iphone 5 wifi connectivity problems

[Herr Kutz]

So I recently purchased a "Used Like New" iphone from the amazon warehouse, and when I received it, it looked like it had never been opened.

So I backed up my iphone 4s and then loaded everything onto the "new" 5. I added the phone's macid to my home router's list so it could see the wifi broadcast. When I tried to type in my password it took several attempts (~10) to connect to the router, and I thought I was good to go. Unfortunately, the phone constantly drops wifi connection, and when it does connect, it is balls-to-wall slow before dropping out and relying on my cellular data connection which I've had to turn off to prevent going over my monthly limit. This is all while sitting next to my laptop and 4s that were holding the connection rock solid.

I tried resetting all network connections, but to no avail. I've tried resetting the phone entirely without loading a backup of my previous phone onto it. If anything, it is worse. The phone sees the wifi broadcast but simply refuses to connect. I've had the exact same experience on the "work" network. Both are on WPA, which I've read could cause a problem, but I don't see setting the network to open or even WEP as an acceptable option.

So I brought the phone into the apple store (of course their unsecured wifi worked fine) and told them what I've gone through and they ran some silly diagnostic on my phone and found nothing wrong. It looked like they were about to switch out my phone until they saw it was no longer under warranty. It was sold in October 2012 and manufactured in June 2013 (wtf?).

I've also tried doing some silly things I've read on the internet like setting dns server 8.8.8.8, setting http proxy to auto, and taking off the case (rubber) but none of these had any effect.

Obviously I'm going to return it to Amazon, but has anyone run into this problem with their 5 been able to find a solution?

 

[Rakehellion]

If your 4S works, but not the 5, then it sounds like it's a problem with the phone. Could be a bad antenna.

 

[Eug]

I had serious compatibility issues with some iDevices with non-Apple WiFi networks. This was esp. true with certain forms of WPA security, or if I used a hidden SSID.

My solution was to buy an AirPort Extreme and different third party WiFi access points.

I'd try a different access point with the same security and see what happens. Preferably an Airport.

 

[Herr Kutz]

I had serious compatibility issues with some iDevices with non-Apple WiFi networks. This was esp. true with certain forms of WPA security, or if I used a hidden SSID.

My solution was to buy an AirPort Extreme and different third party WiFi access points.

I'd try a different access point with the same security and see what happens. Preferably an Airport.

That's a major bummer. Both networks I use my phone on have WPA security and a hidden SSID, and I really don't have the ability to change settings or the router for either. =(

 

[Ichinisan]

Hiding SSID broadcast and using MAC filtering are both dumb -- for reasons I don't feel like explaining right now.

 

[Ichinisan]

I had serious compatibility issues with some iDevices with non-Apple WiFi networks. This was esp. true with certain forms of WPA security, or if I used a hidden SSID.

My solution was to buy an AirPort Extreme and different third party WiFi access points.

I'd try a different access point with the same security and see what happens. Preferably an Airport.

Strange. I've had the opposite experience. My old iPhone 4 would do 30mbps (the cable modem's max provisioned speed) on various old wireless-G routers while other PCs and Android tablets I tested would only do 14 Mbps.

 

[Eug]

Strange. I've had the opposite experience. My old iPhone 4 would do 30mbps (the cable modem's max provisioned speed) on various old wireless-G routers while other PCs and Android tablets I tested would only do 14 Mbps.

It really depends on the specific models, but there are compatibility issues, and hidden SSIDs are the worst offender for compatibility issues.

My iPhone 4 works fine with my current el-cheapo TP-Link routers, but sometimes didn't with a couple of my el-cheapo TrendNET ones, although some of it probably had to do with the router settings (even though my laptops - Mac and Windows - worked fine). However, hiding the SSID on those made the iPhone 4 not work at all. This is a very common issue, not just with iPhones, but with other equipment as well.

We now have an iPhone 5 and 5s in this setup: 1 x Airport Extreme 802.11n and 3 x TP-Link TL-WR720N 802.11n. But of course, none of the SSIDs are hidden. All four have unique SSIDs.

 

[Ichinisan]

First you have to pay some attention on your using environment.
1. If the wifi environment is good, then you may check whether your hardware of your phone has some queston.

2. If you have confirm there is no hardware problem of your phone, you may think about your phone card, does it OK in other Iphone5?

3. Since you said this is a "used like new', there may exist some potential problem of it.

Hope the above will be helpful to you.

You really suggest it could be a problem with the SIM card?

No. Nope. That's no help at all.