Wi-Fi renew lease?

[scouser75]

Guys, what exactly is the purpose of the 'renew lease' option under wifi settings?

I'm having difficulties auto connecting to a non home wifi connection which I previously was able to auto connect to. Could 'renew lease' be the reason why?

 

[Chazzle]

Guys, what exactly is the purpose of the 'renew lease' option under wifi settings?

I'm having difficulties auto connecting to a non home wifi connection which I previously was able to auto connect to. Could 'renew lease' be the reason why?

I would “forget” the network, then rejoin. Be sure that auto join network is toggled as well.
Also, if you disconnect from that network by tapping the Wifi icon in control center, it will disable auto-join. Hope some of this helps.

 

[scouser75]

Hi mate,thanks for your tips. Unfortunately, for some reason, on this network (London underground wifi) the 'forget' option is not available. Very odd!

I have the auto join enabled.

I'll check the control centre scenario on my way home tonight.

And what does the 'renew lease' option do?

 

[AstonSmith]

And what does the 'renew lease' option do?

When you connect to a network, a server gives your device an IP address. On home routers, the server is part of the router software.

The IP address is allocated to your device for a limited amount of time, typically 24 hours. Renew lease asks the server for an extension so that your device can keep using the same IP address for longer. You don't usually have to use this option manually as the device should request a renewal automatically when the lease ends.

 

[NoBoMac]

Back to the original question, no, "Renew Lease" will not affect your ability to auto-connect.

From the sound of things, this wifi hotspot might be baked into your cell provider carrier settings. Similar to ATT in the States where those hotspots show up across the country and do not have a Forget option, but can disable via the do not auto-connect option. The ATT spots tend to be fairly poor re: speeds and correctly connecting, in my experience, and people turn it off (LTE is usually easier to get and faster).

Others have reported on Mac Rumors problems auto-connecting to known public wifi locales in v11. Does not seem anyone has found any rhyme or reason. Ran into this this morning at the local coffee shop: usually connects, today, did not.

Another thing to maybe be aware of: does the hotspot ask one to accept Terms and Conditions? Generally, those will not auto-connect, you will need to accept their agreement each time. The above mentioned coffee shop has this setup, and a second different locale/business today had me do that as well, even though I have connected to their wifi in the past.

 

[scouser75]

Hi nobomac, thanks for the reply.

You're correct, it's my mobile providers Wifi in the UK. I used to be able to auto connect but all of a sudden a few months back it stopped auto connecting. But if I go into settings and connect, all is good until I go underground (London underground trains) and I will rightly lose service as no wifi available in the tunnels. But when I get to the next station I should be able to auto Co next again, but my phone doesn't.

I've almost given up hope!