How to Fix Wi-Fi Not Working on iOS 14

Is your Wi-Fi not working properly on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 14?

Apple’s new operating systems, the iOS 14 and watchOS 7 have been delivering a lot of new features to their consumers. New features for the Apple Watch included the Handwashing feature, Sleeping Tracker, other gym options, and more.

For iOS 14 users, Apple surprised them with customizable widgets, the App Library, new interfaces, Camera app upgrades, and so on! Unfortunately, these operating systems also came with a ton of bugs and glitches that Apple users have been facing ever since the release date.

In this list, we will be going through all the methods you can use to help fix the Wi-Fi issue on your iPhone.

Let’s get started.

• 1. Turn Off and On Your Wi-Fi.
• 2. Enable And Disable Airplane Mode.
• 3. Make Sure You’re Connected To The Right Network.
• 4. Turn Off Wi-Fi Assist.
• 5. Restart Your iPhone.
• 6. Restart Your Wi-Fi Router.
• 7. Turn Off Any Installed VPNs.
• 8. Forget And Reconnect To Your Wi-Fi Network.
• 9. Reset Network Settings.

1. Turn Off and On Your Wi-Fi.

To start off this list, we’ll be doing a bunch of simple methods to help troubleshoot and fix your problem. Turning your Wi-Fi off and on is a standard solution and essentially works by disconnecting you from your Wi-Fi network and reconnecting yourself to it.

Although this is a simple solution, if the problem lies in the faulty connection between you and your Wi-Fi network, then this should be the only fix you need.

Here’s how you can turn off and on your Wi-Fi:

1. Start by swiping up on your phone’s screen to bring up the Control Center.

2. Next, tap on the Wi-Fi icon to disable it and tap on it again to enable it.

Your iPhone should automatically connect to your Wi-Fi network by default. See if this fixes your issue.

2. Enable And Disable Airplane Mode.

Another simple fix that works similarly to turning off and on your Wi-Fi connection is enabling and disabling Airplane mode on your phone. Airplane mode will terminate all radio wave connections made by your phone to any Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

Enabling and disabling this feature will reset all concurrent network connections made by your phone, which will be a much more substantial reset compared to the previous method.

Here’s how you can enable and disable Airplane mode:

1. Go ahead and swipe up again to open up your Control Center.
2. Next, tap on the Airplane icon to enable Airplane mode on your device. To indicate that it’s on, the signal bar on the top left portion of your screens should be gone.

3. Finally, wait for a couple of seconds and disable Airplane mode by tapping on the Airplane icon again.

Try to connect to your Wi-Fi network after these steps to check if your problem remains. If this is caused by a problem in regards to your cellular features interfering with your Wi-Fi, then you can try connecting to your Wi-Fi whilst Airplane mode is on.

3. Make Sure You’re Connected To The Right Network.

When you’re surrounded by a lot of Wi-Fi networks, like when you’re by a coffee shop, in a mall, or with neighbors that have really strong Wi-Fi, it’s easy to connect to the wrong Wi-Fi network by mistake. In this method, we will help you look at all the Wi-Fi networks close to you and see if you’re connecting to the right one.

Here’s how to check your Wi-Fi connections:

1. First, open up your Settings.
2. Once you’re there, navigate to Wi-Fi.
3. Finally, a list of all the Wi-Fi connections within your reach should be displayed under Networks. Select on the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to by tapping on it.

If you were connected to a different network than your intended one, then chances are this method will have the biggest chance of success for fixing your problem.

4. Turn Off Wi-Fi Assist.

For Apple users that aren’t blessed with the fastest Wi-Fi network, a feature called Wi-Fi Assist was introduced for them.

To make up for unstable and slow internet connections, Apple developed a feature where a user’s Cellular Data would automatically switch over the Wi-Fi network if their Wi-Fi became slower than their Cellular Data.

Though this can feel like a waste of mobile data, it is a useful feature when it has its moments. However, the back and forth switching between your Wi-Fi network to your Cellular data can often bug out, especially in the new iOS 14.

Alternatively, turning it on may also fix your problem but keep in mind that this will consume your mobile data when necessary.

With that said, here’s how you can enable or disable Wi-Fi Assist:

1. Let’s start by opening up your Settings app.
2. When you’re there, navigate to Cellular.
3. Finally, a list of Cellular-related options should be displayed, but for this method, go ahead and look for Wi-Fi Assist. Disable or enable the feature; whichever is the opposite of the setting you found it on.

5. Restart Your iPhone.

Before moving on to the other methods, like restarting your Wi-Fi router, let’s start by restarting your iPhone. Restarting any device will fix most software issues as this will terminate any running programs and boot it up, which should cause it to function like normal.

Contrary to a lot of popular articles out there, doing a ‘force restart’ on your iPhone is not the Holy Grail of bug fixes and is hardly any different from a normal restart. Restarting your device will completely restart your apps and operating system on the software-level. Which is all that’s needed for a software problem like this one.

Furthermore, ‘force restarting’ your phone was only added by Apple for users with crashing and freezing iPhones. Doing a ‘force restart’ will cut off the power of your iPhone directly, resetting it on a hardware level. Once it boots up, however, it runs the same processes as a normal reset.

Keep in mind that background processes are running on your iPhone every second, so cutting off the power directly to your device can result in unsaved progress which can be potentially harmful to your device.

So without further ado, here’s how you can restart your iPhone the normal way:

1. First, hold on the power button located on the right side of your iPhone.
2. After a couple of seconds, a red slider that says ‘Slide to power off’ should appear. Drag this slider to the right to turn off your device.

3. Lastly, once your screen has completely shut down, wait for a couple of seconds before pressing down on the power button again to turn your device back on.

6. Restart Your Wi-Fi Router.

Updating to iOS 14 will retain all your personal settings and preference per the courtesy of Apple. However, retaining all of these settings can often bug out and not work. As such, simple things like not connecting to your Wi-Fi router can be one of its side effects.

Restarting your Wi-Fi router from time to time is also good maintenance and practice for your router. This will give your modem a rest, as well as a chance to reconnect and restart everything at the software level.

Here’s how you can restart your Wi-Fi router:

1. First off, internet modems come in a wide variety of models. If you don’t know how your modem works, try to find a knowledgable family member who is more likely to avoid damaging your router or loosening any of its wires. You can also settle for calling an electrician by your router’s manufacturer.

2. Moving on, power switches on modems are usually located at the backside of the device. Look for a small button and gently press it. If that was the power button, then your router’s lights should all be turned off.
3. Finally, wait for a couple of minutes or seconds before turning on your router by pressing on the same button again.

Now go ahead and try to connect to your online social media accounts to see if this fixes the issue.

7. Turn Off Any Installed VPNs.

Online security has become an increasingly popular topic, as well as a relevant one. Using a VPN is a great way to secure your online presence by masking it with a decoy IP. However, this can also lock you out of Wi-Fi networks.

If you’re using a third-party VPN application, we recommend turning this off and trying to connect to your Wi-Fi network. For those who aren’t familiar with VPNs, Apple has installed a default VPN to your device.

Here’s how you can disable Apple’s default VPN:

1. Start by opening up your Settings.
2. Now, navigate and tap on the VPN.

3. Finally, turn off the feature and try to connect to your Wi-Fi network.

If the issue still continues to persist, go ahead and proceed to the next few methods.

8. Forget And Reconnect To Your Wi-Fi Network.

The relationship between your Wi-Fi network and your iPhone may have either been corrupted or turned dysfunctional from the iOS update. Either way, we’ll have to nuke your Wi-Fi network out of your iPhone by forgetting it.

This will delete all caches and saved preferences between your Wi-Fi and your phone, ensuring that the next time you try to connect to it, you’ll be doing so like you did the first time.

Here’s how you can forget and reconnect your iPhone to your Wi-Fi network:

1. Go ahead and open up your Settings and navigate to Wi-Fi.
2. Now, a list of all the Wi-Fi connections near you should be present, as well as the current Wi-Fi network you’re having a problem with. Click on the info icon ( i ) to the right of the Wi-Fi network.
3. Next, a list of multiple options regarding the Wi-Fi network should be displayed, for this method go ahead and select Forget This Network and tap on Forget to confirm.

4. Restart your iPhone for good measure.
5. Once your iPhone turns on, open your Settings, navigate to Wi-Fi, and tap on the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to. Input any necessary passwords.

Open up a YouTube video or try to send a message via Twitter to see if your Wi-Fi is finally working again.

9. Reset Network Settings.

If changing your settings and deleting your Wi-Fi network out of your operating system didn’t work, then you may have to try resetting your Network Settings. These are the settings responsible for the default servers you connect to, like your DNS and so on.

Resetting these will not delete any of your personal data, so don’t worry about losing any of your files.

Here’s how you can reset your Network Settings:

1. First, open up your Settings and navigate to General.
2. Once you’re there, scroll down until you can locate and tap on Reset.
3. Now, a list of sectors on your iPhone that you can reset should appear but for this method, just select Reset Network Settings.

4. Finally, you should be asked to input your Passcode. Fill this in, and once you’re done, go ahead and restart your iPhone.

After these steps, you will be required to manually connect to your Wi-Fi again. But once you’ve done that, try to send a message or an email to see if your Wi-Fi has finally connected like normal.

Lastly, if all of these methods still haven’t worked for you, we understand how vital your Wi-Fi connection can be and can only offer to either help you downgrade or reformat your iPhone entirely.

If you’re reading this after the recent release, it’s important to take note that the new iOS 14 has a lot of bugs that are currently being fixed by Apple. Hopefully, their next patch will contain a fix for your Wi-Fi problem.

Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, we hope that this fixed your ‘Wi-Fi not working on iOS 14’ issue. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the article, feel free to leave a comment down below or discuss it with our other readers.

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