iPad Air, updated to iOS 8.1. Wifi almost unusable

I have the exactly same problem with my iPhone 5c .

My WiFi speed drop every 30 sec .

Any solution ?

Sorry, but I am NOT prepared to do dangerous things such as rebooting my router! I wouldn't even know how, anyway!

How does one select the GHz?

You are right about the problem being with the power save. On the FIOS MI424WR-GEN2 you can disable the WMM power save separately from the WMM. Using N with WMM and power save disabled everything works perfectly. End clients are iOS8.1 and OS X Yosemite and earlier.

For FIOS users the feature is in the router configuration on 192.168.1.1 under "Wireless settings" / "Advanced Wireless Security" / "Other Advanced Wireless Options" at the bottom of the central panel / "Yes" to proceed / "WMM Settings" at the bottom of the central panel / Disable "WMM Power Save" but leave WMM enabled.

Sry mate but what is WMM exactly ?

Having this problem once I update iPad Air to 8.1.1. couldn't play vain glory at all... Bought an iPhone 6 plus with 8.1.1 as well, managed to play vain glory on the same home network... But once I close my display for my iPhone 6+ i got disconnected from my wifi... Couldn't receive any whatsapp or messenger notifications, which frustrates me. when is this wifi issue going to be fix Apple? my iPad air is like a piece of stone without network connection. 😠

I have enterprise Meraki gear with firewall and a business class ISP. No router. The only conclusion I can make is something with the iPad air tower and its memory buffer. Two iPad airs croak when an ipad 1 , a 4s, two 6 pluses, three Apple TV all FLY! Apple should show us some have some humility and fix the OS/hardware issue. (All problems occurred with updates). Waiting for Apple to own up.

Firstly, without a router, you will not be able to access the Internet.

Secondly, you speak of, "iPad air tower and its memory buffer" - we try to help, but since there is no such thing as an iPad air tower any association is meaningless.

Finally, asking Apple to fix something that does not exist is frankly laughable.

Now to try to put some meaning to your posting: There is a subset of users who have issues with new iPads (4 and above) as well as iPhone 4S users running iOS 8.1.1. Whilst some of these issues are difficult to pin down, many have reported a 'fix' by putting their device into DFU mode and starting again from scratch. There are also known issues with people using multiple WiFi channels. iPhone 4S will only use the default 2.4GHz frequencies as will the iPad 1. Depending on the Apple TV version, you may be able to use 2.4/5GHZ but without more information it is hard to say. The iPhone 6 series will use both as configured. As a first 'stab' at dealing with your issue, I would switch off the 5GHz frequency on your WiFi base station and see if you get stability. One of the more regular cases of wifi interference can be put down to too many devices trying to compete for bandwidth.

Thanks for the help. By tower I mean radio and the control of it by the OS which you seem to agree. I will try the single frequency and see if things improve. You really thing Apple has no responsibility in this?

OBTW - No router. MX60 Meraki, and Meraki switch and AP. Static IP.

I would really like to say that this is Apple's fault, but it is not a "universal" issue.

The technical background to "Updates" is a lot more than most users ever really see and I would always tell my clients to do a system update the "Clean" way rather than OTA (over the air).

I have had many WiFi base stations including Apple Extremes and the dual-band wifi is almost always a problem if you keep the channel selection to "Automatic". I always set the channels hard (i.e.: setting to channel 6 on the 2.4GHz band and say 44 on the 5GHz band) and this cures 99% of all connectivity issues on wifi. Setting a single band with a set channel also reduces the load on receivers that constantly have to 'keep up' with the wifi router if there is too much interference locally.

Try these and come back if they work.

All to 2.4 gHz did the trick. This is from an iPad Air. Now the same throughput as cable feeds. Thank you.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/1055603616

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/1055603616

WMM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Multimedia_Extensions) is a Quality of Service (QoS) feature which while it can be implemented with earlier protocols (b) seems to only be implemented in the N version of Wi-Fi. As in the n of 802.11agn. Each letter refers to a different radio mechanism. WMM also has a power saving feature specified in the standard 802.11e which is causing the problem. Something along the lines of the router telling the device after every transmission: OK I have sent you everything, you can now power down your wi-fi. This appears to happen every few seconds so the device experiences poor connectivity. The older protocols using 2.4 GHz don't implement WMM, it is only implemented with N which is why people experience the problem going away when they switch to 2.4 GHz.

N is of course considerably faster so if you can make it work and switch to N only you are in the best possible position.

So the problem is an interaction between specific implementations of 802.11e power management on switches supporting WMM power management as part of their implementation of N. If you experience the problem try each of the following in turn, moving to the next option only if, after testing, the problem persists:

1) Upgrade the software on your apple device

2) Upgrade the firmware of the access point

3) Look for an obscure setting in the access point's admin pages under Wi-Fi which lets you disable WMM Power Management and disable it

4) Look for an obscure setting in the access point's admin pages under Wi-Fi which lets you disable WMM completely and disable it

5) Look for a setting in the access point's admin pages under Wi-Fi which lets you disable 802.11n and disable it.

6) Look for a setting in the access point's admin pages under Wi-Fi which lets you restrict it to 2.4 GHz

7) Replace the access point with a later different model.

The admin pages will generally be on 192.168.1.1 and have a very simple password, often written on a label on the router, or contained in the manual found on the internet.

Much as your explanation covers a lot of issues, I must correct you to avoid people getting confused.

The 802.11 standard for wifi contains various compliance issues for those using wifi systems. As such the a, g or n suffix advises people of the standard adopted within the 802.11 framework. This has little to do with the connectivity issues described.

To explain further.

Many household devices use part of the 802.11 frequency for their own use (landline portable phones, remote doorbells, baby video monitors and the like). As a result, many of the cheaper devices do not permit channel selectivity within the frequency and this can impact on the operation of complex computer devices such as wifi base stations. To overcome this, the manufacturers have added a way to avoid channel interference by using an "auto" function within the channel selection whereby the base station will see which of the channels within the bans are not being used. This is where the problem lies. By adopting an "auto" channel selection, this does not always give the receiver (iPhone for example) a 'clean' channel from a receiver's perspective with the result that the receiver may not connect or it will experience drop-outs. By 'bolting down' the channel selection, you prevent the base station from changing channels and you give the receiver a better chance of working properly.

The other area that causes confusion is the actual frequency adopted. Two frequencies are available: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Older devices (such as the iPhone 4S and earlier) can only use the 2.4GHz frequency for wifi which is the most popular, and therefore the most cluttered in terms of radio interference. The 802.11 standard allows the a, g and n standards to use the 2.4GHz band, so regardless of whether you are using n or g you may still run into frequency interference from cheaper radio transmitters. This becomes more troublesome if you live in a built-up area where many wifi transceivers are operating.

By setting the channel within the frequency, you offer a receiver a better chance of older devices connecting more reliably. You may have to try a few channels before you get a clear connection, but more often than not, by setting a channel in the base station you will clear up connection issues very quickly.

Hi,i had the same issues,i changed my modem's channel and frequency,it worked...