Q: Intermittent Wifi issues with iPad 2 and WiFi

I had this problem with my iPad originally. An interim upgrade fixed it. I'm so glad I haven't upgraded to 4.3.3 yet. If prompted, I will decline an upgrade until I hear of a fix.

I just got off the phone with Apple. They are trying to hide from the issue. Very disappointing.

Exactly the same here!

I have tested: iPad1, iPhone4, iPod touch, MacBook Pro and iPad2

I use a Belkin G router placed about 10 yard far from my bedroom. No problems at all within a 5-6 yards distance. But disconnections and weaker signal start appearing at longer distances, ONLY with the iPad2

Besides that, the signal strenght indicator is always lower scaled on it.

I have tried a "signal quality test" and the iPad2 indeed shows a worse, fluctuating signal.

The best is the MacBook Pro that always reaches the theorethical line speed, the other devices show intermediate (good) results but the iPad2 continuosly "stutters" from 0 to normal download/upload speeds.

WTH is going on? It seems a hardware wifi problem

PS

IE, using Skype from my bedroom has become impossible using the iPad2

I noticed my iPad 2 experiencing this problem shortly after I purchased it. I have to restart the device several times a day while I'm using it. If I put the device down, close the smart cover, and pick it up to use it again, the device will not connect to the Internet whether using Safari or Terra. I have not experienced this issue with my 1st generation iPad.

My ipad2 is showing that the wifi is off, when istead is on. I try to use Mail and it doesnt seem to send/receive emails however the browser connects to internet and is fully functional. I try switching on the wifi and it is on for 1 second and then again it is switching automatically to off. Strange behaviour!

Update: before I posted here, I had tried to change my router to "N" only and that didn't work. I went in last night and changed it to "b/g/n" and now both the ipad, and ipad 2 are connecting reliably. This seems really strange to me because it's counter to what so many people have experienced!

At any rate, I wanted to let folks know that the "bgn" setting on my Netgear WNR2000 router is *working* with two IOS 4.3.3 devices. 

Of course this doesn't solve the problem when it comes to public wifi...

Let me share my problems as follows, in posession of a 64gb ipad with wifi only.

am running Time capsule extreme which transmits 2 wifi signals on 2,4ghz and 5ghz and given them individual SSID. the Time capsule is based on the groundlevel of my house and for the second story in my house i have extended the wifi signal (mixed b-g-n) to an airport express device in thr master bedroom, while my time capsule 5ghz transmits same b-g-n on the groundlevel but N via 5ghz SSID

After playing around with the time capsule extreme settings one thing became clear to me. N only 5ghz provides full bars on my ipad2 this is ground floor... once i move up to my bedroom and connect via airport express it picks up N one bar , but my Imac for example connects N but full bars, so does my iphone4 , blackberry , ipad1.

Conclusion, My ipad2 runs perfectly on N 5ghz fm Apple but not on 2.4Ghz B/G/N  but not on 5ghz Dlink dir-655 where there has been solutions to upgrade the firmware to WMM. other deviced run just fine everywhere, and on ALL free hotspots in town.

The question which many people may be raising is: has apple really fixed the hardware (antenna) to work on apple Wifi N 5ghz devices only and left out most of the thirdparty branded wifi routers out of the equation.. meaning that a software tweak cannot be developed since yes it is the type of wifi antenna they have developed only supposed to support apple N 5ghz wifi only to get full strength bars?  is there anyone out there who can confirm different type of wifi antennas have been found on same type ipad2's which explains the difference between perfect Ipad2 devices without problems and those devices which have these wifi problems.

interested to hear...

a frustrated apple fanatic who left windowd a long time ago and is considering to shift to Android if apple lacks transparancy on the recent wifi problems.

I have exactly the same problem!!!!!! But starting around 20 days after I bought it. The restore repare this???

It seems that the iPhone and iPad WiFi seem to go into power save mode after a period of time and when it does, it doesn't seem to reconnect out of that mode if the router doesn't support this feature. This is my theory anyways...

I'm using a Cisco WRVS4400N Router and found a setting in the router in the Wireless menu item, "VLAN & QoS" called "U-APSD (WMM Power Save):" which was disabled.

The Cisco help describes this as follows;

"U-APSD(WMM Power Save) is an enhanced power-save mode for IEEE 802.11e networks. If you Enabled the UAPSD, the wireless client is allowed to enter Power Save mode."

When I enabled this feature on the WRVS4400N Router, I no longer have the issue with WiFi not doing anything useful after a period of inactivity. Without that enabled, I need to disable and then enable the WiFi or Airplane mode (either method works) to get things working again.

So I suspect that with the iPad or iPhone it's going into power save mode on the WiFi which is where some routers trip up on that aspect.

This change has worked for me and if really the problem, then Apple needs to add the ability to disable power save mode on the WiFi to support routers that don't.

Jake

RE: Broadfork ... Apple support and the lack of interest to problems in general appears to be the norm.

Apple makes some great devices, but have a lot to learn in providing support and think they can learn a lot from companies like Cisco or Microsoft when it comes to user support.

It's too bad that the Blackberry Playbook came along so late, after playing with one of those, I would have purchased that over the iPad. At least it supports Flash, which is used a fair amount on websites. I find it pretty lame of Steve Jobs with his excuse on instability as why they won't support  Flash on at least iPads if anything.

Maybe when a new CEO takes over Apple, things might change, but with Steve Jobs around, we will continue with great devices, lame support and the lack of Flash support.

Message was edited by: WebGeeksUnlimited

I was stunned that the poor guy on the phone seemed to suggest we go 'round the world dicking with the firmare on routers that everyone else is using without fail.

I now only find the iPad wifi signal weak as it repeatedly dropped and slowly re-found the network in a location where my Asus netbook had no trouble at all.

I haven't missed flash, myself, but I am disappointed that Pages won't work with DropBox (no workarounds, please).

I am still a little hopeful. Hoping that iCloud will do away with the need for a mothership computer (now only needed by me for iOS updates as I am slowly but surely migrating everything to the cloud) and that an iOS update will fix the wifi issue.

Regards,

E

Well that is the thing, everything else works fine that connects to the existing router, then you hit the wall with the iPad and iPhone and WiFi. That seems to inidcate to me there is some sort of a problem related to the device or firmware. I still think it has to do with power save mode of the devices. This link explains how it works.

http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/2007/0326wireless2.html

Signal strength has never been an issue for me with either device, maybe I've been lucky that way. But tweaking a setting in my Cisco WiFi routers to support devices that support power save mode has fixed my non-reponsive WiFi problem on the iPad and iPhone when left idle for periods.

WebGeeksUnlimited wrote:

 

It seems that the iPhone and iPad WiFi seem to go into power save mode after a period of time and when it does, it doesn't seem to reconnect out of that mode if the router doesn't support this feature. This is my theory anyways...

 

I'm using a Cisco WRVS4400N Router and found a setting in the router in the Wireless menu item, "VLAN & QoS" called "U-APSD (WMM Power Save):" which was disabled.

 

The Cisco help describes this as follows;

 

"U-APSD(WMM Power Save) is an enhanced power-save mode for IEEE 802.11e networks. If you Enabled the UAPSD, the wireless client is allowed to enter Power Save mode."

 

When I enabled this feature on the WRVS4400N Router, I no longer have the issue with WiFi not doing anything useful after a period of inactivity. Without that enabled, I need to disable and then enable the WiFi or Airplane mode (either method works) to get things working again.

 

So I suspect that with the iPad or iPhone it's going into power save mode on the WiFi which is where some routers trip up on that aspect.

 

This change has worked for me and if really the problem, then Apple needs to add the ability to disable power save mode on the WiFi to support routers that don't.

 

Jake

Nice find! Using 802.11e Power Save functionality gets around the ipad and iPad 2's inability to reauthenticate correctly with the Access Point after the iPADS go into wireless Power Save mode. Unfortunately it is currently usual only for wireless access points that are designed for enterprise networks to offer the 802.11e Quality of Service options. Most Access points designed for the home do not offer 802.11e options. More information can be found here on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11e-2005#Automatic_power_save_delivery

However the iPAD should function correctly using the earlier standard mechanisms [Traffic Indication Map (TIM) and Power Save Poll (PS Poll)] discussed in the link that WebGeeksUnlimited noted in his previous post. http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/2007/0326wireless2.html

Just out of interest, I did some signal strength testing with my old iPAD (before I returned it after 9 months of frustration and got a refund due to this issue) and a iPAD 2 that I borrowed. The iPAD 2 I borrowed displayed a marginally, but noticeably weaker WiFi signal strength than the iPAD '1'. The iPAD 2 would loose connection to the access point at a shorter (but still acceptable) distance from the iPAD '1'. However both units suffered the intermittent wireless drop out 'feature' even when positioned within a few metres of the Acess Pont. So I agree with WebGeeksUnlimited that the intermittent wireless drop out bug is not directly related to signal strength.

Message was edited by: FastBikeGear

Oddly enough, the Cisco WRVS4400N router isn't all that more expensive than some of the better consumer products on the market. You can get it easily online for a $200.

Nice device, works well and doesn't get hung up on your ADSL line like many others do from time to time.

If you have a fixed IP on your service, you can even host your own services out of your basement. It includes built-in VPN access to your home network. Not bad for $200.

WebGeeksUnlimited wrote:

 

Oddly enough, the Cisco WRVS4400N router isn't all that more expensive than some of the better consumer products on the market. You can get it easily online for a $200.

 

Nice device, works well and doesn't get hung up on your ADSL line like many others do from time to time.

 

If you have a fixed IP on your service, you can even host your own services out of your basement. It includes built-in VPN access to your home network. Not bad for $200.

Yeah I agree nice choice, but now all we need to do is get all the hot spot operators to use it to solve the problem for people who want to use this mobile WiFi device as a mobile WiFi device.