iPad Mini 3 drops WiFi connection to hotspot under load

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Level 1

10 points

iPad Mini 3 drops WiFi connection to hotspot under load

I have a weird problem that appears to be device-specific. Ingredients:

iPad Mini 3 (WiFi)
iOS 8.2
FreedomPop Sierra Wireless Hotspot

I have no issues with network connectivity with my Mini 3 on high speed networks at home or work. In particular, I can run the Ookla Speedtest app just fine. I can download/update apps fine. However, if I connect to the Hotspot (which has much lower bandwidth), I have problems under heavy network load, such as those. The Mini 3 will drop the connection, thus messing up what I was trying to do, then connect again. If I do the same experiment with my wife's Mini 3 (mine is 64GB, hers is 32GB), all conditions the same (OS, Hotspot, apps), her Mini 3 does not drop the connection, and everything works fine.

I have done the obvious things, but the connection still gets dropped intermittantly:

force-exit all apps
restart the Mini 3
update to iOS 8.2 (the problem was present in earlier iOS 8 versions, too)

I have concluded that my Mini 3 must have a hardware problem with the WiFi. Are there other possiblities? What are the odds Apple will fix the problem (which probably requires a new Mini 3) if I'm right?

iPad Mini, iOS 8

Posted on Apr 16, 2015 6:58 PM

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Answer 1

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Apr 16, 2015 9:39 PM in response to Damaskr

I suspect your Sierra more than the mini, and there is no systemwide hardware failure where all Mini 3 drop WiFi connections. If you connect to a WiFi router other than the Sierra does the Mini drop the connection? How many devices are connected to the Sierra? Have you Reset your Mini? Restored it from your backup? Restore as a new device?

If none of the above work and you are under warranty make a Genius Bar appointment at your nearest Apple Store and have it tested and they will replace it if they find a problem.

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Answer 2

Damaskr Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 17, 2015 12:01 PM in response to deggie

Thanks for responding.

I don't suspect the Sierra. It worked fine with my wife's Mini 3, my laptop, my iPod, my older iPad. During my testing I used only one device at a time. The problem with my Mini 3 persists after resetting the Mini 3. I have not tried backup/restore.

My Mini 3 works fine through my home router, at least to the extent that the WiFi connection does not drop.

I agree that there's probably no widespread problem with Mini 3 WiFi. However, given the set of things that work and don't work, particularly that my wife's Mini 3 has no problem but mine does, the only remaining variable (IMO) is the WiFi support in my Mini 3. And given that my wife's identical (other than memory size) Mini 3 has no problem, it could only be the WiFi hardware in my specific Mini 3.

It remains a mystery to me what it is about the interaction between my Mini 3 and the hotspot that causes the WiFi connection to drop.

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Answer 3

Damaskr Author

Level 1

10 points

May 3, 2015 7:55 AM in response to Damaskr

Responding to my own post...

The update to iOS 8.3 appears to have fixed the problem. The WiFi connection to the Sierra hotspot seems to be quite solid now.

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