Why won't my iPhone automatically connect to the strongest wifi network?

[wannabelean]

What are the possible reasons for this? I'm using an iPhone 7 plus. I'm on 10.3.2. This is somewhat a problem with my iPad as well.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer

 

[Applejuiced]

What do you mean by automatically connect?
If you are within range and you connected to that wifi before it will auto-connect.
Are you having multiple wifi networks available that you connected to before and you want the phone to automatically keep switching from one to the other depending on your distance and how close/far you are from it?

 

[malikkamran]

What do you mean by automatically connect?
If you are within range and you connected to that wifi before it will auto-connect.
Are you having multiple wifi networks available that you connected to before and you want the phone to automatically keep switching from one to the other depending on your distance and how close/far you are from it?

yes depending on distance want it to switch to strongest

 

[bufffilm]

The iPhone doesn't work this way. Never has.

Even on jail-broken devices...I have a tweak which supposedly connects to the strongest wifi signal, but it doesn't always work as intended.

 

[wannabelean]

What do you mean by automatically connect?
If you are within range and you connected to that wifi before it will auto-connect.
Are you having multiple wifi networks available that you connected to before and you want the phone to automatically keep switching from one to the other depending on your distance and how close/far you are from it?

Yes. For example my phone connects to a wifi network on a higher floor instead of connecting to a wifi network which is right beside me. The higher floor signal is like one bar and the one next to me is all 5 bars. For most times, I have to manually select the 5 bars network.

Automatically connect reference was getting connected automatically to previously joined or known networks.

 

[mollyc]

My stuff does this too; our main router is in the basement and we have a repeater in the living room; the repeater is almost always stronger than the main router, but my devices usually connect through the main router first. Drives me bonkers. I've thought about deleting the main router, but we have a generator, so if the power goes out, the main router still works, and the repeater does not. Our password is very long and I don't want to fumble to find it in the dark if it comes to that, so I leave it in the connections.

 

[Hiperglow]

What are the possible reasons for this? I'm using an iPhone 7 plus. I'm on 10.3.2. This is somewhat a problem with my iPad as well.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer

Have you tried giving them the same SSID, my issues disappered after I did that. Now it selects the strongest iPhone 7+ and iPad Air 2

 

[Givmeabrek]

As above, give your routers, or access points the same SSID but put them on different channels. This is to avoid interfering with each other. Now your phone or other device will automatically select the strongest signal.

Larger networks are always set up with one SSID. As you move around you will switch to the strongest signal.

 

[eyoungren]

This sounds like a good opportunity to mention my new favorite app which I found a few months back.

@Applejuiced, I believe I mentioned it to you as well.

WiFi Priority. It's in the app store.

 

[Applejuiced]

yes depending on distance want it to switch to strongest

Yeah it's not going to happen if they have different SSID's.
That's not an option currently.

 

[9646829]

As above, give your routers, or access points the same SSID but put them on different channels. This is to avoid interfering with each other. Now your phone or other device will automatically select the strongest signal.

Larger networks are always set up with one SSID. As you move around you will switch to the strongest signal.

This is how my WiFi at home is setup, one downstairs and one in my office upstairs, both have the same SSID etc and it connects to whichever I am closest to.