How to Make Your iPhone or iPad to Select the Correct Wi-Fi Network

Apple has won people’s hearts worldwide with its quality products, original design, and innovative solutions. But, at the same time, this capricious and demanding tech sometimes makes its owners mad. Take, for example, iPhones and iPods, which select and automatically connect to a particular Wi-Fi network, not paying attention to the desire of their owners. So in this article, we’ll share tips and tools to help you tame your gadgets by getting them to choose the Wi-Fi network you want.

Correct Wi-Fi Network: A Matter of Choice

So, why does the question of preferred networks play such an essential role in the lives of modern people? The answer is simple: devices store personal data and other important information. And you can learn more about the issue concerning the importance of preferred network type on the Howly website, with valuable information on smartphones, gadgets, PCs, and Macs. Moreover, you can consult experienced experts there if you have problems with your tech. In the meantime, let’s get into the intricacies of iOS regarding Wi-Fi network selection.

iPhone and Wi-Fi Network Selection Criteria

Let’s start with the fact that iPhones or iPads initially have a built-in, preprogrammed hierarchy when selecting a Wi-Fi network to join. So first, the Apple devices and gadgets evaluate “service set identifiers” (SSIDs) and then choose which network to connect to in a particular order, viz:

✔️ Your “most preferred” network

✔️ The private network you’ve recently connected to

✔️ Any other private network

✔️ Public network

iOS and Wi-Fi Network Ranking

Apple Support notes that iOS gives some extra points to familiar Wi-Fi networks. Thus, if you’re going to switch to a particular SSID manually, the mentioned rating automatically goes up. Conversely, if you want to disconnect manually from an SSID, its rating goes down. If, after evaluating the options, iOS can find several suitable networks, it will prioritize them based on security level and arrange them by network security type. If the evaluation process finds that several networks have the same security level, the networks with the strongest signal get priority.

Quick Guide to Choosing the Right Wi-Fi Network by Apple Devices

So, on to the main topic of this blog post, which is how to get your wayward devices to make the right network choice for you. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much time and isn’t anything complicated. However, if something goes wrong, you can always turn to the experts at Howly, who are always on call. But if you want to solve the problem alone, continue to connect manually to the preferable Wi-Fi network, no matter where you are. At the same time, you should manually disconnect from the networks you don’t want to join.

How to Manually Connect to a Wi-Fi Network

• Open Settings on the Home screen;
• Tap Wi-Fi;
• Tap the network you want to join;
• Enter the password if necessary (if you’ve connected to the network before, your device will probably remember the password and automatically secure it to the correct network).

How to Manually Disconnect From a Wi-Fi Network

• Open Settings on the Home screen;
• Tap Wi-Fi;
• Tap the information button next to the network you want to disconnect from. The button is a blue “i” in a blue circle;
• Tap Forget This Network (if you manually link to another network, you’ll automatically detach from it).

What to Do If Your iPhone or iPad Doesn’t See the Wi-Fi Network

And the last thing we’ll discuss yet in this article is the issue of when an iPhone or iPad stops seeing the Wi-Fi network from your router. Thus, you attach your iPhone or iPad to a Wi-Fi network, utilize it, everything works, and then at some moment, you see that, for instance, your iPad is detached from Wi-Fi.

Then you go to the settings, but your wireless network is not there. It hangs out that the iPad has discontinued glimpsing Wi-Fi. The exact concern can occur with iPhones. They can also cease visiting your Wi-Fi network. Plus, the most unexpected item is that additional devices: phones, tablets, and laptops, resume connecting to the wireless network and perform fine.

And what’s exactly more impressive, the same iPhone notices other Wi-Fi networks (if there are any), but it ignores your home network. Otherwise, it doesn’t see any wireless networks at all. And then, most users immediately go to bring their devices for repair. But there’s no need to rush. So now we’ll try to figure it all out.

Possible Solutions

1. Take the cover off your device. After putting them on the iPhone or iPad, some interfere with devices to see all Wi-Fi networks. And few people even guess that the problem with the connection arose because of the usual case.
2. Reboot your devices. Turn off and on the Wi-Fi on your mobile device. If that doesn’t help, then reboot your smartphone. You can even restart the router several times.
3. Change the channel in the router settings. It is the most important and, as practice shows, the most effective way to solve the problem of the lack of Wi-Fi networks on Apple devices. Such a problem often appears where there are a lot of wireless networks.
4. Do a network reset on iOS. In your device’s settings, go to Settings > Basic > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Confirm the reset and wait for the device to reboot. If it does not see any network (and other devices do), and you have already tried everything, in most cases, it is due to some hardware problem. Thus, in such a case, the best option is to seek help from specialists.

Summing Up

Most users worldwide believe that Apple devices always work well and are stable. And there’s no arguing with that. However, there are cases when users face some problems on their iPhones or iPads. For example, your devices automatically connect to a network you don’t want to connect to. But after reading this valuable blog post, you already know how to cope easily with this problem and who you should contact if you have any difficulties with your iPhone or iPad.