Q: Intermittent Wifi issues with iPad 2 and WiFi

I'm going to mention my rather technical solution that I use at home, it certainly is not an acceptable solution but it has stopped me from having to go to the wifi settings and renew the IP address every time and thought it may help someone else out there.

I'm a network guy by profession, so I started digging into the root cause of what was going wrong. What I noticed was for some strange reason, my router was losing the cached arp entry for my iPad and it was at this time that the wifi connection would die. And when I hit "renew dhcp lease" the arp entry would re-appear in the arp cache list. (The arp cache keeps a record of the map between your IP address and MAC address of your device)

So I figured what if I statically defined the ARP entry, to do this, I set a static IP on the iPad in the wireless network settings, and then added the MAC to IP entry manually on the router in the arp table.

Since doing this, I have not had a single connection issue. Considering previously it would happen very frequently this is a great win. I still experience issues at other peoples houses with routers of many different brands so it's quite a broad problem. But at least when I'm at home, all is good.

If apple support is ever reading things like this, I really hope they fix this with IOS 5, I have the same problem at work, and we have multiple iPad users and I refuse to apply the same solution for all of them!

Apple Hardware: iPad2 64GB Wifi+3G

Router: Billion 7300N ADSL Router

Other Router tested: Netgear DG834G

Hi all,

Gosh I was narrowing my search to a 32gb WIFI iPad2 instead of a 3G since i got iPhone 4. But reading at all these posts I am afraid that i could be about to start a bumpy ride while getting the iPad 2.

I have become an Apple user due its simplicity to work with, I mean, I do remember the times where you could only buy your mac and start using it right away with out having to configure nor install something. Are those days gone? Hope not.

To all the community, thanks for all your advices and recos in order to fix this topic.

Hopes that Apple does not loose its community spirit and solve this issue asap.

While for me, I will hold on to my iPad 2 purchase.

Best wishes!

Have issues as well,

New iPad2 will locate and hook to wireless router but will not connect to the internet. After reistall, still had same issue.... I took the PASS Word (WEP) out and made it an Open Network, iPad2 Joins it with no trouble, can surf the Web, but on a Pass Word protected Network it will not let iPad2 join the Internet.

I am facing intermittent WiFi connection loss issue with my new IPad2. Quite unpredictable - can happen within few minutes or if I am lucky the connection lasts for some hours. Switching the IPad wifi off and on resolves the problem - but it is really annoying. I have writted to the official Apple feedback, hope they fix the issue soon.

I am not yet complaining about the fact that the signal strength that IPad 2 shows is much lower than what i see on my laptop or phone.

I have a brand new linksys Modem Router - WAG120N. All other devices wonk wonderfully well with it.

Trying now with Static IP. Will update if it works without problems.

I am having exactly the same problem as "WantToLike iPad" above. My WiFi connection drops after some time (the WiFi icon continues at the top but I can't access anything). Sometimes I am lucky and it lasts for a long time. Most of the times I don't and it drops after 2-5 minutes. Turning WiFi on and off or renewing the lease will fix it for 2-5 more minutes.

I am using the latest iOS firmware which I believe is 4.3.3 (I don't quite remember the number). When it is working, speed is amazing. So hopefully this is just a software issue. Please fix it, Apple!

Thank you!

I had my Ipad 2 since March and it was connecting to internet via wifi just fine until about 2 weeks ago. I have Comcast and they are 'upgrading all of the services in my area'. So of course I assumed it was a 'glitch in my wifi signal'. Rebooted Motorola Gateway and still nothing - would show that I had a wifi connection but could not 'surf' or receive email. Unplugged and reconfigured all settings - nothing. I then tried various suggestions in this thread and did research on so many 'fixes' - nothing. I NEED to mention that I got Hot spot wifi internet on Ipad 2 at work and other locations so again I assumed it was my router. So I went to nearest Apple store and the tech swapped my ipad for a new one! Came home and 'connected' to wifi without any issue. I did go to router setting in 'wireless' setting to different channel (less traffic?) and boy was it fast. THANK YOU APPLE ~ still wondering what 'glitch really was about'? Too many postings to simply be router issue. Hope this helpful.

Please do write to apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html . That is the official feedback channel. Hopefully there are enough people writing about this issue and they do something to fix it.

I have also started having problems with my iPad 2, that I just purchased May 31 2011 (a few days ago). 

1. The first day i experienced my wifi lossing connectivity for brief periods, usually five to ten seconds.
2. The next day it became more frequent, cutting out in the middle of web browsing, and a during a few gaming applications
3. Today it has really lost its marbles.  Now in addition to dropping the wifi signal, It will no longer reconnect automatically unless I physically select the network from the list of available networks.  Secondly it has forgotten the password that I have already saved in settings.

I'm using Verizon FIOS service's standard issue wireless router and modem combination made by Actiontec. Model number  MI-242 .

Today I received an e-mail on my iPhone over wifi that was urgent. So I grabbed my iPad to reply, as it's more convenient to type with, and of course no Internet and no wifi and no longer is the password saved. 

I find it more convinient to return the iPad 2 to apple then to have to retype my router password every time I use the iPad.

Recently (this week) purchased white iPad2, same issues as stated above. I intended to use the ipad for presentations in front of customers which use youtube video. Had a big presentation yesterday, tested my connection in the lobby and all was fine. Started the presentation and the wifi froze.

It seems to lock up and drop the wifi several times a day for extended periods. You cant even use the "Notes" when it happens. I really hope apple is able to repair this issue. For now I have a $900 ipod.....

Never ever ever trust in technology for seminars, webcasts and events. Avoid issues like this by downloading the videos first to your IPAD.

You can download the videos from youtube using Firefox & the required plugin. After that, convert it with Format Factory or Handbreak. Load the videos to your ipad using Itunes or Dropbox.

Avoid frustation and stress with the audience!

I have an ipad 2 , 32Gb Wifi and i can't connect with my siemens santis 50

Hello All!

Not sure if this will work for everyone, but it did for me!

I had many of the issues facing everyone, and I started losing m y faith in Apple, sorry to be so dramatic.

Finally, I reset my router, hard reset and reconfigured it, and now all is working as expected. Mac Book, Windows Laptop, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Wii and PS3 all working together in wireless bliss!

Hope it works for you as well.

I also have the TimeWarner supplied SMCWBR14S-N4 router. I bought my IPAD2 1 month ago and have a NetGear G router and never had a problem. I upgraded to the N router and immediately began having probems. I talked to a few guys at work and they suggested I change the mode on my router to B/G (I know I know) but for now my IPAD seems to be working.  It's only been 1 hour (I was on this chain before I made the change) and it's working very well and seems to be faster than it was. I suggest you try eliminating N router settings and see what you get.  NOTE, this router supports 6 different mode settings and I picked the one that completely elminated N as an option.  Hope this helps.

I just sent feedback.

I, too, am having Wifi connectivity problems on my brand new iPad2 32GB WFi+3G.

I am also having this iPad2 nightmare... It's almost to the point where I want to return it.

I found the only thing that works (temporarily) is to reset the wireless router. It then begins to communicate again. Lord knows for how long before it's dropped again. It's very frustrating!