iPhone Will Not Connect To A Known Wi-Fi Network, Fix
Reading Time: 3 minutes Several users have reported a problem where iPhone does not connect automatically to a known Wi-Fi network such as a home network. You can easily connect to the Internet wirelessly by using a Wi-Fi network on your iPhone. Known Wi-Fi networks, Wi-Fi networks your iPhone has successfully connected with previously, will be joined automatically because your iPhone will remember its credentials. As it is expected, a lot of users find this feature very convenient.
You iPhone will not automatically connect to Wi-Fi network unless they are known networks.
Are you having Wi-Fi problems at home or in your office? Do not worry. There are some things you can do to get it to work. The tips below will allow you to identify and fix the most common Wi-Fi problems.
See also: iPad Wi-Fi Problems?
Fix: Cannot Automatically Connect To Wi-Fi
There may be an issue with (a) your iPhone (b) your Internet service provider, ISP, (e.g. Comcast etc) or (c) your Wi-Fi connection (e.g. your router etc).
Restart Everything
- Restart your router by unplugging the power cords. Then wait at least 30 seconds then plug it back in.
- Restart your iPhone by pressing and holding the sleep/wake button until you see the red slider. Simply slide the slider, then wait a few seconds before turning it on.
- Restart your modem.
Update
Update your Wi-Fi router’s firmware. To do this, see your routers manual. Also update your iPhone. To update the iOS software wirelessly, you can go to Settings > General > Software Update. But your devices must be connected to the Internet. Can you join another network for this step? Or you may go to a different place. If not, you can update with iTunes by connecting your iPhone to your computer. Then on your computer, open iTunes, then select iPhone and click Update.
Internet
Make sure that your router is connected to the Internet. Make sure that you are not having problems with your ISP provider. If nothing works, you may want to contact your ISP (Frontier, ATT, etc.). Perhaps, you forgot to pay your Internet bills?
Furthermore, your router may be set to limit the number of Internet connections. You may want to check this if a lot of users are connected at the same time.
Lastly, check to see if there are any unplugged or loose network cables.
iPhone
Make sure Wi-Fi is turned on (Settings > Wi-Fi)
Make sure your iPhone is not in Airplane Mode (Settings > Airplane Mode)
Try moving your iPhone closer to your router. Because you may be outside of wireless signal range.
Turn Wi-Fi off wait a few seconds and then turn on.
Resetting your network settings can help fix the network connection. Go to Settings > General > Reset >”Reset Network Settings”. Note that all of your Wi-Fi settings (your passwords etc) will be deleted.
Try “Forget This Network”. Tap Settings > Wi-Fi and you will see a list of available Wi-Fi networks; now tap on the blue (i) information sign next to the Wi-Fi network that you are unable to connect to. Now tap “Forget This Network”.
See also: How to Manage & Limit Cellular Data Usage On Your iPhone
I had the same problem, under wifi setting; To me, auto join to my home network switch was off, I turned it on.
Setting> WiFi> “i” button of your neetwork> Auto-Join Switch
Here is it is 2021 and still no better. I never leave home. All devices connect just fine except for mine and my husband’s iPads. Some days they say wrong password and some days they don’t. Nothing seems to work. So frustrating. It is random during the day. One minute connects fine and the next minute it doesn’t. Sometimes his iPad connects when mine doesn’t and sometimes mine connects when his doesn’t. Shame on Apple for not figuring out a way to fix this. Really! Smart TV, Roku, tivos computers all work. So why is it only Apple iPads and iPhones that do this???
It’s so encouraging to hear everyone’s frustrating anguish with “Can’t Join the network. Password Incorrect” when you know it’s nothing you’ve done yourself. Why, it worked yesterday right? I just got up this morning and now it doesn’t work…. Now I know that I am not alone, not losing my mind, and once again, Apple can’t master wireless technology. (This explains why they withdrew from the router market.) It also is a lesson is the abject hypocrisy and blatantly false advertising of all those tech companies touting “blazing fast internet” “plug’n’play,” “stay connected everywhere,” and “best coverage in America” and other such statements of pure fantasy… Thank you for posting your troubles and woes and frustrations. I know I am not alone. Thank you.
I got a new mini iPad.first ,it wanted mywifinumber
But it would not accept my WiFi password.it works well with my other iPad.
I’ve tried everything suggested in this article, but my iPhone still refuses to connect to the network. Still get the message incorrect password.
this has never happened to me before and it’s extremely frustrating.
I am having the same issue. Tried with 4 different wifi networks, one WEP, one WPA, one broadcast from my computer, and one from Best Buy. Only works at Best Buy. All previously known networks fail. I have reset to factory settings and still no dice.
I had this problem with iPhone 6. Under stetting wireless, I changed the “Ask to join networks” to off. That seems to work.
This solved my problem! Thank you so much!
I have this problem every day since I was forced to obtain an i-phone X. I get home and have to play with it to get it to join the network. When I get to work (a) I have to play with it to get it to join the network. When I get to work (b) I have to play with it to get it to join the network. I’m thinking the phone sucks if it happens every time, every day, every where. I have tried everything you described above and nothing gets this phone to quickly join the network.
In fact, sometimes at home I don’t bother since I am just going to bed. At 1:30 AM, daily, the router resets. Only then will the telephone join the network unless I have played with it earlier.
same here iphone 10xr; wont connect at work unless i type in the name and then phone cant find it and then i press cancel and it pops ups and connects; at home connects automatically.
my old iphone 6 connected auto at both places
My new iPhone 11Pro doesn’t connect automatically to any known networks. But automatically switches to mobile data though. Any help? Please
I have had this problem for roughly 6 months or so. I already did everything on this list and nothing worked. I even bought a new iPhone to see if that would work, but it didn’t. I ended up going to the Apple Store three times to get it figured out. The only thing that works is to change the password on the router. I was able to change it at home and it worked! I can’t change the password on the wifi router pretty much anywhere else though. It felt rude and awkward to be asking my friends change their wifi passwords every time I come over, so I gave up on that. At my job in the city, there are roughly 500 other employees who use the same wifi network. I haven’t gone to IT and asked them to change the wifi password because this would be rather unprofessional and could cost me my job. The final solution is to not use wifi and just pay for unlimited data.
Click on information for the WiFi, select auto join
I have iPhone 6 plus and Xfinity Wi-Fi in my home. My phone stopped automatically connecting to wifi about three weeks ago, and the I tried to manually connect, I got a message saying my password was incorrect. Finally solved the problem by logging in to my Xfinity account, going to support, and retrieving the password from when I first got the wifi installed (it’s a different password than the one on the box). Performed the “forget this network” procedure on my phone, then rejoined using the new password. Success!