2018 iPad 12.9” with weaker cellular AT&T signal

[VMMan]

In the five days I’ve owned the 3rd gen iPad 12.9”, I’ve noticed that I sometimes can’t connect with AT&T LTE in areas I normally did with my 1st gen iPad 12.9”. It will connect with 4G until I reset the radios by toggling airplane mode, after which, it connects with LTE.

I also notice that when am connected with LTE, I often will only see 1 or 2 signal bars versus the full number I usually see. I have no idea if the number of bars actually means the signal is actually weaker, but it does make me wonder.

It’s still great, and overall the cellular connection seems to work well enough.

 

[TheColtr]

Don’t say that, I only get 1 to 2 bars at my house with ATT right now. I hope my 11 inch at least keeps the same connection as my current one. We’ll see tomorrow.

 

[FrancoRumors]

In the five days I’ve owned the 3rd gen iPad 12.9”, I’ve noticed that I sometimes can’t connect with AT&T LTE in areas I normally did with my 1st gen iPad 12.9”. It will connect with 4G until I reset the radios by toggling airplane mode, after which, it connects with LTE.

I also notice that when am connected with LTE, I often will only see 1 or 2 signal bars versus the full number I usually see. I have no idea if the number of bars actually means the signal is actually weaker, but it does make me wonder.

It’s still great, and overall the cellular connection seems to work well enough.

I hope this isn’t true... my first generation iPad Pro is the only device to get reliable LTE service in my house. My iPhone X usually stays on 4g and my wife’s 8 plus flips between the two. In fact, I often use personal hotspot on IPP gen 1 for my phone during power outages because the service is much better.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

My signal has been pretty much the same as previous iPads so far.

 

[VMMan]

I didn’t mean to get any prospective new iPad owners concerned. I’ve only owned the iPad for 5 days, so it’s an incredibly small sample size of purely subjective, unquantified observations.

It’s a great machine and I thoroughly enjoy it. Because it’s new, I suppose I may be paying more attention to how it functions in case I need to return it for any defects during the return period.

 

[Porterhouse]

Paying more attention now so that you can return it is always a good idea. I've found myself pouring over the screen as well, looking for imperfections.

I've got the same LTE service as I've always had. I'll admit that everything is really slow to load in my office, but I suspect that has more to do with the thick cinderblocks walls than anything else. It's the same reason I have to go in the hallway to make a phone call on my cell phone.

 

[Alaxlmartin]

USC service is good

 

[gatorknight904]

Try resetting your network settings.

 

[jazz1]

Better signal than my iPhone X’s.

 

[VMMan]

I now have had 10 days of use and it appears that my AT&T LTE connection appears to be comparable to my iPhone 6P in terms of signal bars displayed. In terms of actual ability to load web pages and communicate with servers, the iPad does a much, much better job than my iPhone 6P even with the same number of signal bars shown.

I’m very happy with the cellular connectivity!