# WiFi issues -- thoughts?



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I'm really getting irked by the wifi connection issues my 16G wifi only iPad is having.  I know not everyone is encountering this, and I know that Apple has promised a fix...with no ETA.  But this is getting ridiculous.

Background:
Our home network consists of one Airport Extreme router that's never given me a day of trouble since I installed it.  On that network current reside six devices with static IP addresses--two MacBooks, two original iPhones, and now two iPads (one wifi only, one 3G).  Out of those six devices, only ONE has issues--the wifi only iPad.  My husband's 3G model has never dropped the wifi signal, though occasionally the strength bars in the indicator will flicker.

The network is already encrypted with WPA2 (recommended for this situation), has already been rebooted, I've already done the brightness slider trick numerous times and turned off the auto brightness.  In short, all the posted tricks for fixing the problem have already been applied.  I'm thinking I may need to sacrifice something to the Apple gods next at this rate.

The issue was annoying enough when it would occasionally, two or three times a day, drop out and give me the "Connecting..." message.  In the last three days or so though, it's now dropping out several times an hour in some cases, it's routinely losing the signal completely and requesting a network selection from me, and twice in the last 24 hours it's gone so far to ask for the password.  This has gone beyond annoying to disruptive.

Here's the thing.  It's enough of a nuisance to have to bring it in to the Genius bar.  But they're going to want to give me another wireless only model, and those seem to be the only ones experiencing the problem.  How do I know we're not going to go through this all over again next week or the week after?  Though our first generation iPhones work reasonably well, the signal reaching them is definitely weaker trying to get through that alumininum back--people with 3GS models who've used our network side by side with our own phones show a much stronger signal.  So bringing home another wifi only model, complete with the one piece aluminum back, isn't necessarily going to solve the problem.

And trying to convince Apple to upgrade me to the 3G version for this (at my own expense) is going to be problematic, isn't it?  After all, the problem waited to worsen until after the return period was over.      Plus there's probably going to be a significant wait for a new one to come in whether we go wifi or upgrade.

What to do?  Ignore it and wait for either a fix from the Apple overlords or for the problem to get so bad I can't stand it?  Or wrestle with the crowds and take it in to the Apple store?  And if I go to the store, do I argue for the upgrade?  Has anyone with a 3G encountered the wireless dropped connection glitch at all (I haven't seen any reports of it in those models...)  I'm not thrilled with the idea of spending the extra money, but if it means I never have this issue again, I'll cough up the cash.  I don't want to deal with this over and over for the lifetime of the device.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Have you called Apple support and worked with them on this at all? I've been having the same problem. I took my first one in and had it replaced with another iPad that has essentially (though not exactly) the same problem. But my dropouts have been getting less and less frequent. I was having them at first every few hours, then a couple or three times a day, and then after working through all the suggested fixes got it down to once a day. But over the past two weeks, I think I've only lost connection maybe once. It's definitely gotten much better. 

I so feel your pain on this, and I wanted to share that for me I wish I hadn't even traded in my first iPad and had just worked with Apple support over the phone instead and saved myself a couple of days. And I agree it's insane that they haven't 1) come up with a fix yet and 2) told us when to expect a fix. It's really comical how they tell you to adjust the brightness too, isn't it? 

For me, they told me that several customers with my particular router (Actiontec from Verizon FiOS) seemed to be a common problem. If you haven't called them yet, I would certainly do that, it's worth a try, and they answer the phone so quickly and are so helpful. 

And as for your idea of switching to 3G, I think it's not a bad idea. We have the same setup, with my DH having the 3G model, and he's never had a single problem, even though we obviously use the same Wifi router. 

How far away is the Apple store?


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I had horrible wifi issues with my original iPad, and Apple exchanged it.  My new one has issues similar to what you are seeing. They're only occasional, don't seem to happen while streaming video, and aren't that big a problem. I do not have them on hotel or restaurant wifi networks when traveling, so I think it is the way my iPad works with my wifi router. The router has never had problems before, so I do think it is a quirk of the iPad, not my router.

My belief is that it is a software issue, or possibly something where multiple isssues interact, not the metal issue you spoke of. Early on there were news reports that Apple was trying to find a software fix, but i've heard no more since.  Since it only seems to effect a few people, I don't think it is a metal case issue as you describe. I suspect only certain ipads with certain routers have the problem.

This is MUCH better than my original iPad, which was intolerable. For now, I am living with it and hoping Apple comes up with a fix. Yousaying yours got much worse is disturbing, though. Mine is merely an occasional annoyance now.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I haven't called Apple yet--weekends around here, the store is insane.  It's only a 15 minute drive ... plus the hour or so spent trying to navigate the area around the mall, plus parking...  LOL  Weekdays, the place is dead, so they'll actually be able to spare some time to work with me either by phone or in person.

Two things that bug me though--this is an Apple product, on a wholly Apple network.  I won't cut them slack on the "only a problem with certain routers" issue in this case.  After all, they had their own products to test against.

And the same issue happened in a Starbucks recently.  DH connected instantly.  I had to try several times, couldn't get Safari to acknowledge the connection at all (finally got Atomic to actually connect and browse).  I think I'll take it to a couple of other places tomorrow or Monday and see what happens--at least I'll have a little more data to work with.  Meanwhile, I suppose I should sync this one up and back up my documents from it in case it needs to go for a little Genius Bar visit.  Sigh--an exchange will mean removing the DecalGirl skin too.  

Interesting to see others have already had to exchange theirs.  I really don't want to go through the same rounds of back and forth that people did with the "vampire" Kindles.  I don't have that level of patience.  LOL
Worst case scenario, if a second wifi model doesn't fix the problem and Apple holds firm to their no exchange after 14 days policy, I suppose I'll sell this one and get the 3G.  But the annoyance factor inherent in that plan isn't something I'm looking forward to either.

hsuthard--did they give you any suggestions that I didn't already outline?  I used to work in IT for a major company...there's honestly not much I hate more than trying to triage this stuff over the phone, because they always assume everyone's at the lowest common denominator, and I've generally already done all the common fixes well before I get annoyed enough to call!  If there's something I've missed, I'd like to give it a shot  so I can say I've tried all the recommended remedies.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I think you went over all the suggestions I got from apple. I also had an airport express working as an extender and ended up making some changes to that as well, but it doesn't sound like you have that setup. But they did have me do many more things than I had found online on my own. Things mostly in my router settings.

And, I quickly was bumped up a level or two in the support system when I called. I talked with a guy who gave me his email and direct extension, and he's checked up on me since. 

I thought I was being patient, but you're being a saint about this! It's not like yours cost any less than all the ones that work just fine. I wouldn't wait much longer to either call Apple or take it in. And I do think there's a chance that switching it out will entirely fix the problem. If you do go to the store, be sure to make an appointment. I had to wait an hour because I missed my appointment by fifteen minutes on a Tuesday.


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## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

Just wanted to say that my 3 G iPad occasionally shows me the connecting note. It usually does it 2 or 3 times before it gors thru again.  Not every day and not more than one time a day when it happens.


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## luvshihtzu (Dec 19, 2008)

My 32 GB WiFi iPad also has the same problems.  Hope the software update is soon.  Trying to stream from the ABC Player is a major problem.  No way will I try out Netflix until this is all fixed.  Several times a day a message tells me that I don't have a signal and to reconnect.


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## BK (Feb 5, 2009)

I think you should exchange it -- especially since you're using all Apple products!  

I've used WiFi iPad with the wireless at work (with a Vonage D-Link router), wireless at home (Cisco Linksys E3000 router), and  Verizon MiFi on the road, and all three have been smooth as silk; no dropped signals. I've used the ABC Player with all three and it streamed beautifully. The signal is low in one room of my house, but I had the same problem with a laptop -- possibly because of an internal brick wall.  You've had yours longer than I have, so maybe Apple fixed the problem with the newer ones... or maybe you got a lemon.

Good luck!


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## akagriff (Sep 8, 2009)

I had this when I first got my iPad but only a couple times after calling  apple (a couple weeks ago)  I updated my router firmware and changed my encryption.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I am so non-tech.  I have AirPort Extreme router, MacBook Pro, iPhone, iTouch, and 3G iPad (said bye-bye and good riddance to PC a few months ago) and, knock-on-wood, have never had a connection problem with any of my Apples.

Pre-iPad, after using an AirPort Express router for at least a couple months I had to upgrade to an Extreme.  I had no problem exchanging used Express for new Extreme in the Apple Store.


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## Magenta (Jun 6, 2009)

short article at this link with another link to issue at apple support:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-updates-ipad-wi-fi-support-doc-hints-at-firmware-update/

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Magenta said:


> short article at this link with another link to issue at apple support:
> 
> http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-updates-ipad-wi-fi-support-doc-hints-at-firmware-update/
> 
> http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304


Sweet--I've covered all the bases. I do still want to test it with a few more places, so I think today's a good day to visit another Starbucks and take it down to Panera for lunch. LOL Then I suppose I'll call the store on Monday and start arranging the exchange; if they still don't have stock on hand, perhaps they can order up a replacement and I won't have to go in with this one until the new one is available. Hope DecalGirl has another coupon coming since I'll need a new skin too!

It's good to see others have wifi only iPads that DON'T have the issue. I'd much rather spend that extra money getting my iPhone upgraded and jailbreaking it so I can tether occasionally than spend it upgrading to the 3G iPad. The only time I'm going to wish I had 3G on the iPad is when I'm at my mother and father in laws' house in another state. They can't remember their network password so I can't get wireless there; I need to work on my brother in law again about getting their network upgraded--he's their resident geek since he's local.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

For anyone who exchanges their iPad, remember to remove all your Kindle books from it before taking it in.  I forgot to do that, so I am one further against bumping up against the total of five installed copies for the (fortunately not that many) books I'd downloaded to my iPad!


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> For anyone who exchanges their iPad, remember to remove all your Kindle books from it before taking it in. I forgot to do that, so I am one further against bumping up against the total of five installed copies for the (fortunately not that many) books I'd downloaded to my iPad!


Huge point, thanks for the reminder! Thankfully I only have about 3 downloaded in that app. For some odd reason, I manage my iPad Kindle completely opposite to my hardware Kindle. I don't archive ANYTHING, ever, on the K2, but I can't stand having all those books cluttering up the Kindle app on the iPad. 

However, there's all the PDFs on there in Goodreader, a couple of books in the BN app, and heaven only knows what all else. What a PITA to have to clean all this up first!


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## tlrowley (Oct 29, 2008)

I'm sorry you're having so many problems.  I had one of the iPads that couldn't play video without crashing, so I know what a pain it is.

It shouldn't be too much of a pain to clean up an iPad before you return it, though.  Just connect it to your computer and do a full backup (that's the default), then, in iTunes, do a factory restore.  That will wipe all your apps and all your data.  When you  connect your (fully working and wonderful) new iPad, you can restore from the backup and it's almost like it never happened.  Things that are DRM'd to a device (like Kindle books) will be more of a problem - one of the many reasons DRM only hurts honest people and does absolutely nothing to prevent piracy (but that's another rant)


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## akpak (Mar 5, 2009)

I have a lot of disconnect issues with mine as well. But oddly, only on my router at home, which is a Belkin. No firmware updates available for it, and no settings changes seem to help. I'm waiting for the iPad firmware fix before I do anything drastic, since the warranty is a year anyway.

The fact that I only have serious issues on one network (at home! UGH!) indicates it's not JUST a problem with the iPad.


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