topic Re: iPhone 14 apps not working in My Router

iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 10:39:39 GMT

Hi! I have had a number of issues with iPhone 14 since moving to Plusnet and its Hub 2 router. WhatsApp disconnects all the time. Occasionally, text is sent and received, multimedia will NOT move, just spins forever in either direction. Signal also doesn't work. Survey sites (which may or not use VPNs) also claim that I'm not connected to the internet when I definitely am. I get hardly any email notifications. I can only force email through when opening the app and am missing important information as it takes up to 2 hours for mail to show. I believe these issues are causes by the router as I had none of these issues on a previous router and it's also worth noting that when I switch to 5g mobile data I have ZERO issues. I have discussed with Apple, app developers and OpenReach Engineers tiers 1, 2 and 3 but no one seems to be able to provide any insight. I've had 2 ONTs and 2 routers, the fibre has been checked for faults and passed without any remarks. The 'fault' has been closed by OpenReach but not resolved. OpenReach can't solve wifi issues, so my question is, who does??? I've tried various suggestions with the router settings but nothing has solved the problem. I wanted to have a stable connection after relying on 4g for years but now feel as if 5g will be the way to go after this contract ends....any suggestions welcome 🙂

I'VE ATTACHED SOME EXAMPLES OF LOADING PROBLEMS

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

Rach_H — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 13:56:41 GMT

Hi @PPPNetPlus,

Welcome back to the Community!

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're having, and I can understand how concerning this must be for you. Are you still having issues when you connect to WiFi elsewhere, and do any of your other device have issues connecting to your home WiFi?

Rach

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:04:53 GMT

Hi Rach! - It is purely wifi routers connected to my ONT with the iPhone 14. No problems anywhere else, not even on public wifi. My dad has the same hub further down the street on plustnet full fibre and I have no issues there. Signal support have commented that I have a particularly 'unique' network set-up but as I didn't set either of the routers up I'm not sure what is meant by that. I have to keep switching to 5G to use WhatsApp and signal and don't think I should have to....

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:05:31 GMT

...sorry and no other devices have any issues...

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 20:52:56 GMT

And what’s this about?

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

markhawkin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:16:57 GMT

This is a bit of a puzzle.

Just at a guess, something is blocking the tracking that those websites use.

You don't have Plusnet's SafeGuard or Broadband Firewall turned on do you?

https://www.plus.net/my-account/safeguard/

https://www.plus.net/member-centre/broadband/firewall

Less likely, some sort of IPv6 "funny".

Worth a go would be taking your router (not the ONT) to your dad's home and temporarily swapping them over.

Your account is (I think) tied to your router so it should just connect "as you" but in a different place.

I would expect the issue to follow the router (and your account).

It would then be possible to enter his account credentials into the router and see if your router is fine with his credentials.

Do remember to reset your router after doing this to avoid big problems!

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

Champnet — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:25:59 GMT

@PPPNetPlus It's worth checking you're connecting to your router and not a nearby neighbour's........

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:50:53 GMT

Hi! Many thanks for your help - I did have safeguard, then thought that had caused the issue and promptly deactivated it and reset everything. I thought I had solve the problem for about a day as everything went back to normal but then the day after it started up again. It still says 'inactive' but I have my suspicions...(see attached). I am going to take my router to my dad's house as you suggest because it's the only way of proving it's something on the router as you say. I shall report back once I have tried this out. I am also thinking of getting a TP link router and forgetting about the Hub 2 - any recommendations?

Thanks again 🙂

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

markhawkin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:10:28 GMT

It's a little more complicated than you might think.

The "SafeGuard" service "lives" in Plusnet's network and is asscociated with your account, so if your router moves to another location with a Plusnet service, it will (I think) register as you and pick up your account including safeguard service.

SafeGuard doesn't "live" in your router but (say) a TP-Link product would let you set a different DNS provider which would disable SafeGuard. OpenDNS is a possibility as is the Google DNS service.

In this case, an eBay purchase of something like the Archer AX55 AX3000 could be a reasonable choice and there seems to be a ready market so if it's not an improvement you could sell it again!

I'm not the best person to advise on TP-Link products although I've had some a while back and was very impressed with their support.

I don't think your screenshot shows things you have activated, just what's available (so it says Activate Add-On).

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:16:27 GMT

I see, thanks for that. I checked and the Safeguard is 'inactive' according to Plusnet. I've also tried disabling the firewall and that didn't help either....I note there are instructions on the Plusnet help site saying there are Broadband firewall settings in 'connection settings' but there aren't....there is mention of low, medium and high, but all I have in the router menu is default, block all and disabled.

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

PPPNetPlus — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:52:15 GMT

So.....I eventually managed to get back into Member Centre and the add-on section using a 5G connection and low and behold my Safeguard was back to 'ON' - I never did this??? So I turned it back off and it said 'unable to save settings, try later'....

I went back in. (again on 5G) and used a different browser which said it was now 'OFF' - restarted router and now I can use Whatsapp and signal again.... Now I guess i wait to see if it switches itself back 'on' again????

PLUSNET - can you please sort this out? Not sure how useful this feature is to anyone if it stops the most popular messaging apps working???

Thanks for all who helped me out with their input, much appreciated

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

markhawkin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:53:36 GMT

I'm running out of things to suggest I'm afraid.

As all is good with your Dad's (identical) router and you have had a router swap (which tends to be early in the faultfinding process as it's fairly easy to do) then it seems to be related to your connection.

If you can get another router (even to borrow) that isn't one supplied by a broadband provider that's well worth a try as I suspect changing to a different DNS provider would at least hide the problem.

As it's only your phone being difficult, you could try different DNS settings for the Plusnet WiFi on your phone

Settings
Wi-Fi
(i)
Configure DNS
Manual

Add server

then enter the Google DNS servers ( 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4 )

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns

and see how you get on.

To undo this change

Switch back to "Automatic"

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

markhawkin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:55:41 GMT

Posts crossed!

What you have observed is a "browser cache" problem.

Hopefully it's sorted and stays so.

If not you could try my DNS settings suggestion.

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

MisterW — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:12:24 GMT

@markhawkin

f you can get another router (even to borrow) that isn't one supplied by a broadband provider that's well worth a try as I suspect changing to a different DNS provider would at least hide the problem.

No need for another router, the DNS settings can be changed on the Hub 2

@PPPNetPlus

To change the DNS server settings on the Hub2

Go into Advanced Settings, then "My Network". Click on the IPv4 tab, and go down to DNS Servers. Click on the Auto button so it says "No", then enter you desired DNS servers in the "Primary DNS" and Secondary DNS boxes.

For example enter "8.8.8.8" and "8.8.4.4". for Google DNS

Then reboot the router. All your devices are likely to need a reboot to get the to use the new settings.

Re: iPhone 14 apps not working

Dan_the_Van — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:27:19 GMT

@PPPNetPlus

A random thought is the Hub two showing the correct broadband username for your account?

Navigate http://192.168.1.254 ->Home -->Advanced settings --->Technical log look for line "Broadband username:"

To confirm if Safeguard is enabled/disabled on your account navigate ->Home -->Status

If safeguard is enabled you will see these IP Addresses in the Primary and Secondary DNS line:

213.120.234.38 and 213.120.234.42

If you add DNS hosts as described by @MisterW they will override the account based DNS host settings.