Apple has just pushed an urgent update to address the alarming security issues inflicted by the prior updates to iOS 12. The recently rolled out version is iOS 12.1.4. Its main purpose is to fix the FaceTime bug that allows iPhone users to be spied by other iPhone users when using FaceTime photos and videos. But it turned out that the latest iOS update also brings in another set of problems to address.
Surfacing among the first post-update dilemmas encountered by iPhone XS owners are on random Wi-Fi disconnects. For some reason, the iPhone XS just couldn’t establish a firm and stable Wi-Fi Internet connection. If you’re one of the affected users, then this post may be able to help you.
Read further and learn what to do if your iPhone XS suddenly keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi after updating to iOS 12.1.4. So far, there is no clear-cut solution found and so you need to try all applicable workarounds until a permanent or temporary solution is established. Don’t forget to test your Internet connect after performing each procedure, so you will know if the problem is solved or not. Proceed to the next applicable solutions, if needed.
How To Fix Apple iPhone XS Keeps Disconnecting From WiFi Network After Installing iOS 12.1.4 Update
First solution: Reboot the wireless router/modem
Start working on the very source of the Internet connection. Although the problem started after installing a new update to iOS, it’s also imperative to rule out firmware crashes on the network equipment especially if all your other devices are experiencing the same symptoms. Like any other electronic devices, modems and routers also give into minor firmware crashes and when this happens, adverse symptoms are triggered. And the simplest and most effective solution to such problem:
- Press the Power button or ON/OFF switch on the wireless router/modem until it powers down.
- While the device is turned off, unplug its AC adapter from the power source and leave it that way for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- After the elapsed time, plug it back in and then turn on again.
After rebooting the wireless router/modem, restart or soft reset your iPhone XS to clear its memory cache and to refresh the system.
Second solution: Disable/enable Wi-Fi
Turning Wi-Fi off for a few seconds and then back on is also another simple trick and possible solutions to random wireless connectivity issues on an iPhone. It works by giving the phone’s wireless functions a quick refresh and thereby eliminates random Internet glitches. There are different ways to get this done.
First, you can toggle the Wi-Fi switch OFF and ON again with these steps:
- Navigate to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu, then toggle the Wi-Fi switch to turn OFF. After a few seconds, tap the switch to turn Wi-Fi back on again.
Alternatively, you can do the Airplane Mode trick. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Then toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode ON. Doing so will disable the phone’s wireless radios including Wi-Fi connections.
- Restart your iPhone XS or perform a soft reset while Airplane Mode is enabled.
- After the phone reboots, head back to Settings-> Airplane mode menu and then tap the switch again to turn Airplane mode OFF.
Reconnect your iPhone to your Wi-Fi network and then test to see if the Internet connection is already stable.
Third solution: Forget Wi-Fi network then add it back
Another possible reason as to why your phone is having intermittent Wi-Fi connection is a corrupted Wi-Fi network. In this case, you will need to remove the corrupted network from your phone system and then set it up to reconnect your device. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Select Wi-Fi.
- Tap to enable Wi-Fi, if necessary.
- Find then select your Wi-Fi network from the list.
- Tap the information “i” icon next to the name of the network (SSID).
- Then select the option to Forget this Network.
- If prompted, tap Forget network to confirm action.
If you see any other saved Wi-Fi networks, forget or delete them all too so that none of them can cause conflict with the selected Wi-Fi network.
Fourth solution: Reset network settings
The problem is likely more complex that it requires tougher solutions. At this point, your next option would be to perform software resets. The reset to deal with complex network problems particularly those attributed to invalid settings would be a network settings reset. This would be necessary especially if the recent update has automatically overridden your network configurations and eventually resulted to some errors that trigger the symptom. Here’s how to reset network settings on an iPhone XS:
- From your Home screen, tap on Settings.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to and then tap on Reset.
- Select the option to Reset network settings.
- If prompted, enter your passcode then follow the onscreen instructions to confirm network settings reset.
The phone restarts automatically when the reset is finished and then loads the default network configurations on the phone. This means you need to set up your Wi-Fi network from scratch and then connect to it to get back online.
Fifth solution: Restore iPhone in iTunes
If all else failed to fix the problem and your iPhone XS is still getting an unstable Wi-Fi connection, then you may opt for an iOS restore. This will likely solve the problem if major network bugs are at fault. But you have to note also that this may result to permanent data loss. Should you wish to continue, back up your important files if possible.
The following steps will walk you through restoring an iPhone XS in recovery mode through iTunes. To get started, you will need to get a computer either Mac or Windows that has the latest version of iTunes app installed. Then proceed to these steps when ready:
- Connect your iPhone XS to your computer using the Apple-supplied syncing cable/Lightning cable.
- While it’s connected, press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
- Then quick press and release the Volume Down button.
- Next, press and hold the Side/Power button and continue to hold as it restarts. Don’t release the Side/Power button when the Apple logo appears as you need to put the device in a recovery state.
- Release the Side/Power button when you see the Connect to iTunes logo on the screen.
- Go to iTunes then you should see a message saying that your connected iOS device is in recovery mode and prompts options to update or restore.
- Choose the Restore option to wipe everything from the phone system and then restore iOS through iTunes.
Follow the rest of the onscreen commands to complete the system restore. You can disconnect your iPhone from the computer when the entire system restore process is finished. Don’t forget to restart the iPhone afterwards.
If that doesn’t fix the problem, then you can go for the ultimate system restore via DFU mode. It’s an in-depth restore process that puts your device in a state that’s still able to communicate with iTunes on a computer even when the boot loader isn’t activated. While in DFU mode, you can restore your device from a previous iOS backup (iOS downgrade).
A more detailed walkthrough on how to carry out a DFU mode restore on an iPhone XS can be found on this site’s tutorials section. Just visit the iPhone XS Troubleshooting page for more details.
Seek more help
Contact your Internet service provider to check for temporary outages that might have destabilized wireless services in your place. Or you can ask them to reset your wireless router or modem remotely. Intermittent Wi-Fi issues that aren’t resolved by the above solutions are usually attributed to firmware errors on the network equipment. In that case, provisioning or resetting the network equipment is often needed.
If none of that works, escalate the problem to Apple support so that they can make further assessments on their end. Should the problem be inflicted by a network bug, Apple needs to create a dedicate fix patch.
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