How to fix the Weak Security warning in Wi-Fi settings on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Are you seeing an “Unsecured Network” or “Weak Security” warning on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac? In this guide, we will share more details about this issue, and help you fix it.

Unsecured Network message in iPhone Wi-Fi settings

Why you see a warning in Wi-Fi settings

When you go to iPhone Settings > Wi-Fi or Mac’s System Settings > Wi-Fi, you may see a message saying “Unsecured Network” or “Weak Network.”

If you tap the info icon ⓘ next to that Wi-Fi name, you will see a detailed message that states, “Unsecured Network: Open networks provide no security and expose all network traffic.” or “WPA/WPA2 (TKIP) is not considered secure.

Weak Security Warning for Wi-Fi on iPhone

The message goes on to explain how to correct this, which means changing your Wi-Fi network settings to use the WPA2 (AES) or WPA3 security type. It will say, “If this is your Wi-Fi network, configure the router to use WPA2 (AES) or WPA3 security type.

Seems simple enough, right?

Well, it actually is if you’re able to change your Wi-Fi settings to one of these two more secure options without adverse effects. After all, WPA2 (AES) and WPA3 are more secure, thus protecting you and your personal information better overall.

Change your Wi-Fi network security settings

Check the documentation for your router for instructions on changing the encryption protocol to WPA2 (AES) or WPA3. If your Wi-Fi network is not behind a password, make sure to set one.

To do both, you will have to connect to your Wi-Fi network. After that, log in to access your router settings.

You may find the login details at the back of your Wi-Fi router or see the documentation that you got from the router guys when they came to install it in your home. In most cases, you may have to visit a URL like https://192.168.1.1/login.html and log in with your details.

If you don’t have the relevant details, do a web search for “your Internet provider’s name Wi-Fi router settings login page,” and you may find a relevant result. Once you find that page, try using admin as both the username and password to log in and manage your router settings.

Login page to manage my router settings

If you’re using an Android phone as the hotspot and seeing this message, go to your phone’s Settings app > Network & Internet > Hotspot & tethering > Wi-Fi hotspot. From here, tap Security and select WPA2-Personal, WPA3-Personal, or WPA2/WPA3-Personal.

WPA2, WPA3-Personal security settings on Android phone

After that, you may have to restart your iPhone or Mac to make the Weak Security warning vanish.

Update your device

If your Wi-Fi network is already using WPA2 (AES) or WPA3 and you still see that warning message, go ahead and update your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, or macOS.

In case nothing works and you have restarted your device, go ahead and reset your network settings, which should fix the issue.

Do you have older devices?

WPA2 (AES) or WPA3 encryption protocol is undoubtedly more secure. However, the problem is that very older devices won’t be able to connect to these advanced security protocols.

If you’re concerned about your other devices not being able to connect to your Wi-Fi network after this change, then you can choose to wait and deal with the pesky message in your iPhone settings.

On a related note: How to set your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to prefer a faster Wi-Fi network over the slower ones