Q: Intermittent Wifi issues with iPad 2 and WiFi

Roy disabling your DHCP server in your router and setting a static ip address in your iPAD is a good solution for home but will not assist you if you have similar issues when using hot spots. Yes it is possible that the IP tables in your router (administered by the DHCP server) became confused. Usually these can be reset via software or turning off and on your router. Another common network error is to  have two DHCP servers operating on the same local network which will confuse your iPAD.

You are correct the iPADs have an appalling lack of ability to look at ip addressing issues. Android devices and laptops are far superior in this respect. Apple is trying to keep things simple for mum and dad but the reality is that a lot of networking issues are caused by ip address issues and the Apple idevices give you no visibility of these issues unless you use a third party app. When it comes to WiFi diagnosis Apple made it even harder when they pulled the WiFi Analysis apps from the App store. Youcan still get and use these tools but you have to jail break your iPad first to install them.

I've had this problem for months and months and finally figured out the issue. This may work for you.

My iMac and iPad kept dropping the internet connection randomly everyday and it drove me nuts. I thought there was something wrong with my devices but we have a Macbook Pro too that had no problems whatsoever. So it had to be something in the router settings.

And yes I was right! Type in the IP 192.168.1.1 in your browser window. It’ll prompt you to type in your username and password. If you didn’t set it up, find the person who did. He/she should know the login information. I have a Netgear router so from the options on the left, go to Advance> Wireless Settings (or look for something similar if you have a different router).

It’ll show the Wireless Card Access List. I noticed the Macbook Pro was listed but not my iMac or iPad. The Macbook Pro was the computer that first set the wi-fi up so it was the only one on the list. So all I needed to do was add my  devices to the access list:

First,  click the Add button.

Next, your Mac or iPad should show up under Available Wireless Cards. Click the radio box next to your device.

If your Mac doesn’t show on the list, you can input it under Wireless Card Entry. Give it a name and enter the MAC address.

To find the MAC address:

On my iMac, it was in the Advanced settings of Network. Look for Airport ID under the Airport tab. On my iPad, it was under Settings>General>About. It should be under Wi-Fi Address.

After you’re finished, click Add. Now it’ll bring you back to the previous page. Make sure to click Apply. After it finishes updating, turn off your wireless and then turn it back on.

Now you should be able to connect! If not, I have no other solution! But hope this helps.

Well, I have made a few tries: first of all I am "alone" in my home network. I am sure I am not the only wifi user in my building (I can see at least four other wifi spot using channel 11) but no one else uses a 10.x.x.x network (they all use 192.x.x.x networks because, I guess, their routers had been already configured by their internet service providers).

Then I have tried to ping the router using my two iPads (1 and 2) and IP Scanner. The ping goes from 1.6 to 1600 and more msec.

But when I tried pinging the router with my Acer netbook the ping was rock stable at 1 msec!

I have pinged the netbook from the iPads: erratic ping

I have pinged the iPad from the netbook: 4 msec rock solid...

???

I have also repeated the experiment at my office (the fifth router, Belkin F5D7230) with the same, exact results.

What's wrong with the two iPads?

Finally I have pinged my DNS server: 2 msec using the netbook but I have no clue how to ping it from the iPad...

???

I have to eat crow. My Ipad2 would just not hold a connection and I tried most solutions offered here. I bought a Linksys E1500 router and installed it this afternoon and the connection has been perfect. My old router was 3 months old but cheap. So, I apologize to Apple for calling you arrogant.

davidfromwest valley city wrote:

 

I have to eat crow. My Ipad2 would just not hold a connection and I tried most solutions offered here. I bought a Linksys E1500 router and installed it this afternoon and the connection has been perfect. My old router was 3 months old but cheap. So, I apologize to Apple for calling you arrogant.

Did all your other wireless devices connect OK with your previous 3 month old router?

Let this be a lesson to you! You shouldn't expect 3 month old gear (especially if it is cheap) to work with equipment you bought this week. Your arrogance amazes me...that's just an unreasonable expection. Most corporations update their wireless routers every second day. How else do you expect companies that manufacture network equipment to make enough money so that their share holders can feed their kids.

Just imagine if you made or sold equipment or provided a service and your ungrateful and your arrogant, ungrateful, detestable customers expected to still have satisfaction three months later! Shame of you for expecting this of Apple or your router supplier. People like you make me want to throw up the vegetables that I bought three months ago and ate last night. What were you thinking you ungrateful excuse for a consumer. You are exactly the reason that they should bring back the stocks...you remind me of Hitler!

Sorry, sorry, I beg your pardon. I have got all carried away and personal with my insults. ;-)

"you shouldn't expect 3 month old gear to work with equipment you bought this week" LOL.  *** ever.  3 months.. i think you're WAY over exagerating there.  1 year old gear should work just fine with a product.  TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT advance AT SUCH A RIDICULOUS pace yet and 99% of america's would NOT be able to keep up with such a ******** pace of advancement most would give up and say " ok this is stupid.  I can't even get used to and enjoy the current tech i JUST bought.  screw this"

That comment ALONE is  UNREASONABLE.lol.  Expecting someone to buy a brand new router JUST because their current one is only 3 m onths ago?  I've custom built more than 40 pc's since 2001, set up more than 16 home networks not including my own and I have never heard such garbage ( 3 months old is too old waa.lol)

Seriously Fastbikegear.  I hope your fingers get caught in the chain sprockets one day as your riding your bike down a street trolling and uttering such NON sense at all the innocent poeple.  Then you can explain to your dentist taht you were too busying being a ******** brainwashed apple fanboy rather than paying attention to the road that now claimed all your teeth and a decent chunk of your blood. 

GROW UP KID.  this forum is NOT for idiots like you that go around looking for trouble.

NOTICE what david from wet valley city said at the LAST part of his comment..MORON.  " I apologize for Apple for calling you arrogant" 

That should have been teh end of the convo.  This is MORAL COMMON SENSE.  LEARN IT.

Dustin, grab a dictionary and look up the word "sarcasm."

And I do hope yor new router has fixed the problem but give it more than one afternoon, davidfromwest valley, and do get back to us to let us know it's still running well.  My iPad sometimes went a full day (sarcastic exclamation) without dropping a signal.

Dustin_Tyson please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding. I was being sarcastic. I am in TOTAL agreement with you. I am also pleased that Davidfromwest Valley City has found a resolution that he is happy with.

Yes, all my PC stuff and printer worked well with the cheap router. Just the ipad2 and ipod touch would drop the connection. I left them both connected last night and they were up this morning. I'll let you know if they drop.

I understand everyone's frustrations with this as I went through it as well. Perhaps, lucky for me my router was 3-4 years old and probably needed the boot, as it was an old, cheap netgear. I upgraded to the ASUS Black Diamond router and have been fairly impressed. The range is still pretty limited with the iPad, but I have not lost a connection since I bought this router a few months ago. It's rock solid.

I do believe I have been very lucky in choosing the right router that works with the iPad and DO believe the iPad2 has a problem that still needs to be addressed. It's unfair to the consumer to have to troubleshoot what should have been tested before release.

I am now unsubscribing to a thread that has been fairly frustrating to watch.

I agree with Erik that it is time to unsubscribe from this thread.

What still amazes me is the contention that you MUST change your router which is an absurd fix unless you just spent $700 on a device that will NEVER leave your home.  It never occurred to me to ONLY use the iPad2 in the house.  As I have stated before I believe there is a significant number of devices that were manufactured with faulty chipsets/wifi antennae and that the fault lies with the device and not a router.  I have now had my rig for 5 months and it has never failed to see any wifi network, be it in a typical Starbucks hotspot, wifi on an airplane, hotel, or any number of vendors I frequent.  We have 2 wifi zones in my house: one is on an Airport Extreme and the other on a Linksys WRT54G, and the device clearly sees both and effortlessly connects to either one.  I know of at least 6 other people with iP2s and none of them have any problems.

If your rig does not work then DEMAND a new one from Apple.  That's what I did when my first one had wifi issues and the new one has never let me down.  It should work whether you are in Boston, Burbank, Beijing or Bangalor without YOU having to make any changes to a router that you can't access in the first place.

you hit the nail on the head PERFECTLY.  1 reason i KNOW this.  i owned the wrt54g linksys router for more than 3 years before i upgraded to a wrt160n and now netgear wndr3700 n600 nas gigabit router.  wrt54g router had GREAT wireless signal range in my 1000 sq ft home ( router was at one end.  my pc was at the very other end in the last room still had 4 bars.  I used four different year models usb,pci, and pci Express chipset wireless ethernet cards to connect to that router. NONE of them had any problems.  used ipad 1 and  ipad2 on that router, the wrt160n, and my netgear wndr3700 router.   results?

ipad 1- from 25 ft away through one wall, wrt54g= ok connection and showing as 45 mbps

same- same, wrt160n=ok connection and showing as 130 mbps ( even when i change firmware to dd wrt, I could not increase this speed any higher)

same- same, wndr3700= alittle better connection signal showing as 200 mbps ( not sure if i really belive that honestly)

ipad2-from 25 ft away through one wall, wrt54g=random lost of signal ( often more than 3 times daily for at least 5 minutes straight regardless of whether or not i rebooted router and/or ipad2)

same-          same                             -wrt160n=EXACT same results

same-          same                         -wndr3700= slightly better results but still random disconnects even at 10 foot range although not as many disconnects throughout the day.

For the record I also tried these exact same tests at my friends more newly built house ( my house built in 73 those much older electrical wiring and not grounded or completely grounded properly)

Results?  EXACTLY the same.  thus to me..proving what tomshardware and my own experiences have taught me about apple ipad 1 versus ipad2.  apple took out one of the antennas that was in the 1st gen thus making the ipad more difficult to keep connected to the nearest router. 

I didn't have to mess with mac address setting in whatever router being tested using ipad 1, but had to do so with ipad2 JUST to prevent connection dropping as well as i had to set up a LAN static ip address for ipad2 to keep it connected.  a customer SHOUDL NOT have to do this because 99% of all other internet reception devices on the planet DONT require such more advance measures!

You, ( who either forgot to include the emocon that shows or  JK or doesn't believe in it) are telling ME, ( who lives in MS...sarcasm is pretty  much a way of life here ftr) to look up definition of sarcasm? 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Again for future reference and to save yourself the embarassment of someone else pointing out the differences between what your TYPING says about how you feel versus how you feel, PUT A   OR " JK" or something coherent to illustrate ( i am just joking..not serious)  DUH..because notice something..NO ONE ON HERE YET CAN SEE YOUR LIVE VIDEO FACIAL EXPRESSIONS to be able to ' READ" your personality beat-around-the-bush conversational feelings.

Proper communication.  IT HELPS.  Discussion is closed.

Update.. My IPad has been connected for 28 hours without a drop. ,I realize that it may not work in another environment , but it works for me. Thank you all, for your input.

I've had this issue on two of my iPod/iPad devices, but not the very first iPod I added to my network. Right now I have three devices from Apple connected and the second and third devices have had ongoing issue with disconnecting from the network.

Seems like this is a radio frequency issue or a network cross protocol issue that Apple needs to fix (well DUH - but read on).

I have a Cisco WRVS4400 router which I love and HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend - it runs IPS (Internet Protection Service) which is a feature I haven't been able to find on any other router.

I was running a single SSID but suspected that having the three devices on the same wireless network was causing some cross talk issue over the three IP's generated by the DHCP. The reason for suspecting this was the fact the first iPod never had network drop issues - but the second and third devices were always being dropped.

For a quick fix I simply opened one the Setting/Wi-Fi/(choose SSID/network/... and Renewed Lease on the device. This is however tiresome as I needed to do this regularly on the second and third device.

I did however find a solution which will work for some - but not everyone.

On my Cisco router I set-up two additional SSID wireless networks - which is a wonderful feature they put into the Cisco router. So I have the first main network 1 which has the first iPod I never had an issue with.

The second iPod is now on a secondary SSID network separate from the other devices, and the third iPad is on a third SSID on it's own.

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!

Unfortunately some users will not be able to do this as MOST routers do not allow you to segregate separate SSID networks on the same router. This is also a problem in office environments where there are multiple users and devices.

It has however resolved it on my second and third devices - they haven't dropped their network connection since setting up the network this way.