iPhone XS Max Weak 5GHz WIFI Reception

For more empirical Wifi Data you can download the Airport Utility app (no need to actually have an Apple Airport), and follow the following instructions from https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203068 to run the scanner utility from your XS and other iOS devices at the same location to get comparative data.
The Wi-Fi scanner in AirPort Utility
Apple’s AirPort Utility includes a Wi-Fi scanner that logs the client’s view of the network. Administrators can use it to validate the client’s view of the network at a specific location.
For accurate results, use the Wi-Fi scanner on a dedicated device that’s the same model as the iOS client.
On your iOS device, go to Settings > AirPort Utility to turn on the Wi-Fi scanner.

Next, open Airport Utility and tap Wi-Fi Scan.

By default, Wi-Fi Scanner runs continuously. Use the slider to set a scan duration of up to 60 seconds.

To start the scan, tap Scan. AirPort Utility lists all the SSIDs that it finds. This includes hidden networks, which appear as "Network name unavailable."

The AirPort Utility scans all available bands at four-second intervals. Enterprise networks that have multiple access points are grouped by BSSID. The scanner shows information about:

• SSID
• BSSID
• Last RSSI
• Channel
• Last Time Found

To view a trace log of the scan results for an SSID and BSSID, tap the SSID:

The trace log shows the date and time of the scan, along with the channel and RSSI.
After the scan completes, you can share the results. Just tap the share icon (), then choose one of these options:

• AirDrop
• Message
• Mail
• Copy

AirPort Utility sends the results as a comma-separated list:
SSID, BSS, RSSI, Channel, time
"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:40", "-57", "11", "12:02:03 PM"
"Cuba", "F8:1EF:F9:56:BC", "-53", "149", "12:02:03 PM"
"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:50", "-63", "149", "12:02:03 PM"
"Cuba", "F8:1EF:F9:56:BB", "-69", "11", "12:02:03 PM"
"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:40", "-67", "11", "12:02:07 PM"
The first line is a column header that shows the SSID, BSS, RSSI, Channel, and date fields. To analyze or chart the results, import the list into a spreadsheet or other tool.

There is some noise about problematic Xs and X Max LTE and Wifi performance.www.macrumors.com/2018/09/24/iphone-xs-xs-max-wifi-lte-connectivity-issues/forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-the-mobile-reception-on-the-xs-max-even-worse-th an-iphone-x.2140854/page-21www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/9idfu5/lets_talk_about_reception_on_the_xsxs_ma x/?sort=newI personally recall that after iOS 12 on my iPhone SE T Mobile, that LTE was flaky with reduced bars in fringe areas, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if this Wifi Assist issue is with iOS 12, on Xs and Xmax. Apple iOS has had similar issues in the past. I hope these users have identified a target to fix:
From a posting #1:
I’m no expert but I thought I’d chime in with something I tried. I turned off WiFi-assist and it seems it has done the trick. My WiFi speeds are back and cellular issues are gone. Now it could just be a placebo or something but seriously not seeing the issues I had before.
If some of you can give it a try and let me know if you get the same results, at least it’s something we can either pinpoint or rule out.
I am currently now on 12.1 beta 1 and have sent feedback on this issue. But I have had this issue on my iPhone 7 with ios12 betas before picking up my XS. My wife who is also on an ios12 beta on her iPhone 7 is having the same issue and seeing better results with turning WiFi-assist off. Btw, our iPhone 7’s are Verizon phones this have the Qualcomm chips.[/div]
Turn off Wifi Assist:
To turn off Wi-Fi Assist, launch the Settings app and navigate to Settings -> Cellular (Mobile in some regions) and scroll down to the bottom where you will see Wi-Fi Assist [Cell Network Search]. Tap on the toggle to turn it off.[/i]
From a posting #2:
Turn off Cell Network Search:
Go to Settings, scroll to Privacy, select Location Services, scroll all the way down to System Services; Turn off Cell Network Search
When I saw these post initially, I thought trolling click bait, now I'm hoping it is software related. I don't think its hardware

On networks that share the same ssid (wifi name) for both 2.4GHz & 5GHz, the iPhone XS & XS Max seem to prefer the 2.4GHz channels (in my case, channel 11). Normally the client devices will prefer 5GHz over 2.4 if the connection is good enough but for some reason, it only wants 2.4. I'm sure this will be patched in a future update. But for now, if you can, login to your router and see if it can have a different SSID for 5GHz and set that.

DrinkJuiceShelb on Twitter: "@MacRumors @reneritchie @9to5mac an hour on the phone with Apple, we fixed the issue with W…

"an hour on the phone with Apple, we fixed the issue with WiFi/Cellular on iPhone Xs Max. You have to restore with a computer without a backup. I know its crazy to think we still have to do this, but it worked and fixed both WiFi and Cellular!"

"Complete restore with iTunes and as New device unfortunately. It’s literally night and day now. Blazing speeds." Then no restoring from backup.

From: Other - Is the mobile reception on the xs Max even worse than iPhone X ? | Page 26 | MacRumors Forums

I must have changed the setting awhile ago and forgot about it. My iPhone X wasn't affected with having the Power Save Support: ON, yet It definatly effected my XS Max. I ended up turning the No-Acknowledgement & Power Save Support to the default setting which is OFF. I turned WMM Support back ON and haven't had any disconnects from my 5G Wifi.

Software will vary (possibly in the form of register settings that affect RF performance in the chip and front-end), but the level of variance shows that whatever default set of values used in the software are insufficient to account for the variance in the hardware.

As a user, all you can do is purchase, test, and return phones until you find one that has good enough baseline performance. No matter what they tune in the form of a software fix, if the hardware isn't optimal, you will still observe a gap in performance after installing whatever iOS 12 version that has a "fix"

Best to use that 14 day return window to your advantage to start off on the best performing hardware. For $1500, i'm not willing to wait around and hope for a fix.

I've found that resetting network connections in the general menu helps with the download speed. Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. I went from 7 mbps download speed to 75 mbps after resetting. My upload is still really low. Around 3 mbps. LTE is awful for me with it. It's connecting at 2 mbps at my house on LTE. I can't even stream a song in the car on iTunes without it buffering.

Did you install the recent update that Apple released? It fixed my original phone but not the replacement. It kept switching from 5 to 2.4 so I disabled the auto switch to 2.4 and force it to use 5G. Works a lot better and an Apple supervisor work with me to run diagnostics to find out the 4G issue and my voice and data are 100% improved.

I can see rspr0 change from -112 to -120 in field test mode when I place my pinky on/off the new band at the bottom of the phone. I know they can do what they can from a software perspective, but after all the troubleshooting I’ve done on my end for this it’s seeming more and more like a hardware issue.

For those of you that have both a 2.4GHz and 5GHz same Name SSID at home, you will benefit by renaming your 2.4GHz SSID name, and then hope that your signal isn’t too weak to fail over to LTE or 4G. For those of you not being able to use the phone at all on an LTE connection, you need to open a radar with Apple because this needs way more attention than it’s getting.

Updating to 12.0.1 has allowed my iphone Xs to connect and maintain its connection to the 5ghz wifi but it appears to have about a 20% drop in signal compared to other devices in the same proximity.

I'm not sure if you're able, but if your router can broadcast separate SSIDs for 2.4ghz/5ghz you can connect to the 2.4ghz one and it should be fine. A workaround, for sure, but it will work for now.

I read an article this afternoon in iDrop News on Twitter about this issue. It's not universal. My iPhone XS Max is operating great with Wifi and LTE. But for those where it isn't, I'm sure it's real.

The article said people who restored their phone via iTunes and NOT from backup solved the issue completely. This may not be a fun solution for everyone as you can't restore from your backup, so you'll need to bring things from the cloud over manually, but it's a solution that seems to have worked for those who did this.

I'm doubtful the 5Ghz ac Wi-Fi can be resolved with software updates.

Resetting network settings didn't help. Complete phone reset didn't help either.

Here's why: https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/antennagate-reduxs-if-so-what-can-apple.htm l

Weak antenna gain issue

That looks like a hardware fix is needed to me. Waiting past the return period for a potential fix scares me, in particular given the price of these new XS Max iPhones. I'm not sure I'm willing to gamble that much money that a real fix is coming.

Bottom line is my iPhone 8 Plus can get a 5Ghz ac signal all over my house while the XS Max can't. I really wanted my household to completely switch to XS Max, but this situation is pretty discouraging.

FYI - I created a secondary WiFi SSID with dedicated 5GHz and when set to it, I get full speed up/down on multiple tests, so issue seems to be the phone choosing 2.4GHz instead of 5GHz.

Regarding LTE, (AT&T) - Getting about half the download speeds on iPhone XS Max, vs iPad Pro.

What I can tell you all is that its for sure NOT a hardware problem because I had apple run diagnostics so its clearly a software problem. I had 2 suggestions, 1 is to reinstall the phone's software, which is done by pressing the up and down volume button with the power button being held until the iTunes logo shows where you restore and update, the second is to wait until the next software update comes (12.1 or something) where esim is available with a few bug fixes which should/could fix the reception problems.