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WiFi says weak security

How do I correct weak security on my WiFi?

iPhone 7, iOS 14

Posted on Dec 6, 2020 2:13 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 6, 2020 2:14 PM

This is NOT an iPhone problem; it is a problem with your router settings.


A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. 


See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 6, 2020 2:14 PM in response to Bmurray2511

This is NOT an iPhone problem; it is a problem with your router settings.


A "Weak Security" notification means that your Wi-Fi router is not configured correctly. There is a new feature in iOS 14 that checks and displays a message if your router is not using the most up-to-date security. Note that your router has always had weak security, you just didn’t know about it until now. 


See this Apple support article for how to configure it correctly—>Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support, specifically the section headed Security.

Dec 6, 2020 2:33 PM in response to Bmurray2511

Hello Bmurray2511

Your data is absolutely safe and protected and secure even though the alert tells you 'WIFI weak security'. I have the same alert on my iPhone 11 and spoke with both my wifi service provider and Apple about this issue and it in no way represents a security risk to our phones or data. A new WiFi security standard was released this past summer and this is Apple's way of letting us know that we need to have our routers firmware updated with the new security standard. Apple and my service provider assured me there is no risk to any of our data, the current WiFi security measures are perfectly safe. Updating the routers firmware to provide the current and newest WIFI data security standard is SUPPOSED to get rid of Apples alert, "WIFI Weak Security".

Dec 6, 2020 2:45 PM in response to Ceci-Tigre

The weak security means that your ROUTER can be hacked, not your iPhone or other devices connected to the router. But someone who hacks your router can see the data that is sent over your connections. They can also install bots in the router that can create denial of service attacks that can potentially bring down websites. So you should take the warning seriously, and fix it. The “new” security standard is WPA2, which was published 16 years ago, not this past summer. The newest standard, WPA3, was published 2 years ago, again, not last summer. Most routers will not have WPA3 (and you shouldn’t select it if your router does, because only the newest computers and other wireless devices will be compatible).


Your router should be set, as a minimum, to WPA2(AES), also called WPA2-PSK(AES) and WPA2 Personal. These are different names for the same setting. If your router supports it WPA2/WPA3 is a good choice. You should not choose WPA/WPA2 or any setting that mentions WPA.

WiFi says weak security

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