Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Worked for me. Doubled as well.

Hopefully It lasts for you and stays connected to the 5 GHz band. I think a lot of people connect back to the 5 GHz band but then it always makes its way back to the 2.4 GHz band. Let us know how goes for you.
 
No. Two Airport Extremes with an Ethernet backhaul. One on first floor, one on second floor. Been setup and working fine for years, and still working fine with other devices.

I hard rebooted my phone downstairs last night. Saw it connected to the router down stairs on the 5 GHz band. Speeds were good. Sat there for a while and eventually it stayed on the downstairs router but switch over to the 2.4 GHz band. Didn’t do anything to the phone and just came upstairs at bedtime. Phone connected to upstairs router on the 2.4 GHz band. Use the phone for a little while while browsing these forms then locked the screen and started using my iPad. Picked up my phone after about 10 minutes and it had found its way back to the 5 GHz band on the upstairs router. Went to bed woke up this morning phone still on the 5 GHz band on the upstairs router.

I still have yet to see the XSM connect above 586 MB/s via the Airport utility. My iPad mini connects around 866 MB/s and stays there.

Nice setup. A key requirement to meet 5G service demands is a flexible wireless backhaul infrastructure which meets more stringent performance, reliability, and operational efficiency. If this is a software issue, I hope Apple addresses it quickly.
 
There may be an issue and an update coming, but for me it might be fixed - I didn't just do a reset through the menu of my access points, I powered the one closest to my desk off and on last night late. My XS Max then stayed on the 5 GHz all night, and still is on it, even walking through the house to all 3 floors! I have run 3 speed tests this morning, and it's getting 540/41 and it has not been kicked to the 2.4 GHz band. So fingers crossed this stay that way!

Oh well. I went out of the house, and when I returned, I checked the WiFi about a half hour later, it the XS Max was on 2.4 GHz.
 
iPhone XS Max and iPhone 6S. Same location and same WiFi network out at the parent's house in the boondocks. :)

They have 100Mbps/10Mbps service.

As you can see, the Max does a much better job.

IMG_0237_zps2wvustmo.png



IMG_0106_zpszj7mjetj.png
 
I get 150+ Mbps down on my MacBook Pro, only 35-45 Mbps down on my iPhone Xs Max on 2.4 GHz, and 57 Mbps down on my 5 GHz.

On Friday it took 5 1/2 hours to restore and install of my apps. I even switched to my data to see if it would help and it did not.

It was ridiculous. Hopefully they fix this in a software update.
 
Was contacted by Apple Support. Installed a profile on my phone to hopefully send them logs.

Curious what routers people are running when this issue occurs?
 
  • Like
Reactions: decypher44
Was contacted by Apple Support. Installed a profile on my phone to hopefully send them logs.

Curious what routers people are running when this issue occurs?

I am on Google WiFi. MacBook Pro 2018, iPhone 8, and iPad Pro 10.5 do not show the problem, all are solid 5 GHz.
 
  • Like
Reactions: netnothing
I am on Google WiFi. MacBook Pro 2018, iPhone 8, and iPad Pro 10.5 do not show the problem, all are solid 5 GHz.

Interesting. I have google WiFi and haven’t been noticing the issue. I’m using the onhub units.
 
Think I was on a different string last night but same issue with mine. I run a Ubiquiti Unifi setup with a single LR model AP pretty central in the house. Spent this afternoon upgrading the controller software and updating the AP firmware which I hadn't done since earlier this year. Adjusted the band steering from balanced to prefer 5G as well as looked at the some of the other settings. Putting my Max back on my original SSID I kept on 5ghz for about 30-40 min. after that it dropped to 2.4ghz and would never move back to 5ghz even feet away from the AP.

So phone is back on the new 5ghz only SSID I created last night which is the only way I can guarantee decent speed and ping.
 
You need to have a different SSID name for 2.4GHz and 5GHZ. Otherwise, the phone will default to 2.4 most of the time, because it can’t see the 5GHZ.

The phone can see 5GHz without any issues.

Some routers have a feature called band steering and that way the router will push the phone over to the 5GHz band. If you separate your 2.4 and 5Ghz SSIDs and only connect to the 5Ghz network with your phone your Apple watch will not connect to wifi because it is incapable of connecting the 5Ghz network. That's why I choose to blend them and I set my router to band steer.
 
Haven't had any issues with the 5GHz band. Though I have noticed that my XS Max will stay connected to my WiFi extender (2.4GHz), unlike my 6s Plus which ALWAYS used to disconnect after a certain amount of time and drop back to my main, low signal 2.4GHz, which is transmitted from my main router across the other side of my house.
 
Lots of testing for Apple support last night. Biggest thing I'm seeing is that the Max really loves 2.4 GHz. If you can get it attached to 5 GHz, it'll stay on it as long as the signal is really strong (like in the same room). But even going one room over, it'll fall back to 2.4 GHz very quickly. Hoping to give Apple my logs today.
 
Thanks @netnothing for doing this work on behalf of many of us!!

Glad to do it since it's clear that the Max is not performing the same way as either my 8+ or my wife's 6s. Nice to be able to test and see both my Max and her 6s where her's will just connect on the 5 GHz band and stay there almost exclusively (it did fall back once).....whereas the Max only wants to stay connected if it's in the same room as the router (Airport Express in my case).
 
  • Like
Reactions: donawalt
This worked for me. Went from 37 d/load to my usual 60-65 meg.

It will be interesting to see if it stays. Mine worked for awhile doing this then went back to its love for 2.4. I did also try 'forgetting' the 2.4 network for the second time yesterday, so far that is working today.
 
Doing all the resets and forgetting and all that jazz doesn't work, in the long run. I have no idea what Apple has done to the wifi card in this phone, but they need to get it fixed.

We have 9 (nine) Airport Extreme routers. 1 connected to the modem and the other 8 are ethernet connected as access points. Nothing has changed, in terms of router setup, since upgrading from the X to the XSM.

The only other thing I can think to do is turn IPv6 completely off.
 
I have a Linksys EA9300. Same issues persist after forgetting network, restarting router, restarting phone, etc. It did connect to the 5GHz, but only for an hour.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.