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iPhone XS and XS Max Owners Complain of Wi-Fi and LTE Connectivity Issues

I was actually hoping that my Max would have improved reception over my 7 Plus, unfortunately it is identical. No better, but certainly no worse. My router has a different name for the 5ghz so that hasn't been an issue for me. I have been happy over all with the Max's wifi and LTE.
 
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luvbug said:
Just FYI: When I updated to iOS 12 on my X (note: last year's) a week ago, I immediately (after initial device restart on iOS 12) received a "carrier settings update available" message and applied it. My carrier is VZ. So, there does appear to be an iOS 12-specific carrier update from VZ. I'm just offering up another data point.
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Might not be much, but could be something with the carrier updates. ATT has had 2 updates since iOS12 released.
 
Since US carriers stopped subsidizing new phones with a contract, my upgrade cycle has been once Apple stops providing iOS updates for any particular device. Lowers my annual cost of ownership and my bank account will be bigger as a result.

I'm sticking with my trusty iPhone 6 Plus. Apple replaced my battery for $29 in March, so I should be able to get another 4+ years out of it. I still have a mint condition iPhone 4 as a backup. At some point I may just get a GSM retro brick phone in protest of poor battery life and reception.


brick.jpg
 
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oneMadRssn said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't selecting which network (2.4ghz or 5ghz) a router thing? I know at least on my router, I can set the dBM threshold for where it will steer devices to 2.4ghz instead of 5ghz. For example, I have it set so that if a device with it's 5ghz signal is worse than -92 dBM, it will send that device to 2.4ghz.
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The router is not exactly steering the client. Normally features like this the ap will kick off the client if they hit that threshold so when they come back they are 2.4. Other devices can suppress beacons so 5ghz look better etc

At the end of the day, it’s up to the client on what AP and what frequency connect. That’s why drivers etc are so important in the wirelsss client. Because they make most of the decisions. Even roaming, the client decides when to roam and who to roam to.
 
Someone mentioned this earlier, but the "band steering" thing is most likely a router thing. I believe each router out there has different requirements as to when it "steers" a device to the 2.4ghz network, and as the previous poster said, can be customize-able. I've had this issue for quite some time on many devices, including previous iPhones. To the point where I just disable it and keep separate networks (2.4, 5ghz-1 and 5ghz-2) and then only add the network I want the device on. Band steering has always been pretty flaky for me.

Also, my daughter picked up the XS last night, so I'll be interested to hear if she's seen anything specific as far as LTE, speeds and dropping back connections, etc. My guess is no, but she may not notice unless it's pointed out specifically.
 
elvisimprsntr said:
Since US carriers stopped subsidizing new phones with a contract, my upgrade cycle has been once Apple stops providing iOS updates for any particular device. Lowers my annual cost of ownership and my bank account will be bigger as a result.

I'm sticking with my trusty iPhone 6 Plus.
Click to expand...

When we upgrade iPhones, we purchase one generation behind. So when the iPhone 12 is released, I'll consider an iPhone Xs (if the reception problems are fixed).
 
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My xs max is working better than my 8 plus, in rural Ohio.

This “story” is a hoax. More fake news!
 
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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 a 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.
 
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WatchFromAfar said:
So, let me get this straight, You want Apple to release to the public a faultly product; then fix it via software updates?
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I don't want Apple to do anything, per se. I just always find it hilarious that people are so quick to jump on the fault being unfixable due to hardware issues, then Apple turns around and releases a software update to fully address and solve the issue.

Don't put words in my mouth.
 
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Same here. Just started noticing the past few days that my XS is not connecting to my 5 GHz network and status on the 2.4 GHz network and bandwidth is suffering. All of my other iOS devices in the house are working fine.
 
I went to the Apple store today (BTW the staff were excellent) and provided detailed iPhone XS Max stats comparing my wifi coverage in my basement versus the home office (where my router is located).

In the basement wifi speeds and signal strength dropped to 0 for the 5Ghz band for my iPhone XS Max while my other Apple devices (iPhone 7+ and iPad Pro) had no problem getting strong signal strength from my Linksys WRT1900AC router's 5Ghz signal and speeds were 80mbps+ (not as good as in my office but entirely OK for me).

The XS could not detect the 5Ghz signal in the basement and had no problem with the 2.4 band although speeds were <5mps (not acceptable for me).

In my office the XS wifi speeds were excellent and equivalent to my other Apple devices.

Apple generously swapped my phone to the same model. I used that phone as soon as I got home with only the Speedtest app installed and unfortunately I had almost exactly the same poor results.

I hope a software update fixes this issue or I will return the XS phone and keep my trusted 7+. I have tried all the posted possible solutions for this issue.

The other XS features are excellent compared to my 7+.
 
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My XS Max is working like my X did on LTE using my trusty Project Fi sim (T-Mobile for all intents and purposes).

As for wifi, at first it was super slow... which I attribute to my old icloud stuff being restored in the background. I'm not getting 600mbps download regularly in my home office over wifi.


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