Did iOS 6.0.1 Fix Your WiFi Issues?

Lots of folks had persistent (and annoying) issues with WiFi on their iPhone 5s and other iOS devices with iOS 6. I had to troubleshoot, oh, all the iOS devices in my house to get the WiFi back up to snuff. When iOS 6.0.1 was released, all the problems were supposed to be fixed, but were they?

It’s like the bad cold that you just can’t shake and everyone just keeps getting. Some people are still reporting WiFi issues with iPhone 5s (and other devices) even running iOS 6.0.1, are you one of them?

1. Turn WiFi off and back on (not on the list, but it’s easy to try first)
2. Do a Hard Reset/Reboot (for a video on how to do this we’ve got you covered)
3. Reset/Renew your IP address
4. Forget the network
5. Reset network settings

For my devices I had to do the Reset network settings route under iOS 6.0 and that fixed things for me, with iOS 6.0.1 I hard reset my devices and that fixed it.

There’s one last step to try. I call it the “kick the pants” method. Unplug your modem (DSL or cable) and router, count to ten, and plug them back in. Yes, I did tell you to turn them off and back on again. Why? Sometimes a little reboot helps the devices get things straight. Some sites suggested doing a full-on reset of all the router settings to factory. Seems extreme, but if all else fails, give that a shot.

Finally, Gizmodo (and others) reported that the issue really was related to devices connected to WPA/WPA2 protected networks (as all your wireless networks should be). Sometimes all the reseting fixed things, sometimes not. Gizmodo (and others) suggest switching your network from WPA/WPA2 to the much, much less secure (did I mention less secure) WEP protocol.

While, this might fix the problem, only do this as a last resort (especially in an office network). It is pretty trivial for people to hack a WEP network. It’s almost as good as tapping the password to your network on your mailbox outside. If you need to make the switch on your router look for the wireless security settings and choose WEP from the list. You should pick a new password so things transition correctly. Here are a couple screenshots from a new Linksys router and an AirPort router:

Again, though Gizmodo is suggesting it, this doesn’t make switching to WEP a good idea. In fact I think it’s a terrible idea. So if all else fails, try it. Otherwise, maybe wait for iOS 6.1.