Wi-Fi connection works with MacBook but not with iPhone and iPad

[desertman]

I'm in an RV resort that has free Wi-Fi for guests. I've been here before and Wi-Fi and Internet worked just great on all of my devices. Today it is in a very strange way different: I can connect to Wi-Fi and Internet with my MacBook - but not with my iPhone and iPad, although I'm directly next to the router. It has been like this for about six hours now.

iPhone and iPad see the network and connect to the network. After that it takes between 30 and 60 seconds before I see the AirPort symbol next to "Verizon" at the top of the screen - but I can not connect to any website. When I try to go i. e. to nytimes.com I get a network error (The request timed out). Having cellular data on or off does not make a difference; turning Wi-Fi on and on makes no difference; "forgetting" the network and reconnecting to it makes no difference; deleting all browser data makes no difference; restarting the devices makes no difference.

The RV park has three different Wi-Fi networks and it is in all three networks in the same way working with the MacBook but not iPhone and iPad. I have never had something like that. The Internet works with macOS and does not work with iOS 12 (on two different devices).

Any idea what could be going on here and how to fix this?

 

[hobowankenobi]

My hunch would be that there is something going on you are not gonna fix...on the network.

Having multiple networks is a clue; if it were two, it might be separate 2.4G and 5G.

Since you see 3...it could very well be that they actually have 3 separate networks overlapping, which is less than ideal, and could actually be very problematic, depending on channels. It also points to the likelihood that whoever set it up is probably not that knowledgeable. If they want it to be right, they should have single network and the WAPs would seamlessly hand off clients depending on signal strength (you would join the strongest signal automatically), as well as switching seamlessly from 2.4 to 5G

These clues point to a config issue on their side, and that their network(s) are not playing nice with iOS devices. If so, all you can do is let them know and hope they can sort it out.

You might also check with neighbors with iOS to see if they have the same issues.

In a pinch you could let your Mac share it's internet with your iOS devices.