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3G Suddenly Useless!

Hello,
I have enjoyed using my 3G iPad while on the road to access e-mail, visit Web sites, and play games. But suddenly, 3G is unbelievably slow and almost always switches to "E" (whatever that means), and I eventually give up trying to use it.

To add insult to injury, my AT&T account shows some data usage during those times when I am trying but unable to use the plan I am paying for!

Is anyone else having the same issue? What's the solution?

Mac OS X (10.6.5), iMac 27", Mac Mini, iPad 16GB 3G+WiFi, iPod Touch 8GB/16GB, Airport Extreme

Posted on Nov 23, 2010 7:36 AM

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53 replies

Nov 23, 2010 9:14 AM in response to anthonylkk

My iPad 3G signal at work has gone down the pan since the 4.2.1 update. Instead of 3-5 bars depending on where I am in the office it has dropped to 1 or 2 bars in the best locations and if I move around too much I lose the the signal completely. Interestingly enough this puts it on par with my iPhone 4 which has always had problems with the 3G signal strength in my office. I always wondered why there was so much difference as both devices are on the same network. Now I know.

Nov 24, 2010 4:03 AM in response to berkar

Hello,
I have been one of those people saying how great the iPad was. I have some friends who have been arguing that the Android tablets are better and telling me I should have waited for one of those. Now when I try to show my friends what the Pad does, it's embarrassing -- it just sits there stalled.

I can no longer check e-mail, get on Web sites, or play games at all outside my home WiFi zone (and even there I am having trouble).

What is the word from Apple on how to fix this? What are they doing about this?

Nov 28, 2010 3:41 AM in response to mattschenker

Well the same problem now with my IPad. Took the upgrade and all went smooth and I was excited about the new look a features but after a short while realized my 3G signal was very slow and the signal indicator was only reading 2 bars. I've tried everything from several web sites, blogs and forums to no avail. Re setting network trying the "apn" setting etc all failed. Frustrated with the signal bar issue I reverted back to OS 3.2 and now my IPad is performing like new again. Signal bars are back to 5 bars and surfing at lighting speed once again. I want to upgrade again to OS 4.2 because I think it was awesome but don't want the 3G problems.

3G Suddenly Useless!

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