iPad Air 2 WiFi Issues

bmilla76:

You got lucky - I did the same thing, exchanged for a new unit, and this one was slightly more finicky than that last with respect to retaining the internet connection. Both stayed connected to the wifi, with internet itself dropping. Perhaps you did something different this time?

Thatchcote:

I tend to agree, this can't be a terribly common issue otherwise there would be a lot of returns and reporting about it. For example, the initial iOS 8.0 OS release had tons of press coverage for its Wifi issues, although that was a problem that Apple openly acknowledged. However, there is a odd correlation between people with issues and a few different routers, so perhaps there is something common in the settings of these routers and/or conflict in those settings between the iPad and router, that is giving us some problems. Personally, that is why I am zeroing in on my cellular enabled ipad without an active sim, or my router as a bridge as part of the issue. However there appear to be people who do not have these configuration idiosyncrasies that are experiencing issues.

JerryWest_44 / tom_eastcoast

I think there is some merit to that theory. However, one would think that attaching to 2.4GHz would then work, as ac only applies to 5GHz and not 2.4GHz.

Updated list of routers people have talked about:

Wifi Connected, Internet Drops, Reconnect on Wifi On/Off Cycle:

- Linksys EA4500 (5GHz, maybe 2GHz - test pending)

- Linksys EA4200v2 (2GHz and 5GHz)

- Linksys EA3500 (2GHz and 5GHz)

- Dlink DIR 655

Wifi Disconnects, Requires reboot

- Netgear WNDR3700

Works OK:

- Airport Extreme (unsure which band, and YMMV as some people report not working)

- D-Link DIR-855L

+ ScorpionRaYOct 28, 2014 7:22 AM has reported the same issue (Wifi Connected, Internet Drops ) on the Netgear R7000

So I switched out my Linksys EA4500 for an Asus RT-AC66U. Haven't had an issue all night so far. Wifi speeds are the same on all my devices/laptop and no drops of connection after sleep mode. I'll keep monitoring it and report back with any changes. However just switching routers isn't something everyone can do. So Apple, Linksys, whoever needs to fix it.

I rest my case.. I have no idea why all these routers don't play nice with Apple, and while saving money is important to me, my sanity is more so. I'd really advise getting either an Apple Extreme ( if you have a working external HD), of if not get the Apple Time Capsule. They're well worth the money!

I have an Extreme and it doesn't work with our two iPad minis, same issues even with apple kit

Same here. I was using Linksys EA4500 and internet drops on both 2.4 and 5 ghz after sleep. I installed an Asus router yesterday evening. So far no wifi connection drop after sleep with Asus router.

I have Linksys E2000 but not the official firmware, it's Tomato Firmware v1.28.7500 MIPSR2Toastman-RT K26.

For the moment I switched from 2.4 to 5 GHz and it seems it works in 5 GHz however I just found out that

chromecast does not support 5 GHz, so that's not a solution for me.

Add me to the list of unhappy new iPad Air 2 owners. Having to switch wifi off/on every time I want to use the iPad is just plain annoying, especially when every other device (including several older iPads and iPhones) work fine. Router on my network is a Linksys EA3500, but I've experienced the issue on other networks with unknown (to me) router types.

Opened a case with Apple Support, having several calls with them today interspersed with repeating all the suggested fixes including verifying (at least in my case) that this happens on a vanilla factory-restored iPad. That was a relief as for a while they were headed down a path of thinking it could be a problem with backup from which I restored my iPad.

I was given the options of taking the iPad in for replacement and/or having Support file a ticket on the issue with Engineering. I went the route of having the ticket filed, which is supposed to yield a response within 24-48 hours. I'm not expecting much, but might as well try.

Certainly, the few different Support people I talked to during the day behaved as though this was some new, never heard of before issue. So while its a problem, apparently its not pervasive. At least though I know now it's been reported to them at least once.

I discovered another way to re-activate my Wifi speeds -- I found that when I'm doing other activity on my Ipad such as by playing Angry Birds Rio HD for five minutes or so then I go back to Safari to perform a speed test then I create the wifi slowdown from 25Mbps to about 1-2mbps or so -- I tried everything to bring it back and the only thing that worked was a hard reset -- now that I had somewhat a consistent way of creating the problem I played angry birds Rio HD again but this time I removed all apps that were playing the background including angry birds, safari etc -- this time when I went back to my speed tests the speeds were normal again --- I created the problem and brought the speeds back to normal following removing all active apps in the background 3 times --- Hmmm I wonder if there's a memory leak between wifi and the apps ---

Wondering if others could bring back their speeds after removing all active apps in the background?

I have an iphone 6 and I just downloaded Angry Birds Rio --- and I was able to create the same Wifi slow down by playing for a few minutes -- once I removed Angry Birds Rio from the background the speeds came back -- I wonder if other memory intensive apps play havoc on wifi speeds?

Could be an issue of dropping WiFi with 802.11n chipset routers.

The last few post where persons reported dropped WiFi on the Air 2 were using Linksys EA4500 N900 802.11n router,

and other person with dropped WiFi is using Linksys EA3500 N750 also an 802.11n chipset router.

The person with no dropped WiFi is using an 802.11ac chipset router Asus RT-AC66U

So maybe we should post the router chipsets we are using that drop WiFi or does not drop.

Are you all experiencing problems or no problems with either the 802.11n or 802.11ac routers

Chris,

Thanks for sharing. I was planning to buy exactly the same router and switch from my EA4500. Although £150 is a bit steep just to make my apple IOS devices work!

Please do report back and let us know if this has resolved your issues especially after the device is in sleep mode. Are you running an Air 2 and iP6?

My issues continue with the EA4500 despite me disabling the 5Ghz network and just using 2.4ghz across my Air 2, iPhone 6 Plus and 5S!

My router is Linksys E2000 Wireless-N Router. As was suggested here later I will try to close all apps when the speed goes down.

as41,

Still so far so good. And for the router all I did was setup the WiFi and update the firmware. I'm running 2.4ghz and 5Ghz and seems to work fine on all my devices. I'm even getting WiFi in my bedroom (two stories up as the router is in the basement), which I didn't before.

ANd yes my devices I've been checking are: iPad Air 2 WiFi, iPhone 6, a MacBook Pro and a desktop PC. Everything seems to be working fine now. I'll know better on the weekend when I use my iPad for more than a few hours at night.