Poor wifi reception on new iPad

I am in a hotel with my laptop and new ipad3. The laptop wifi reception is as strong as it gets, but the iPad only registers a weak signal. Anyone else having similar problems? Any suggestions?

iPad (3rd generation) Wi-Fi, iOS 5.1

Posted on Mar 17, 2012 7:33 PM

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1,477 replies

Mar 31, 2012 7:15 PM in response to stlsteve

I had the same problem with poor wifi with my IPad 3. I went through the normal fixes including full restore with no improvement. Talked to Logan @ Apple and he said the Apple did not think this was problem and DID NOT HAVE PLANS TO ISSUE A FIX. I am returning mine and getting my money back. $700 is too much to pay for something that does not work. Unless this hurts their sales, they will not fix it. Bye bye Apple!

Mar 31, 2012 11:48 PM in response to KM4Dive

I've had in my possession in the past 2 weeks an iPad 1, 2 iPad 2s, and my current iPad 3 - and compared the wi-fi signal strength between them and my 2 laptops, iPd touch, and 2 mac desktops - and they were all the same.


I use a new Airport Extreme in my home so that helps, but I found no difference between the devices. You simply have adefective unit, but from others I know who own an iPad 3, they do not have this issue so I do not believe it is a general, widespread problem.

Apr 1, 2012 12:02 AM in response to Sam Katz1

As you can see by my video its a total loss of signal not bandwidth degradation in my case

http://youtu.be/cyPh_ZkohBc

Also spare a thought for those of us in rural Australia on DSL where 3MBPS would be a dream come true.

I get 1.5 MBPS on a good day so cant afford to drop much of that.

Would really be nice to have a statement from Apple that tells us what the problem is and how users experiencing it should proceed. All these returns must be costing them a fortune.

Apr 1, 2012 6:55 AM in response to Tgilding

No, I am sympathetic to those that find this problematic. One bar is not right. Again, I would check the encryption type and the mode of the router. I would even try swapping the router. I would try contacting your router tech support.


I am aware that this a problem for many of you, and will continue to help you as best I can.


I think that if Logan seriously told you that Apple did not regard this as a problem, he either misunderstood you and it's bad customer service. Apple can't issue a bug fix, because it's not clear what the bug is. My friend bought a ipad "new" wi-fi. It did have trouble connecting to the router we installed for him, but it had trouble connecting to the ipad 2 too. We gave it to him because he didn't have any iOS devices. For the record, his android based nook couldn't connect to that router either (which was a black netgear N, probably wnr1000 or 2000, I do not remember precisely.)


We swapped it out with a E2000 and no problems since. (Linksys makes that router.) It can connect at full signal strength.

Apr 1, 2012 7:01 AM in response to meetoobaa

Hi. You have already tested it. Packet loss isn't normal. 11% is atrocious. Does it happen over 3G/4G? I doubt it, but just want to check.


Latency is really hard to solve.


What router do you have? do you have any switches, repeaters? (including the airport express in extender mode)


I am concerned for those of you that have packet loss. That really is a sign that there is something wrong, and it is measurable, and a perfect thing to show apple.


Does it happen with other routers outside your house? Or just the one you are connected to?


Could those of you not having problems run a test with NetworkCatcher and make sure there is no packet loss on your end? Again, I doubt it, but I'm just checking.


--Sam

P.S Mode can cause all kinds of weird issues. So can encryption type. Make sure mode is set to N or G only depending on router. (if you can do it) what you don't want is "rangemax" mode, or proprietary additions to the standard that supposedly extend range. Encryption type once again should be (TKIP+AES) for maximum flexibility although I have been experimenting with AES only lately with OK results so far.

Apr 1, 2012 7:17 AM in response to Sam Katz1

I have wifi only on my iPad.

100 mbit broadband connection into a cheap d-link router with dd-wrt firmware. iPad gets 25mbit up and down (if i stand close to router and don´t deathgrip. Never had any problems with the router to HP laptop.

The laptop doesnt even lose any packets to google.com if i unscrew the router antenna. If i do that then the iPad starts losing 0.6% packets to the router itself.


Im going to test it at another network now.

Apr 1, 2012 1:15 PM in response to meetoobaa

Meetoobaa.. and others..


I've tried 5 iPad3s so far.. (from stores in two different states) you WILL NOT see this problem standing on top of your router (or usually in the middle of an Apple store) since the signal is so strong there.. you need to test it near the edge of your WiFi "bubble", when you are down to 2 bars or less. This is where the problem will manifest itself, if you have an affected unit.


Just to rule out all the discussions/advice about this being caused by home router setups, go to a Starbucks, Barnes & Noble or any other Commercial hotspot (like AT&T, etc.) and try the "death grip" (hold horizontally on lower half, with Home button on left.) It really doesnt need to be a "death" grip, just a relaxed hand is generally sufficient, like you might use while reading in your lap, etc. Also, same advice applies.. dont do it in the middle of the store.. just nearby, but "in range"..


I suspect that a lot of the 5MM new iPad owners may not have a reference to campare with, so may not realize there is even a problem...

Apr 1, 2012 1:28 PM in response to stlsteve

Just got the service back! I'm having the same problem a moment ago. The wifi range was so great but there is no Internet connection and every time I open social network and browser apps its crashing.


I tried some advise on how to fix the same problem on iPad 2 and it works.


Turn off "auto-brightness"

Turn off "ask to join network"

If you have "hotspot shield" turn off "VPN" and turn off "connect on demand"


Currently I'm having 25% battery charge (I don't know if it's causes the problem coz the problem fixed when I reached 25% battery charge).


I'm now replying on my newly fixed iPad 3...



Hope it will fix your problem too. :)

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Poor wifi reception on new iPad

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