My solution to the iPad 2 WiFi disconnect, dropped connections, etc. problem

I've had a Belkin router for the past 6 months. I've never had any issues with the wifi performance, etc., and I have 2 macbook pros, an air, a mini, and an iMac connected to it.

We also have 2 iPhones in our house, and those would have constant connection issues. Then, we bought an iPad 2, which also had the same problems that the iPhones had... namely: it would disconnect from the internet every 20 minutes or so, or when switching rapidly between apps, etc.

It would lose the connection to our wifi, yet the wifi signal at the top of the ipad 2 would show full wifi bars. To get it working, i would activate and deactivate airplane mode, essentially forcing a re-synch/re-log of the wifi. This was simply unnaceptable, and I got tired of waiting for Apple to fix it.

After a solid month of troubleshooting and research, it is apparent there is something "wrong" with the way iOS devices handle the network stack when connecting to wifi routers, or more precicely, resuming a wifi connection after the initial binding. The only way to describe it in non-technical terms is that the iPhone 4, and in particular the iPad 2, are very "picky" about which routers they will work flawlessly with.

I've narrowed it down to 2 routers that seem to fit the bill for working flawlessly:

The D-Link DIR-655, and the latest Apple Airport Extreme.

I opted for the Apple Aiport Extreme because I liked the dual-band features, as well as the guest network feature, in addition to being able to use wake-on-lan effectively with the rest of my Apple computers, etc.

Ever since I started using the Airport Extreme as my router, I've had ZERO issues with ALL of my devices. It literally fixed everything. Even the throughput for downloading has increased! It really has been wonderful having a perfectly functioning wireless network.

Since I did not specifically try the D-Link DIR-655, I can only personally reccommend the Airprot Extreme, however my research indicates that the D-Link DIR-655 would probably be perfectly fine as well.

I know it ***** that we are essentially forced to buy a different product in order to make all of our iOS devices function as they should, but for the frustrated, this is a low cost for having sanity, and finally being able to use my iPad 2 to the fullest.

I hope this helps somebody, and isn't moderated into extinction. I wish i could have read this thread a month ago and saved myself a lot of time and research.