iPhone XS Max Weak 5GHz WIFI Reception

Coasterman25 wrote:

I’ve wrote a on here a couple times about 5ghz not connecting or holding the connection, but I said my AT&T LTE has been great. Well add me to the list of LTE not even connecting with full bars this morning. Went from full LTE bars, tried to open safari webpage and it dropped to 1 bar and would not open page. iPhone XS max

Then that is a carrier issue.

I was thinking the same thing, but then remembered my 8plus would still be on the upgrade program if I switched back, so might as well stick with this because they will fix it.

Also, ever since my call with AppleCare and remove SIM card and putting it back in after testing it in my 8plus, the phone has been pretty solid.

Same here, i remembered that the iphone x was not the connection king with Intel chips used by apple for the phones in europe, but now my Max switches from wifi to the data connection when i am in the wrong room (that had max wifi signal before) ! Why these 1649.- € phones have worser connectivity quality as a low budget phone??? What Apple thought when the FCC feedbacked the worse connection quality ? „ Hey, lets make the phones expensiver - may they do not check it“???

I saw the wwdc, was it the connectivity for what you clapped the hands all the time to yourself?? I am really really angree, to have a useless phone when it is not in 10m range of the router, it goes back to you!

minaturepincher wrote:

There is also a serious issue with the battery not charging. This has turned into a disaster.

I have read about a workaround on battery charging if you have the issue. It may (or may not) be tied to the new security software built into Face ID and Password, where if the phone hasn't been active for an hour, the phone makes it not respond to a lightning cable. The workaround is to wake your phone first, then plug it in to charge and it will charge.

Also, this does not seem to effect wireless charging.

I have been wireless charging since the X and have no trouble with charging and when I do lighting charging I usually am doing something so phone has been awake recently so I agree it might be the security looking issue

If it’s the security issue. There’s a setting for that. Under Face ID - Passcode down toward the bottom of the screen there is a toggle for USB accessories. Turn that toggle on and you won’t see the problem again. That was introduced in iOS 11.4. I ran into it when I plugged my iPhone into an iHome speaker dock by the lightening connector. Until I found that setting I had to unlock my phone so it could charge.

However beyond that security setting I have had to wake my Max or wiggle it a little to get it to register that it’s plugged into that dock and start charging. Whether it’s a problem with the speaker dock or the phone I don’t know. But it only happens occasionally and I can’t say that it’s ever happen plugged into a separate cord and charger.

I thought something was wrong with WiFi at home when I started having speed and signal strength issues. After testing back to back with my older 7+, it’s clearly this new XS Max. I’ll be reaching out to Apple Support shortly.
[Edited by Host]

LTE and 5GHz do have a frequency in common, yes? 4G and 2.4GHz also have a frequency in common, right? The issue appears to be with the 5GHz frequency, which affects LTE and dual band WiFi.

Antenna designs can fairly easily be tuned to pick up both. But if something changes at the last minute in surrounding metal or a matching circuit or a filter due to EMC issues, it may become impossible to get 2.4 and 5 both below -30db S parameter. This is easy to see happening from an antenna design perspective.

If the dB goes below the chip’s requirement spec then you don’t get the communication / connection efficiency. If it’s bad enough you can show 2 bars and still not have enough power to meet the chip spec.

It all depends on that matching circuit.

They didn’t ask for logs from me. Another question is has anyone heard back from Apple with any indication they are close to a solution or know the cause of these issues? The radio silence, no pun intended, is concerning. They already released a .0.1 for watchOS. I have even contacted eero and tried their suggestions on my network without luck. This is only affecting my XS. I have multiple iPads and previous gen iPhones (5S, 6, 6S, 7 and X) in the house on the same network and not a single one is showing the poor WiFi performance that the XS is.

I submitted my logs early last week (phone is XS Max using Sprint) and no word back. As many of you have stated similarly the dilemma for me is should I return my phone (by this Friday) to Sprint for a refund and revert back to my 7+ or wait and hope a software update may fix the issue.

I am now leaning to trusting Apple to fix or replace the phone (if a hardware problem).

I

Think I’m sticking with my XS. I’m still on the trade in program plan and have payments for my 8plus so why take the xS back? Either way I’m still paying.

I think they’ll make good. They always do, right?

My personal experience with Apple has been positive. In my dealings they have been fairly reliable to fix/update issues. My choice to return my Xs was based more upon the fact that I still had my X which works flawlessly. Going from the 7 to the Xs is a bigger leap.

I'm not experiencing the issues many of you are. My LTE is fine and Wifi is great as well on my XS Max.

Just because I have posted to this thread, I received a call this afternoon from Apple to see if I was experiencing issues. This to me, is beyond amazing. I've been through multiple launches and multiple issues have surfaced with each launch. Every time. Every Single Time, Apple figures it out and rolls out an upgrade which makes threads like this a distant memory. But not once since I've owned iPhone (going back now to the 3G) has Apple called people who posted in a thread to gather data and make sure people were OK. Not once.

If that doesn't give you comfort and confidence that Apple is genuinely working on this and wants to make everyone's phone's "just work," I don't know what else you could ask for.

What you won't get and I see some people asking, is an update from Apple. They just don't do that. When they're fully comfortable they've got the right solution it will just roll out. The Apple Adviser I spoke with said this was an extremely high priority and their best engineers are working hard behind the scenes.

I recommend you give this some time and they'll come through for you.

Ps: I responded to you Liz, because your's was the last post. This post was not necessarily in response to your post. It's really a general comment meant for anyone concerned about this.

Chrissaid wrote:

Think I’m sticking with my XS. I’m still on the trade in program plan and have payments for my 8plus so why take the xS back? Either way I’m still paying.

I think they’ll make good. They always do, right?

I am doing the same in fact I sent my X back in the update and apple has it now ;-). My Xs in good cell areas actually rocks, my cells have always been weak near my house no mater the iPhone I have -- AT&T but Verizon not good either where I live. I use my wifi to supplement internet use when I am at home and want to use iPhone and can still just cannot use 5mghz outside for now (it works inside but does weaken a bit). All my iPhones have defaulted to 2.4 in my house eventually so the issue for me is not a real problem it happens more readily but the 5ghz was always weak especially out side but a bit worse now.

I agree Apple should be able fix it for us eventually and I can use my new phone and the camera and just use 2.4 where I have to for now at home. ;-)

rbrylawski wrote:

I'm not experiencing the issues many of you are. My LTE is fine and Wifi is great as well on my XS Max.

Just because I have posted to this thread, I received a call this afternoon from Apple to see if I was experiencing issues. This to me, is beyond amazing. I've been through multiple launches and multiple issues have surfaced with each launch. Every time. Every Single Time, Apple figures it out and rolls out an upgrade which makes threads like this a distant memory. But not once since I've owned iPhone (going back now to the 3G) has Apple called people who posted in a thread to gather data and make sure people were OK. Not once.

If that doesn't give you comfort and confidence that Apple is genuinely working on this and wants to make everyone's phone's "just work," I don't know what else you could ask for.

What you won't get and I see some people asking, is an update from Apple. They just don't do that. When they're fully comfortable they've got the right solution it will just roll out. The Apple Adviser I spoke with said this was an extremely high priority and their best engineers are working hard behind the scenes.

I recommend you give this some time and they'll come through for you.

As I responded to Chrissaid--I agree with you apple will take care of us --- and my Xs is not unusable I just have to use it more with 2.4ghz than older phones (all my phones did that Xs is just a bit worse). I am confident they will help us and I do get to use my new phone and the cameras that convinced me to use my upgrade program again ;-)