Q: The new iPad constantly losing cellular data connnection

Yes it's a shame they make it hard to return, although I'm afraid to say that I'm on my 3rd iPad and it made no difference, so I wouldn't go rushing to change it just yet. I'm waiting a while until either a software fix or a new hardware revision comes out. Luckily I bought mine direct from Apple so I have no issues getting it exchanged.

I returned 2 iPads within 2 weeks of getting them on the relase date.

I am a big fan of apple but am absolutely STUNNED by Apple's lack of response here.  As the expression goes "their silence is deafening".  This must be a major issue similar to the iPhone 4 "antenna-gate" experienced when that product was released.  A bad PR blitz would affect sales in a significant way albeit not enough to really impact the Apple empire in a meaningful way long term.

I will say that the goodwill and brand equity hit they are taking from users like me does have the ability to significantly damage the brand down the road.

If this was an issue of LTE not being rolled out in certain areas they would just say ("If LTE is not yet available in your area, please disable LTE until it is available").  If this was a software issue I would THINK it would be resolved by now but I'm not an expert.  Some of the packet switching theories in hear seem to be well founded theories but again I'm not an expert. 

As a layman---all signs point to a hardware issue that is not easily resolved.  With the iPhone 4 issue the resolution was as simple as a $25 bumper cover that mitigated the antenna issue.  If this hardware issue was as easy to resolve as that, I would've thought a plan to resolve the issue would be in place by now (6 weeks later).

The fact that we haven't heard means IMHO that it's a major issue.  It's occurring across carriers, across countries and across SNs.  Something significant is wrong with the New iPads and the facts taken in the aggregate seem to indicate that Apple doesn't have a solution or if they do, they will just implement in current and or future iPads and hoep returns of those sold with the problem are minimal.

Ok.... I'll subscribe this topic...

Same problem here in Italy with Vodafone.

The iPad loose the 3g connection and I can't use internet untill I restart the tablet.

I'm very disappointed..

@FazerWiz:  Out of curiosity, out of your 3 replaced Ipads, do all of them start with the serial DLXH, as per mine?  Just curious as to whether other starting serials also face the same problem. 

Same problem. Tried changing SIM pin etc to no avail. I know i should go through Apple Support to report the problem but if all they are getting people to do is a factory restore then I cant be bothered with the faff - especially if it doesnt help.

My serial is also DLXH. It would be interesting to find out if it is definately a problem with that particular 'batch'.

i´m from brazil.

I bought 2 new ipad.

One with 16gb +4g Att and 64Gb +4G.

I have the same problem because my new ipad cannot activate cellular data.

My issue is more complicated because i cant do anything with applebrasil.

I need to wait when new ipad arrived in my country to activate apple

Official Apple in Greece said that this issue will be fixed with the next software update.

But they did not say WHEN.

They just say that they know it and that they are working on it.

And not only they are unaware on when apple will fix it, but they also denied to give me a written proof of their words. They just said me the same, confidentially.

APPLE REPLY TO US. WE SUPPORT YOU ALL THESE YEARS. ADMIT OF THE FAULT AND GIVE US AN ANSWER.

Well, without going down the ranting route. Our friends have denied they have a problem and suggested I have a faulty unit and that I should get it checked out and if it is defective it will be replaced. I did ask what would be checked to see if it was defective and got no answer of substance. Later in the call I was asked to call back and let them know if the replaced unit was working. I did suggest that earlier, they were only talking about checking it, not replacing it.

Oh and for what it's worth the suggestion is that we make it all up in these forums so no-one should pay any attention to them!

I am so disappointed in this response as a first time Apple customer, I expected more honesty and help

btw, the Vodafone sim I put in today is NOT connecting, the Three sim had no problem yesterday. Adding more credence to the problem that apparently none of us have got!

Ok just giving an update on my Ipad after I did the restore yesterday.  It has been more than 24 hours since I did the restore and I am ecstatic as everything is running fab today with the 3G, with the connection strong and active, even after switching to and from wifi connection - in short, the problem appears to have been resolved (of course still keeping fingers crossed).

I thought I should mention something else that I also did, which could have contributed to this "miraculous" state of affairs.  Besides doing the restore, I also called up my Telco (M1 in Singapore), and they actually gave me a different password to use for the APN Settings (under Cellular Data in Settings).  Originally, the password was a 2-character password, but they asked me to switch to using another 7-char password.  Their reasoning is that the new Ipad connects better to 3G with this 7-char password.  So for those of you who are in Singapore, and using M1, and are encountering the same problem, you should give M1 a call to ask for this 7-char password, and see if your cellular network issue is resolved.  If it is not, then you could, like me, perform a restore, THEN apply this 7-char password.  For me, the cellular network problem appears to have been rectified after doing the restore + using the new 7-char password for my APN Settings. 

Will continue to monitor over the next few days and report back. 

My serial starts with DLXH

Production week 6 - February so maybe thats it!

Hi jamesultrablue,

I did a restore as well but mine lasted only for 10 hours. Btw, does any of you has issue with missing personal hotspot setting?

My serial starts with DLXH.

there's no restore that will solve this problem.

you can believe me or not, but unless Apple will out a new driver for the new 4G modem in the new iPad, we'll have no solution besides using a 3G only operator.

I've seen a good deal of problems like this in my long gadget-ridden life (Apple and other)...

Probably another solution could be to use some different APN with our current network operators, to enforce some different behaviour network-side, but that would just mean sidestepping a problem in how the modem handshakes with the network, because THERE lies the problem...

@ultrakyo:  I will continue to monitor for the next 36 / 72 hours, and hope things last as well as they are now.  My gut feeling is that as mentioned in some earlier posts, the problem could partly (or even majorly??) lie with which carrier you're using. 

For example, in Singapore where I am based, we have three major telcos - Singtel, M1 and Starhub. So far, out of these 3 telcos, Starhub users appear to have no issue with cellular network.  The most complaints appear to come from Singtel users.  As for M1, which I'm using, the problem seems to have been rectified after I changed to this 7-char password in my APN settings (of course I also performed a restore, which COULD have helped too).