How can I learn the MAC address of the wireless interface of the new iPad prior to its activation?

Look at iOS Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398

iPad: Issues connecting to Wi-Fi networks http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3304

iOS: Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199

Additional things to try.

Try this first. Turn Off your iPad. Then turn Off (disconnect power cord) the wireless router & then back On. Now boot your iPad. Hopefully it will see the WiFi.

Go to Settings>Wi-Fi and turn Off. Then while at Settings>Wi-Fi, turn back On and chose a Network.

Change the channel on your wireless router (Auto is best). Instructions at http://macintoshhowto.com/advanced/how-to-get-a-good-range-on-your-wireless-netw ork.html

Another thing to try - Go into your router security settings and change from WEP to WPA with AES.

How to Quickly Fix iPad 3 Wi-Fi Reception Problems

http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/21/fix-new-ipad-3-wi-fi-reception-problems/

If none of the above suggestions work, look at this link.

iPad Wi-Fi Problems: Comprehensive List of Fixes

http://appletoolbox.com/2010/04/ipad-wi-fi-problems-comprehensive-list-of-fixes/

Fix iPad Wifi Connection and Signal Issues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWtIG5jUxE

Fix Slow WiFi Issuehttps://discussions.apple.com/thread/2398063?start=60&tstart=0

Unable to Connect After iOS Update - saw this solution on another post.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4010130

Note - When troubleshooting wifi connection problems, don't hold your iPad by hand. There have been a few reports that holding the iPad by hand, seems to attenuate the wifi signal.

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If any of the above solutions work, please post back what solved your problem. It will help others with the same problem.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

As the iPad's box doesn't list the Mac address, you could just try connecting to another router (that of your friend etc.) to quickly get the MAC address?

Unfortunately, it seems none of these articles answer the question.

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.

I know of no way to accomplish what you wish to do without activation. Have you looked on the packaging, many computer devices have this info on a label in the packaging, but it is more than a year that I had the packaging for my iPad.

Otherwise you should change the setting on your wi-fi for the short while needed to connect and activate the iPad.

You could also disable MAC address filtering on the wifi router long enough to activate the device, get into settings and write down the MAC address. Then add it to the wifi MAC filter table and re-able MAC address filtering. It is not as if MAC address filtering is some wonderful and strong security feature (it is nothing of the sort), and as long as you are using a strong WPA2 wifi password, your network is still highly secure even without the MAC address filtering (especially since it would be off for all of a few minutes).

You don't need to use wfi/cellular to activate it.

Just plug the iPad into your computer & launch iTunes to activate it.

cafyon wrote:

Though I'm not fond of iTunes, I understand that it is a MUST now!

Thanks.

It's worth learning iTunes. It can do a lot of things much faster than the iPad itself. It can also act as a repository of your videos / apps currently not on your iPad. Installing / sending them on your iPad is MUCH faster and MUCH less painful than always re-downloading them from the "cloud" (AppStore / iTunes Store).

cafyon wrote:

Could you please pinpoint in the documents/links you've mentioned how to display/learn the MAC/physical address of the wireless interface of an "the New" iPad:

- prior to its setup/activation

- after its been activated. aka in normal usage.

None of those - this is why I've also posted a warning not to follow those links as none of they provide any answer to your specific question.

It's been a while since I set up my iPad. At what point did it become possible just to read the MAC from the screen at Settings > General > About?

The MAC address for both the Bluetooth and the wi-fi are there. AFAIK, they have always been there.

Sorry David - I meant at what point in the process the OP is attempting will that info be available to him/her in Settings.

It will be available as soon as the OP can get to Settings, MAC addresses are hard wired into the hardware. Every electronic device has it in its firmware.

I'm really impressed at the helpful intent of the posts in this thread... but I'm surprised (as a sometime sysadmin and IT tool) that I can't fix this problem.

Lots of people lock down their default WiFi via hardware MAC address filtering.

With the desktop Macs, the MAC addresses are on the bottom of the support stand. But I've just looked at my iPhone, our iPad 2, and our new iPad "4" -- and there is no way to get the MAC addresses without activating the unit! You can't get there from here.

FWIW the shiny new Wii U also has this problem.

I had this issue with the iOS6 frm iOS5 update and my router which is locked down by MAC address + WPA2/PSK. After performing the OS update, the iPad said 'you're almost ready, continue to set up', you click next and it asks you for the WiFi connection. If I couldn't connect to the locked down router, it kept prompting me for a working WiFi connection, and the only other option was 'Start Over' or 'Continue' from the pop up menu. What WASN'T obvious is that you can click the 'Next' button at the top right to finish the initial setup without WiFi connectivitity, and then access the MAC address through the settings -> general ->about -> wifi address. Pretty stupid that no one thought of putting the MAC address in the setup/options for the WiFi connection. -_-

I do not believe in making my router wide open just to activate an iPad. I did set up a guest network, but the iPad wouldn't connect to anyway.

Easy. After trying to connect to the wireless, look at the logs of the router. Mine showed that MAC Address.......was denied access. after that it was cut and paste.