Yet another iPhone WiFi thread - cannot connect to some OPEN networks

Question

I make no apologies in starting another thread about iPhone WiFi connectivity. Judging by the number of references to WiFi issues in this forum, as well as on the Internet generally, this is a big issue with many users and yet there seems very little acknowledgement by Apple that there is problem.
In my case I have a first generation iPhone which works well on most WiFi networks, both open and closed, including my secured network at home, but cannot connect properly with some open networks. I have had this problem while using 1.0, 2.0 and 2.1 firmware.
Sometimes I get the "Cannot Connect ..." message and sometimes I am able to connect and obtain a good signal and see an IP Address and a Subnet mask, but no Router or DNS address.
I'll repeat that I talking about open networks, so there is no password issue. In one local cafe, I am unable to connect to a network that I used to be able to connect to routinely. I have talked to the owner, who is another Mac and iPhone user and he assures me that he has not changed any router settings.
Can anyone offer any suggestions beyond the usual re-setting and re-booting options? Is there something about iPhone MAC addresses or the WiFi signal that certain routers don't like?
Simon

Answer 1

This is not a solution to your problems but:
1- Expecting someone from Apple to respond here is a vain hope. This is a discussion forum for users and you can only expect responses from users. Talk to Apple tech support if you want a response from them.
2- I saw an item on an iPhone blog page somewhere yesterday saying that Apple was now replacing iPhones with this issue if you took it to an Apple store. Don't know if it's true but it also had a workaround that you could use for your own home network if you were having problems—and I am—and that workaround basically worked for me.
I turned wi-fi off on the phone and opened Airport Utility on my iMac. I turned wi-fi security OFF and then tried to connect. I actually got a connection straight away, and I noted down the IP addresses and subnet mask data from the DHCP screen in the iPhone's wi-fi network info screen. I then restored wi-fi security on my iMac. Of course that restarts the router and I lost my connection and when it started up again, the IP addresses had changed but the subnet mask had not. I swapped to the Static screen instead of the DHCP screen and edited all 3 IP addresses. That got me my connection back and it has continued to work throughout today. That's the best result I've had so far.
It seems to me that my iPhone has problems picking up the network data from my home network and I don't know why that is. I was at a friend's last night and tried to connect to his system and it connected straight away. I assume there's something about my settings which is problematic but I don't know what it is but at least now I have a workaround.
It's possible that something similar is going on for you with the public networks you're having problems with but, unfortunately, the workaround I tried won't work for you in a public network so that's probably not much help.
You could try taking your phone to an Apple Store and seeing if they exchange it. The blog I read suggested the magic words were "hardware problem". In my case I don't think it's a hardware problem but it may be in yours.