How to Fix an “Unable to Join the Network” Error in iOS
Considering that so much of the functionality of iOS is dependent on the internet, it’s pretty frustrating if you can’t join a wireless network because of a mystery “Unable to join the network [name]” error popping up on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. You may encounter this alert trying to join a wifi network as usual, or by trying to manually join a network:
With such a nondescript error message, it’s hard to know exactly what the problem with the wi-fi is, but for most cases you can resolve the issue fairly quickly with the multistep process described below:
- Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
- Enter the devices passcode and confirm the reset
- Let the iPhone/iPad restart, you’ll see a spinning cursor on the device as it finishes the reset before the device boots back on
- Go back to Settings > Wi-Fi and join the network again
Resetting Network Settings removes saved passwords and configuration details, and the device automatically restarts itself to (presumably) dump any residual cache or preferences . Yes, you’ll have to re-enter passwords and specific network information again.
At this point the iPhone / iPad should connect to the network fine as usual. If you’re still having trouble after taking the aforementioned steps, go forget the Wi-Fi network via the iOS Settings and then manually join it again. Manually joining networks is done by choosing “Other” from the Wi-Fi menu and entering the exact router name, network encryption type, and router password.
From personal experience, the “unable to join network” error seems to occur when connecting to certain Wireless N routers more often than anything else, so if you have a dual band router you may just opt for the other network and skip the troubled signal. Sometimes restarting the router can help too, but since not all users have control over that, it’s generally best to offer an iOS client specific resolution.
Mine is saying “unable to join the network” how can i fix this please?
Where can I see that in WiFi setting
Alright I haven’t found a solution. So here’s my problem to a tee so please help
My Iphone6s+ will connect to the WiFi at other places. But when I come home it won’t connect unless on touching the router with the phone. I walk two feet away it disconnects itself. At this house there at 4 other iPhone users so when I had the issue I just thought it was my room. But my Xbox and computer connects just fine to the WiFi in my room. Well because I can’t connect to WiFi I have to use data all the time. 10-15 days until my service runs out I’ll run out of data and my phone is almost useless for my work and stuff. Well this has been going on for 5 months now so I’ve had it to my wits end.
This is what I’ve done:
I have had my brother stand beside me in my room to connect to the WiFi. It worked for him but when I pulled my phone out to do it it didn’t work.
I then had everyone put in the password (including me) several times in my phone. Didn’t work.
I have gone into the settings; went to general and reseted the network connection thing. Didn’t work.
I’ve turned my phone on and off. Didn’t work.
I don’t know what to do. My phone didn’t always have this problem. I’ve had this phone for a little over a year now and this problem started 5 months ago. What do I do? What can I do? Please help!!
I’ve looked at many forums and help pages and haven’t found a solution so if anyone out there can help please contact me
I’m using an iPhone 6 and have the same problem it won’t connect unless I’m very close to the router my phone was fine a couple of days ago Idk what to do
There may be a hardware issue with your iPhone. The thing in your phone that receives the wi-fi signals could be faulty or there’s something obstructing the signal like a build up of dust.
This wrkd for me getting close to the router God bless
Resetting network passwords in settings helped me get back on WiFi in my home..yay..it worked on everyone else’s before the reset…I thought it was a political hack..lol…thank you!
Thank you very much for this post! I had just got a new modem with joining a new network provider and my iPad would not connect no matter what I tried to do. I don’t have a router but I went up and had my iPad turned off and turned it back on in front of the router and heard in the password and it connected. Thank you!
Turn on another phone’s personal hotspot and join the network. Then rejoin the network which got error “Unable to Join the Network.
It’s worked for me!
Unable to join the network? How can I solve the problem…..
i tired everything from turning the airplane mode on then off to resetting my network to resetting the whole thing i tired everything but it just won’t work at all
I have tried all these suggestions as well with no success. I you find anything new please let me
know.
Thanks
OSXDaily is very valuable!!!
I spent several hours following the advice here in an attempt to connect an iPhone 6 running IOS 12.4.3 to my Technicolor TC8305C router from Comcast. I had no joy until I noticed that Juha wrote that he had to be within several meters of his router in order for his iPod to connect. I took the iPhone into the office where my router is installed and voilà, the iPhone connected almost instantly. All that time I spent rebooting the iPhone and the router was wasted. (:-( Still, I got to the bottom of the iPhone issue with OSXDaily’s help.
So if you are seeing an “Unable to Join the Network” message from iOS, try getting very close to the router sooner rather than later!!!
I also noted the comment in the article that the error seems to occur when connecting to certain Wireless N routers more often than anything else. The only two mode choices on my router are ‘802.11 g/n’ and ‘802.11 b/g/n’ so I am unable to avoid WiFi N mode. (I have my router configured in ‘802.11 g/n’ mode.)
Since all other devices work fine, this is clearly an Apple iPhone design quality problem and nothing else!
Thank you OneSkyWalker!
I had been previously using the personal hotspot workaround recommended by Moon, but after a recent IOS update this stopped working from my phone. Instead, I created a temporary guest account on my router with NO security, put my ipad within 1m of the router, it connected. Then, I disconnected from the unsecure guest account. Then, I retried my normal secure SSID and entered the password – It connected..Joy! (Don’t forget to delete the unsecure temporary guest login once you are reconnected). This process needs to be repeated each time the iPad is turned off/restarted.
Thanks. Taking my phone close to the router solved my issue. You’re a life saver.
guys go to router setting and disable “Wireless MAC Filtering”
Had same problem(unable to connect network) in my Iphone 6. Changed security mode in modem from WPA2-PSK to WPA/WPA2-PSK under WIFI setting and it worked.
If iPhone 4 just power down the phone and restart.tryed everything and its the only thing that would temporarily connect.other router problems diagnosed of course
Well mines isn’t working at all this was not helpful 🤔😒😒
i have this problem on my iPad and iPhone they suddenly disconnect the wifi and won’t connect again! i tried every possible way nothing worked for me !!!
this is so frustrating i have no idea what to do :((
My iPhone 5s won’t connect to my school’s wifi. It allows you to login after you’ve connected, and it keeps saying “Unable to join the network _______”
None of this ‘change the router settings’ helps when you’re in a hotel though. Then you are just stuck with fiddling with your device settings to no avail. I’ve had this problem for two years and get it on about 10% of the public networks I come across. There is no fix, and no amount of resetting, rebooting, or adjusting makes any difference. What you can do when you get the ‘unable to connect’ message is hit the dismiss button and try again. If you keep trying, it might mysteriously suddenly let you in. Might. My phone is a 5. All other devices work fine.
Thanks for everyone’s help on this topic. The solution to my connectivity problem was simple. For some reason I kept thinking that I had WEP level encryption (possibly to accommodate some legacy hardware I no longer had). After going through some of the suggested steps on this page and checking my router settings, I discovered that I had indeed upgraded to WPA2. I don’t yet understand why my iPhone 6’s wifi settings spontaneously went to WEP from WPA2 (software update glitch? – I certainly didn’t do a network reset). In summary, it’s a good idea to double-check your wireless router settings and make sure they “match” what’s on your devices.
Thanks! totally worked (manually adding, not the reset)
hello, if anyone is here pls help :S i have iphone 6s after update 9.3.3 can’t connect to wifi, if wifi is open “unable to join network” with password “password is incorect” , i trying downgrade, reset router, change password, reset iphone also reset network settings but nothing change ….
You need to enter the correct network password to connect to a router. Without the proper wi-fi password it will tell you the password is incorrect.
thank you very much
who knew you could manually join from “Other”…
I got the same problem, but luckily I’m a networking student and trouble shooting is my future job. So I try to find the reason. First, I tried reset the iPhone network, but it didn’t work. Then I closed one of my device and then I can join the wifi, so I immediately realized that the net work should be no enough IP address to distribute, so I connect to the route with the IP address ( usually on the back of your router)in browser, then user name and password (back of your router too), then it will depends on what router your use, but your can reset the router and then reboot it. And you should be able to join the network now. Or you may configure the subnet less so the router may have much more ip canbe use ,but My router doesn’t have the option.
thanks it’s worked for me,thanks :X
thank you
Thank you so much. 2 years later and iphones still can’t connect to networks that support wireless N. I had no idea iphone users couldn’t connect to my network, because every other phone, from windows to android to 10 year old samsung and nokia phones work fine.
Changed Auto wireless mode to B/G only and tada all the iphones can now connect.
my iphone 5s doesnt worked its always unable to connect ..tried already everything.what will i do?please help
Thank you
Fantastic and THANKS
My provider changed my password, and my Apple devices could not connect NOR did they ask for the new code
This tip SAVED me
Thanks again
a
Try to connect to sky wifi but keep getting can connect to net work wrong pass word have used password my mother has with sky but it still won’t connect the router box is over 20 yrs old I did ring sky but they said when I told the box is an old one it should still work. My phone network is with O2 what advise can you give me thank
Wi-fi hasn’t been around at a consumer level for 20 years so that’s pretty unlikely, but if you’re having problems with your ISP hardware call your ISP, it is not an iOS issue. Maybe get a new router.
got iphone 5 was travelling from calabria to milano in italy in autobus got wifi but my phone never connect to this network it always showed unable to join to network .
i did itunes restore on it and did everything to it as i could in the 13 hours journey but the phone didn,t connect to wifi .
Worked like a charm!
So I reset the wifi like described however to rejoin it says I need a user name and a password, is this a problem with my phone or network? Either way how do I fix it?
My 5s connects fine with every wireless network, but my work. My job added free wireless for the whole store about 6 months ago and I had problems off and on, but for the last two weeks nothing I do can fix it. I tried the reset and nothing, starting with turning my phone off for a few minutes, checking for updates, everything I could on my end. My co-works are not having problems at all so I’m unsure what the real problem is. I also have tablet that Does connect, so I’m feeling very frustrated at this point. It’s killing my data, because I spend most of my time at this place!
Restarting the Router itself did the trick for me.
I own a Netgear and I unplugged the power for 60 seconds and plugged the power back in.
My issue was that I kept trying to join the WIFI network, but it kept saying ‘wrong password’. After I completely removed the password, now I get the error that ‘cannot join network’.
I tried ‘forgetting network’, restaring iphone, resetting all network settings from the ‘reset’ option…
I finally tried restarting the router and it did the trick!
This worked perfectly and wish I would have found this site before!
great help.
i am using iphone 5 ,
i was facing unable to join network error.
as soon as i select other network
entered network name
selected wpa2
entered password
it connected.
but it disconnects quite frequently.
Thanks for sharing it..
I am in a hotel in Africa, two days ago I could connect to wifi but know I get unable to connect with dismiss as only option. I have done network reset, forget network, hard reset and any possible solution I could find on internet. I am a first time apple user and not impressed. My samsung products are all connected and up and running while apple is still unable. Is this going to happen every time I travel?
Should have bought a Samsung . Apple SUCKS !
Reset didn’t work on my ipad. It connects to my home network and my neighbor’s network just fine. I have been unable to connect to wifi at hotels and other free spots like Panera when I travel.. My iphone 6 connects just fine in those same locations.
Thanks a million. That solved it. Great indeed!!!
It worked with me just perfectly…
Thank you so…
Changed router settings: Wireless, Basic Wireless Setting, Network Mode from “Wireless-N Only” to “Mixed”. This fixed my iPhone 5 problem connecting.
how do I even look at router settings. It was put in by comcast.
my iphone 4 just went to “unable to join network”. Have manually put in password a bunch…still……….even going to infiniti open wifi it was “unable to join network”. My other iphone 5c and laptops work fine still.
Doesn’t Apple read any of these forums????
You sir are a saint!!!! Thank you for this info, worked perfectly!!
Worked for my iPhone4 – just moved and the router reset automatically in the process (weird). I had to change the wifi password but kept the network name the same. I think the autosaved pw in my iPhone didn’t know how to handle it.
Anyway – thanks!
Thank you so much. Your help was straight foward and it worked
Help my laptop and computer works on my Cable One wifi.. But not iPhone 6.. It’s been working then all of sudden want connect.. I have tried everything.. What to do
Hi
I hav followed all the procedures, when i entered the wifi password
It still says unable to join network
What could be the reason.
And yeah, not forgetting my gmail was not working
So i deleted and i hav refixed it again
Afterwhich i got all the contact numbers of people on my email, some of whom i dont even know. pls help wad should i do
I love you!
Thanks for the fix!
I had this issue with an old iPod Touch despite 5 other devices connecting without a problem.
After resetting all the network settings the problem remained.
What fixed it for me was the router (724V) was limiting the number of devices allowed to connect to it. Once I ticked “Allow All Devices” it worked perfectly.
All problems that arise after resseting your network can be fixed by updating your date and time, checking to see if you have any available update for your ipad,ipod and iphone by going to >settings>general>about>check for software update.
Hi
Just got new iPhone brought it home and wouldn’t conntect to home wifi tried everything still won’t work! Please please help!
Hi, my iphone wont connect to my home WiFi, it’s worked for ages but now it’s disconnecte and every time I try to join The network it says it’s “unable to join network”. I know the password off by heart so that’s not the problem. It doesn’t really detect the WiFi network either even though I stand right next to it. I tried the freezer trick, it works for like 10 minutes then stops again. Tried doing it manually- didn’t work. So if anyone on here can help me I’d really appreciate it! Cheers
Try this. GO into the router under MAC Address Allowed. Remove the mac address for the iPhone and it should connect right away
Here’s how to find your iPhone’s MAC address:
1.From the home screen, tap Settings.
2.Tap General.
3.Tap About. The window shown below appears.
ie 10:xx:60:xx:47:x7
hey guys i just fixed my wifi problems i believe. at my home my iphone 5s was unable to connect to wifi and cellular data. so i went to wifi pressed other and entered my wifi name the security which was wpa2 and the password and it connected. earlier when i tried doing it from the wifi screen it kept saying that the password was incorrect and couldnt connect. hope this helps its the only thing that worked for me after trying everything suggested on the apple sete
I have a problem connecting to the Internet when my VPN Network is connected. Fortunately I can turn VPN off. This is new and a new upgrade to the VPN is at frault.
I solved this problem on my iPhone 4S by going into the router settings and changing the bandwidth from 20mhz to 40mhz. Connected to the WiFi again instantly.
I just fixed mine. Something really stupid. I forgot that I set up my wifi to limit access during certain hours. My phone was replaced by apple, so it has a different MAC address than the old one and not on the allowed list after a certain time. I was tearing my hair out because it was late (hence the access disconnect) and I kept getting this message. Since everything was working earlier and now it wasn’t, it seemed like something just ‘broke’. After about an hour of frustration past bedtime and feeling really stupid and trying all these tricks which wouldn’t work, I remembered (after going to bed super grumpy and waking up with the ‘aha’ another half hour later) and turned the access controls off. Bingo. No problem.
Moral of the story is: Option fix/workaround# 417… it might not be your phone, but the network you are trying to connect to is not allowing connections. Check your router settings. Unless you own it, there’s not much to do besides trying to connect to another network.
I have an IPhone 4s. At home my iphone won’t connect to the wifi but will work for everyone else and it will connect to other wifi. I type in the right password all the time and have tried everything! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated..!
thanq so much it worked for me :)
Always unable join the network.
I’ve same problem with ipad mini and Dlink router. No network issues with any non-apple device. Sometimes Ipad connects only if I’m few metres to the router although it reports strong signal far away. The problem occurs on times when I suspect that my neighbors are using their wifi. No help moving to other wifi channel.
Clearly this is related to Apple devices and some routers…
I keep getting the “incorrect password” saying over and over and over again..
So enter the proper password and check casing, then join the network again. If you enter the proper password, you will not get an incorrect password error message at all.
That’s not true, I am putting my password in perfectly, had people watch, had other people try themselves and we are getting the right password but it keeps saying wrong password.
If you forgot your wi-fi password, change the password on the router then enter the new correct password to join the network successfully. That will do the trick.
Having the exact same problem… perfect password entry and still getting the error if incorrect password. password works on another iPhone 5 and multiple other devices.
Very strange. I typed slowly giving the chance to see the hidden characters one by one using a Bluetooth keyboard and it worked.
My son’s iPhone 4S won’t connect to any Wifi anywhere. We’ve tried the steps you suggested, as well as completely restoring the phone’s factory settings. Still get the error “unable to join the network”. It sees the networks just fine but won’t connect after entering the password. Even tried connecting to the guest network in our home that doesn’t have a password and no luck. And no luck on other Wifi services in other homes/businesses. So frustrating! Is the phone itself broken maybe?? Any help is greatly appreciated.
SAME CONDITION HERE
This didnt even work
My iPhone 5c got it battery replaced today and now whenever I go onto Facebook safari or anything like that it says error connecting to data or some bull crap, also that it doesn’t trust sites. WhAt can I do 😭😭😭
I have iPhone 5c won’t connect to my internet. Says wrong password Won’t let Me go to forget the network can’t get on to update nothing
Cannot join free wifi hotspots. Home wifi works fine. Resetting network settings no help.
I’ve been at an RV resort for 3 days and have phoned Tengo support half a dozen times trying to connect. We’ve been through all of their diagnostics and reset my iPhone multiple times in multiple ways. Same error message, Unable to Join. I’m burning through my AT&T data allowance surfing for help. I’m screwed.
Log into the router and remove the current configuration / profile. Do a new one, you can use the same network name as previously – will be fine. Happens to me a lot on all ios devices in the home and this is the only solution I have ever found that actually works
My wifi at home is not working at all. I have an iPhone 4s and I tried resetting the networks under my settings I tried “forget this network” I tried restarting my router nothing is working. My wifi works everywhere except my home. I do not know what else to do. My parents phones are working and so are both my laptops and iPad. Just my phone is not working.
I have a issue, a huge 1, i Can connect to the wifi only on my apple airport router ONLY With 1 OUT of 4 pc’s – both ipads Can connect – the iphone 5 Can. BUT 0 OUT OF 4 IPHONE 4 CAN CONNECT! I Guess this is some with the router on a later version so it cant connect to iphone 4 or something Its really weird! If anybody Can help i Will be so HAPPY! I had this issue for 6 Months!
simple and easy
i had a same problem the last couple days
i went to online check all the topics
someone said reset internet setting on the iphone
someone said reset and reboot the router and modern
and i did all of them i could’t help with me at all
finally i sit down and think let try to change my wifi name
and it worked for me
Thanks so much for posting this solution! Worked for my iPhone 5s and iPad.
thanks! solved my problem by following your post. Lifesaver.
Hi,
My iPhone 4s is doing the same thing. And I do not use wifi. This is straight mobile network internet. I have reset settings, etc, and it still doesn’t work really. I can connect to any site except FB and Twitter. Just with those 2 it says “could not connect to the site” via Opera or Safari. The app says the request timed out due to no internet, which isn’t true as I have internet. Please help. This is my only online device.
Thanks
ive had this problem for 6 months and i had no idea how to fix this. I have iphone4 ipod4 and ipad2, my phone had no problem but i couldnt use my ipod and ipad for so long cuz i kept getting the same msg, “unable to join the network’.
This was the most helpful answer – solved my problem and both of my ipad and ipod is working now:)
Thank you!
This help is really useful. Thanks man.
It worked perfect for me!
It worked for me trying to connect to galaxy S5 as hot spot. Even though it took a while and had to reset network twice. Also in GS5 I had go to tethering, allow all divides and in configuration had to fix security and password. Thanks for helping.
If you have tried everything and still aren’t having any luck, look for a QoS setup setting named “Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) settings” or something similar in your router setup and turn it off. This advanced feature was preventing some of my slightly older devices from connecting that did not support the feature.
Thanks Brian
I have a brand new iPod touch but your post was an important clue to why it wouldn’t connect. While older devices may want WMM disabled, enabling WMM on my router was the key to getting my iPod touch to connect.
Model: MGG52LL/A
ioS: 8.2
Thanks for this idea – it worked perfectly to get an iphone 4 to access my wifi. Interestingly, our other iphone 4 connected without a problem.
Tried this and it did’nt work, but I found a different route to go if your running the latest Airport Extreme and have multiple clients feeding off the Router, such as a MacBook Pro 17”, MacBook Air, and two iPhones, one a 4s and the other a 5s.
5s and the two Macbook Pro’s connect without a problem but the 4s won’t with the password that the other three are using, and it will only connect to a 2.4 Mhz not the new 5 Mhz.
Found in the Aiport.app a way of getting it to work. Click on the Airport Extreme, click Edit, and have the Base Station dialogue box come up. Go to the Command bar and Click on Base Station>Show Passwords. Here you should see what Password that your using to connect to the Airport Extreme. Forget about that one and find the “WPA-Pre-Shared Key for your 2.4 and copy it and then send it to your 4s by what ever means you want.
Once you have it and have copied it on the iPhone selected the Router in the WiFi setting and paste into the password box when prompted. Your connected.
Thought Apple would have got around this limitation with the latest Airport Extreme.
Thanks! Just re-entered passwords like you said and it fixed my issue!
Seeemed like way too simple of a fix that I had overlooked it…Now all my devices are picking up both networks again.
Finally a solution to our issue! Thank you. I’m a senior and the households IT go to person….hate to be out witted by a machine!
AirPort Extreme passwords!
Now to see if this is going to work out our other issues!
Early days, fingers crossed.
Betty
I had exactly the same problem. I used every suggestion on the forums.
Here is what worked for me. I borrowed a windows laptop (also used an android phone)
and logged into the wireless right away. Then I when to the iPad and iPhone and was able to
instantly login. Three days I tried everything. I reset the router, reset the phone, reset the network
on the phone, turned airplane mode on and off. Nothing worked, so I got out my trusty windows laptop
and it connected right away. I went to the iPad and tried to connect that and it worked instantly as well
as the phone.
hi
i have the same problem and i tried everything , rest the network ,the router
so can you please tell me wt is the ‘so my trusty windows laptop ‘
thanks
Thank you Turnkey. This was driving me crazy – sometimes my ipad would connect, sometimes it wouldn’t. I couldn’t figure out what caused it to only work sometimes. Now I know – if my laptop is connected, my ipad can connect. If my laptop is off, my ipad will not. This is not a solution, but at least I have a workaround….
I’ve had this problem for months on iPhone 5 and iPad 2. I have a dual band router and can connect to the 5ghz network but not 2.4ghz. Started out of the blue, not when I updated iOS software. And cannot connect to most other networks out of my home. I can connect if I’m standing next to router but drops when about five feet away. Phone sees the network, just cannot join. Very frustrated. And what’s nuts is that my wife has no connectivity issues at all with her iPhone 5 and iPad mini at home or elsewhere. I’ve posted to Apple’s support community and there are many many others with same problem.
Nope doesn’t work… Sigh. My iPhone 4 always joined my home network without difficulty until today… It recognizes it but is “unable to join network”. Don’t know what to do now.
iPhone 4 also always worked onmy home network. “unable to join network”, also go to infiniti open network and it says the same thing. My other devices are working fine. Just don’t get it.
did you get anything to work since you posted last year.
Tada! It worked! Thank you for limiting my frustration level.
Thanks! Worked a treat.
This worked for me – my error came when trying to connect to my Samsung S3 as a mobile hotspot.
Thanks!
Our problem was fixed when we update the soft ware for the router which was grossly out of date.
Have tried resetting the network settings often. Works sometimes, too often not. I get poor wifi at home, spotty. Could be my old 2009 Macbook that runs Mavericks, but it seems to be software.
The equipment is fine, but right now my iPad Mini is spinning circles after I reset the network settings and logged back in. Meanwhile, my iPod Touch 5g is running Wifi fine. Often, it’s the opposite. I watched season 2 of House of Cards last night on the iPad Mini.
Sometimes, you have to “Forget This Network” to start clean Sometimes, you have to restart the Mac. It just doesn’t stop with this, and Apple is clearly responsible. They neglected fixing all the connectivity problems.
Apple’s Wifi reminds me of Windows 98 back in 2000 on my Compaq, and how I had to consult an 800-page book regularly to use Windows and use the Internet. All the little problems that had to be fixed all the time.
Bet this sells a lot of Airports, though.
I get the “can’t join network” thing randomly on a wireless G network from Netgear, as well as randomly dropping connections, but I have never had a problem with Linksys. This has been the case with all versions of iOS too and just about every iPhone or ipad that has been around. It makes me think that perhaps Apple’s drivers have issues with select routers only? Or is it related to the router encryption?
Anyway, toggling AirPlane mode can work sometimes too.