Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My XS was consistently connecting around 75 down while my iPad Gen 6 was getting near 200 down. This morning, I checked the Eero app and, sure enough, the phone was connecting at 2.4 standing right in front of the router. Then, for some reason, it switched to 5 and a new speed test showed a download speed over 200. So, looks like the 2.4 / 5 connectivity may be the issue, at least from my evidence.
 
Our new phones keep losing Wifi, there is definitely an issue

Might it be a Wifi Assist issue is with iOS 12, on Xs and Xmax. iOS has had Wifi Assist issues in the past. And/or, Cell Network Search problem. I hope one of these users have identified a target area to fix:

From a posting #x:

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.


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



From a posting #x:

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
 
(On an unrelated note.....)

Verizon Wireless (and subsequently Total Wireless) is completely down in Much of the southern part of US and some parts of the East. ARRGGH!

Cannot make phone calls AT ALL.
 
My iphone x was doing all of this. It would not connect to the 5ghz on my router I would put my password in and it would say iphone cannot connect. But it would connect to 2.4 right away. Then whenever I lost service it would jump up to four bars but in reality I had no signal at all. So i would either have to airplane mode it or reset the phone. This all started when I put IOS 12 beta on my phone.

My iphone xs max has had neither problem. I stay connected to 5ghz at the house and my signal away from the house has actually much faster than it was before. I am on sprint and was ready to leave but with the new phone it hasnt been as bad.

Just wanted to share my experience. I doubt it is a hardware issue or everyone would be having this problem no matter where you are. I believe it has to do with the frequencies of your towers and the cellular updates. The router issue seems to be an ios 12 issue that isnt completely patched possibly. I believe we will see an update that will fix this issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: roncron
What is your provider? It may depend on your previous modem. AT&T and T-mobile had the Intel modem which does not perform as well as the Qualcomm modem. Verizon and Sprint prior to this year had Qualcomm.

Almost all the above anecdotal evidence leaves out this information about their previous generation phone, so we're not able to tell which bucket their experience falls in.

Not to mention this thread is really discussing two different problems. The WiFi one and the cellular one.
 
Almost all the above anecdotal evidence leaves out this information about their prevoius generation phone, so we're not able to tell which bucket their experience falls in.

I had bought my iphone x last year with sprint. And had all these issues when i switched to the beta.
 
XS Max on Project Fi (T-Mobile) near downtown Cleveland, OH. Inside a brick building mind you...

FpHnxDmAz6nKtRTmfP2zqicUUGx6dy9Dg46VRxDevtOsEdSkDvghoz6YLd_8RE7d0c-syTlu2CrdiHPZCtxfOQ0pwdnXX6USJdXucnvqwYySp3PL0rAGZbToICYUIuGLcGQIamH_7RlJ4H9l2OVV1Phxsoe69o23unBueOW-7vJI-cKCMDKkgYEt3B8DzhQyv_Yq8sp0At-jWdDMuKYF-OkBE8ETP_0GNDk8jJqZIWrRPf2fihssIqn_QPAsSPXVXb0Cg5OkJ_lSvaIdeA4IH8VP3q1sFp-T3cY9Ptv4r81OXdssn-ZR-Mewgnyo0gTPm_WG_D_M6Uri0KmHIqwYZzKAw1KAfRsvT72bjZxAIgJTRzTD8hZLPNghzBeAOb6_CVP5X0_IOcB9JG4Dc_yWR_vcMF7iH9nTOenGplGuWWZeEZDJoNK_U8NqViTcjNW8Ytgbx7euKmf0KCtMimop2lk72b6KWVsuIE4qcSpuXuU0QERfC3Qm4oMxIl_mF43X1lwPz1Hd1xvZJ131CVmhCnNPrakWEIFp79ZN9sd4BQEtzSx0o4m_XiDrB8oAYf8VO_vKBP2KaVpLMRm0zqrCTO4uupDzza_MLWWK7GRNJaPI42MQNTDSLAHc6A=w350-h200-no
 
Almost all the above anecdotal evidence leaves out this information about their previous generation phone, so we're not able to tell which bucket their experience falls in.

Not to mention this thread is really discussing two different problems. The WiFi one and the cellular one.
Coming from an 8+ to an Xs I can tell you that there's a big difference in speed/reception on both the LTE and WiFi side. I spent most of yesterday doing side by side comparisons. The 8+ was consistently way faster when connected to either LTE or WiFi. I don't know how much clearer one can be...?
 
  • Like
Reactions: VSMacOne and xgman
Okay guys. I provided examples between the Pixel 2 and the Max on the main forum before - but without photos. Here are two. One of them shows the RSRP signal values and PCI. The other shows the LTE band from Field test mode. Both are on Verizon AWS (B4). Both on PCI 139 from the same cell site. Obviously this doesn't compare them between previous iPhones... But I am definitely seeing a signal quality decrease and more drops to 3G because of it.

See link below (sorry for quality. Took pic from my iPad):

View attachment 788232
View attachment 788233

Okay guys... I took my Pixel 2 into the office today to get a little bit more data. This is what I have come up with:

It seems like some are having issues after restoring a backup when they set up their new phone. That is probably unrelated to what I am about to type and what I provided in the quoted post. I set my iPhone up as new since I am coming from a Pixel 2.

I am ONLY talking about actual RF performance - not speeds. I am dealing with raw data on Verizon. Everyone's experience will be different depending on carrier and active LTE band. Each LTE band can and will have their own performance to a certain degree.

So what I have found besides the quoted post above?

My Verizon LTE connection in terms of pure coverage is actually relatively close to my Pixel 2. No LTE drops on my commute... Only during the brief elevator ride did it drop, but then it immediately regained LTE within 5-10 seconds once I got off of the elevator.

Now lets get to the actual issue (if there is one):

For Verizon's Band 4 (AWS), my Max is averaging about 7dBm worse than my Pixel 2 - granted my Pixel 2 was pretty good on that band. I had a Pixel 2 XL briefly and the smaller Pixel 2 beat it on average by 3-4 dBm. So the iPhone isn't AWFUL. But not exactly great in that band.

For Verizon's Band 2 (PCS), my Max is averaging actually relatively close to my Pixel 2. I would definitely say within the margin of error - maybe 2-3 dBm on average worse. Nothing too bad.

For Verizon's Band 13 (700MHz), my Max is also averaging about 2-3 dBm worse than the Pixel 2 - so again within what I believe would be the margin of error.

So what does this all mean? Well each carrier is different... Each band is different. In terms of what it means for me (or probably most Verizon users), is that coverage wise it should be pretty similar. The problem is in areas that are congested and/or fringe AWS/PCS areas. I have areas that I used to be on AWS B4 (with CA on B13), but I am now only on B13. That means less throughput/spectrum available to me which = less speed... Also it means most likely more users on B13 only seeing as iPhones are extremely popular which = less speed. I would expect that is these fringe areas that speeds may plummet.

What about those that seem to get a good connection for awhile after Airplane mode or resetting Network Settings? Well this can also be explained. When you initially connect to a cellular network it has a tendency to pick the strongest connection (B13 for Verizon). After anywhere from about 30 seconds to a few minutes, the network will try to dump you off to a higher frequency (B4 in my case). That's all good and all, but these iPhones don't seem to have good RF performance in that band.. Which causes the lower signal quality and may be leading to some of your issues.

"Oh - but I am not having issues - this can't be true!!" - Oh but it can be true. Everyone will have different experiences at different cell sites and different times of the day. Each network tries to manage users and offload them onto other bands to free up capacity, etc. If you now have connection to only the main coverage band (B13 on Verizon, B12 on T-Mo, B12/B17 on AT&T) then your throughput will be reduced. HOWEVER, if you are in an area with overall great coverage and cell spacing then you may never experience this.

Long winded response from me on this. Take this as you will. Most will probably ignore it or call it fake news. I don't care. I have been playing around with phones and comparing RF performance on them for years (started back when I was with Sprint because of their swiss-cheese network - had to get the phone with the best RF performance then, ha!). Take the data and manipulate it as you wish. :D
 
even if there were 15,000 confirmed reports of this on this thread it would be less than 1% of iphone xs sold and thus isn't a "real issue". we're all in an emergency room of a hospital right now, freaking out about all being injured.

you're hurt too? no way, what are you doing here?

not seeing an issue myself testing on 5ghz, my ssid's are different for 2.4 and 5ghz so there's no switching behavior as i've never connected my devices to the 2.4 -- performance is fine
 

Attachments

  • speedtest_iphone_xs.png
    speedtest_iphone_xs.png
    370.5 KB · Views: 115
Last edited:
Okay guys... I took my Pixel 2 into the office today to get a little bit more data. This is what I have come up with:

It seems like some are having issues after restoring a backup when they set up their new phone. That is probably unrelated to what I am about to type and what I provided in the quoted post. I set my iPhone up as new since I am coming from a Pixel 2.

I am ONLY talking about actual RF performance - not speeds. I am dealing with raw data on Verizon. Everyone's experience will be different depending on carrier and active LTE band. Each LTE band can and will have their own performance to a certain degree.

So what I have found besides the quoted post above?

My Verizon LTE connection in terms of pure coverage is actually relatively close to my Pixel 2. No LTE drops on my commute... Only during the brief elevator ride did it drop, but then it immediately regained LTE within 5-10 seconds once I got off of the elevator.

Now lets get to the actual issue (if there is one):

For Verizon's Band 4 (AWS), my Max is averaging about 7dBm worse than my Pixel 2 - granted my Pixel 2 was pretty good on that band. I had a Pixel 2 XL briefly and the smaller Pixel 2 beat it on average by 3-4 dBm. So the iPhone isn't AWFUL. But not exactly great in that band.

For Verizon's Band 2 (PCS), my Max is averaging actually relatively close to my Pixel 2. I would definitely say within the margin of error - maybe 2-3 dBm on average worse. Nothing too bad.

For Verizon's Band 13 (700MHz), my Max is also averaging about 2-3 dBm worse than the Pixel 2 - so again within what I believe would be the margin of error.

So what does this all mean? Well each carrier is different... Each band is different. In terms of what it means for me (or probably most Verizon users), is that coverage wise it should be pretty similar. The problem is in areas that are congested and/or fringe AWS/PCS areas. I have areas that I used to be on AWS B4 (with CA on B13), but I am now only on B13. That means less throughput/spectrum available to me which = less speed... Also it means most likely more users on B13 only seeing as iPhones are extremely popular which = less speed. I would expect that is these fringe areas that speeds may plummet.

What about those that seem to get a good connection for awhile after Airplane mode or resetting Network Settings? Well this can also be explained. When you initially connect to a cellular network it has a tendency to pick the strongest connection (B13 for Verizon). After anywhere from about 30 seconds to a few minutes, the network will try to dump you off to a higher frequency (B4 in my case). That's all good and all, but these iPhones don't seem to have good RF performance in that band.. Which causes the lower signal quality and may be leading to some of your issues.

"Oh - but I am not having issues - this can't be true!!" - Oh but it can be true. Everyone will have different experiences at different cell sites and different times of the day. Each network tries to manage users and offload them onto other bands to free up capacity, etc. If you now have connection to only the main coverage band (B13 on Verizon, B12 on T-Mo, B12/B17 on AT&T) then your throughput will be reduced. HOWEVER, if you are in an area with overall great coverage and cell spacing then you may never experience this.

Long winded response from me on this. Take this as you will. Most will probably ignore it or call it fake news. I don't care. I have been playing around with phones and comparing RF performance on them for years (started back when I was with Sprint because of their swiss-cheese network - had to get the phone with the best RF performance then, ha!). Take the data and manipulate it as you wish. :D
Excellent and thorough information. From the sounds of it though this is just going to be one of those "it is what it is" scenarios for those of us with issues. I don't see a "fix" per se for anything you are describing even possible. Sounds to me like Apple's design/modem choice is just going to net us all not so great coverage/speeds when it comes to data. Sad... If you anyone thinks a software/firmware fix is possible I would love to hear how that would be implemented.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OTACORB
I have not noticed poor signal or bad performance neither on LTE nor on Wifi.
Acutally my XS Max seems to be the fastest device in the house.
First 3 tests are on home's 5Ghz Wifi and the last 3 on LTE with 3 bars signal (Switzerland Sunrise Network)
 

Attachments

  • 2018-09-25 20.00.22.jpg
    2018-09-25 20.00.22.jpg
    148.5 KB · Views: 94
  • Like
Reactions: OTACORB
I don't think ROLLTIDE1 is trolling at all. It is clear they are upset, and rightfully so...

When you spend this kind of money on a phone (of all things) that is NOT a rev 1 device you expect a smooth experience.

Upset absolutely I would be too, but just spewing information out in anger helps no one.
 
Upset absolutely I would be too, but just spewing information out in anger helps no one.
I can't speak for them, but I am not angry. I am just sorely disappointed with Apple in general. I was hoping the Xs models would be a hit out of the park point blank best iPhones ever. But as things have been with Apple lately (MBPs) the phones too couldn't come without some pretty ugly flaws and drama surrounding them. The iPhone 8 to me seemed to be one of the smoothest releases with the least amount of issues surrounding it. I was hoping for that with the 2nd gen X. That is why I waited and skipped the X. Now I sit here wondering if I shouldn't just go back to an 8...
 
I returned my Max because I wanted another color instead but they were out of the color I wanted.
I was also having the wifi problem.
Now I am wondering whether I should purchase again or not. :(

This is the BEST way to stick it to the man. Return the phones if you're seeing a problem. You can always re-buy at a later date.
 
I don't think ROLLTIDE1 is trolling at all. It is clear they are upset, and rightfully so...

When you spend this kind of money on a phone (of all things) that is NOT a rev 1 device you expect a smooth experience.

Sure, we expect a smooth experience. But if you are buying day 1 you set yourself up for these issues. I'd be upset too. But saying "Apple has my log report, why hasn't Apple done a press release which will turn into a shitestorm within four days of launch", well that seems a bit much. We have no idea how widespread these issues are. As you say, your analysis and attention to these issues is probably more detailed than the average user. Though the number of average users buying on launch day is up for debate. I suspect this group trends toward the more sophisticated users by and large.

And it is not a phone, it is the most sophisticated mini-computer available. You know that. I wouldn't be surprised if some decent percentage of them have an issue with every launch. I'm sure Apple is trying to figure out this issue as fast as they can. But I can understand why they aren't doing a public statement until they have it figured out.
 
I can't speak for them, but I am not angry. I am just sorely disappointed with Apple in general. I was hoping the Xs models would be a hit out of the park point blank best iPhones ever. But as things have been with Apple lately (MBPs) the phones too couldn't come without some pretty ugly flaws and drama surrounding them. The iPhone 8 to me seemed to be one of the smoothest releases with the least amount of issues surrounding it. I was hoping for that with the 2nd gen X. That is why I waited and skipped the X. Now I sit here wondering if I shouldn't just go back to an 8...

I whole heartily agree with you, no one should have to go through this at all. I do get being upset with Apple as this should not be happening. However, this has not been diagnosed by any engineer that I am aware and said it was hardware or software. The fact is we do not know. We do not even know how widespread this is. Venting is cool I think folks should but making blatant statements with little or no evidence to support it makes nonsense. Apple will have to fix this rather it’s by a software update or replacement. In the meantime some will opt to just return and go back to an older phone or even go to android.
 
Just went back and read this on MR: Other features include support for Gigabit-class LTE with 4x4 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, and Dual-SIM options with an included nano-SIM and eSIM for using two phone numbers at once. iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max support the most LTE bands ever in an iPhone.

Had to SMH and giggle a little...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.