iPhone 16 Pro Not Detecting 5GHz Wi-Fi Network Intermittently

Hi all,

My partner are I recently had this issue and the solution was within our routers wireless settings and the mode in which it was broadcasting 5GHz.

The mode was set to 1733mbps but after adjusting to 800mbps BOTH my partners iPhone 15 Pro & my iPhone 16 Pro could then see the 5GHz network. The strange part was, my old iPhone 13 could in fact see the 5GHz network BEFORE the change - go figure!!

Have attached a pic for reference. We have a Netgear Nighthawk XR700

Hope this helps!

Jess

If your iPhone is not detecting a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, one possible reason could be that the iPhone’s MAC address is restricted by the router. This can happen if your device’s MAC address has been included in a blacklist or excluded from a whitelist for the specific SSID (WiFi Network Name) that is relaying the 5GHz Wi-Fi network. MAC address filtering is a security feature used by some routers to control which devices can access a network based on their unique MAC addresses. If the router has this feature enabled, it could block your iPhone from connecting to the 5GHz band.

To resolve this, you can contact the ISP that installed the router to check and adjust the settings, ensuring that your iPhone’s MAC address is not blocked or excluded from the network.

I had the same problem. But, the weird part is that it doesn't happen forever.

I always separated 2.4GHz and 5GHz for my Wi-Fi setting. When the issue happened, the 5GHz's SSID just disappeared and connot be connected, even if I typed it manually.

The temporary solution I found is to change the channel of the 5HGz Wi-Fi. In my case, if 149 is not working, then I will change it to 36 or 40, and vice versa.

Hope someone and provide more detail or better solution.