My settings are set for my iPhone NOT to auto join non trusted networks however I am traveling and the WiFi at one airport keeps on auto joining. I have selected to forget this network about 10 times and it keeps on auto joining. I said forget it and turned WIFI off which is a problem because know my iPad and Mac can’t hotspot. Help!!!!
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iPhone iPhone continually joins strange network
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Most likely the only other thing (that i can think of) that would auto add you to a WiFi network, is if you had a device management profile installed for them. Check settings under general > device management and see if there is one that might have a certificate for that Wifi vendor in it.
Is the network perhaps carrier-related? I find that my iPhone XR will auto-join AT&T hotspots even though I have auto-join disabled.
The next time it happens open the Wi-Fi settings and see what is listed as the current Wi-Fi network.
It has only happened at some airports. Some airports have really crappy and slow WIFI while other airports such as Denver, Seattle have fast WIFI that actually works correctly.
I'm going to guess it's the International airports that have faster WiFi. You should be able to glean some information from the WiFi settings the next time it happens.
Not always. Its also the IT folks behind the network as some are smarter than others. My guess would be at airports like Atlanta they have either a cheap budget, or some stupid folks working there, while at faster airports there are those that are smarter, or with a bigger budget.
WiFi network management on iOS is a bit of a joke to be honest. When I switched to iOS from Android 1 year ago or so, I was stunned to find out that there is literally no way to do something as menial and trivial as simply viewing a list of known Wi-Fi networks in iOS, let alone delete them. 
That would make iOS the only OS I know of that does not have this ability, even though it's a mobile OS which suggests that Wi-Fi network management would be an area it would shine in.
To make matters worse, if you forget to forget a Wi-Fi network while you are connected to it (or within range of it) you're basically screwed. On Android (or any other OS on earth) you would just open up Wi-Fi settings and delete the network but on iOS you're faced with a real dilemma. That network is in there forever now unless you either buy yourself a Mac so you can delete it from Keychain (easy-peasy right!) or go nuclear and reset your network settings and blow it all away. Or, leave your Wi-Fi off and never-ever enable it again I guess.
Anyhow, I can't believe we're 13 major versions into iOS and this basic function is still not there. Come on Apple!
With all that said (and thanks for listening btw) there's a little secret that will actually allow you to see a list of all the currently saved WiFi networks on your phone without being connected to them (or without Wi-Fi even being enabled). Open the Shortcuts app > click the "Automation" tab at the bottom > click "Create Personal Automation" > Under "Settings" click "Wi-Fi". Now, next to "Network" click "Choose". Tada!
That would make iOS the only OS I know of that does not have this ability, even though it's a mobile OS which suggests that Wi-Fi network management would be an area it would shine in.To make matters worse, if you forget to forget a Wi-Fi network while you are connected to it (or within range of it) you're basically screwed. On Android (or any other OS on earth) you would just open up Wi-Fi settings and delete the network but on iOS you're faced with a real dilemma. That network is in there forever now unless you either buy yourself a Mac so you can delete it from Keychain (easy-peasy right!) or go nuclear and reset your network settings and blow it all away. Or, leave your Wi-Fi off and never-ever enable it again I guess.
Anyhow, I can't believe we're 13 major versions into iOS and this basic function is still not there. Come on Apple!
With all that said (and thanks for listening btw) there's a little secret that will actually allow you to see a list of all the currently saved WiFi networks on your phone without being connected to them (or without Wi-Fi even being enabled). Open the Shortcuts app > click the "Automation" tab at the bottom > click "Create Personal Automation" > Under "Settings" click "Wi-Fi". Now, next to "Network" click "Choose". Tada!
There are some toggles and options.
On the main wifi page there is:
- ask to join networks (off, notify and ask)
- auto-join hotspot (never, ask to join and automatic)
Then for each SSID there is an auto-join toggle.
If you delete the SSID and set ask to join to "ask" and auto-join to never, an unknown network should never be auto-joined. You can try resetting network settings also.
On the main wifi page there is:
- ask to join networks (off, notify and ask)
- auto-join hotspot (never, ask to join and automatic)
Then for each SSID there is an auto-join toggle.
If you delete the SSID and set ask to join to "ask" and auto-join to never, an unknown network should never be auto-joined. You can try resetting network settings also.
Most people might have not noticed it, but its surprising that a feature as simple as that isn't available on iOS.
Unfortunately both the auto-join toggle and the option of deleting (or forgetting) the network is only available to you while you are actually connected to the Wi-Fi network. The moment you're out of range of the Wi-Fi network there is no way to access that Wi-Fi network's settings or delete it except for resetting your network settings. Ugh!
Doesn't this setting only affect being notified about available Wi-Fi networks? For example, if I have "Ask to Join Networks" set to "Off", will it automatically join open Wi-Fi networks without asking?
It's really silly there's no UI for this on iOS. But as a tip, if you have a Mac that's signed in to the same iCloud account (and you use iCloud Keychain), you can manage/delete/etc the networks from the Mac and the changes will be synced to the iOS devices too.
System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced
This is the most annoying thing, and AT&T is not the only carrier that does it. I want to have complete control over when and which WiFi networks I join. There needs to be a setting in iOS that overrides whatever nonsense carriers are able to do to force users to unknowingly join WiFi networks.