iPhone XS Max Weak 5GHz WIFI Reception

Looks like this is starting to hit the news. Hope this can be fixed via software.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/24/17895772/apple-iphone-xs-max-wifi-bad-signal

https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-xs-max-mostly-fail-to.html

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/iphone-xs-iphone-xs-max-162913036.html

Hey everyone,

I’m having the same problem!! I upgraded and it’s making me think this is the worst iPhone (iPhone XS MAX 512gb) apple have ever made!! It’s meant to be the fastest phone on the market!! I got almost full 4G with my iPhone X and now I can’t even get 3 bars of 3G on the new phone! What the? I use my phone to make video calls to adoptees around the world and help connect adoptees world wide, as I am adopted as well, I came on the same plane as Saroo Brieley who made the movie “Lion” so my work is important with helping support other adoptees and I used your iPhones because they were the best to do it on!! I used my hot spot to my iMac to also video call but NOW I can’t do that because I have hardly any reception at all to do ANYTHING!! This NEW iPhone is the worst!!! Please please fix this problem quickly!!

Also please add an option to the phone where you can turn the SWOOSH sound OFF when you send a TXT message!! so annoying having to put your phone on silent every time I want to send a txt message without anyone else knowing!!! ADD AN OFF OPTION

(Other than that love you apple!) lol

My iPhone XS Max has yet to connect to my Xfinity router’s 5GHz network, only the 2.4GHz network. Same SSID for both networks. I shouldn’t have to block a MAC address on my 2.4GHz network router settings to force my iPhone to connect to the faster 5GHz connection. As far as my AT&T connection goes, I was getting 4-5 bars on my iPhone X, and now I’m lucky if I stay connected with 1 bar. But, from what I’m reading, folks that have reset network settings have had luck connecting to their 5GHz SSID connection, although it drops after an hour to 6 hours later.. That could mean a software fix? Maybe? Hopefully?

Me too, with the Xs Max. I've got my iPad sitting right next to my Xs Max and the iPad has three bars of wifi compared to the XS's 2. My IPad can stream 1080p no problem, but the iPhone is struggling to download a 65mb app.

I was suspicious of this on my new Max. Then I saw an article that linked to this thread. Checking my Max in one part of my apartment where the WiFi signal strength drops, 5GHz, my iPhone 7 remains strong with no fluctuations. On the Max my download speeds are not impacted and nothing drops out but the connection is weaker. Purely subjectively but cell connection seems weaker out and about in areas where my other phones have been fairly strong. I just hope this is not a hardware issue.

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

Same problem on the XS. Comparing my new XS with my iPhone 7 using speediest.net. I have 5 ghz and 2.4 ghz combined on the apple extreme router. The XS is measuring 1/3 the speed as the iPhone 7 using the same speedtest.net server.

I am having the same exact issue & pretty much performed the identical tests you spoke about.. Drops from 5 to 2.4 without anything happening. Actually I found that if I open up particular apps my 5G connection drops, LTE is connected but when I go into my wireless settings on my Iphone XS Max I can still see I'm connected to my router.

So I just got a call from someone saying they are from Apple and wanted to collect logs from my phones to help diagnose the problem. Anyone know if this is legit? They gave me a case number and sent me an email and I can see it matches up when I look at the support page online. But they called my home phone and I don't remember ever putting that down anywhere. It's possible that I entered in somewhere, but can't remember. The person on the phone said they needed me to install a certificate on my phone and send diagnostic information from both my phones to help narrow down the problem. If it is legit, super cool that they reached out already and it's a good sign that they are investigating it seriously. If it's not, beware of a scam going around 🙂.

You should be able to follow the links above from this forum to get to your support radars that are filed. You can confirm it there, and upload the sysdiagnose files they’ll need. That is pretty cool, actually..

I am experiencing issues as well with my Xs (non max) as well coming from the X. I have amazing wifi in my home. Never have had an issue with my phones until the Xs. Videos won’t play, pages won’t load etc. I still have my X and my husband still has his X. Neither one has any issues and they are both running iOS 12. Only issue is with my Xs. No resolution within the next few days and it’s going back.

Same issue here....extremely weak 5g wifi signal on my XS max compared to my old 7 plus. Hoping for a fix soon as I am having to consistently check if I’m using wifi or LTE and also having to manually connect to wifi every time it drops.

I have a XS Max here in Switzerland. Had issue to connect to my 5Ghz network but I set forgot said and reconnect. All went OK. I also by default disabled wifi assist (poor wifi will make your phone switch to lte or cellular network)

I also did a speed test comparing my 7plus, same spot same date... The XS Max was like 8Mbit/s where the 7 plus was around 10Mbit/s.

I'm very curious to see if there is something wrong but at home I didn't saw wifi (have 2.4 and 5) issue.

Vivo in Italia e ho gli stessi problemi di connessione. Noto la differenza perché ho anche iPhone 8 che funziona bene con la connessione: sia alla rete e al Wi-Fi. Xs si connette decisamente peggio. Speriamo che Apple risolva al più presto il problema. Un saluto.

I have the same problem my 7 plus was more stable. The XS Max signal strength fluctuates and sometime drops out into 4G then comes back to wifi. My 4G data has increased alot due to this. No problems with the iPhone 7 Plus