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My iPhone 5s Wi-Fi reception is horrible

S

Siderz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 10, 2012
991
6
I upgraded from a 3GS to a 5s, and the 5s Wi-Fi is worse than my 3GS and iPad 3rd gen.

It will just keep dropping the connection while on my desk in the place where my 3GS once was.

Is it supposed to be like this? What is the metal band around it even supposed to do on the 5s?
 
Shouldn't be having that problem, however I did see a little bit of that on the two 5s' in my house until I did a reboot of my wifi router.

Try the reboot, also try the phone at some other locations. If you seem the same issue elsewhere then you probably need to get the phone replaced by apple.
 
deeddawg said:
try the phone at some other locations. If you seem the same issue elsewhere then you probably need to get the phone replaced by apple.
Click to expand...

Other locations around the house or in other places with Wi-Fi?

I actually went to the Apple Store today to get something fixed on my iTunes account, and completely forgot to ask about the Wi-Fi by the time I was finished.

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gCloud said:
try to reset network settings
Click to expand...

On the iPhone or on my router?
 
Siderz said:
Other locations around the house or in other places with Wi-Fi?
Click to expand...

Other places with wifi. Point is to see if the problem follows the phone; if the behavior is the same elsewhere than it's likely not some interaction with your wifi router. (for example the 3GS can only use the 2.4GHz side of 802.11n, the 5s can use the 5GHz size or 2.4GHz; so a problem with your router on the 5GHz side wouldn't show on your 3GS.)
 
gCloud said:
phone
Click to expand...

Hasn't fixed it

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mknlb50 said:
Had that issue with my first 5S. Just get it replaced
Click to expand...

Did you just book and genius bar appointment and tell them you have crappy Wi-Fi? And how long does it take them to replace it?

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deeddawg said:
Other places with wifi. Point is to see if the problem follows the phone; if the behavior is the same elsewhere than it's likely not some interaction with your wifi router. (for example the 3GS can only use the 2.4GHz side of 802.11n, the 5s can use the 5GHz size or 2.4GHz; so a problem with your router on the 5GHz side wouldn't show on your 3GS.)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how easy that'd be, it's just really easy to compare my 5s to the 3GS and iPad 3rd gen.

My router's set to 2.4GHz.
 
Had a similar issue last year with the 5 and they ended up exchanging it. They said the wifi chip was messed up. I suggest if all these settings are not fixing it, take it in.
 
Siderz said:
I'm not sure how easy that'd be, it's just really easy to compare my 5s to the 3GS and iPad 3rd gen.
Click to expand...

I imagine between your house and an Apple store you'll go by a couple Starbucks or Chick-fil-a's or McDonalds or Paneras or other places with wifi. Stop in and try out your phone. Also try it out in the Apple store.

Still have wifi problems? Then it's easy to explain to Apple Genius that you tried it in multiple places with the same problem when the Genius tells you it might be your router needs to be reset or checked out.

The point here is not to suggest it isn't your phone; it probably is a fault with the hardware. Instead the point is to get you to rule out the basic tests the Genius might put you through before replacing the phone.
 
I spoke to someone at Apple on their IM support thing, and they suggested restoring the device to the factory settings and checking if it fixes the problem, then restore using the backup.

So I did, and restoring it to the factory settings seemed to have fixed it because it straight away found my network, I put it further away in my room on my bed just to test (This is an area where my 3GS/iPad will get reception), and it managed to hold it for ~10 minutes, so I proceeded to restoring it with my backup.

At first it went back to the normal crappy reception...which was disappointing, but I waited for it to fully restore and now it seems to be back to when it was properly working on the factory settings.

So, it seems to be fixed, but I'm gonna give it a day or two, then I'll go to the Apple Store.
 
my 5s had the same problem

where i sit at work....my old ip4s would connect to the wifi and also the ipad2 would connect to it.....but when i got the 5s - it could not even see the router unless i moved close to it.

I would have the ipad and the 5s next to each other...ipad would be connected to wifi and the 5s would not be connected.

tried resetting settings etc but it did not work

i could not do with the hassle of getting a replacement etc esp with them being in short supply - i ended up sending it back for a refund and going back to my trusty 4s!

It kind of burst the enjoyment bubble!!
 
Dibberly said:
my 5s had the same problem

where i sit at work....my old ip4s would connect to the wifi and also the ipad2 would connect to it.....but when i got the 5s - it could not even see the router unless i moved close to it.

I would have the ipad and the 5s next to each other...ipad would be connected to wifi and the 5s would not be connected.

tried resetting settings etc but it did not work

i could not do with the hassle of getting a replacement etc esp with them being in short supply - i ended up sending it back for a refund and going back to my trusty 4s!

It kind of burst the enjoyment bubble!!
Click to expand...
try forgetting your network and re-add it manually
 
Siderz said:
Did you just book and genius bar appointment and tell them you have crappy Wi-Fi? And how long does it take them to replace it?
Click to expand...

I just returned it and did an "in-store" pick up for the new one at the same time. Some stores won't allow you to return it once you've done an exchange with their service replacement phone. So if your exchanged phone happen to have a piss yellow screen or heavy interlacing and Applecare "genius" doesn't see anything wrong with it, you're pretty much stuck with that piece of junk.
 
Last edited:
apollo1444 said:
try forgetting your network and re-add it manually
Click to expand...

If I had the phone I would have tried....but it's been returned now

Can't see what the difference is to be honest...if the phone cant even see the network when searching...what will manually adding it do?
 
My 5s has been poor too on wifi.

I was also told by Apple to do a restore, can't really see how that will help when the phone is only a few days old and was setup as new anyway.

Waiting for next iOS update before I try returning
 
Dibberly said:
If I had the phone I would have tried....but it's been returned now

Can't see what the difference is to be honest...if the phone cant even see the network when searching...what will manually adding it do?
Click to expand...

sometimes the phone joins the network (automatically) and then for some unknown reason it just forgets the network and sometimes it doesn't even show it

my solution has worked for a lot of my friends with this issue, they'll get near the router reconnect, forget the network, manually add everything and the problem will go away for good even when areas where the phone would refuse to see the network the connection will still be strong


you did goog exchanging it though
 
Quick update: It definitely hasn't improved by restoring from the backup.

I might try restoring to factory settings and start afresh, and just install everything again. If that doesn't work, I'm getting a replacement.

What do I need to know about taking it back for a replacement? Like, do I need to bring the box?
 
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