How to Fix Wi-Fi Disconnects When iPhone Is Locked – Guide

WiFi issues on iOS have been around for a long time. Whether it’s the highly impressive iOS 7, the buggy iOS 11, or the feature-packed iOS 12, they all faced WiFi issues at one point or another. And long-running ghosts have already started to haunt iOS 13. Recently, a large number of iOS users (including those running iOS 13) have encountered the “WiFi disconnects when iPhone is locked” issue. I myself had the same issue on my iPhone XR during iOS 13 beta testing. Since the OS was still a work in progress, I didn’t pay attention to the issue, thinking that Apple would fix it when the official version came out. But that (unfortunately) did not happen. Now that it’s become very common to ignore this, I thought I’d share some possible solutions that can fix this weird “iPhone goes to sleep when WiFi disconnects” issue.

How to Fix Wi-Fi Disconnections When iPhone Is Locked

Many iPhone users faced Wi-Fi disconnection when iPhone is locked in iOS 11.3. This can be caused due to network related issues, particularly the Wi-Fi network. Below are some of the best tips and solutions to resolve Wi-Fi disconnections when iPhone is sleeping/locked.

Forget it and reconnect to the Wi-Fi network

If you are encountering the Wi-Fi disconnect issue when iPhone is locked on a specific Wi-Fi network, for example, your home or office, try to forget about it in the network settings and then rejoin the network. By forgetting the network, you will erase all the settings related to the specific Wi-Fi network that may be turning off Wi-Fi when your iPhone is locked or sleeping.

Disabling VPN

An active VPN is also known to cause a lot of problems, including Wi-Fi disconnections when your iPhone is locked. So, if you have an active VPN on your iPhone, turning it off might help solve the problem. To disable VPN, navigate to iPhone Settings > VPN and turn off VPN if connected. Disconnecting VPN should resolve Wi-Fi disconnections when iPhone is sleeping. But if even after disabling the VPN it doesn’t solve the problem, then move on to the next solution.

Update router firmware

If the Wi-Fi is disconnecting when your iPhone is locked or in sleep, then there is no need for the problem to be associated with your iPhone. Sometimes Wi-Fi router can also cause issues like Wi-Fi disconnects when iPhone is locked. You can try to update the router firmware if it is out of date. As each router manufacturer has a different firmware update process, please visit the router manufacturer’s official website for detailed information about the process.

Disable Wi-Fi network services

Disabling Wi-Fi network services can also help to fix Wi-Fi disconnections when iPhone is locked, as reported by many users. In addition, turning off the Wi-Fi network will also help you to save battery. To disable Wi-Fi, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services and slide the Wi-Fi switch to OFF.

Disable Wi-Fi Assistant

Wi-Fi assistance is a feature which turns on cellular data when there is no reliable WiFi network to connect to or the connected WiFi network is too weak. But this could very well be the cause of Wi-Fi disconnections when iPhone is sleeping. You can disable the Wi-Fi assistant if you think the Wi-Fi is caused by the Wi-Fi assistant by navigating to Settings > Cellular > Wi-Fi Assistant.

System Restore and Reset iPhone

If all the above solutions to fix Wi-Fi disconnects when iPhone is locked, you can try resetting iPhone network settings to erase all Wi-Fi settings and passwords. You would need to re-enter passwords for networks that have already been saved. But this has been shown to remove all the problematic settings that can be caused by a faulty Wi-Fi setup. If that doesn’t work either, resetting and restoring the device is the only option. To avoid data loss, you must go back up your data before restoring the device.

Final note

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