Is your iPhone’s Wi-Fi acting up? Don’t fret, I’ve developed some tried-and-tested troubleshooting tips over the years of playing tech support for family and friends. These fixes help me diagnose Wi-Fi issues when I can’t get online.

Toggle iPhone Wi-Fi on and Off

The first thing I do to troubleshoot intermittent internet issues is switch off Wi-Fi in Settings > Wi-Fi and wait at least a minute before turning it back on. The Wi-Fi software stack in iOS isn’t bug-free. Toggling Wi-Fi can resolve the issue. I never disable Wi-Fi via the Control Center, as doing sodoesn’t truly turn off Wi-Fi radios in my iPhone.

If the Wi-Fi icon in the iOS status bar disappears briefly before reappearing again, this is a tell-tale sign the Wi-Fi software stack just crashed.

Ethernet cable plugged into an ethernet port on a router

Restart Your iPhone

A quick restart can resolve common software issues encountered on an iPhone.To reach the slide-to-power-off screen, go to Settings > General > Shut Down or touch and hold the Power button in the top-right corner ofiOS 18’s Control Center.

If the system has become unresponsive,force-restart your iPhone. After a restart, double-check that Wi-Fi is turned on in Settings and your preferred Wi-Fi network is listed there.

Black router with four antennas.

Check Network Cables and Connections

Are your cables adequately plugged into your router and modem? Check all the connection points for any signs of failure and see if replacing the Ethernet cable helps.

This might sound basic, but is your router connected to the modem and turned on? If no lights are blinking, the device could be turned off or malfunctioning.

The iPhone’s Settings app displaying a No Internet Connection message below the Wi-Fi network name

Reboot Your Router

If no nearby networks are listed in Settings > Wi-Fi, the router may need a fresh start.To reboot your router, unplug it and wait at least 30 seconds before plugging it again. If the router gets its internet connection from a separate modem, be sure to also restart the modem too.

Be patient as your router re-enables the 5GHz band. After a restart, my dual-band Apple TimeCapsule takes a few minutes to initialize its 5GHz network.

A person using a smartphone with multiple crossed-out Wi-Fi icons flying out of it.

With everything rebooted, go ahead and ensure the iPhone is within range. Too far from the router, and I get poor or no signal at all. Placement matters, people, so learn how toreposition your router for the best Wi-Fi speeds. I’ll also check for thecommon things that may be blocking the Wi-Fi signal, such as concrete walls, bookshelves, fish tanks, and the like.

Check Your Internet Connection

Not being able to use Wi-Fi could imply a network issue on the ISP end. To confirm this, I look for a “No Internet Connection” label below the network name in the Wi-Fi settings.

This tells me the network is offline. Your ISP should have a status page that you can check, but you’ll need to use a cellular connection to reach it.

The iPhone’s Settings app with the blue checkmark highlighted next to the connected Wi-Fi network.

Scan any ISP support pages and social media accounts for any outage notices. Once you’veconfirmed that the problems are on the service provider’s end, you might want to wait it out before reaching out to support.

Status dashboards aren’t very helpful if they don’t update in real-time. That’s why I prefer having a support agent acknowledge the issue, to save me from wasting my time on further troubleshooting tips that won’t work.

The iPhone’s Settings app displaying an incorrect Wi-Fi password message.

Enable the Auto-Join Setting

Maybe the ISP did experience a brief downtime, but you’re still having Wi-Fi issues? You could be connected to the wrong network. I’ll rule that possibility out by looking for a blue tick beside the name of the connected network in Settings.

To configure your iPhone to always connect to your preferred Wi-Fi network, hit the “i” button next to the connected network name in Settings > Wi-Fi and turn on the “Auto-Join” switch.

Check Your Wi-Fi Password

If I see “Unable to join the network” or “Incorrect password” after entering the Wi-Fi password, I’ll restart all my devices, routers, and modems and try entering the password again.

Still unsuccessful?Try changing the Wi-Fi network name and password.

Forget and Re-Add Your Wi-Fi Network

Forgetting a network removes all its saved data, which might fix your issue. Touch the “i” button next to the connected network name and choose “Forget This Network.”

After that, try rejoining the same network to see if the issue has been resolved.

Disable Custom DNS Servers

Still no luck? At this point, I’m eager to point the finger of blame at custom DNS settings. In all honesty,I have changed my iPhone’s DNS serversto a third-party provider to enjoy faster browsing, to be protected from known malicious websites, and to circumvent DNS-level censorship.

To change the DNS server on your iPhone, hit the “i” button next to the network name in Settings > Wi-Fi and select “Configure DNS,” then choose “Automatic” and hit “Save.”

You can always plug in another custom DNS server address once you’ve resolved the problem.

Turn Off the Private Network Address Feature

Every iPhone sends a unique MAC addressto identify itself on the network. These are set at the hardware level but can be manually changed to boost online privacy and reduce tracking. This option is known to cause problems with certain networks, so try turning it off.

Go to Settings > Wi-Fi, hit the “i” button next to the network name, and switch off the option labeled “Private Address” (iOS 17 and older) or “Rotate Wi-Fi Address” (iOS 18).