Q: Intermittent Wifi issues with iPad 2 and WiFi

I am using a Time Capsule and it didn't work well at all with the new iPad. The old one works great, so I was surprised by this problem. I ended up taking it back after talking to Apple.

I like the note "old wireless", lol. So I happened to have an "old wireless" router, that is cleverly titled "Belkin Pre-N Wireless" and my frustrating experience that I endured from launch to about 5pmCT today has been lifted!

The Belkin router mode that has been working like a charm is 802.11g Only Wireless Mode.

I had read in another similar discussion thread something in the lines, that you have invested in a device that works, you should be able to host a router that works.

Mark me down, it is dropping wifi about once per hour on my iPad 2. Please fix soon!

Ok let's make this the central topic for those having the same wifi issue.

My brand new iPad2 64GB Black iOS 4.3 (8F191) has intermittent Wifi access. Device just stops being connected, or is really slow and unresponsive when using Internet, AppsStore, or any application.

Device would not load pages reliably, and keeps dropping the Wifi. After reboot (full shutdown, and power up) the device got on network, but is still flaky about using the WiFi.

This really makes the unit unusable, and if I can't figure this out in the next few days, it's going back until they fix it.

This is not an iPad 2 only issue, I've the exact same problem with my iPad 1 since I updated to iOS 4.3. It works only for few seconds/minutes when connected to a 802.11n network. It works ok on 802.11b/g networks.

So it's an iOS 4.3 issue, Apple should get this fixed ASAP in an iOS 4.3.1 update, alongside the security issues discovered recently on iOS 4.3.

I have same problem! WiFi locks up on ipad2 while still working on 2 laptops and iPhone 3GS. Using old a/b/g router. Have to go to settings and turn wifi off and then back on to restore connection. Happen every 10 to 15 min while using the iPad. Apple needs to come up with a fix now or unit is going back!

Hi all,
Well I believe it can be iOS 4.3 related and not iPad2. I have the same problem with iPad and iPhone 4. I get full wifi signal, I have a b/g/n router but every now and then, I can't connect. No webpages, apps, etc.

I have seen that simply by going to the wifi settings and "renew concession" does the trick. But it's a awful situation

Sorry for those having problems. I'm using an old Cisco/Linksys WRT54G2 V1 router. All the equipment listed on my profile including the iPad 2 has been rock solid with many hour+ iPad 2 surfing sessions.

You said: "The best guidelines would be to use DHCP, no MAC filtering, WPA or WPA2 security and leave the rest of the router settings to their defaults."

I somewhat disagree; in our network here, where we have 60 fixed IP addresses, DHCP isn't available. Setting to DHCP makes no difference on whether this problem occurs or not.

Let's not confuse the issue; set to the highest wifi setting you can use with your user group and see if that fixes it. In our case, that's N.

Same issue here. 32G iPad2, Trendnet TEW-651BR router (b/g/n). Will only stay connected for a few minutes then it just quits communicating. Signal shows full and yet there is no communication. Just going to the wifi settings and returning sometimes gets it moving again. Renewing the lease works sometimes also. Glad to see I'm not the only one having this problem.

This doesn't fix anything. I don't have control of Access Points in Coffee Shops, or other places that I visit.

Drstrangelove45 wrote:
This doesn't fix anything. I don't have control of Access Points in Coffee Shops, or other places that I visit.

Till we get a iOS 4.3 update that will work on any mixed mode router, these "solutions" are more like workarounds.

*Note: Wireless Mode N ended up not being stable, as I originally stated in the "solution"*

My primary concern was to have a stable connection at home, below is what I found worked best with my network.
"I like the note "old wireless", lol. So I happened to have an "old wireless" router, that is cleverly titled "Belkin Pre-N Wireless" and my frustrating experience that I endured from launch to about 5pmCT today has been lifted!

The Belkin router mode that has been working like a charm is 802.11g Only Wireless Mode.

I had read in another similar discussion thread something in the lines, that you have invested in a device that works, you should be able to host a router that works."

Message was edited by: aroy588

Message was edited by: aroy588

Here is some info on open-source firmware that can be used to upgrade many routers, and may offer an alternative to router replacement:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index
http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato