Q: Am I the only one having ios 6 ipad 3 wi-fi issues

Got it.  My bad.

Not everyone in this thread agrees that there must be an iOS 6 problem.

Just because iOS 6 does not work with a few routers which appear to function with iOS 5 does not mean that there is a bug in iOS 6. IOS implements some new WiFi functionality and it has already been demonstrated that some routers have firmware bugs that can't cope with this. Workarounds and new firmware releases have been made available from the manufacturers to fix this.

One should realize that the vast majority of iOS 6 users aren't having any WiFi problems at all. Counting on a hypothetical fix coming from Apple could lead to disappointment and delay.

Ask yourself if there is some big WiFi bug in iOS 6 why are so many users and their routers running happily with it?

Totally works for iphone 4S!  See the explanation here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWS4ha-dn0

Seems like it would work for other routers too.

You said " IOS implements some new WiFi functionality and it has already been demonstrated that some routers have firmware bugs that can't cope with this."

Excuse me, but how is it a "router firmware bug" when one client out of the universe of clients changes its firmware such that problems show up where none existed before? 

Were Netgear, Belkin, et al, supposed to write their code to work with a peculiarity of an as-yet non-existent iOS6 instead of Apple writing iOS 6 code to work with the already existing WiFi equipment, some of which had been deployed for years? 

And since when has Apple implemented "new WiFi technology" or any other smart phone technology ahead of Android and the rest of the industry? Seems to me that Apple is always behind the technology curve, not at the front of it.

You wrote, "Ask yourself if there is some big WiFi bug in iOS 6 why are so many users and their routers running happily with it?"  Why not ask why the totality of iOS5, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and laptop users are having no problems?

iOS5 has no WiFi problems; iOS6 has problems for many of its users, ergo, iOS6 needs to be fixed.  As to whether Apple will step up and fix it, who knows?

WiFi is implemented to a set of international standards (IEEE 802.11). Apple and router manufacturers implement to this standard. No one is rolling their own thing. IOS 6 happens to use a WiFi standard feature which wasn't used before in iOS 5. It turns out that this feature wasn't implemented correctly by the firmware in some routers. That's a fact.

Your comments about Apple, "And since when has Apple implemented 'new WiFi technology' or any other smart phone technology ahead of Android and the rest of the industry? Seems to me that Apple is always behind the technology curve, not at the front of it", seem to indicate an anti-Apple bias that leads me to think that no one could convince you of anything in this subject.

This coupled with your ignorance of how WiFi works and is defined will, of course, lead you to incorrect conclusions.

The fact is that iOS 6 WiFi is working fine for the vast majority of iPad users. Those that are having problems may need to do some investigation/troubleshooting to get those problems fixed. Holding your breath for an iOS 6 update to fix your problems may leave you quite blue.

If Apple has only the interest to make money (which they do alot) Why are they dropping the ball here? My point is if you buy an ipad3 (like I did) and cannot buy their product by logging in on wifi on itunes,app store, etc. I took my ipad back and got a refund because I live in hotel's for my job and could not or will not request that a hotel worker or their tech support change the firmware on the hotels router. With that being said.. Apple lost any sales I was more than willing to make on their crappy product I paid dearley for. **** if you buy an ipad3 even after they fix it how do you get the upgrade if you cannot log into any wifi?? I spoke with apple support and they admitted the problem but had a useless fix. Sad really when you think you are paying more and get far less than expected.

Hey JimHdk,

What is the WiFi standard that iOS6 uses that some routers didn't implement correctly you speak of?

There are two security modes for WPA/WPA2

WPA/WPA2 PSK AES works normally

WPA/WPA2 PSK TKIP is the problem

I only use WPA2 /w AES because TKIP has a known vulnerability. (more specifically

in the case of WPA /w TKIP, not WPA2).

That being said, my access point always used WPA2 /w AES, it began to

provide service to iOS6 after a firmware update.

My Netgear router (WNDR4500) is about a month old and the firmware is and has been current. I can buy that essentially there is a code problem somewhere, but why has my iPhone 5 been great, but my wife's which was delivered at the same time, not? When I changed to WPA2 /w AES her's connected to my home WiFi. Mine was connecting the entire time.

My point is, WPA2 /w AES worked at home, but I can't change the default settings everywhere I go, and I don't know if it is Netgear, firmware, the iPhone itself, iOS6, or a combination of these that cause the problems. Chips that are similar in other devices may be the root of what links the iPhone and iPad to the iOS to the problem. If it is triggered by multiple router manufactures, then Apple needs to ask, is the code in iOS6 necessary? If yes, the routers need to update and conform to industry specs. If the answer is no, Apple can fix this so iOS6 users connect the way we did in iOS5.

wm408 wrote:

 

Hey JimHdk,

 

What is the WiFi standard that iOS6 uses that some routers didn't implement correctly you speak of?

iOS 6 implements IEEE 802.11r (fast BSS transition (FT)) - 2008. This capability is advertised in the Feature bits at connection to a network. Some routers were not coded properly to process this feature bit and simply aborted any connection attempt. Hence you couldn't connect to any router containing this bug.

Your skillset is likely much greater than mine as to the tech specs you're referring to, but refer to my post above, why does one iPhone 5 work, and another not, on the same router? Is there something unique to the iPhone/iOS combination? The phone settings themselves were similar.

The difference in phones is mine is a 64GB, my wifes a 32.

The security setting change did allow her iPhone to connect. There were no problems with the 3GS or 4S devices on iOS6, not an iPad 2 and 3.

After upgrading to ios6 and having the same issues with the ipad not being able to connect outlined in these posts the solution that worked for me was to goto Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Upon reboot it connected fine. Seems "Froget this network" wasn't enough.

I still have problems.

I have tried resetting network connections but this only works temporarily.  It appears to connect on wireless but no dat shall pass.

The connection to Netgear routers from IOS6 for me is intermittent.  It occasionally works but mostly not.

My IOS6 devices connect fine to other wireless devices (I have a TP-Link Powerline WifI device and a MiFi modem).

My wife has not upgraded to IOS6 and her iPhone and iPad work fine.

Every other device I have works fine with the Netgear router.

I'm in a hotel now and my laptop works fine on the hotel WiFi.  My iPad won't connect.  I assume that the hotel WiFi is Netgear based.

JimHdk may be correct in stating that Apple's implementation of 802.11r is correct and Netgear has it wrong.  However, everything else works fine with Netgear.  What about us poor users?

I have a similar problem.... although my iPhone and iPad are able to connect to the Netgear Wireless routers, I am unable to receive my exchange based email when the wireless is on.

If I turn the wireless off and rely solely on the cellular service, the email updates fine. However, so long as I'm connected to the Netgear, I get this error message when I open the Exchange based mailbox:

"Cannot Get Mail
The connection to the server failed"

I get this message even if I still have the cellular service enabled.

Any suggestions are appreciated,

PK