How to use Wi-Fi instead of cellular in weak coverage areas for your iPhone

Wi-Fi Assist can help you with poor Wi-Fi coverage for your iPhone or cellular-equipped iPad by switching to cellular data when the current Wi-Fi network isn’t working consistently. But what about the back? If you live in an area with poor cellular coverage, can you improve your internet connection by requiring your iPhone to use Wi-Fi? Not exactly – and it depends on your iPhone or iPad model.

On an iPhone with iOS 14 or earlier, or an iPad with iPadOS 14 or earlier, the operating system prefers Wi-Fi for your Internet connection over cellular. Your iPhone or iPad continuously scans for Wi-Fi networks while using cellular data. When your device finds a suitable Wi-Fi network, iOS and iPadOS will rely on your Settings > Wi-Fi Options for what to do next.

Make sure Ask to Join Networks is set to Questions, and you’ll be prompted whenever a nearby network is detected. If you have previously connected to it, your device will automatically join; otherwise, the Ask option means you will be prompted.

Auto-Join Hotspot lets Apple detect nearby personal hotspots that you can join: your own on an iPhone that’s not your current device, one available on an iPhone owned by someone in your Family Sharing group, in case You are in a , or one set to Allow Others to Join, although you must know the password.

The exception is iOS 15/iPadOS 15, which introduces a new option starting with iPhone 12 models and several iPad models: the 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the 3rd generation 11-inch iPad Pro, the 5th generation iPad Air, and 6th generation iPad mini. With iOS 15/iPadOS 15 or higher and one of these or newer device models, if you have a 5G plan and a 5G network is available, in many cases your device will prefer 5G cellular data instead of a Wi-Fi connection.

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The option is called Allow More Data on 5G and you can find it in settings > Cellular/Cellular Data > Cellular Data Options > data mode. When data mode is set to Allow more data on 5G, your iPhone or iPad can tap into the 5G network if it performs faster or more consistently than the connected Wi-Fi for certain tasks, such as streaming videos and performing iCloud backups. Fi can deliver. However, you can change this to Standard, which only uses the 5G network for updates and certain background tasks, or to Low Data Mode, which avoids using the cellular network for background tasks and automatic updates, although the other network behavior is still controlled by the Wi-Fi Assist setting.

You can stop your iPhone or iPad from dialing into a cellular network if it loses its Wi-Fi connection. For most people, internet service is better than none, but if cellular data is so intermittent in your current location that it’s frustrating to use, you might prefer to be cut off. In that case go to settings > cellular and change cellular data out. (You can also expand Control Center and tap the Cellular icon.) This will also prevent incoming calls over the cellular network.

Tip: If you want to make sure you’re making voice calls with your carrier over Wi-Fi instead of the cellular network, make sure you’ve turned on Wi-Fi calling — or that your carrier offers it.

Also Read: Wi-Fi or 4G Not Working: How to Fix Internet Problems on iPhone.

This Mac 911 article answers a question from Macworld reader Terry.

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