iPhone XS Max Weak 5GHz WIFI Reception

Yes. True from 8-XS all QI charging unless you have a bulky case on or a folio case with cards in it causing a blockage. QI chargers are very strong as far as connection field goes. In other words, some require a full contact on the pad or base and some charge through thicker cases without interf

All these couch engineers don't seem to understand that while 5ghz is fast, it's also only good in close proximity. Whereas 2.4ghz is slower, but goes much further out. It wouldn't be unusual that as one moves further from their router when connected to 5ghz, their phone switches over to 2.4ghz.

Your 100% right. But what you fail to realize is that every other apple I-device works way better than th XS or XS max when it comes to 5ghz networks. Sure the software update will now let me me on 5ghz while on top of the router, but my iPhone X and iPad Air 2 work fast and flawlessly in all areas of my house on 5ghz. The problem is with the new devices in most cases, not people’s networks that work flawlessly with all other devices except these 2.

When you say works better than the XS are you referring to speed tests or real world use? I fear some here have worked themselves into a frenzy over inaccurate app based speed tests. I have not run a speed test on my XS Max. I don't see why I should. My XS Max is fast and keeps a great connection to the internet at all times. That's all I really care about. It just works. I don't need a speed test to show me my phone works fine.

I have no Bluetooth issues. If anything my range seems to have increased with this phone. I don't have dropped calls either, so LTE seems to work just fine on my phone.

I DO however, have the earpiece speaker intermittently not work issue. I put in a ticket with Apple about that. But I'm not very concerned about it, because I rarely if ever listen to the speakers on my phone. I have some very high end Bluetooth headphones, which is how I listen to music or watch videos.

Many of the mesh router systems do that automatically. The Ubiquiti Amplifi router is one that by default connects to your devices on the 5 band and if that connection weakens with distance will switch to 2.4. I’ve been looking at that one if I need to replace my current router in the near future.

I don’t put much faith in Speedtest because there are to many variables, I’m talking real world use. I can notice huge differences in the way pages load or reply any data on the XS max when compared to the x or iPad Air 2 sitting right next to the max. I talking there is a huge significant difference

papjo wrote:

Many of the mesh router systems do that automatically. The Ubiquiti Amplifi router is one that by default connects to your devices on the 5 band and if that connection weakens with distance will switch to 2.4. I’ve been looking at that one if I need to replace my current router in the near future.

FWIW, the modification to mine was done with software!

I have a 2017 iPad and we still have one iPhone X in the house. My XS Max is faster than my iPad and on par or slightly faster than the iPhone X. But even if it was slightly slower, in real world use, it wouldn't bother me much. As long as my phone goes to the page I want, doesn't crash doing it, I can make and receive calls and Bluetooth works as it shoud, I'm fine. I don't measure my satisfaction in fractions of seconds.

People keep guessing whether this hardware or software. I don't see any reason to assume it's hardware. The problem is the Wifi radio in your new phone is the newest standard. It may not play as well with some routers out there and there are SO MANY different routers out there. This is an issue that can't all be Apple. It can't be all ISP. It is a combination of both. And the Apple Engineers are without a doubt burning the midnight oil to determine where the issue is.

Not sure if this helps anybody, but when I check field test mode on my iPhone XS Max, I’m seeing rsrp0 as being -120. It’s my understanding that the lower that number the better, like -120 is not good but -89 would be good. This is on iOS 12.0.1 that just came out. I’m not seeing any change in this signal after the update.

If you’d look back at page 3 or 4 of this forum you’d see my initial posts about how my phone is dropping off of my SSID’s 5GHz band over to the 2.4GHz band (same SSID name for both connections, and no mesh system in place. I’ve since disconnected mine). And the many comments after that from people that only have a 5GHz connection, and that’s failing over to a weak LTE connection, or in some cases, a good 4G connection. I’d say “my” issue is a lot more closely related to the initial poster than the people going on about the wireless charging issues in their car... IMO

You don’t need to fear that people posting in this thread are incompetent. You have no idea whatsoever how other people’s phones are and are not working. This issue is not about speed tests. At least not for me. My phone goes from perfect 5G wifi signal to dropped connection literally by moving a few feet between places. All my other iPhones (2x5s, 6, 7Plus and 8) keep their flawless 5G wifi connection in these “dead spots” that my Xs has.

Their is no need for you to doubt the experiences people are reporting. You’re wasting your time writing pointless posts and your wasting our time cluttering the thread. You’re also wasting Apple’s time, since they ARE reading this thread and they’re taking this issue very seriously, gathering log files and screen recordings.

If Apple has determined this is a real world problem by reaching out to people in this thread and conducting real tests, maybe you should consider it a real problem as well and stop patronizing the rest of us. It is enough of a hassle having bought a very expensive phone that doesn’t work the way it should without having to deal with people like you who seem to think they know more about my specific Xs unit than I do myself.

Man just ignore him, he may finally go away. now here comes another post where he will fight to assure your phone is fine and the issue is you and overreacting. I replaced my work phone yesterday (which wifi was better after the update) and Cellular connection got better but now wifi is again getting disconnected (and slow) did try a clean install on the new one and even tried 12.1 beta 3 with no success. Maybe continue replacing phones until you get a good one will be the answer

It’s definitely a real world problem. Even though I don’t seem to be having a functional issue, my Max only connects to the 5 band of my network, but it doesn’t seem to get as strong a connection to it as my iPhone 7. And that’s part of the problem. A device that costs this much is at best no better with WiFi than a much cheaper device, and at worst is considerably worse than the cheaper device. Spending upwards of $1500 on something that’s not noticeably better than your older devices can be frustrating.

It does seem as if the software is designed to have the device drop more quickly to another band, or network, when that signal starts to weaken. So for some the phone drops back to 2.4 or, if even that connection is weak, to the cell network much quicker than other devices. Or the hardware just has weaker reception from the beginning causing this effect. I doubt that it’s a hardware issue but it can give that impression. I can’t equivocally state that 12.0.1 improved any WiFi function for me as it seems to have done for some, but it did fix the HDR function of my Max’s camera. Smart HDR/HDR didn’t function at all previously. And that is disappointing that a device this expensive didn’t even work with one of its most touted features out of the box. My guess is that just as it wasn’t until iOS 11.1 that the software functioned properly, it’s going to be the release of 12.1 that gets this mostly back to normal. I hope!

I'm not going away and I never said it wasn't a problem. I suspect for many, they don't have a clue their Wifi speed isn't as fast. We're also seeing fewer new people come to this thread. For the most part, it's now a core group of people trying to figure out what's wrong with their phone.