WiFi disconnects on sleep mode, iPhone 6s / iOS devices? Problem solved!

Some iOS versions seem to have a problem with Wi-Fi, that disconnects every time the iphone is locked. This is due to the battery saving settings, that by default are set to “disconnect from Wi-Fi while on standby”.

Even though it may seem like a nice feature for battery saving, it probably has some problems. While some devices switch off and on the radios when needed (for example, the radio switches on again when an email / push notification is coming through), some others experience problems with the wifi radio, that doesn’t switch back on when needed. This issue may be caused by some changes to settings you made in the past, while resetting your devices (if you’re curious, the blog post by monal.im lists the actions that can cause this problem).

When this problem occurs, and wifi disconnects everytime the phone is locked, it is one of the most annoying things in the world. For example, users that use Whatsapp as their primary messaging app don’t get Whatsapp notifications anymore – or, that is worst, Whatsapp uses mobile data for its push notifications while the phone is in sleep mode, consuming the users’ data plans even if they’re in a Wi-Fi area.

In Tanaza, we’ve made some tests with our Apple devices (iPhone 6s, iPad, iPod running the latest iOS versions). Posts in the Apple official community (endorsed by Apple as “recommended answers”) suggest that the issue is in the channel configuration of the router, but all our tests confirmed that this problem has nothing to do with the router configuration, the channels, or  the network settings in general.

All our devices disconnected from wifi while on stand by – sleep mode – screen off – phone locked: the only procedure that worked to make them behave “normally” (no disconnections anymore) is the one that is described on the Monal IM website.

Please consider that Tanaza doesn’t take any responsibility for the described procedure and its consequences. It only worked for our devices, ok? By following the instructions, you will basically disable the POWER SAVING mode that causes this issue. This procedure can have different consequences on your device’s performances… please do it carefully.

– if anyone has a better alternative, please let us know… 🙂 ! –

INSTRUCTIONS BY MONAL.IM

1. Turn wifi on (doesn’t matter if you connect to a wifi network now or later, but the wifi toggle must be on). If your ios device supports mobile data, turn it off for now.
2. Turn off the device (by keeping the sleep button pressed and then swiping)
3. Wait 30s
4. Turn it on
5. After the home screen loads, reset it (hold the home and sleep buttons down and keep holding until you see the apple logo)
6. That’s it.

Please, let us know if this works for your devices!