Hello Everyone, 

After updating to iOS 5.1 or thereabouts, my iPhone 4 S began losing Wi-Fi connectivity; in the last couple of days it had gotten to an almost intolerable level; dropping the connection after less than 10 seconds after each lock of the display screen.

I resolved the issue, the solution to which being so simple that it almost hurts me to post it but I will do so in hopes of sparing others a long and unnecessary troubleshooting experience.  

1.
Yes, I reset the router but doing so had no effect, as I suspected that it would not, given that my Windows computers and my Mac connected just fine. 

2.
From the iPhone’s Settings menu I chose to reset the network connection.  This had no effect, either.

3.
Turning to iTunes, I decided to Restore my phone; immediately followed by restoring a previously saved backup.  As it turned out, this was not necessary, however.  In fact, if I had not placed a previously saved backup image on the phone after restoring, I suspect the problem would have been resolved then and there.  Of course, in such a scenario, I would have had to rebuild my phone’s data and media structure, something I dread even under the best of circumstances.

At this point, let me state that I am amazed at how well iTunes placed the backup system on my phone.  It took a while but, when completed, the phone looked identical to its former self; so much so that the problem got restored right along with the backup (smile).

4.
When my problem persisted, I turned to the web and discovered that many, many people were complaining of the same symptoms as I.  The general consensus is that v5.1.1 has broken something in the 4 S. 

5.
I decided to schedule an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar in order to confirm that the phone’s Wi-Fi receiver was not damaged. 

6.
Reflecting on what I had just read on the web, I decided to update my iPhone 4 from iOS 4.3 to 5.1.1 to see if I could re-create the problem.  As strange as it may sound, I was hoping that I could for doing so would confirm that the issue was software and not hardware related; this would allow me to cancel my Genius Bar appointment.

7.
In addition to updating my iPhone 4 to the latest iOS, I decided to fire up my old iPhone 3GS as well and let it get in on the party.  By the way, my 3GS is still running iOS 3.x.

8.
To my astonishment, I could not re-create the problem on either my 3GS or my 4 running 5.1.1.  This furthered my suspicion that my problem lay in the 4 S hardware. 

9.
Returning to Google, I located an article that suggested that people experiencing this issue should do the following: 

Now, let me just say that after doing the following, my iPhone 4 S is running as smooth as Tupelo honey, Honey!  Its Wi-Fi connectivity is rock-solid.

On the iPhone, go to the Settings menu.
Next, select General.
Next, select Reset.
Finally, select Reset All Settings.  You will need to confirm your selection. 

To my extreme delight, I discovered that while doing this fixed my Wi-Fi connection problem, it did not reset all of my settings such as SMTP servers, passwords, etc.  In fact, after performing the reset, I was back up and running in a matter of minutes.

Good Luck To All And To All, Good Luck,

Mark