iPad Pro 11” dropping WiFi or so it seems

This is a consistent problem when the Apple USB-C to headphone adapter is plugged in and the iPad goes into Sleep Mode. When the iPad is awakened, the Wi-Fi loses connection. Unplugging the adapter restores Wi-Fi connection after a few seconds.

I tried replacing the Apple USB-C adapter and even returned my iPad Pro 11 for a new one. The same problem occurs.

I am certain now that the headphone dongle is the cause of the issue. The battery percent doesn’t matter. I even tested the dongle without the actual headphones attached. If the iPad wakes up from sleep with the dongle in, it can’t find the internet. If I pull the dongle, it finds the internet within a couple of seconds.

how do we report this problem to apple?

I wonder if it’s the dongle or software or ipad hardware?

I have the same issues exactly as everyone else. It got so bad that I actually had to disable wifi so the LTE could work. That was interesting in that the iPad trying to get to the wifi would prevent LTE!

Interestingly, I have an iPhone XR with no wifi issues, but an iPhone 7+ that my wife has, also has the same problem as the iPad. This seems to point to an iOS bug.

Anyways, I just decided to do the following which seems to have fixed the problem for both the iPad and 7+..

1. Back up your iPad in iTunes.
2. Select your iPad/Summary and select Restore iPad. This will wipe everything back to the original factory settings.
3. Interestingly, this popped up a Software Update to iOS 12.1.1 which would not show before. Select Install
4. On Reboot, follow the on-screen instructions and then Restore from iTunes Backup.
5. It seems to be working perfectly now.

This was absolutely an issue prior to iOS 12.1.3 when using the USB-C to headphone dongle. It seems that under certain conditions, the iPad will look for network connectivity over USB-C regardless of what you've plugged in there. Some have said that they can produce the issue by sleep/wake cycling the iPad and I can confirm that this was the case for me, too.

Updating to iOS 12.1.3 seems to have patched this. I can wake from sleep and continue using WiFi with the Apple USB-C to headphone dongle.

I’ve been having the same issue over the past few days. I tried what everyone suggested here and unplugged my usb-c headphone adapter and sure enough the Wi-Fi came back. Previously I had to reboot the iPad for it to come back. I wonder if this is a software fix, or it’s just an issue with the headphone adapter itself.

Holy cow! This might be the fix to my problem. I have tried everything...... the Apple Branded headphone adaptor may be the issue here. Over the last 20 minutes I have tried test after test. That dongle may be the problem coming out of sleep mode with it plugged in.

My machine says that it’s connected to WIFI but it can’t get to the internet. the only fix was to reboot. But, pull that dongle and it fixes itself. wake from sleep without the dongle in and there is not issues.

interestingly, I don’t have this problem at all until the battery is 50% or less. Works fine all day with the dongle in or not.

drop that battery to 50% or less and the problem started.

this might be the fix!

I have now tested for this problem using the SD to USB C official apple dongle. It does not cause a problem with WiFi/internet on waking.

the official apple usb C headphone adaptor IS the issue.

my pure guess is that since a reboot with the headphone dongle in solves the problem (until the next sleep/wake cycle), this is likely a software problem.

how can we make apple aware of this?

I have a new iPad Pro 11 and I have the exact same problem. wifi not connected after sleep with Apple dongle Plugged in. I suspected the dongle since the problem only occurs when the dongle is plugged in. After removing dongle widi came back. I wonder if this happens if other USB C connecters are plugged in.

so glad I found this thread! Just bought a new iPad Pro 11” and thought I got a lemon. Apparently not. I’m having the same disconnected WiFi issue when waking from sleep if the usb-c headphone dongle is plugged in. Hopefully apple fixes it with there next iOS update.

I'm fairly certain that this is not a router issue or related to router properties. I can reproduce the problem at home (single band 5GHz), in various public WIFI hotspots, at my parents (single band 2.4GHz). There's somthing wrong with the device or software. People have stated that even replacement units started to show the same issues.

Apple needs to start working on it.

It's the headphone jack adapter, when plugged into the USB-C socket, it seems to interfere with wifi reception.

It isn’t the usb-c dongle, but usb-c headphones (from the pixel 3). Unplugging immediately fixes the issue.

I reopened my case since the problem came back. They replaced my iPad Pro. On the first test with the new one, the WiFi dropped 42 minutes into the streaming meeting.

The Apple tech guy in the store was helpful with additional suggestions and an explanation of why this is so hard to investigate - basically, if it’s not a hardware issue, everyone's individual configurations and software make this hard to pinpoint. He suggested that I try to reset my iPad Pro and not restore from backup (which means that I won’t have all of my stuff), and use the basic software to see if it’s truly an iPad Pro issue and not something in my specific configuration/data. I may try this out. I forgot to ask if Apple has tried this test themselves.

So tonight I tested my iPad Pro 11” on a 1 hour webinar, but this time plugging it in. Same issue. It dropped WiFi signal after 34 minutes. Note that it’s attached to a dual band router, the 5Ghz connection. And, I was listening via Bluetooth through my AirPods.

Next time I’ll try the 2.4Ghz to see if that makes any difference.

I really think this is a software issue. Apple can probably figure it out once they invest time into it.