Experiencing slow Wi-Fi speeds on your iPhone 15? Follow these troubleshooting steps to get it resolved quickly.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi may be slow due to issues with either the router or phone.
- If the router is your problem, try restarting, updating firmware, or repositioning it.
- If it’s the iPhone, try restarting it or resetting the network settings.
Some users have reported that they are facing an issue of Wi-Fi being slow on their iPhone 15. This is an important problem.
There could be many reasons your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi connection might seem unsatisfactory. It should be very annoying to have slow Wi-Fi speeds when you are paying for a high-speed Internet plan. In this article, I explain how you can fix the slow Wi-Fi problem on your iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Troubleshoote the router
If your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi is slow, you first need to troubleshoot your router. There could be a lot of issues with your router. Your Wi-Fi router affects your Internet speed:
Is your router placed in a bad spot?
Your router signal may be too poor. You may want to position your router in a central, and open, spot to maximize its signal strength. Walls, floors, certain kitchen and home appliances (refrigerators, microwave ovens, etc) can interfere with the connection. You may also consider getting an Internet extender.
Is your router too old?
If your your router positioning is okay, then it may be that iPhone 15 internet speed is being affected by the age of the hardware. Your internet provider may send some sort of message regarding a new, upgraded hub every year or so that improves the technology and such.
If your router is more than a few years old, then it might be time to start thinking about buying a newer, more capable version. If you haven’t heard from your ISP, give them a call and ask if there are any upgrades they’re offering. If you’ve been a customer for a while, they should upgrade it for you for free.
Optimize your router settings
Different routers have various settings designed to improve signal strength and speeds. Review your router’s manual to learn more about these settings.
Check the amount of connections
If you have several devices such as iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Macs, and more connected to one Wi-Fi router, then this can impact your iPhone 15 internet speed.
In your router’s admin hub, it may give an overview of what devices are connected within the network, how much they’ve downloaded or uploaded, an option to disconnect them completely, and other relevant settings. There may be some devices that you don’t even recognize, which could be using your Wi-Fi (or have used it in the past).
As such, it’s a good idea to limit the amount of connections that has access to your router, as it can ultimately overload it to the detriment of your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi speed. If you think there might be some people using your Wi-Fi without your knowledge, consider changing your password.
Move closer to the router
If your your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi is slow, then you may be affected by how close you are to the router. If you’re in, say, the garden or on the second floor of your home, then some routers won’t provide the same speeds you would receive compared to when you’re near the hardware itself. Try moving closer to your router and see if the speed increases. Alternatively, get a Wi-Fi booster.
Restart your router/modem
Restarting your router has a lot of advantages for the average home network. It can help reset the router’s limited memory to help speed things up, and even apply important updates that your router may have been waiting on.
The key is to reboot your router properly. You don’t want to do a factory reset, which will erase all your settings and force you to start
- Avoid the pinholes and on-router reset buttons; instead, simply unplug the router from power source.
- Wait for about a minute for everything to fully turn off.
- Plug your router back into your power source, modem, and anything else you need.
Update your Wi-Fi router’s firmware
While we all update firmware for our essential devices like our phones and computers, upgrading the firmware associated with your Wi-Fi router is often an afterthought. If the Wi-Fi is working, why bother messing around with the settings?
But keeping your broadband hardware up to date is pivotal in ensuring any software-related issues are not holding your internet speed back from reaching its full capacity.
It’s not the be-all and end-all solution to slow iPhone 15 Wi-Fi speeds, but if your Wi-Fi router is running outdated firmware, it may negatively affect a connection when it comes to downloading and uploading. Just a simple update can remove any remaining technical issues and boost the overall health of your internet connection. It can improve security on your router, too.
In terms of actually performing the update, this will vary from router to router. Review the manual of the router for more information.
Troubleshoote the iPhone
If you think that your router is working as expected, and your Wi-Fi is fast on everything except your iPhone, here is what you can do:
Toggle Airplane mode
When I experience this problem, I always do this first. This can help you quickly resolve this. Simply turn on Airplane mode on your device (Settings > Airplane Mode), wait 20 seconds, and then turn it off.
Restart your iPhone
Simply restart your iPhone. Here is how:
Press and hold the side button and either of the volume buttons until you see the power off slider. Drag the slider. Wait a few seconds for your iPhone to turn off. Then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
Wait for your device to completely power off. Then press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.
Check out for Wi-Fi recommendations
iOS is capable of detecting issues with Wi-Fi connections. If iOS detects an issue, a recommendation will be displayed under the name of the Wi-Fi network. You can use this recommendation to fix your problem. Here is how:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Do you see any alert message beneath the name of the network? Some common alert messages:
- Unsecured Network
- Weak Security
- No Internet Connection
- Security Recommendation
- If you see it, tap it to see more details. Please note that this can be something you cannot fix.
Update your phone
Make sure that you’ve installed the latest iOS software updates on your iPhone. You can do this wirelessly:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
- This will check for updates, and if there is an update available, follow the instructions.
Consider using a VPN
If you search whether a VPN (virtual private network) can increase your internet speeds, you’ll probably find a lot of conflicting information. Here’s the deal: Some ISPs (internet service providers) will throttle bandwidth based on certain activities, such as hitting a soft data cap or streaming services like Netflix and YouTube. If you have evidence that your ISP is throttling bandwidth like this, a VPN can help by hiding your activity so the ISP doesn’t have the data it needs to make throttling decisions.
But in many cases a VPN can actually slow your internet speeds down with its combination of encryption and server-hopping. Only try this as a solution if you are sure your ISP is being shady. Fortunately, many VPNs are free to download and enable for a trial period if you want to test it out.
Forget Wi-Fi
You may want to forget your Wi-Fi network and then reconnect. When you forget a Wi-Fi network, your phone will no longer automatically connect to it until you, next time, enter its password and connect again. And if you are using iCloud Keychain, your other devices using iCloud Keychain will not join this network again. Here is how:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Find the wireless network you want to forget and tap the (i) info icon next to it.
- Tap Forget This Network.
- A pop-up message will appear to confirm your decision. Tap Forget again.
We recommend that you restart your device. And then:
- Go to Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Tap the name of your Wi-Fi network that you just forgot.
- Enter the Wi-Fi password. And connect again to see if this improves your connection.
See also: iPhone 15 Won’t Connect to Wi-Fi? Here’s How to Fix it!
Reset network settings
Reset network settings, if you are iPhone 15 Wi-Fi is still slow.. This may help you fix your problem because your network settings could have become corrupted. When you reset your network settings, your Wi-Fi passwords and other connection settings will be erased. Your apps, content or other data will not be deleted. Here is how:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
- You may need to enter your passcode. Enter it if asked.
- Your phone will restart.
Disable Networking & Wireless
Some iPhone 15 users have said that disabling "Networking & Wireless" fixed their slow Wi-Fi problem. You may try this too. Disable this and then if it does not help you and then you can enable it again. Here is how:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy > (scroll down) Location Services > System Services and turn off Networking & Wireless.
Use custom dns
You can change the DNS server (Domain Name System) when connecting to networks using your iPhone. There are two popular DNS services that are free to use: Google DNS and OpenDNS. Google DNS server addresses are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, (For IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888 and/or 2001:4860:4860::8844) and OpenDNS server addresses are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. You could change the DNS server and this may speed up your Wi-Fi connection. If you want, this can easily be undone too. Here is how:
- On your iPhone, tap Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Tap the (i) icon next to the Wi-Fi network you want to change its DNS servers.
- Scroll down and tap Configure DNS.
- Change the setting from Automatic to Manual.
- Now delete the existing numbers by tapping the red minus circle next to the DNS servers.
- Enter the DNS server addresses of your choice (Google, OpenDNS, or other) by tapping Add Server. Then when you are done tap Save.
Now test your Wi-Fi. If you are not happy with the results, you can easily switch back. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Info (i) Icon > Configure DNS and select Automatic. Doing so will restore your DNS server specified by the Wi-Fi network.
Still slow Wi-Fi on your iPhone 15?
If your iPhone 15 Wi-Fi is still slow after you’ve tried all of the above tips, there are three things left to do:
1. Contact your ISP
Call your internet provider to ensure that there are no problems on their end. If you are having this issue on all of your devices, this can be the reason. Contact them and explain that you’re getting slower speeds than you should.
2. Contact Apple Support
You may be having a hardware problem. Apple support can diagnose and repair it. For hardware repairs, you can mail your product to an Apple Repair Center or take it to an Apple Store if you make a Genius Bar appointment. Here’s how to contact Apple Support.
3. Change ISPs
If none of the above has fixed your slow iPhone 15 Wi-Fi speed, then the answer may lie within the ISP itself. Ultimately, you will only receive what you’re paying for from the broadband provider. If the upload speed maxes out at an unacceptable level, then you should consider changing to another ISP.
Why? Well, depending on if your area has the necessary cables and technology in place, you could be enjoying a much higher upload speed with a different company. You may even be able to do so with your current internet provider — simply call them and see if there’s anything you can do about upgrading your plan.
If that doesn’t bear fruit, then you can always call other services and see what kind of speeds they can offer. By telling them your exact area, they can normally determine the highest speeds possible in that specific region over the phone.
