Mikey Campbell
Just hours after Apple released iOS 6 to the public on Wednesday, users are already complaining of Wi-FI connectivity issues on the company's Support Communities website, possibly stemming from a network verification system flaw.
Update: Apple has quickly resolved the issue by reactivating the webpage iOS 6 uses for network verification purposes.
A number of AppleInsider readers have reported a "page not found" error when trying to browse in Safari on iOS 6. While the exact cause of the connectivity issues is unknown, it seems the problem started sometime after Apple rolled out the new mobile OS, as multiple reports poured in at nearly the same time.
It appears the problem is rooted in how iOS 6 handles network verification. In order to test whether an accessible Wi-Fi connection is present, Safari is led to a special page, which apparently has gone down.
Currently, Apple's Support Communities site has a 6-page thread discussing the matter, and with every passing minute a new user seems to confirm that they too are having difficulties. One forum member claims his iPhone was working fine when he first downloaded iOS 6, only to find hours later that his handset was unable to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi.
While AppleInsider has been unable to replicate the error message, both iPhone and iPad users who upgraded to the new OS are supposedly experiencing the same issue.
Based on the claims, the issue has arisen from a network verification process baked into the software, wherein the OS attempts to load a dummy page on Apple.com to detect if a users is connected to a paywalled network. Unfortunately, however, the verification page seems to lead to a 404 error, resulting in an inability to connect to Wi-Fi for many users.
Apple has been contacted regarding the alleged issue, and a response will be posted once an official statement has been released.
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77 Comments
The MobileMe Team: Initially disbanded into the Apple's 'Daylight Savings Section' of the 'iPhone Development Department', then reshuffled into the 'iOS Devices Wifi Section'.
I was able to get it working again after connecting to the WiFi, showing the details, and backing out what was listed in the DNS. Weird thing is it worked earlier this week on the GM...until this afternoon. Hopefully it's something on Apple's server side they can fix.
6 page thread? Watched it grow from 6 pages to 47 pages in about 25 minutes. Mine is working again without trying any of the 5,000 different "fixes" people have listed. EDIT: Sorry, I was watching a different discussion thread about wifi issues after ios6 upgrade. The 6 page thread AI listed is about page not found and currently at 14 pages.
I ran into the same issue with both my iPad 3 and iPhone 4. I tried a number of things as suggested, but what worked for me was opening the Airport Utility software on my Mac and restarting the router with the software. Note, it did not work when I merely restarted the router by unplugging and plugging back in. Depending on your setup, this solution may not work in every case. The key takeaway is don't just look to your idevice for the solution. My solution was found in resetting the router.
After updating my iPhone 4S and iPad 3, they connected just fine to the wifi network at work, but when I got home, they both popped up a wifi login screen that went to a non-existent page at apple.com. Canceling of course booted me off of my home network. Simply re-starting (powering off and then back on) cleared this up... it recognized my home network and associated with it right away as usual. Worked on both devices.