A new Apple iOS Wi-Fi problem has popped up while others remain unfixed
Summary: A big new Apple iPhone and iPad Wi-Fi/cellular data problem has appeared while other iOS 6 Wi-Fi problems continue to drag on.
Some Apple iPhone and iPad users are facing a major new problem with Wi-Fi/cellular data use while others are still dealing with earlier, unresolved iOS 6 Wi-Fi problems.
The latest annoyance is a real pain-in-the-rump. It turns out that while some of you have been watching videos, playing a game, whatever, on what you thought was a Wi-Fi network, you were actually running up your giant 3G data bill. Apple hasn't commented on this, but on September 30th, Apple quietly released a bug fix for the problem for its Verizon customers.
In it, Apple states. "This carrier settings update resolves an issue in which, under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network." Users are loudly saying that is not just a problem with iPhone 5 or Verizon. Instead, they blame iOS 6.
One Australian user wrote, "This is not just an iPhone 5 issue. I have a iPhone 4S model MD241X with Carrier voda AU 13.1. I have wifi on all the time but managed to use over 20gb in 1 week." He's not the only one. The Apple support discussion forums are filled with notes such as: "AT&T iPhone 5 activated on Saturday. I was on home WiFi and began getting data usage alerts from AT&T after about 1 hour. I have never exceeded my data plan. I called AT&T and they had no explanation other than my WiFi might be broken. After being at work all day on their WiFi, I came to discover I had exceeded my allotment and was 153MB into overage in one day."
To see if you have this problem, before an outlandish bill arrives, check Settings > General > Usage and look for excessive cellular data usage. If you see trouble, the quick and dirty way to avoid is to simply turn off your 3G data plan except when you absolutely need it. You do this by going Settings > General > Cellular > and turning Cellular Data off.
Of course, this isn't ideal, but then neither is paying cellular data outage fees of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Hopefully, Apple will soon address this problem as it already has with its Verizon users.
In the meantime, the problem that iPhone 4S and iPad 3 with their A5 chipsets and iOS 6 had with joining networks has been narrowed down. Research by Christian Rank found that the problem stemmed from a "different interpretation of [the 802.11n] standards: At least the iPhone 4S with iOS 6 sends a parameter "Extended Capabilities" in its association request to the AP. This "Extended Capabilities" parameter has a length of 4. Now, the "IEEE Std 802.11n-2009" states that this parameter should have only 3 as valid length. Contrary to that, the current "IEEE Std 802.11-2012" defines the valid length between 3 and 8. It seems that our HP/H3C equipment treats "Extended Capabilities" parameter length == 4 as fatal error and rejects the association (instead of just ignoring this parameter). From the formal point of view, Apple's implementation is correct, and HP should correct its firmware. We've got in touch with HP about this issue and are now awaiting their response. Nevertheless, I hope that Apple updates iOS 6 that no ‘Extended Capabilities' parameter is sent during association, since its purely redundant."
Other Wi-Fi APs and routers seem to make this check as well with similar disastrous results for iOS 6 devices. So, if you're having trouble with joining a Wi-Fi network, check to see if there's a new firmware update for your router or access point (AP). You could also encourage Apple to drop sending the ‘Extended Capabilities' during authentication since this parameter really isn't used for anything in iOS or by most APs or routers.
Other Wi-Fi problems are still with us. For example, I'm still seeing reports from iOS 6 users having trouble connecting with APs using WPA2 AES (Wi-Fi Protected Access II/ Advanced Encryption Standard) security. Curiously, Apple recommends WPA2 AES for Wi-Fi security, but WPA2 TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is the security standard that's actually more likely to work with iOS 6-equipped iPhones, iPads, and iPods.
Many iOS 6 users are also still stuck with the problem of having their Wi-Fi "grayed out and disabled." Some people have suggested that if you're seeing this error it's because "your hardware is defective," but others point out that their iToys worked perfectly until they "upgraded" to iOS 6. Some users have suggested that this problem can be traced to a "a firmware to OS (Driver) compatibility issue," but the mystery, and many semi-dead iOS 6 devices, remain.
It seems to me that Apple CEO Tim Cook has more to apologize for in iOS 6 than just Apple Maps. While not as wide-spread as the Maps problem, far too many Apple users are having serious Wi-Fi problems.
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Talkback
But part of the iCulture is being happy to overpay for everything.
Funny, but Mr. Vegas...
I am going to be so bold as to say most people like to get good service. If it is something expensive...even more. I fired MS and Adobe because their passion for non-performance, arrogance, and inability to answer much less solve an issue without getting permission and 10 people involved was frustrating too me. You might like it.
It was my choice to pay more to actually get help.
I have Windows 8 running in Boot-camp. Let's see how that rolls out. MS should have their hands full! For example, MS XBOX slammed sales of 80,000 Kinnect units during Black Friday last year. They were surprised they had service issues. Adobe still has the same # of employees as it did 5 years ago but many new complex programs.
It is a tough manpower vs. sales issue. These Apple problems are real. Apple is painful to use because I think they fell in love with themselves and released too much. I have had more problems in 6 months than the last 3 years but the difference is instead hiding and not taking calls or following-up regarding service. They work more and pick up the phone. Also, they are nice.
Service and Quality vs. Price. Tough economy. Agreed. So it is an issue that you get to decide what fits your own agenda. I am not an Apple Fan-boy...I just know when I had a serious issue... one company blew a 20 customer off and one got a customer just because of their service.
They can throw me under the bus because they hold themselves and their employees accountable. They say things like "I am sorry." I don't think MS knows those words... When Windows 8 rolls....they will need something a lot bigger than a bus.. They should call it Windows 8 Titanic Edition. It sounds like they are rolling before completion...really smart.
Regards,
iTard
"Adobe still has the same # of employees as it did 5 years ago but many new
iTard: You're going to need Google Maps
Too bad you're on iOS 6 now.
You are completely full of it
You may have had a good experience with Apple, but their documented history is that they abuse and deceive their customers on a regular basis. It would appear that Tim Cook is trying to reverse that trend, but we will see how long he keeps it up.
An old saying you should learn to live by
Spectacular Kyle
How True
Not quite...
Incidentally, if you had read the whole article, you'd have learned that the problem arises from the fact that the iPhones are using the 2012 802.11 standard, while older routers are using an outdated standard and are dropping the connection. I wouldn't call that Apple's fault nor Apple "throwing their users under the bus".
Oh, and nice dig on the new connector in your first sentence. Only problem is, if you talk to people who've been using their iPhone 5 for a bit, they really dig the fact that it plugs in either way. As one columnist put it: "Take any mindless task that you have to do 25 times a day and just remove it from your life, forever.". My prediction, 5-10 years from now, we'll have these "agnostic" connectors on all kinds of devices. We'll be able to plug in our various devices in the dark or without looking because the market will come to expect this from devices... and the Apple's is starting that expectation, just like they led us to expect other niceties like: using your finger as a stylus, pinch-zooming, phones which are mostly screen and no keyboard, music players which automatically pause when you pull your headphone plug out, etc. Sure, it's not a major deal, but it's just going to be another thing that we don't need to bother with in the future.
Agnostic connectors? ROFL
its not that...
Being universal does not equal
Apple's fault
much like their effort to offer wifi printing in iOS, they DON'T CARE that you can't use existing wifi printers!
When the iphone first came out, you couldn't use existing standard 3.5mm headsets with it, you had to use theirs or buy new iPhone compatible ones which are useless with every other phone or tablet.
Apple are arrogant enough to ignore existing standards and create new requirements.
YES, THEY ARE THROWING USERS UNDER THE BUS!
How about a simple compatibility fallback so it would work with older routers?
And they claim this is the "world's most advanced mobile OS"???
The funny thing is
we have
If you have money welcome to us.. where the quality (and the money) is....
Rest please keep out.... this is not your league...
What if I have the money but dont like Mercedes?
So please stop with that bull.t that fanboys have the money and the others are poor people
You need to talk to the haters
And the primary part of iHater culture
Johnny Vegas,
I've noticed this myself
iOS 6 handles this situation very differently. If there is any issue connecting to the Internet through WiFi, my experience has been that it silently falls back onto 3G. You will NOT see the WiFi icon at the top of the screen (even though opening settings clearly shows you are connected to WiFi) so if you look carefully, you will see that you are currently on 3G.
I can see advantages to both approaches. Falling back to 3G if WiFi is failing allows you to be constantly connected. However, it isn't exactly the safest method for those with small data plans.
It seems to me that the best solution would be to have a setting that toggled silent fallback to 3G. Those with big plans can leave it on, those with small plans can turn it off.