Some Users Seeing Poor Wi-Fi Reception on New iPad

Macrumors forum users complain about everything

It's not MacRumors.

The thread link is to the official Apple Support Forums.

The first good indicator of widespread problems usually shows up there, since regular discussion is prohibited.

My iPad 3's WiFi actually performs better than my iPad 2. I couldn't really use my iPad 2 in the back room of my house, yet the iPad 3 is fine.

Macrumors forum users complain about everything

I don't have an iPad.

No problems here, except I don't get wifi when I am walking around town, only at home and at businesses that offer a wifi signal? What's up with that? ;)

Macrumors forum users complain about everything

I hope that comment was meant to be ironic...right?!

I'm having problems with the Wi-Fi reception on my new iPad.

The problem is not the quality of the signal in general, but rather its consistency. I use an AirPort Extreme, and wherever I am in my house with any of my Apple devices (MacBook Air, iPhone 4S, new iPad), I max my 8 Mbps connection.

However, if I am pretty far from my router with my new iPad, it will work at full speed for a while, then suddenly stop working completely for around 5 minutes, then come back at full speed after. When the connection is having problems, my iPad is still connected to the network according to the Wi-Fi icon and will show one or two bars (as opposed to three normally) but using the Speedtest.net app gave me a result of 0.1 Mbps instead of the usual 8 Mbps. All I have to do is wait around 5 minutes, without even having to move, and the Wi-Fi icon will show 3 bars at some point and that means my internet is back at its full speed.

That never, ever, happened with any of my other devices and I've had my router for years. They never drop the connection and always max it. My iPad, on the other hand, drops its connection for a couple minutes multiple times a day, and it's definitely not normal, especially since I don't even have to move to get it back to normal. It appears that the antenna (or the software behind it) is more to blame than the aluminium case blocking signal.

I was waiting to see if it was a known issue with the new iPad or if I was an isolated case who got a defective unit.

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif]Image (http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/21/some-users-seeing-poor-wi-fi-reception-on-new-ipad/)[/url]


Some owners of the new iPad are experiencing unexpectedly poor Wi-Fi reception (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3812929?tstart=0) according to a thread on the Apple Support forums. The thread, noticed by AppleInsider (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/03/21/users_complain_of_weak_wi_fi_reception_with_apples_new_ipad.html), began on Saturday, March 17, the day after the new iPad first went on sale.

Image (http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2012/03/new_ipad_models_wifi.png)

There are 110 replies on the thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3812929?start=0&tstart=0), with numerous users reporting similar issues and a wide variety of potential solutions including erasing and restoring the iPad, as well as exchanging it for a new unit at an Apple Store.

With 3 million units sold in the first weekend alone, there are bound to be some issues cropping up. This isn't the first time that iPads have had wireless difficulties. The original iPad had similar Wi-Fi issues (http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/11/ipad-wi-fi-issues-to-be-addressed-in-software-update/), including problems with weak signal, forgotten passwords, and more.

Article Link: Some Users Seeing Poor Wi-Fi Reception on New iPad (http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/21/some-users-seeing-poor-wi-fi-reception-on-new-ipad/)

I seem to be the odd one out again. I have noticed I proved wifi and faster browsing....I'd love to bitch about something, I really would, but mine is perfect..okay, battery takes longer to charge, but that's it...Just lucky I guess..

I have just the opposite problem .... very strong WiFi signal, but no iPad.

For the record my new iPad's Wi-Fi is working just fine. Signal strength at home and the office is just as strong as my computers and iPhone. :)