Q: Intermittent Wifi issues with iPad 2 and WiFi

Unfortunately we can't change the router. It is supplied by out telephone provider.... wish we could, its a naff router!

Hi FastBikeGear,

yes you are right... I am stopping it from going to sleep during idle periods. I just though it might think 15secs was an idle period... so I turned it off!  Just trying anything and everything!

But surely the ipad wifi shouldn't be thinking it needs to power save when I am actually physically using the wifi connection?... or are you talking about the router going into power save?

brendono wrote:

 

The problem is that the iPads are the problem, BUT the work around is to chnge the Router. I have said it here before that I would drop off the WiFi every 15-20 mins until I changed the Wireless security Group Key Update Interval to its maximum value 4 days ago and not one drop off.

 

However try doing that to a locked down router and they call you a hacker...

 

 

This "Fix" should tell the Apple idiots where to start looking for the problem that is affecting seemingly millions of iPad and iPhone users. They seem to be ignoring it. What a great company.

Brendono I suspect that your work around works, because when you set you Group Key Update Interval to the maximum value your router stores all the WiFi session info negotiated by between the iPAD and Router (at the initiaiation of the session) for the life of the pre-shared key. In this fashion if your iPAD WiFi wakes up during the life you set for the pre-shared key it can continue where it left off with the previously negotiated WiFi session info.

Stuff that is negoitiated/handshaked at session initiation is stuff like b/g/a or n operation, Preshared key, bands being used, etc.

The other work around is to set the group key life/update interval to a minimum interval (say 60 seconds) this then causes the router to initiate a fresh session negotiation with the iPAD every 60 seconds. This is not as good a work around as yours but it also points to the same core bug.

The problem is that when the iPAD comes out of WiFi 'sleep' it assumes it can carry on with the session that it previously negotiated. Of course when your iPAD goes into WiFi sleep mode it stops alerting the router/access point of it's presence and the router/Access Point deletes all the negotiated WiFi session info...so it's impossible for the iPAD to continue the WiFi session with the same parameters it initially negotiated/handshaked with the router.

Either the iPAD needs to renegotiate a fresh WiFi session on WiFi 'wake up' or it needs to be able to continue with the existing session info.  To continue with the existing session it would have needed to communicate to the router to keep the session information prior to the iPAD going into WiFi 'sleep' mode. This is where the various Power Save standards come into play.

Let me assure you Apple already understand the issue. Understanding the problem is simple. Coming up with an iOS work around for what I am becoming more convinced is a limitiation of the Broadcom WiFi chip set used in the iPad is proving a very difficult and perhaps impossible challenge...unless you are willing to sacrifice battery life or eat up processor cycles to get the iOS to work around the limitations of the chip set which Apple will be loath to do for the percentage of customers who have so far complained about the issue.

Message was edited by: FastBikeGear

so is there anything I can go to minimise or delete the wifi sleep period, given that I can't do anything with the router?

Interesting that you should mention that.  I finally got the box for mine today, and restored it to "factory defaults" today before boxing it up.  It actually started recognizing the WiFi again for a change, which I found awfully weird...but my bluetooth was still flaky.

I mention that because I'm wondering if your turning off the sleep mode actually isn't having the effect you're wanting it to.  Our unsecured wireless is quasi-secured via a cookie-based password page, and that cookie wasn't being cleared even when doing a restore on the device.  It took a reset of all of the network settings to clear that cookie, but it should have cleared when going into sleep mode.

So, that being said, I wonder if you're having quite the reverse happen in your case.  Have you looked at the other radios on your device and toggling them off and on again to see if they behave properly?  For example, turning off the 3g radio and then trying to turn it back on again to see that it would in fact work?  Or the bluetooth radio?  Since mine wasn't 3g, I could only work with the bluetooth radio, but it wouldn't stay available long enough for me to toggle on and off.  And it gave me somewhere to start troubleshooting.

The Apple techs may not think to check those things, since they're not directly related to what you're having an issue with, but since they're related (each in their own way), and they each have their own communications stack, it's worth the test to make sure the software is stable.  Plus, if you're someone who's not likely to use bluetooth, you may never notice an issue with it, and it could be an indicator of other issues that could show up after the warranty is out, especially since the WiFi and bluetooth are on the same board in this device.

Cyprus Babs wrote:

 

so is there anything I can go to minimise or delete the wifi sleep period, given that I can't do anything with the router?

Not that I know of.

You're going to laugh... I wasn't aware it had bluetooth and 3g radios !  

I do use bluetooth on my MacBook Pro and iPhone and iPad but have had problems with them all recognising and pairing with each other and also with my husband's bluetooth phones.

I'll go and play.

Hi to all the people who has experienced Wi Fi issues with their new I pad2, I read with interest all the posts as I purchased a new I pad2 2weeks ago and can not maintain a signal at work but have perfect Wi Fi connection at home. funnily enough the work Wi Fi is also a Netgear ,only 6months old,and the Wi Fi would not work longer than 5 mins. we tried operating in N band only ,then changed it to G band, In the end when nothing worked, I brought a new router, I purchased the same router as my home and installed it in my workplace, and bingo! my I pad worked perfectly from the moment we installed the new router, this cost £36 from Amazon.co.uk.

The brand is TP Link model W8960N, I think the firmware of some of the routers on the Market is not compatible with I pad.Rather then wast time at Apple, you have to find a router that the I pad Likes! In time Apple will come out with a software upgrade that will solve this issue.

If you have a router supplied by your ISP, you can get a new router programmed to mimic the existing one, try any teenager who spent hours on his PC?

Quick update.

After downgrading the security on the belkin g+ Mimo router from WPA2 AES to WPA AES the iPad has performed flawlessly all day and not dropped the connection once.  A huge improvement. (I write this with some trepidation as the universe normally bites me in the butt after making a bold claim such as this.)

Just some other details about the configuration.

Belkin router in in AP mode, with MAC filtering (although I do not think this has a bearing on the problem)

The passkey for wifi access is >20 characters

I am using a statip IP configuration on the iPad. HTTP Proxy is off.

The iPad is 16Gb 3G version but I operate it in aeroplane mode with the wifi on as I don't have a SIM installed.

Auto brightness if off, but this has never helped in solving the problem and I will be switching it back on after a few more days of proven stability.

Screen brightness is set at 50%

Ask to join networks is on.

Bluetooth is off.

Auto-lock is  set for 5 minutes.

The smart cover is attached (re: magnetism rumours)

Push notifications are on.

Can't think of anything else.

I hope this helps many of you suffering from this inexcusable issue.

Regards

• But, every time I play with "Real Solitaire V1.7.3" by EdgeRift Inc. a couple rounds, I can guarantee that my Wi-Fi will become unresponsive.

 

So, this is truely interesting ... this APP seems to be the only one I found that if run and you play a couple rounds, Wi-Fi seems to fail to reconnect. I disabled the Game Centre thinking that may be a connection, but even doing that doesn't change the outcome at all.

(in response to BillyGerent)                                                               

What is interesting is that during disconnects the iPad can still connect to the access point's web config page but it cannot connect to the ADSL modem or the internet

 

 

I check this when my Wi-Fi went non functional and tried to connect to the router by IP to pull up the login page and it did not do the same for me as you noted.

Using my laptop, I connected to the router and looked at the access table and see the iPad listed and it's IP, and that compared to what the iPad said it had, but no connectivity. I had to click the renew lease button on the iPad to get it working again.

Sadly, it appears the problem manifests itself in many ways. The iPad is certainly giving us all a unique experience!

Checkout my post before your last one and see if there is anything useful in there.

Having followed this thread for some time, and seeked out other confirmation of an iPad 2 wifi problem, I figured I'd finally chime in. 

I purchased my iPad 2 the day they released in the UK/Euro and immediately upon firing it up noticed discernable difference in wifi *range* compared with my iPad 1.  In the time since, my iPad 2 not only exhibits weaker signal quality in general compared with our iPad 1 (as well as my iPhone 4, my son's iPod 4th gen, our macbook pro, etc) but often doesn't detect the local network at all (home) and suffers from the frequent drop syndrome. 

My issue with some of the proposed solutions -- router based -- and speculation as to what the iPad may be doing -- wifi sleep -- is that none of them address the fact that the iPad 1, set side by side with the iPad 2, has far superior range (and signal strength at nearly any distance from the router) and doesn't appear to "wifi sleep" (at least not to the same degree).  Both devices on the latest iOS at any given point (4.3.3 as of this post).

I love my iPad 2 ... but hate, hate, HATE that it has such poor wifi performance.  In fact, we were going to buy a third for the house (I have three kids, all of whom will snatch up an iPad left idle for too long ) but refuse to get another 2 until this issue is resolved and am reluctant to get a "classic" because the 2 is better in every other way (IMO).

I've found that turning on the feature in the Cisco router I have, to support the so called power save mode has made the most difference for me and I don't believe that other than the one APP I know that seems to blow me out of the water that I've not seem further issues with Wi-Fi.

But I am still curious how an APP can render your Wi-Fi useless. I'd be curious if anyone else that uses teh APP from EdgeRift Inc runs into the same thing.

http://www.edgerift.com/realsolitaire/

I may have resolved my issue.  Ever since I purchased and installed my Airport Express router, I have not encountered the wifi issue.  I initially purchased the router to stream my music to my Bose speakers but I have yet to experience the wifi problem since the installation. 

Hi,

For what it is worth: I followed this discussion thread for a week or so because I was experiencing the exact same issue with my iphone 4 and ipad 2.  I ended up purchasing Apple's Airport Extreme wireless router because I figured that it would be least likely to have compatibility issues.  I installed it and it has been working great for three days.  Granted, it is a $179 fix that seems a little suspicious, but it worked.  Just an FYI.