Quick Tip: How to "forget" a wireless network on iPhone

Automatically connecting to a Wi-Fi network may not always be the best solution.

By default, iOS devices remember the Wi-Fi networks they've connected to in the past so they can automatically reconnect in the future. This feature is extremely handy when you frequently visit a location with a wireless network and don't have to enter the password each time.

But in some cases, this could be embarrassing. For example, if you're connected to your neighbour's Wi-Fi or some backup network at work, your device will continue to connect automatically.

When there are multiple Wi-Fi networks available in a location, iOS automatically connects to whichever SSID network comes first in alphabetical order, even if that network's signal is the weakest. If you have admin access to one of these networks, you'll need to rename it so it comes first. Otherwise, you can make iOS ...forget the other networks and only remember yours.

How to forget a Wi-Fi network

Go to Settings and select Wi-Fi.

From the list of networks, find the network you want iOS to forget and tap the 'i' icon on the right.

Tap the "Ignore this network" button

In the confirmation box, tap Ignore.

Your device will forget the credentials for the network, including the security code, and the connection will no longer be automatic.

When you've done this for all the networks you don't want your device to automatically connect to, Wi-Fi will still appear in your list.

If you want to reconnect to a network at any time, just tap its name in the list of available networks. You will, however, have to re-enter the password.

Just remember, if you reset a network after ignoring it, iOS will start connecting again automatically every time it detects it.

Finally, if you find that unwanted networks are connecting to your device without your consent, you can turn on the "Ask for sign-in" feature found in Wi-Fi Settings. This will display a pop up dialog box when some networks are in range but cannot prevent "known" networks from automatically joining.

From mirelen.