I just installed iOS 14.0 and now I'm getting a weak security notice on my Apple devices: 'WPA/WPA2 (TPIK) is not considered secure. If this is your Wi-Fi network, configure the router to use WPA2 (AES) or WPA3 security type.'
This article is for network administrators and other people who manage their own network. If you're trying to join a Wi-Fi network, one of these articles should help:
To ensure that your devices can reliably reconnect to your network, apply these settings consistently to each Wi-Fi router and access point, and to each band of a dual-band, tri-band or other multi-band router.
A single, unique name (case sensitive)
The Wi-Fi network name, or service set identifier (SSID), is the name your network uses to advertise its presence to other devices. It's also the name that nearby users will see on their device's list of available networks.
Use a name that's unique to your network, and make sure all routers on your network use the same name for every band they support. For example, don't use common names or default names, such as linksys, netgear, dlink, wireless or 2wire, and don't give your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands different names.
If you don't follow this guidance, your devices may not connect reliably to your network, to all of the routers on your network or to all of the available bands of your routers. And devices that join your network are more likely to encounter other networks that have the same name, and then automatically try to connect to them.
Disabled
A router can be configured to hide its network name, or SSID. Your router may incorrectly use 'closed' to mean hidden, and 'broadcast' to mean not hidden.
Hiding the network name doesn't conceal the network from being detected or secure it against unauthorised access. And because of the way devices search for and connect to Wi-Fi networks, using a hidden network may expose information that can be used to identify you and the hidden networks you use, such as your home network. When connected to a hidden network, your device may display a privacy warning due to this privacy risk.
To secure access to your network, use the appropriate security setting instead.
WPA3 Personal for better security, or WPA2/WPA3 Transitional for compatibility with older devices
The security setting defines the type of authentication and encryption used by your router, and the level of privacy protection for data transmitted over its network. Whichever level of security you choose, always set a strong password to join the network.
Settings that turn off security, such as None, Open or Unsecured, are strongly discouraged. Turning off security disables authentication and encryption and allows anyone to join your network, access its shared resources (including printers, computers and smart devices), use your Internet connection, and monitor data transmitted over your network or Internet connection (including the websites you visit). This is a risk even if security has been turned off temporarily or for a guest network.
Don't create or join networks that use older, deprecated security protocols such as WPA/WPA2 Mixed Mode, WPA Personal, TKIP, Dynamic WEP (WEP with 802.1X), WEP Transitional Security Network, WEP Open or WEP Shared. These are no longer secure, and they reduce network reliability and performance. Apple devices display a security warning when joining such networks.
Disabled
When this feature is enabled, your router can be set up to only allow devices that have specified media access control (MAC) addresses to join the network. Reasons why you shouldn't rely on this feature to prevent unauthorised access to your network:
To secure access to your network, use the appropriate security setting instead.
Enabled
If possible, set your router to install software and firmware updates automatically as they become available. Firmware updates can affect the security settings available to you, and they deliver other important improvements to the stability, performance and security of your router.
All (preferred),or Wi-Fi 2 through Wi-Fi 6 (802.11a/g/n/ac/ax)
These settings, available separately for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, control which versions of the Wi-Fi standard the router uses for wireless communication. Newer versions offer better performance and can support more devices concurrently.
It's usually best to enable every mode that's offered by your router, rather than a subset of these modes. All devices, including older devices, can then connect using the fastest radio mode they support. This also helps reduce interference from nearby legacy networks and devices.
Enable all bands that are supported by your router
A Wi-Fi band is like a road that data can flow down. More bands provide more data capacity and performance for your network.
Auto
Each band of your router is divided into multiple, independent communication channels, like different lanes on a road. When channel selection is set to automatic, your router will select the best Wi-Fi channel for you.
If your router doesn't support automatic channel selection, choose whichever channel performs best in your network environment. That varies depending on the Wi-Fi interference in your network environment, which can include interference from any other routers and devices that are using the same channel. If you have multiple routers, configure each one to use a different channel, especially if they are close to each other.
20 MHz for the 2.4 GHz band
Auto orall widths (20 MHz, 40 MHz and 80 MHz) for the 5 GHz band
Channel width specifies the size of 'pipe' available to transfer data. Wider channels are faster but more susceptible to interference, and also more likely to interfere with other devices.
Enabled, if your router is the only DHCP server on the network
Dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) assigns IP addresses to devices on your network. Each IP address identifies a device on the network and enables it to communicate with other devices on the network and Internet. A network device needs an IP address, much like a phone needs a phone number.
Your network should only have one DHCP server. If DHCP is enabled on more than one device (such as on both your cable modem and router), address conflicts may prevent some devices from connecting to the Internet or using network resources.
8 hours for home or office networks; 1 hour for hotspots or guest networks
DHCP lease time is the length of time that an IP address assigned to a device is reserved for that device.
Wi-Fi routers usually have a limited number of IP addresses they can assign to devices on the network. If that number is depleted, the router can't assign IP addresses to new devices, and these devices can't communicate with other devices on the network and Internet. Reducing DHCP lease time allows the router to reclaim and reassign old IP addresses that are no longer being used faster.
Enabled, if your router is the only device providing NAT on the network
Network address translation (NAT) translates between addresses on the Internet and addresses on your network. NAT can be understood by imagining a company's post room, where deliveries to employees at the company's address are directed to employee offices within the building.
You should generally only enable NAT on your router. If NAT is enabled on more than one device (such as on both your cable modem and router), the resulting ”double NAT” may cause devices to lose access to certain resources on the network or Internet.
Enabled
WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) prioritises network traffic to improve the performance of a variety of network applications, such as video and voice. All routers that support Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) or later should have WMM enabled by default. Disabling WMM can affect the performance and reliability of devices on the network.
These features may affect how you set up your router or the devices that connect to it.
If you're connecting to a Wi-Fi network from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple Watch, find out more about using private Wi-Fi addresses in iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and watchOS 7.
Make sure your device has Location Services turned on for Wi-Fi networking, because regulations in each country or region define the Wi-Fi channels and wireless signal strength allowed there. Location Services helps to ensure your device can reliably see and connect to nearby devices, and that it performs well when using Wi-Fi or features that rely on Wi-Fi, such as AirPlay or AirDrop.
On your Mac:
On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch:
Wireless carrier Wi-Fi networks are public networks set up by your wireless carrier and their partners. Your iPhone or other Apple mobile device treats them as known networks and connects to them automatically.
If you see a ”Privacy Warning” under the name of your carrier's network in Wi-Fi settings, your mobile identity could be exposed if your device were to join a malicious hotspot impersonating your carrier's Wi-Fi network. To avoid this possibility, you can prevent your iPhone or iPad from automatically rejoining your carrier's Wi-Fi network:
WPA, short for a Wi-Fi Protected Access®, is a data encryption specification for a wireless LAN. It improves upon the security feature of WEP by using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to secure network access and an encryption method to secure data transmissions.
WPA is designed for use with an 802.1X authentication server that distributes different keys to each user. However, it can also be used in a less secure 'Pre-Shared Key (PSK)' mode. PSK is designed for home and small office networks where every user has the same passphrase. WPA-PSK is also called WPA-Personal. WPA-PSK enables the Brother wireless machine to associate with access points using TKIP or AES encryption method. WPA2-PSK enables the Brother wireless machine to associate with access points using AES encryption method.
TKIP (short for Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is an encryption method. TKIP provides per-packet key mixing a message integrity and re-keying mechanism.
AES (short for Advanced Encryption Standard) is the Wi-Fi® authorized strong encryption standard.
WPA-PSK/ WPA2-PSK and TKIP or AES use a Pre-Shared Key (PSK) that is 8 or more characters in length, up to a maximum of 63 characters.