Good wifi signal but slow download

I received my ipad last night, immediately connected it to my wifi to rent a movie and hook up to my tv to watch. It started the download fine, but then about 10 minutes into the download it stopped. The wifi signal bar was still full but it stopped downloading and the remaining time to completion started going up. So I put it on the dock and left it alone. After 30 min, it dropped the connection. I rebooted the Airport Extreme, and the iPad, reset the settings, etc. Same exact thing happened. Then I moved the ipad directly next to the airport extreme, and it began to continue the download and finished it without issue. I have my airport extreme un-protected, open network, and set for b/g/n compatibility. I have tried various channels and still get the same results. So anyone saying to purchase an Apple Airport extreme to fix the situation will be greatly disappointed. By the wall all my other Mac Book Pros (2) Apple TVs (1) iphones (2) wii (1) Tivos (3) all connect without issue in my home.
Apple needs to resolve, I think I'll try and return mine.
LJS

Me and my roommate are experiencing the exact same problem (topping out around 200-250kB/s compared to 500kB/s for all other devices). However, we've tested at several other wifi hotspots including homes of other friends, the Apple store, and even a 3g cell phone being used as a Wifi hotspot.

In each of those cases the iPad could transfer nearly twice as much as our home network. No other devices are running into this problem on our home network.

For this reason we don't think it's a hardware problem with the iPads, but rather a software incompatibility with rare router configurations. Hopefully a fix presents itself soon.

I'm getting 4mbps on my iPad and 12 Mbps on my MacBook pro. Using a time capsule about 10 feet away.

I also am having the same issue. My Macbook Pro on my home AirPort network can download faster than my iPad both in the same location, both showing full bars on signal strength. For whatever reason the iPad just seems to download slower (like it was 802.11b instead of g or n).

I've tried various network settings (2.5 and 5 GHz, 2 to 24 multicast rates, n only and b|g compatible) but nothing effects the speed, always the same result.

I'm hoping this is just a firmware issue and they'll patch it sooner or later. I imagine if there is a real problem Apple is going to deny it for a while being the device just came out they don't want any black-eyes.

I have my IPad for 5 days and the wifi was running great for the first 4 before it started asking me to input the password again. Now it has full bars but says that it is not connected to the internet. My MBF and IPhone show great signal strength in the same spot...any ideas?

Rule 1: Never be a first adopter. You should have waited for Release 2.0.

Then you will be the first adopter of release 2.0 with all its vast improvements and flaws.

Hi,
I just found out the following and it would be great if someone could verify this with their IPad:

With activated bluetooth and a Apple Keyboard connected, I get nearly the max speed possible on my g network which is around 2300 kbs, compared to around 2600 kbs on my IPhone, and a latency of around 100 ms. When I deactivate the bluetooth, the speed goes down to below 100 kbs and for a short while even to 0 kbs (still having a full bar for the WiFi signal). The latency goes then up to over 3000 ms!!!!

by the way, how are you measuring the throughput? I'm using the speedtest.net application on my IPhone and on my IPad and run several tests in a row with the IPad and the IPhone. The results of the IPhone are always very consistent.

David

Here's what I had to say on the topic in another post (I got no replies):

I think speed tests and download performance are interesting issues. I get 25MB on my wired desktop PC and about 18-20MB on PCs receiving wifi. I downloaded the speedtest.net app to my iPad and it shows that I get 15MB. I don't know if the the dslreports.com iPhone browser speed test is supposed to used on the iPad or is considered to be reliable, but using it I get about 3MB. Using the dslreports.com test on my iPhone, I get about 1.5MB.

Here's where I'm coming from, and here's my experience: I really like my iPad, and don't have any axe to grind with Apple or anybody else. However, regardless of any speed test result and regardless of all this router mumbo jumbo, there is no way on earth that web pages download as fast on the iPad as they do on my wifi computers. The 15MB that I get from the speedtest.net app is way out of whack with reality. For example, NYTimes.com downloads on my wifi connected laptop essentially instantly, like changing the channel on a TV. The same web page takes about 10 seconds to download on my iPad. This despite the 15MB result from the speedtest.net app. I think the speedtest.net app is simply wrong, even though I've always heard that you don't get false positives from any speed test; or, the speedtest.net app is measuring something that isn't relevant to the speed of web browsing. In my non-techie view, the dslreports.com test results are a more meaningful and accurate measurement.

In other words, the speed of web browsing on the iPad is a lot closer to the speeds you get on a smart phone rather than the speeds you get on a wifi computer. I would be interested to know whether other iPad users have the same experience, or if I'm missing something.

Update: I think the speedtest.net apps for both the iPhone and the iPad are a joke. The speedtest.net app for the iPhone tells me I'm getting 12MB, and that's ludicrous. Does anybody have an opinion whether the dslreports iPhone browser speed test is reliable ( http://i.dslr.net/iphone_speedtest.html). Using that test this morning, I get about 3MB on both my iPhone and iPad. That's a better match with what I'm experience than the speedtest.net numbers.

Could slow browsing be a Safari issue? Could be my imagination, but the new Opera browser on the iPhone seems faster than Safari.

After having had the device several months now, It isn't really an issue. One thing I've been able to count on with apple is their willingness to stand behind their products AND 1st adopters. Within the 1st year you simply go back to them with the issue and they work to resolve it. You have your rule wrong:

1. Life is short, you have to be willing to take risks:)
2. If you are unhappy with it, take it back before you warranty expires.

So, here I am looking forward to an evening watching iron man 2 in HD on my iPad, and an hour later, even though it is showing full bars I have only downloaded 1 gb of 4gb. Showing over 220 min for completion. Any suggestions.

I´m having the same issue, wifi on imac and macbook pro 6mb but not even 500kb on ipad and also iphone 4, this is a recent issue for me, i used to have no problems now i´m clueless on what to do... Help please...

I think the best way to test speed is to simply download a movie from itunes, keep track of the file size and the time it takes to download, then do the math and figure out what your speed is.