Poor wifi reception on new iPad

Actually, I stay in hotels up to four times a week. I just bought the iPad so I've only stayed two separate occasions with it. Do you not see a problem with the wifi working on my iPhone but not my iPad? Clearly I am not the only one with this problem. This is a very big problem in my opinion and Apple should inform us whether or not it will be addressed. As for the 4G I don't have it. I would if a $30 2GB plan wouldn't be consumed after watching one movie. I know that is more the carriers fault but Apple isn't exactly innocent either. They are making the product. I will be returning my iPad if something isn't done soon, I'm aware nobody made me purchase it but myself.

I'm away from my iPad at the moment but I ran the SpeedTest earlier and my signal was cut in half by standing 5 feet away from the router. But I guess that's normal...

You still here bullying people? I thought we ran you out of here over the weekend.

Shouldn't you be shooting wolves from a helicopter or something?

It was for me as well. I returned mine. 3 weeks to go and I may try again.

Hah, well said!

I don't think my hot spot is strong enough. It was fine for the IPad 2 I borrowed from work, but new IPad is very slow and can't stream video at all. Is there any way I can boost the strength of my hot spot or should I trade in the new IPad for a IPad 2?

If your spot works withe the iP2 it should work with the iP3. If. Not, exchange it.

I did exchange it last weekend. No different.

Exchanged mine today. New one has same problem (deathgrip makes wifi signal drop to 1 dot).

Staff in store spoke to apple support who never heard of the problem. This is in Sweden.

Ill give apple a call tomorrow and see what happens.

It would be nice if there was an app I could get that would tell me a bit about the wi-fi reception. Speedtest and looking at the bars is not so accurate.

Im pretty sure it is not the network since I tried the old one on 3 different networks with the same result.

Update... [pardon the lenghty details]

I took my iPad into the Apple Store in San Francisco yesterday. They ran some diagnostics on it but couldn't get any real info since I had tried a full restore the day before and no new data had accumulated to analyze. In the store, it definitely was having issues with a reliable signal strength. They didn't seem to know much about this issue, or if it was even an issue, despite me showing them this message board. Since it was within 14 days (mine was an online pre-order) they swapped it for an identical unit. It seemed a little more reliable in the store, but not incredibly better (flipping between 2-3 rainbows instead of dropping to just 1). So...I took it home, restored my backup, and used it around the house a bit. It was better, but still not as solid as my original iPad.

While at the Apple Store, I also purchased 2 AirPort Extreme base stations, just to see if that would help me at all. Given that wifi was better, but still not great, I swapped out my old WAPs with the AirPort Extremes. Previously, my network looked like this: Cable Internet -> Motorola SB6120 -> Sonicwall TZ210 firewall/router. I then had three access points plugged into the Sonicwall (24 port gigE switch in between). 1) DLINK DIR-825 which is in router mode, runs its own SSID, and issues DHCP IP addresses. This is my guest network and it routes guests straight out to the Internet 2) DLINK DIR-655 router running in bridge mode, runs its own SSID, but IP addresses are served from the Sonicwall. This SSID is my private wifi network; 3) Apple AirPort Express which is in router mode, runs its own SSID, and issues DHCP IP addresses. This is part of my private network, but it gives me coverage in a corner of the house the DIR-655 didn't reach (old house, lots of lathe and plaster walls full of wire mesh).

DIR-825 has latest firmware. DIR-655 has latest firmware that allows it to be a bridge - the latest and greatest removed the bridge mode, so I didn't completely upgrade it. Both WAPs run WPA2 Personal with TKIP/AES. This setup has existed unchanged since August 2007 and along with hardwired connections, I have something like 65 devices on the network (Sonos, Tivos, game consoles, lots of Apple devices, Windows machines, Rokus, etc.). I'd say about 2/3 are wifi devices and 1/3 are hard-wired. The network has been bulletproof for everything - except my first new iPad. The replacement new iPad seemed better, but still not perfect, as mentioned above.

So...I left the DIR-825 alone as that is primarily used by guests (sitters, relatives, etc.). I replaced the DIR-655 and the AirPort Express each with an AirPort Extreme base station (upgraded to 7.6.1 firmware). I configured them in network roaming mode (they both uplink via GigE, but they are in bridge mode (DHCP coming from Sonicwall)), run the exact same SSID and WPA2 password. The roaming network allows you to roam between access points unbeknownst to the end user, since you aren't changing SSIDs, getting new IPs, etc. The swap was pretty painless, and all my old devices immediately reconnected (I used the SSID and password from the DIR-655 which almost every wifi device I have has configured in it). I then played with the replacement new iPad and it works flawlessly everywhere. I can sometimes death-grip it from 3 to 2 rainbows of strength, but I can't get it to drop. And it is now blazing fast with speedtest.net app showing ~45mbps down and ~11mbps up - just as fast as my wifi iMac and MacBook Pro and only slightly lower than my gigE Win7 desktop.

I should also mention - neither my first new iPad nor my replacement new iPad (or my iMac for that matter) would see any of the 5GHz SSID broadcasts from the DLINK equipment. My MacBook Pro did though, and that's what I typically used. With the AirPort Extremes, my iMac and replacement new iPad both see full signal 5GHz broadcasts - so that's what I'm connected to and that's what I used when doing the performance testing with speedtest.net.

So...what made the biggest difference? I don't know for sure. It seems this iPad is better than the first, but in combination with the new WAPs, it seems totally fine.

I wish I had better advice as I know a lot of folks here have AirPort Extremes and are still having issues, so there is something combinatorial going on. But in my particular case, I think I'm good to go now (at least in my house).

Hope this helps someone either figure out what is up or at least work around the issue and get satisfactory reception from their device.

@jcavalie - My eyeballs popped out of their sockets - and I salivated with envy - when I saw 45mbps!!!!!!!!

OMG - how on earth?

My high-speed at home is with Time-Warner, and I think I'm ahead of the game with 15 to 25mpbs, when no one else is using wifi, eg late at night.

How come so high-speed? What wifi package did you buy, from whom?

I'm in LA. I pay about $55 for high speed through TW

ouch, I went through 4 with bad wifi but not totaly dead to the pont it wouldn't connect at all. Your iP2 connect not problem though so its most likely the iP3, unless your hotspot is really out or firmware might be out of date on it. Have you tried to connect to any other wifi with your iP3??

I have 3 of the Apple routers. They have been excellent on every device I use them on except of the iPad3. This was one of my earlier stressed points. I also had excellent results from a netgear wnr3500 and a wnr3700 as well except for the iP3.

Comcast Xfinity 50mbps is what I subscribe to. Not sure of price since it is bundled with all my CATV too - probably ~$90/month in the bundle. I typically get over 60mbps on wired computers and about 45-50mbps on wifi. To be clear though, I'm basically running an office configuration - the Sonicwall is much higher performance than typical home routers and when we wired the house and opened the walls, we overbuilt with structured wiring from Anixter. Basically, we have 2xCAT6, 2xCAT5e, 2xRG6 in a single bundle to most rooms of the house. CAT6 runs the gigE network, CAT5e runs the phone lines, security system, etc. All jacks are done correctly, all patch cables are correct, etc. Everything terminates in patch panes in my basement, and the patch panels patch over to a 19" rack with the networking gear, vonage, UPSes, and NAS.

That D-Link 615 is an extremely old router is it not?

The Linksys e2000 also seems to work which has a selectable dual-band. so so far, the forum posters seem to suspect it's the 5ghz band primarily. The question to me is does the speed degradation actually make a difference, which could be why not too many people are noticing. My friend has full bars with his wifi-only ipad 3 with the e2000. I can only assume it's in 2.4ghz by default. Keep in mind that 6-10mbps is actually sufficient for most internet activities, and I'm probably being generous.