iPhone 4 no longer connecting to WiFi

Hey everyone,

I've tried just about everything I can think of to research solutions to this problem on my own, and now I come to you.

My iPhone has suddenly stopped picking up my WiFi at home. There have been no changes to the settings on the WiFi or on the iPhone; I first noticed it when I came home from work one day and could no longer access the internet through the WiFi.

The issue used to be that when I went to the list of available connections under Settings -> WiFi, it would see my home network and put a nice tick next to it; however, that's where it stopped. The icon next to my network would stay that little circle that says you're connected to the mobile internet network, or occasionally 3G (I live in a rural area with very spotty 3G coverage), instead of switching to the WiFi symbol. I'd also get speeds and use up my data allowance while browsing the internet.

I tried turning off mobile data, which results in the WiFi symbol appearing next to my network, but when I try to view a webpage in Safari I get the message that "Safari cannot open this webpage because it is not connected to the internet".

Since this problem began, a new and more worrying issue has developed: my mobile internet and phone reception seem to be failing as well. If I turn off my mobile data and the image in the top corner shows that I'm connected by the WiFi, my signal strength suddenly drops to one bar, when I normally get 2 or 3 at home. I also completely lose the ability to make calls (though again, this was a fairly inconsistent ability to start with as every call I ever made since about one month after buying the phone would return 'Call Failed' even if I was in an area with full signal strength) and send texts (an ability I have never lost before).

When my mobile data is turned on, it waves in and out of actually picking anything up. Sometimes I have zero signal strength but a 3G connection (still can't open any web pages).

Any ideas? I'm leaning towards a hardware malfunction given how quickly this problem came about. I have never dropped my iPhone, or tried to test if it is waterproof, so I don't yet think this is my fault.

Legion93 said:

Seems to be your having a few problems, it is definitely a hardware fault, since your home Wi-Fi is working correctly, and 3G signals seem to drop, including the ability to receive calls. Try updating your software via iTunes, if all else seems to fail, contact Apple or go to a genius bar for more information.

Try reseting your home broadband, or turning your iPhone off and on again.

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Turning it off and on again was the first thing I tried. No luck.

Software is updated, it's running 4.3.2. The problem remains. It's not jailbroken and it's less than a year old so I think it's still in warranty, but I'll have to find all the documents and everything.

Prom1 said:

1. Just noticed it back home 1 day.
- Go into Settings and FORGET this network. use your Mac/PC to goto Http://192.168.0.1 and logon with admin id/pw to the router.
Check your WLAN settings - especially the password used to connect.
* is your wlan network broadcasting? VERY important.
After resetting the WLAN password retry to connect the iphone as if it was the first time. Test the internet connection.

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I don't have any access to the WLAN, it's set up and maintained by my dad, but we've sat down and tried to address this and neither of us can come up with a solution. It's all up and broadcasting, and my dad's iPhone is still connected.

Prom1 said:

2. 3G … network congestion could affect this and also maintenance work (call your provider to inquire). Simplest solution is to try 3G anywhere else … if that doesn't work, FULLY power off the iPhone wait 5mins and power it back on again ~ turn off WLAN and test your 3G connection.

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It doesn't get 3G even 40 miles from my home in the middle of a town, and it was fully powered off for 8 hours last night.

Prom1 said:

Try the troubleshooting before assuming its a hardware issue and wasting time going into an Apple store doing a return and wasting Apple's costs for doing that.

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Wasting Apple's costs? They're a multi-billion dollar company and, being a profit-making business, they're not going to do a return out of the goodness of their hearts, they're only going to do it if they cannot prove that I've somehow voided the warranty. If they do a return then a return was definitely needed; if not, a return was still probably needed.

Prom1 said:

being connected doesn't mean you're getting internet; think of it as an on-ramp to the highway yet the merge is closed. Tap on the arrow next to your wlan connection on the iPhone and it SHOULD show you an IP address & a default gateway. IF no default gateway then the on-ramp merge is closed.

Click to expand...

Now this is interesting; I don't appear to have a default gateway, or at least not one that I can see. There isn't even a box for it. Where do I find the default gateway on my settings?