iPad Air slow WiFi connection

I'm having WiFi connection speed problem with new iPad Air and Airport-extreme 802.11ac.


I can get over 30Mbps download speed with old iPad2 but with new iPad Air, I get only 7 or 8Mbps.


I saw https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5516013 (Slow WiFi on the new iPad Air). He solve the problem by changing the Channel Bandwidth settings on the router but not such setting on airport-extreme 802.11ac.

Posted on Nov 3, 2013 8:06 AM

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Nov 4, 2013 6:46 AM in response to Masayoshi3

Hi All,


I am seeing this issue as well. At home I have 802.11n and it is fine. I just connected to the WiFi at work which is 802.11g and it is really slow. I tested the connection to the Internet on my work desktop and it was 12Mbs ( I used to get close to that with my old iPad3) but the Air cannot even get 4Mbs !!

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Nov 8, 2013 1:56 PM in response to Masayoshi3

I have a Home Hub 5, and when my girlfriend and I were downloading apps or streaming the downloads would fail, as well the streaming would drop out. The fix was like Masayoshi3 advised above. I named the 5Ghz band on the Home Hub 5 as something different and now the ipad air's are perfect, blistering fast.

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Nov 11, 2013 12:04 PM in response to larneyg2

I have had the same issue but it has not been fixed by renaming the 5Ghz network. We have two iPad Air connected to HH5. I have manged to reproduce the issue described where wifi crashes if streaming and downloading. I can also reproduce on both iPads. Other devices including an iPad2 work fine.


I have even turned off the 2.4GHz and was able to reproduce the issue.


It would be good if others could also repeat the following test.


1. Connect Ipad Air to 5GHz wifi band

2. Stream from bbc iplayer - live channel

3. Download a large app such as Pages / Numbers / Garageband.


Pretty much everytime the wifi crashes. Without downloading apps I can stream without error. Also no issue seen on the 2.4Ghz band.


Apple have asked me to visit Apple store to try and reproduce on their network so hopefully this will prove if it is the iPad or HH5 at fault.

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Nov 11, 2013 12:44 PM in response to astrospark

Although you have turned the 2.4Ghz band off, have you removed it from the ipad, as in told it to forget the 2.4Ghz network, I had to do this and then turn wifi off/on, I found my ipad would still intermittently connect to the old 2.4Ghz SSID, but once I told it to forget it, it seems to be better.

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Nov 11, 2013 10:11 PM in response to astrospark

Agreed, we had the same issues in terms of determining what the issue was, also had a MacBook and two iPhones working fine.


Now that you've hard set the 5Ghz SSID and told the Air to forget the old 2.4 network, have you rebooted the HH5?


I am clutching at straws, but worth a shot maybe?

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Nov 12, 2013 1:37 PM in response to larneyg2

Hi, Spent some time at Apple store this evening. The network specialist on the Genius bar thinks it may be software related and could be a compability issue between iPad Air and HH5. The key difference is that the iPad Air is the first iOS device to use MIMO technology.


They are raising a case with higher level support to log the issue for further investigation. I await a firmware update 🙂

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Nov 16, 2013 5:51 AM in response to Masayoshi3

Hi, I bought my iPad Air (Wi-Fi only) yesterday and met the same problem, as you, guys! I tried 4 different wi-fi spots/routers: 2 at home, 2 at different night bars. The slow connection problem appeared in all 4 cases. It is something wrong with the way iPad operates with wireless networks. Hope to solve this problem in the next update, but it is weird to use it like this now...

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Nov 17, 2013 7:14 PM in response to Masayoshi3

My iPad Air has intermittent WiFi lags where pages stop loading midway or are delayed in opening. Laptops, iPod, phones, and iPad2 all have fast connection with no lags. Very frustrating to upgrade to a new device and have spotty connection. Has to be iPad Air bug or MIMO issue.

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Nov 30, 2013 5:09 AM in response to Masayoshi3

Hallo,


i have same problems too... i got an iPad Mini and had many lags. Althrough all other iPhone, iPad and iMac had the normal and fast speed.


I tryed many things like reboot, reinstall and so on and nothing works. I thought, it was an hardware Problem.


NOW i got the iPad Air and THE SAME PROBLEMS!


It´s frustrating.


All Gadgets here work fine all the time.


ONLY the iPad Air (and former the Mini Retina, i send it back) have lags and lags and lags...


Anybody an Idea??

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Nov 30, 2013 2:47 PM in response to Masayoshi3

I have the same problem with my IPad Air and it is nothing less than frustrating. All other devices in my home is working fine to include Iphones, MacBook Pro, Ipad first gen, Ipad Mini and PC. My router is an a Airport Extreme base station with Airport Express as an extender. Web pages on the Ipad Air will not load and You Tube videos stall. I usually abandon the Ipad Air because of the extreme frustration.


I found a You Tube video suggesting a fix. Go to Ipad Air Wifi settings, click your router and go to HTTP Proxy and change it from "Off" to "Auto". I experienced an obvious increase in Wifi speed and I am using my Ipad Air again. However I was unable to stream Amazon Instant Video and had to change the HTTP Proxy back to "off".


I don't understand why these adjustments to the Wifi settings are necessary. Apple should have released a product that was fully functional. Their R&D department fell short with the Wifi experience. Disappointing.

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iPad Air slow WiFi connection

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