Poor wifi reception on new iPad

On the phone with the Apple care person, I used several websites to test the speed while on the line - speedtest, the government website, and a Danish website.

I tested the iPad 2 and 3 side by side, using my router wifi.

I tested the iPad 2 and 3 side by side, using the wifi from my Verizon 4G.

I did it in my bedroom, so I wasn't right near the router.

In all cases, the iPad 3 wifi connection was weaker by half, and usually 3/4.

She also asked me to turn off the wifi on iPad 2 to ensure that it wasn't diluting the signal of Ipad 3.

And lastly, once I had turned off then turned back on the iPad 2, she then asked me to retest, so that now, with the iPad 3 in the dominant position (being "on" first), to see if that made a difference.

But Sam - that's a good idea to bring the iPad 2 with me to test - though as you know, you purchase the iPad and it is handed to you with the cellophane (do they still use that word??) sealed. I'd have to open it in the store, set it up, and then test the two.

I know, but you have that right. And you don't want to leave the store without it working, and they don't want you to either.

It is a genius bar appt. It should be okay to do that. Explain why, and explain that you're worried this new ipad will have the same defect.

You will also need to bring the ipad 3 you are exchanging of course.

--Sam

I tried it out of the case and holding it in landscape as I usually do. No difference. Then I read a later poster comment that he held it landscape with the mute button on the bottom (pointed down). This is not the normal way I hold mine but figured na this wouldn't cause any problems, but I tried it any way. Holding it in or out of the case with the mute button pointing down it will drop one or two bars from three every time. And if I go more than 40 ft from the Apple Airport Extreme Basestation router it will go from 2 to 1 bar signal to no (0) signal. I still can't believe it would do that. Turn it back the way I like with the mut button up and holding either way has no effect at all. Well I confirmed it as I promised and I did the same test at 75 ft using the iPad2 and it never dropped no mater how I held it. Has anyone got a swap out yet and tested it again to see if it was better or has anyone else measured distance to point that it drops out on the iPad3? Just curious as to what's been found on a swap out. Thanks ...ds

Here's the result of the Apple store visit:

Oh, and Sam - thanks for the advice - though I didn't fall off a turnip truck, so am pretty cognizant of my consumer rights!

I spent 90 min in the store. We compared the speed on the 3 and my 2. Wasn't a dramatic difference (because we were in the back of the store, closer to the router mothership!) But still there was a difference.

They did an exchange - but we all decided to test the new iPad 3.

We tested it, and still there was a difference - about 2/3 the strength. It wasn't THAT big.

Then the clerk suggested we try another machine to compare two 3's - and my 2.

When we went to the front of the store - at the entryway to the mall - I was vindicated!

Because the signal was weaker - the the 2 was FLYING - getting 12 or 15 - while the 3 was lagging at 3 or 4.

So the manager was called over. It was decided to swap it for yet ANOTHER 3.

Tested it again - and it was still the same problem.

But now everyone was aware that there IS a problem with the 3.

Bottom line: I returned it, got my money back - and am back to the 2. It's not as sharp, but it's fast! So, I'll wait a month or so, and see if they manage to improve the wifi issue.

Strange, though, that there is not much chatter on the web about wifi (or the yellow tint issue)

Well that settled it for me. Mine goes back for a refund and I'll wait a couple months to see what shakes out. This is similar to what happened with the light leaks on the iPad2's. A couple months later the issues on new ones being sold slowly went away. Possibly better QA or assembly processes. Thanks for the update ...... ds

Well, here I am at home, sitting in the same place where most of my iPadding™ on the ipad 1 has been done for the last 22 months. I removed the iPad 3 from the case and just as I discovered last night (with the folio case on) I drop my wifi connection fairly consistently holding the iPad (landscape mode) by it's lower corners with the home button on the left. Turning it upside down with the home button now on the right, as I have been using it for the last few hours, I haven't dropped connection once. Now, the simple solution sounds like "you're holding it wrong" <groan> and I guess I could learn to use it this way but for one MAJOR problem; most (all?) cases are all designed so that I can't help but "hold it wrong".

Compounding my dilemma is my iPad 1 is going to someone else and I love love LOVE this new display.

AAARRRGGGHHH

Thank you for your elaborate and thorough testing.

When you say "12 to 15" vs. "3 or 4" are you talking about speed or number of bars?

Thanks.

--Sam

Since the wifi indicator on the iPad only has 3 curved bars max I am guessing your speeds were from one of the speed test apps that deliveres it's results in mbs as normal for testing download/upload Internet broadband speeds, yes?? Again thanks for you posted results.

I just had an e-mail exchange with Walt Mossberg. He had no problems with the testing unit or with another unit. Leading me to believe that this is a case of a bad batch that got delivered to your particular store.

I would call up Powermax, and see whether they have any ipads in stock. Ask whether they would be willing to test the wifi before sending it to you. They do have a standard testing procedure they run on used equipment so they might be wiilling.

www.powermax.com

They would also ship from Oregon, so it would be a different batch.

--Sam

I got my original unit from apple online. So it's more than just a glendale store

Here's a comparison between my iPad 2 and my iPad 3 sitting next to each other in my room pinging from my server, which is hard-wired into my Time Capsule:

22 packets transmitted, 21 received, 4% packet loss, time 21027ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 76.382/182.590/238.438/36.813 ms

Average packet time on iPad 3: 182.590

23 packets transmitted, 23 received, 0% packet loss, time 22028ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 2.780/135.763/209.242/61.221 ms

Average packet time on iPad 2: 135.763

I can also verify this in a practical situation. My iPad 3 constantly buffers a video in Air Video Server that plays fine on my iPad 2 with no random buffering times.

Reran my tests more professionally in the furthest part of the house:

200 packets transmitted, 192 received, 4% packet loss, time 199277ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 2.259/187.218/264.328/35.431 ms

iPad 3 average - 187.218 with 4% packet loss

200 packets transmitted, 197 received, 1% packet loss, time 199117ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 3.217/142.438/296.625/56.679 ms

iPad 2 average - 142.438 with 1% packet loss

I am saying mb, megabytes of data. I pay Time Warner for 6 to 10 mbps, and usually get 15mbps or higher!.

For what it's worth - just to add to the confusion - I tested my iPad 2 - 32g, with my friend's iPad 3- 16g. I bought both his and my new iPad 3 at the same time. He wasn't really having a problem (though his router is in the living room, not too far from his couch and iPad).

I tested both in the living room, and further away in the bedroom. They were more of less on par. The 3 was SLIGHTLY slower.

I'm wondering if the 16g iPad 3 gets a stronger signal than the 32g iPad 3? The store manager dismissed my conjecture, saying they're identical, except for storage capacity.

But what if they are made in different factories, and there is something different in the manufacture which impacts the wifi receptivity?

Is everyone here having problems with the 32g? Or the 16g as well?

HeathClif wrote:

Is everyone here having problems with the 32g? Or the 16g as well?

I noticed something interesting with my new iPad (64gb/4g) while sitting in bed last night. I can't remember which orientation of landscape mode I was holding it in (speaker top right or bottom left) but I did notice that if I rested my finger along the top left of the unit, my wifi signal would lose 1 bar. I could repeat this at will and as soon as my finger lifted off the side of the unit (no more than 1 inch) I'd get full strength. The bedroom is almost as far from the router (Netgear WNDR3700) as you can get. Now, it didn't really seem to affect performance. Still, it was strange to see that. Thankfully, I don't have any problems with heat, charge times, or yellowing of the screen.

Does the iPad use dual antennas like the 4S?