Hello everyone,
I'm writing again about the issue I reported in this post because I have some news.
Over the past few days, I contacted TIM (Telecom Italia), the manufacturer of my TIM Hub+ Router, and I also ran some tests, which I'll describe below.
I should point out right away that TIM (Telecom Italia) confirmed that there are no new software updates available for my router: they believe the one I have is the latest version!
Naturally, I reported the issue in detail and hope they can address it.
At that point, I decided on my own to move forward and run some further tests, which I'll describe below.
I turned off my two range extenders: a TIM Hub modem (connected via Ethernet cable to the router and configured as an access point) and a Netgear wireless range extender. Then I went to the room where I have the Router and restarted the
Router and my three iPhones (11, 14, and 17). The 5GHz network signal from the Router was immediately and steadily established (without slowdowns or disconnections) on all three iPhones!
After a few minutes, I moved to the other, more distant rooms, turned the two range extenders back on, and restarted all three iPhones.
Result: iPhone 11 and 14 had no connection issues, while iPhone 17, ONLY on the 5GHz network, returned to having the usual connection issues!
It was clear that the iPhone 17 wasn't fully compatible with the 5GHz signal coming from range extenders.
Was it the fault of the new iPhone 17's N1 chip?
Was it the fault of its drivers, which didn't properly handle backwards compatibility on the 5GHz frequency with older network devices?
Why didn't the Broadcom chips in the iPhone 11 and 14 cause any problems?
I don't know, and at that point, I didn't care!
It was clear that the last test was to purchase two new repeaters with more advanced technology (at least Wi-Fi 6) and see if, with the two new repeaters, the iPhone 17 would behave differently on 5GHz.
I didn't believe, and I don't believe, that it's right to force Apple users to purchase new network devices to ensure full functionality of the iPhone 17!
But if I didn't want to wait any longer, and who knows how long, for a new software update (which MAYBE would have solved the problem, maybe NOT), there was only one solution: get my credit card!
So I purchased two new Wi-Fi 6 repeaters with two LAN ports. I configured them first in easy mesh mode, then in access point mode (with an Ethernet cable on LAN port 1), and then in repeater mode. Well, you won't believe it, but the iPhone 17 immediately connected to the new repeaters' 5 GHz network.
And on my 5 GHz LAN network (which can potentially reach a download speed of up to 1000 Mbps), the Speedtest app on my iPhone 17, near one of the two repeaters, two rooms away from the Router, reached a speed of 913 Mbps!
Conclusion.
1. For those with an iPhone 17 and a Tim Hub Router (or similar technology), there's no hope of solving the problem without an Apple software update (iOS 26.2? Maybe).
2. For those, like me, with an iPhone 17 and a Tim Hub+ Router (or similar technology): get out your credit card!
Thanks everyone for any feedback.
