iPhone XS Max Weak 5GHz WIFI Reception

I returned my XS and went back to my iPhone 7 until they fix the wireless issue. Mine wouldnt open news apps informaton and calls were failing. Trip to Apple store was waste of time.

2 hours on phone with Verizon with no help.

internet is calling it a possible “antenna gate“ like wth the iPhone 4.

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.

Updated:

https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/antennagate-2018-youre-getting-my.html

"You're getting my findings wrong"

excerpt:

Unfortunately -- though I do not think nefariously -- some forum posters and media outlets have run with my findings, questions, and explanations/solutions to form distorted or at least simplified conclusions that say something to the effect of the new 4x4 MIMO antenna array is to blame, the Intel baseband modem is not to blame, the Intel baseband is indirectly responsible due to design compromises that would not have been made for a Qualcomm baseband, etc.

Hmm. Good information. But like I mentioned, my lte and wifi are very fast on verizon. It’s just one to two bars less with occasional no service. Again, my replacement is on the way. 2nd batch. Not a device from launch. I’ll see how it goes fr

I wanted to post a follow up here because Apple is on top of this and is apparently trying to contact everyone who posts here or on social media. I’ve had two calls and a couple emails myself. Since the latest carrier update from att my cell network performance seems to match my other phone. I have an iPhone 7 with another line and I carried both it and the Max around with me yesterday and I honestly saw no difference in connection between the two. I even went to a location that has very weak coverage by att and all devices struggle to make a connection there. Performance was again essentially identical between the 2 phones.

Regarding my perceived wifi issue. I was seeing more fluctuation in the WiFi Icon at home than I’m used to however I saw no actual connection issue. Running speed tests in the areas where I saw the icon fluctuate returned the same results I normally get with the rest of my devices. So my current opinion is that I’m not having the issues that many are reporting here. But it is heartening that Apple is aggressively pursuing this. And rightly so. These are their premier devices and very expensive so purchasers have a right to insist that such issues be investigated and dealt with.

My husband and I both got Xs last night. I live in LA where there is generally great reception for my carrier. He does not have a problem today, but I do. I barely get 2 bars traveling around or drops coverage altogether. My 8 has full bars, my husband has full bars (on the same carrier), but the Xs does not.

I called Apple Care and they want me to send in my phone and told me if they didn't find anything wrong with it, they'd send it back to me. The guy was dismissive and didn't believe me that it was the phone that has an issue. Check out any one of these 200+ responses and see that it's not isolated.

I can relate. Definitely. This issue is following the same algorithms that the 8 and 8+ had back in January. And the X as well. Definitely seems like a software issue being that the previous models were having and eventually cleared up after some time. Apple will not do anything about this either. Personal experience.

I did a quick test over lunch. I went to the local Apple store with my work provided iPhone 7 and my iPhone Xs Max. I connected both to the stores free WiFi and tested. Inside the store, the iPhone Xs Max was very fast (around 120 Mbps)... faster than the iPhone 7 (around 68 Mbps). Outside the store (still connected to the Apple free WiFi) the iPhone 7 had great connectivity and about 40 Mbps down, the iPhone Xs Max had 2.1 Mbps on the first attempt and failed to connect on the second attempt. When it comes to LTE performance, the Max barely makes it over 3 Mbps pretty much anywhere I go. It's literally awful.

I can't wait to get home and try out the second one... if it's the same, I will be returning both and going back to my 'old' iPhone X.

GIS_Kid wrote:

Oddly enough, I have no connectivity issues whatsoever. It connects to my 5 Ghz band without issue, no dropped calls over LTE... nothing... just absolutely awful speeds once connected.

True as long as I am in house. But something has changed so that when I am outside (and I use Wifi because cell is horrible in my neighborhood -- I can make calls not much else on cell) the Wifi is now to weak to connect internet most of time especially for data intensive apps. Yep the LTE is very weak but calls seem to work, speeds are terrible by house but where strong the phone rocks now like none other I have had.

I agree... where signal is strong, the speed is amazing... where signal drops off a bit... it's immediately awful. All of my other phones slowly drop off... the new iPhone Xs Max just completely dies.

Our 2 Xs max are doing this also. They remain on the 2.4 band wont go to 5ghz, only with resetting network settings or turning off wifi on and off. But as soon as we leave the router room, it revert to 2.4. It stays on 2.4 even if we go right next to the router. They wont switch to 5ghz. Our 6s plus stays on the 5ghz throughout the whole house, even on our patio.

The XS Max we have bounces back and forth between the 5 and 2.4, but generally the speed is okay. The other iPhone and iPads and iMac we have all stay on the 5ghz with no problem. The up speed always remains constant, however. The LTE reception today was nearly 70mbps down, which isn't bad for the area. Mainly the WiFi which is wonky. Such a great handset except for this problem.

the Apple tech I spoke with seemed surprised that the issue continued for me after restoring and setting up as new. The other night I forgot my wireless network at home on my iPhone XS Max, removed my phone as a connected device from within my routers web portal admin settings, and then hard reset my iPhone and restarted my router. Once everything else was back online, I rejoined my home network and after 5-15 or so minutes of being connected to Wi-Fi, things started behaving normally. But then by the morning, while still connected to my routers 5GHz network, my connection speeds were a fraction of my iPhone X right next to it. Tried in a few different spots.

Also reading in these comments about people getting shipped a new phone, or a later revision of the iPhone XS Max? Mine was delivered early launch day from a preorder at 2am..

The Max we have was preordered the first day but didn’t arrive until Tuesday. I think I am going to give up on the voodoo and just see if Apple can fix this with an update. The phone works pretty well but not like it should. It’s my wife’s phone and it doesn’t seem to bother her as much as it does me.

Motyoj wrote:

The Max we have was preordered the first day but didn’t arrive until Tuesday. I think I am going to give up on the voodoo and just see if Apple can fix this with an update. The phone works pretty well but not like it should. It’s my wife’s phone and it doesn’t seem to bother her as much as it does me.

Personally, I think that's a smart move. Apple will take care of everyone. And they're magicians with software. Threads like this are interesting, but they also get people stirred up. People are now downloading speed tests and getting all worked up. I'm not saying that having less then the most stellar Wifi and Cellular connections shouldn't be the goal. But having been around here through many generations of iPhone launches, every single new device. EVERY ONE, has had some issues at launch for SOME, not all people. And every time Apple releases updates that ultimately reduce or completely eliminate any of the teething problems a new launch is inevitably going to create.