Why are my iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet?

[katesbb]

iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

My iPhone 6 (16 GB) and MacBook Pro sporadically lose their connection to the internet when using WiFi through my home router (NetGear C3000). Sometimes it'll work for a day, sometimes it drops it multiple times in an hour.

The odd thing is I can still use the WiFi connection to print, etc. to my local WiFi printer. I can also ping local devices. I just can't get out to the internet again until I toggle the WiFi setting off/on.

We have various Windows laptops, BlackBerry's, Androids and Chromebooks which all work fine, no drops ever. I've also used my iPhone on the office WiFi network without problems. It's just a problem with my iPhone and my MacBook when at home.

I also have an iPad, and another family member has an iPhone 6 (64 GB) - both of those work fine too.

So I can't figure out what the heck would be different about my iPhone and MacBook? Has anyone else had these symptoms? I realize WiFi issues are somewhat common, but this seems different, as I can still use WiFi to get to local devices, just not the internet.

I have a new router ordered, just in case there's something the NetGear doesn't like about my setup. But I've tried turning off everything I could think of, including Handoff, iTunes wireless sync, tried the Google DNS, turned off WiFi locations - all the usual ideas. Deleted all but the most basic apps, turned off DOS Attack Protection on the router, etc.

I'm really at a loss. I'm just wondering if there's something specific to the 16 GB iPhone 6, and/or some communication between the phone and MacBook that some routers decide to block?

 

[Just_Me_D]

Re: iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

My guess is that the problem lies with the Wi-Fi router. Have you gone through its menu and double-checked all of the settings? Does it have a setting for "timed access"? If so, make sure that your devices are not listed therein. Do you have a firewall that could be limiting access to those devices?

 

[katesbb]

Re: iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

My guess is that the problem lies with the Wi-Fi router. Have you gone through its menu and double-checked all of the settings? Does it have a setting for "timed access"? If so, make sure that your devices are not listed therein. Do you have a firewall that could be limiting access to those devices?

Yup, I went in and out of every menu option I could find on the router. Tried turning off the various protections short of the general internet firewall, tried assigning a static IP to both devices, changed the DNS to Google's 8.8.8.8, tried the various WiFi speed options and so on. I've learned a lot about routers and WiFi if nothing else

No timed access options that I saw.

What puzzles me is that our 64 GB iPhone 6 works fine, as does my iPad Mini. It's just a problem with my 16 GB iPhone 6 and my MacBook.

After months of troubleshooting, I'm nowhere... so was just hoping maybe someone would think of something "out of the box" I hadn't tried yet The new router I'm putting in tonight may fix it, but I hate not knowing the actual cause of things so I can avoid them in the future.

The nasty thing about it is it won't failover to cellular when it happens, so I wake up, look at my blank lock screen and think, "Cool! No work problems overnight!" Then later I try Safari or something and realize it's been disconnected all night, toggle the WiFi, and the flood of work emails come in

 

[mikeo007]

Re: iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

Had a similar problem a while ago, turned out to be my router.
Cheap routers seem to almost always be the culprit when random wifi devices disconnect.
You could try a custom firmware on your router to improve performance, or you could just replace it.
I picked up a Nighthawk R7000 a while ago and my connection has been rock solid ever since.

 

[katesbb]

Re: iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

Had a similar problem a while ago, turned out to be my router.
Cheap routers seem to almost always be the culprit when random wifi devices disconnect.
You could try a custom firmware on your router to improve performance, or you could just replace it.
I picked up a Nighthawk R7000 a while ago and my connection has been rock solid ever since.

Agreed, though ironically I ended up replacing the newer LinkSys I was using (I forget the model) with a really old, entry-level LinkSys e1000 I had in the junk drawer lol... and it's been working great for four days now. That's promising, as it usually drops within a day at least, though I did once go for a week without problems. So we shall see

 

[anon(4698833)]

Re: iPhone 6 and MacBook losing internet

Agreed, though ironically I ended up replacing the newer LinkSys I was using (I forget the model) with a really old, entry-level LinkSys e1000 I had in the junk drawer lol... and it's been working great for four days now. That's promising, as it usually drops within a day at least, though I did once go for a week without problems. So we shall see

Routers, like any consumer tech, can come out of the box with issues...I bought a brand new NetGear Nighthawk gaming router and the first one I had had all kinds of issues...thought it was just a piece of junk model, and when I switched back to my old setup it was fine. Got a replacement Nighthawk and it works flawlessly.