iPhone 12 Pro Max IOS 14.2.1 keeps forgetting my home wifi

[SergioRZ]

iPhone 12 Pro Max IOS 14.2.1 keeps forgetting my home wifi... every 2 or 3 days it just disappears from network list and I have to connect all over again adding the network and password.​

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It is a hidden network (no SSID broadcast)... but this never happened before for at least 10 years (several iPhones and other devices) until very recently, probably with IOS 14 update...​

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Anyone else?

 

[SergioRZ]

Sorry for the weird text formatting... have no idea what happened there and unable to fix it now

 

[SergioRZ]

Problem persists, iPhone was totally reinstalled with new IOS via iTunes and setup as a new phone (not a restore).

IOS 14.3 and it was working fine for a couple of weeks or so... today, it lost/forgot my home wifi again.

 

[chscag]

Why are you turning off the SSID broadcast? If a hacker wants to get into your network bad enough, it won't matter if that's on or off. Just make sure you use strong security (the default for most routers) and a strong password.

The reason your network keeps getting forgotten is that the SSID broadcast is turned off.

 

[SergioRZ]

Why are you turning off the SSID broadcast? If a hacker wants to get into your network bad enough, it won't matter if that's on or off. Just make sure you use strong security (the default for most routers) and a strong password.

The reason your network keeps getting forgotten is that the SSID broadcast is turned off.

I've had it SSID Broadcast disabled for many years, worked perfectly fine with iPhone 5 and all the way to my previous 11 Pro... works fine to this day with other iPhones used in the house, X and 7.

So, would this be something specific for iPhone 12 only?

(quick note: I'm well aware of what SSID Broadcast is, what it does, what it means to have it disabled, and all that... I still prefer to have it disabled, my concern is not the real hackers, it's more about stupid people who don't know what they are doing hehehehe I just don't want it to be readily and easily found by the average person... in any case, this is irrelevant for the problem being experienced, it should work just fine with iPhone 12 just like it does for all other phones being used or used in the past here at my house)

 

[chscag]

So, would this be something specific for iPhone 12 only?

No idea. The 12 should not be any different from your other devices that seem to work okay with your hidden network.

As far as keeping the SSID broadcast off, as long as you're okay with it and understand what it does, that's fine. It's your network and your choice after all.

 

[adrianlondon]

iOS 14 brought in a feature, enabled by default, that scrambles your MAC address. For home networks it's almost always worth turning that off. Go into settings for that network and ensure Private Address is toggled off.

If that's not the issue, I've no other ideas

Another thread ended with no solution.

iPhone 12 no longer connects to WiFi with hidden SSID ?

As the title says. Has just started to happen after a month or so in operation w/o problems ? Also happens on the second iPhone 12 that I have ? Doesn't happen on either of the 2020 MacBook Airs. Corrects itself if I turn the SSID name broadcast back on again (WiFi is a Ubiquiti Amplifi...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[now i see it]

disable hidden network. It doesn't accomplish anything but make your life more annoying

 

[SergioRZ]

iOS 14 brought in a feature, enabled by default, that scrambles your MAC address. For home networks it's almost always worth turning that off. Go into settings for that network and ensure Private Address is toggled off.

If that's not the issue, I've no other ideas

Another thread ended with no solution.

iPhone 12 no longer connects to WiFi with hidden SSID ?

As the title says. Has just started to happen after a month or so in operation w/o problems ? Also happens on the second iPhone 12 that I have ? Doesn't happen on either of the 2020 MacBook Airs. Corrects itself if I turn the SSID name broadcast back on again (WiFi is a Ubiquiti Amplifi...

forums.macrumors.com

Yes that was immediately turned off when IOS 14 was installed

 

[SergioRZ]

iOS 14 brought in a feature, enabled by default, that scrambles your MAC address. For home networks it's almost always worth turning that off. Go into settings for that network and ensure Private Address is toggled off.

If that's not the issue, I've no other ideas

Another thread ended with no solution.

iPhone 12 no longer connects to WiFi with hidden SSID ?

As the title says. Has just started to happen after a month or so in operation w/o problems ? Also happens on the second iPhone 12 that I have ? Doesn't happen on either of the 2020 MacBook Airs. Corrects itself if I turn the SSID name broadcast back on again (WiFi is a Ubiquiti Amplifi...

forums.macrumors.com

Interestingly that other thread also mentions a mesh wifi, I'm running a 3 piece mesh wifi system also... maybe this is something related to the mesh system.

 

[SergioRZ]

Seems to be a problem with iPhone 12... I have (and had for a long time) more than 15 other devices working just fine, phones, tv's, washing machines, game consoles, desktops, laptops, tablets... everything fine, except iPhone 12PM

Maybe Apple should make these things more "public"... surely they changed something, why not make it known?

 

[Isamilis]

Seems to be a problem with iPhone 12... I have (and had for a long time) more than 15 other devices working just fine, phones, tv's, washing machines, game consoles, desktops, laptops, tablets... everything fine, except iPhone 12PM

Maybe Apple should make these things more "public"... surely they changed something, why not make it known?

You can try disable hidden SSID temporarily (said, 1 month?) to see its the problem or not. Or you can also try to reset network setting.

 

[SergioRZ]

I might try disabling it for a few weeks.

I went through various resets that culminated with a full install (to fix another issue), so I already know that is not the fix for this particular problem.