contacted Virgin Media who said its a known problem and to turn off my phone etc etc. i explained I'd already done this and also that the engineers at the Apple shop had stripped it. They are sending me a new router which will 'solve the problem' so watch this space.