How to make your iPhone or iPad choose the right Wi-Fi network

Still connecting to the spotty Wi-Fi downstairs when you want to auto-connect to your router? Try this!

Automatically connecting to local Wi-Fi can be a fickle business. How does your iPhone choose which network it automatically latches onto, and why?

If you're constantly connecting to a network you'd rather not, there is something you can do about it, but it'll take a little bit of time.

How does the iPhone choose a Wi-Fi network
How to make your iPhone or iPad choose the right Wi-Fi network

How does the iPhone choose a Wi-Fi network

Your iPhone or iPad already has a built-in, preprogrammed hierarchy when it comes to choosing a Wi-Fi network to connect to. It evaluates "service set identifiers" (SSIDs), and then chooses which network to join in the following order:

Your "most preferred" network
The private network you joined most recently
Any other private network
A public network

How does iOS determine where Wi-Fi networks rank?

According to Apple, iOS gives a "score" to your known networks. So if you manually switch to a specific SSID, its score goes up. If you manually disconnect from an SSID, its score goes down.

If iOS finds a few suitable networks after scoring the options, then it prioritizes them based on security level and orders them by the type of network security in place.

If it determines that multiple networks have the exact same security level, then priority is given to the network(s) with the strongest signal.