WiFi preferred networks are synced via iCloud (?)

[lexvo]

Today, I discovered this by accident and wonder if it is well known.

On my iMac in the system settings, under Networks - advanced I saw networks listed that I have accessed with my iPhone the past months (hotels, restaurants and the like). It appears that these preferred network settings are synced via iCloud. I had no idea about this before

An advantage is that I can clean up the list on my iPhone on my iMac by deleting old network settings (on the iPhone itself, you can only forget a network if you're connected as far as I know). This only works if these changes are synced back of course.

This is on Mavericks 10.9.5 by the way.

 

[Weaselboy]

Yep... that is part of the iCloud Keychain sync.

It can actually be annoying because networks your MacBook joined get copied over to your phone then your phone auto joins those networks when maybe you don't want it to.

 

[lexvo]

Yep... that is part of the iCloud Keychain sync.

It can actually be annoying because networks your MacBook joined get copied over to your phone then your phone auto joins those networks when maybe you don't want it to.

Thanks!
Yes, I guess there are advantages and disadvantages to it.

 

[adamhenry]

I just discovered this myself earlier this morning. I was looking at my wireless settings and saw some old SSIDs. I didn't know how they got there though. Now it all makes sense. Thanks!

 

[whsbuss]

Sorry to open this older thread. Today I had to reset my network settings on my iPhone because my AT&T LTE connection was having problems. So because I was on the road (and forgot to disable keychains on my iPhone) the reset sync'd back to my MacBook pro. So I went into a recent time machine backup and restored the /Library/Keychains/ file. When I open keychains on the Mac under System/Passwords I see all the previous wifi networks with their SSID and password.

But on the Mac (running latest OS) in the Network App under Advanced I don't see most of them in the preferred networks. Is that normal??? I did a restart on the mac.

 

[Hawaiian Starman]

Sorry to open this older thread. Today I had to reset my network settings on my iPhone because my AT&T LTE connection was having problems. So because I was on the road (and forgot to disable keychains on my iPhone) the reset sync'd back to my MacBook pro. So I went into a recent time machine backup and restored the /Library/Keychains/ file. When I open keychains on the Mac under System/Passwords I see all the previous wifi networks with their SSID and password.

But on the Mac (running latest OS) in the Network App under Advanced I don't see most of them in the preferred networks. Is that normal??? I did a restart on the mac.

Ought to repopulate within 24 hrs. Personally, I consider this wifi address sync a PITA. E.g. if I remove various wifi entries (usually non-pw ones) on the Mac, invariably they reappear on the Mac due to iPhone or iPad settings. This exercise is akin to driving a stake through the heart of a vampire: the addresses just refuse to die!

 

[whsbuss]

Well nothing has worked. I can open Keychains on the Mac and see all the wifi networks and associated passwords. I erased my iPhone and did a full backup from 4 days ago from my iTunes on the Mac. I get all my safari passwords via keychains but never the wifi networks. It also never shows in the Preferred Networks in the Network nettings on the Mac. Yet if I add a wifi network on my iPhone it syncs to the Mac and is available in the Network app.

What's going on?

 

[Weaselboy]

Well nothing has worked. I can open Keychains on the Mac and see all the wifi networks and associated passwords. I erased my iPhone and did a full backup from 4 days ago from my iTunes on the Mac. I get all my safari passwords via keychains but never the wifi networks. It also never shows in the Preferred Networks in the Network nettings on the Mac. Yet if I add a wifi network on my iPhone it syncs to the Mac and is available in the Network app.

What's going on?

I think you might be looking for it in the wrong place. Open Keychain and select the iCloud keychain like in my screenshot. Then click the Kind column to sort the Airport passwords to the top. Do you see the network there at the top? You can see three of them in my screenshot.

 

[whsbuss]

I think you might be looking for it in the wrong place. Open Keychain and select the iCloud keychain like in my screenshot. Then click the Kind column to sort the Airport passwords to the top. Do you see the network there at the top? You can see three of them in my screenshot.

View attachment 697450

Yes I was looking in the wrong place. But in any case, I had to manually add the older wifi networks from my iPhone before the network reset. I found them in keychains (under system) and using the OS X network app (advanced) used the + sign to enter them. Then they sync'd to my other devices. Strange for sure.

 

[zorinlynx]

I think I was once able to move Wifi networks from the iCloud keychain to the login keychain, allowing the Mac to be on a wifi network without it syncing to my other devices. This was a while ago; I don't know if it's still possible.

 

[Johnny Jackhammer]

I think I was once able to move Wifi networks from the iCloud keychain to the login keychain, allowing the Mac to be on a wifi network without it syncing to my other devices. This was a while ago; I don't know if it's still possible.

Only the WiFi access points that require a password (Security) are visible in the iCloud Keychain. All the remaining public WiFi networks are visible in the Network pane on an iMac but invisible in the iCloud Keychain in Keychain Access. If they are there,, they're in a hidden database. These are the ones that linger for years and are impossible to remove. If they are deleted on the iMac in Network>WiFi>Preferred Networks, they just repopulate a day later. Even after an iPhone wipe and a iMac wipe they come back, so they must be stored in iCloud but we are denied control over that!