As of writing, there is a Wi-Fi access point that can take away your iPhone’s capability to connect and use your Wi-Fi.
If you are an iPhone user, you know the value of your unit when connected to the internet. On its own, it functions great. But when you connect it to the internet, your world opens up!
You get access to your favorite social media account, you can check your emails and messages, and even review your bank balances. All these from a powerful iPhone right in your hand.
If you are at home or in the office, you can easily connect your iPhone to the local network you have running. But the tricky part is when you are not in your usual spot. Once you go outside to buy groceries or you go take a vacation, you need to connect to a local Wi-Fi connection in the area where you are. This is where the problem starts.
Before we go there, you might encounter the acronym SSID when talking about Wi-Fi. Don’t be confused. SSID stands for Service Set Identifier which is a fancy term for the name of the wireless network. If your Wi-Fi at home is labeled as Home_Wifi, then that is the name of your wireless network or SSID.
SSID That Disables Wi-Fi
There are instances where you might want to turn off your Wi-Fi. You could be restarting it by turning it off and on. This helps you refresh the system and look for available Wi-Fi near you.
It is also possible that you choose to turn it off to save battery when you don’t have a charger with you. But there is an SSID that once you connect to it, totally disables your iPhone’s ability to connect and use your Wi-Fi.
This is an issue with iPhones when you see and connect a Wi-Fi network labeled “%p%s%s%s%s%n” and “%secretclub%power.”
It is not yet certain how it is able to completely disable your ability to use your Wi-Fi. The SSID labeled “%p%s%s%s%s%n” was easily fixed by resetting iPhone network settings. But the other one was not as easy to get around.
There are rumors that the problem is that this Wi-Fi name is able to exploit a coding error deep in your iPhone’s iOS. This means that it is up to Apple to release an update to fix this security problem affecting your Wi-Fi connection.
How To Avoid It
At this point, there are a few things you can do to help prevent you from getting into trouble with this Wi-Fi security problem on your iPhone.
1.) Avoid using and connecting to Wi-FI in public places
2.) If you have to use public Wi-Fi, avoid networks that start or use the ‘%s’, ‘%p’ and ‘%n’ sequence of characters in its name.
3.) Use your mobile data if you really need to use Wi-Fi outside your residence or office.
Until we get an iOS update, keep your eyes peeled out for these malicious network names out to disable your Wi-Fi connection.
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Would it make it easier when I go out of town and want to connect to my friends WiFi, just to shut off my WiFi?
I am in North NJ. Apparently, there is a very weak Xfinity network available. It latches on and prevents roaming from getting connectivity. To restore connectivity I turn off the wi-fi. Now that I am writing about, next time I will just block it.
Thank you for all your information