Iphone SE and 13 have less wifi coverage than my old iphones. why?

[britpoprule]

I have the Iphone SE (2020) and the iphone 13. Unfortunately they have less wifi coverage (notches) than my old iphones 6 and 7. The iphone 6 and 7 tend to have more coverage in a longer distance. Why is that? It's really strange. Logically (being an upgrade) they should be stronger in coverage. Sometimes the wifi switches to the 4G of the phone network. It's very annoying. What do you think?

I just compared my iphone 13 with somebody else's iphone 13 and mine has less wifi coverage. When the other has 3 notches mine has 2. Does it mean that it's defective?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

2.4G has longer range than 5G. But 2.4G has less bandwidth than 5G. 2.4G is slower than 5G.

You'll notice this on your home WiFi with other devices. If your router supports both 2.4G and 5G (6G in some cases), you'll notice that you can go farther while being on the 2.4G network when you aren't expecting to be fast. However, switch to 5G and your speed increases significantly, while your coverage reduces dramatically.

Research radio waves and frequencies to learn the science behind this.

This has nothing to do with your iPhone.

 

[Jimmysb]

2.4G has longer range than 5G. But 2.4G has less bandwidth than 5G. 2.4G is slower than 5G.

You'll notice this on your home WiFi with other devices. If your router supports both 2.4G and 5G (6G in some cases), you'll notice that you can go farther while being on the 2.4G network when you aren't expecting to be fast. However, switch to 5G and your speed increases significantly, while your coverage reduces dramatically.

Research radio waves and frequencies to learn the science behind this.

This has nothing to do with your iPhone.

Of course we are talking 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, as opposed to 5th Generation phone signal.

 

[RadDave]

I have the Iphone SE (2020) and the iphone 13. Unfortunately they have less wifi coverage (notches) than my old iphones 6 and 7. The iphone 6 and 7 tend to have more coverage in a longer distance. Why is that? It's really strange. Logically (being an upgrade) they should be stronger in coverage. Sometimes the wifi switches to the 4G of the phone network. It's very annoying. What do you think?

I just compared my iphone 13 with somebody else's iphone 13 and mine has less wifi coverage. When the other has 3 notches mine has 2. Does it mean that it's defective?

Hello - from the above and the responses, I'm detecting some confusion on your part as to which signal, i.e. cellular vs. Wi-Fi you are discussing? Below are the icons shown on the iPhone - the vertical bars are cellular strength and the arcs are Wi-Fi strength - so, which are you referring to or both? Dave
.

 

[britpoprule]

So you're saying that it's normal that an iphone 6 and 7 have more wifi strength/coverage than an iphone 13?

 

[Rod]

If like many people you have a dual band router 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz it depends on how your router and devices are set up.
Generally if you have just one band (2.4GHz) both phones should show the same number of bars for WiFi reception. I have just tested an iPhone SE (2020) and my new iPhone 16e in our bathroom. The 16e shows 2 bars and the SE only 1 but the minute I open (unlock) the SE it shows 2 bars. This is on a fixed band of 2.4GHz.

I'm not too sure how accurately those indicators measure signal strength but performance is the real indicator. You may well find that the later model transfers data faster than the earlier model even on what appears to be a lower reception. Another example is my Sony Bravia Smart TV in our backyard Studio. It says WiFi strength is only 2 bars but live streams HD TV no problem.

In Australia we have a Dual band router with "Smart" switch enabled. It senses signal strength on mobile devices and switches from 5GHz to 2.4GHZ if the device is too far away for 5GHz.
Previously I had two networks on my router Home 1 which was 5Ghz and Home 2 which was 2.4GHz meaning I had to switch manually by choosing a different network depending where I was.

 

[pine man]

Rather then rely on 'notches' and 'bars' why not install something like ookla speed test on your phone and see the exact wifi speed - or have I completely misread the issue!

 

[Jimmysb]

Rather then rely on 'notches' and 'bars' why not install something like ookla speed test on your phone and see the exact wifi speed - or have I completely misread the issue!

I use Ookla Speedtest, great for testing broadband and wifi.

 

[LoydPeterson]

Sometimes it comes down to how iOS prioritizes connections. If the Wi-Fi signal is weak or the latency is high, the phone might switch over to cellular (4G/5G) even if Wi-Fi is still technically available. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an issue with the antenna — iOS is just trying to keep you on the most stable connection.
I’ve got an iPhone 14, and I’ve noticed the same thing at home. Sometimes it randomly jumps from Wi-Fi to 5G when I’m a bit farther from the router or there are a few walls in between. What’s weird is that other devices still hold the Wi-Fi just fine. I ended up switching my router to use the 2.4 GHz band instead of 5 GHz, and that actually helped — the signal stays more consistent now, even if the speed is a bit lower.