iPad mini iPad mini 6 disconnecting from Wi-Fi

[allandrick]

Hi all,

I have recently been experiencing similar dropouts on my iPad Pro 2021 and this week now also on my iPhone 13 Pro Max.

My home wifi is 5GHz Ubiquiti WiFi6 and should be rock solid. Except for one thing I noticed here in this thread: people are reporting problems with higher channels. Then it dawned on me: the root cause is DFS:

The 5GHz “Problem” For Wi-Fi Networks: DFS

Wi-Fi networking provides us with 2 bands for the operation of wireless LAN networks: the 2.4Ghz band and the 5GHz band. The 2.4GHz band has...

wifinigel.blogspot.com

Every time I’ve experienced a dropout there has either been an airplane or helicopter near by.


I’m going to disable those channels on my UniFi wireless configuration and see if stability returns.
Cheers

What I suspect is happening is the IOS wifi stack is trying to comply to the DFS rules. Except it isn’t supposed to - the access point is supposed to band steer the client devices to the new channel, and that doesn’t seem to be working properly.

I reconfigured all 3 of my WiFi 6 APs to channel 36 with HE80 (80MHz channel width / high efficiency mode) and set the transmit power to auto. The APs are spaced far enough apart and around my home which has thick brick walls separating each coverage area in the building so that they should not interfere with each other - and they are also aware of each other via the controller, so I should hopefully not see any issues.

I also did an RF survey on all 3 APs, it seems almost none of my neighbours are running 5GHz wireless with the vast majority of nearby SSIDs broadcasting only in the 2.4GHz band. The survey showed 1% channel utilization at 36 HE80.

So far, touch wood, no dropouts and throughput is back up at the same as my wired ports.

I'll post another update if things change in the near future.

Cheers

 

[allandrick]

Making these changes seems to have also resolved a (likely related) issue I've noticed for a while now - access point Transmit Retry Rates were through the roof prior to the changes made today - and have dropped off to less than 20% (normal) since. Woo!

 

[sparksd]

This seems to have also resolved an issue I've noticed for a while now - access point Transmit Retry Rates were through the roof prior to the changes made today - and have dropped off to less than 20% (normal) since. Woo!

View attachment 1855967

By "this", do you mean changing channels?

 

[allandrick]

By "this", do you mean changing channels?

Yep!

 

[Tokyowalker]

Just to share that I have an auto band selection router at home... and the iPad mini 6 faced this exactly drop issue after 4days of use.
on chat with Apple Support for over 45mins and it was of not much of help.
I could not even do a factory data reset - the software was not found.
spent 1.5h at the Genius Bar... and all they could not reset the unit as well until they used some undisclosed method.
they told me to remove all the apps and instead of copying from a back up, they asked me to restart the iPad as a new unit - without apps.
And monitor the wifi with online videos etc.
After 2 days, it seems stable. I have until Friday to make a call on this... and right now, after reading this thread, I am very tempted to return this if there is a hardware issue.
at this moment, quite frustrated as this is the very first time something like this has happened to an apple product to me.
thanks!

 

[allandrick]

Just to share that I have an auto band selection router at home... and the iPad mini 6 faced this exactly drop issue after 4days of use.
on chat with Apple Support for over 45mins and it was of not much of help.
I could not even do a factory data reset - the software was not found.
spent 1.5h at the Genius Bar... and all they could not reset the unit as well until they used some undisclosed method.
they told me to remove all the apps and instead of copying from a back up, they asked me to restart the iPad as a new unit - without apps.
And monitor the wifi with online videos etc.
After 2 days, it seems stable. I have until Friday to make a call on this... and right now, after reading this thread, I am very tempted to return this if there is a hardware issue.
at this moment, quite frustrated as this is the very first time something like this has happened to an apple product to me.
thanks!

No option to change bands in the router? It has worked/solved this issue for me.

 

[sparksd]

No option to change bands in the router? It has worked/solved this issue for me.

The modem/router combo from xfinity does not support channel assigning.

 

[Beards]

The modem/router combo from xfinity does not support channel assigning.

How to change your home network's WiFi channel selection or mode

Learn how to change a home network's WiFi channel selection or mode.

www.xfinity.com

 

[sparksd]

How to change your home network's WiFi channel selection or mode

Learn how to change a home network's WiFi channel selection or mode.

www.xfinity.com

• Customers with 2nd Generation and newer xFi Gateways (XB6 and XB7): Most of these Gateways have been upgraded with software that manages advanced WiFi settings automatically to help optimize your home network and provide the best performance possible. Advanced WiFi settings for Gateways with this software enhancement are not visible and cannot be managed from the Admin Tool or Xfinity xFi.

 

[allandrick]

• Customers with 2nd Generation and newer xFi Gateways (XB6 and XB7): Most of these Gateways have been upgraded with software that manages advanced WiFi settings automatically to help optimize your home network and provide the best performance possible. Advanced WiFi settings for Gateways with this software enhancement are not visible and cannot be managed from the Admin Tool or Xfinity xFi.

Wow. Well, hopefully Apple can fix whatever is causing the issue on their end. Your only other option might be to run your own router or switch to a competitor phone/tablet. Neither are particularly palatable options for you.

I hope it isn’t a hardware issue and Apple can patch the issue.

 

[sparksd]

Wow. Well, hopefully Apple can fix whatever is causing the issue on their end. Your only other option might be to run your own router or switch to a competitor phone/tablet. Neither are particularly palatable options for you.

I hope it isn’t a hardware issue and Apple can patch the issue.

I've only had the tablet for 3 days and so far, with a lot of use, I've only seen one disconnect using 5GHz on channel 157.

 

[allandrick]

I've only had the tablet for 3 days and so far, with a lot of use, I've only seen one disconnect using 5GHz on channel 157.

Yeah it's entirely dependent on weather or military radar detection - if you're in a quiet spot aeronautically you won't see much interference at all...

 

[allandrick]

Making these changes seems to have also resolved a (likely related) issue I've noticed for a while now - access point Transmit Retry Rates were through the roof prior to the changes made today - and have dropped off to less than 20% (normal) since. Woo!

View attachment 1855967

So far so good - no dropouts watching streaming media last night since changing to channel 36 HE80. I also found a cabling issue on my wan/lan ports that was causing spanning tree loops I hadn't noticed until I started staring at the logs and graphs - amazed it was working at all >.<.

 

[sparksd]

Yeah it's entirely dependent on weather or military radar detection - if you're in a quiet spot aeronautically you won't see much interference at all...

Not aeronautically quiet here - we're on the flight path to Boeing Field, 8 miles away here in Seattle so we get a good deal of low-level commercial aircraft traffic and some military. And we've had a good deal of low cloud cover and rain, with approaching aircraft totally obscured. Doesn't seem to have any effect.

 

[Omen87]

I am also experiencing this issue on my Mini 6. I use an Eero system and am unable to manually assign a channel. We shouldn't need these stupid workarounds. Apple needs to address this.

 

[allandrick]

I am also experiencing this issue on my Mini 6. I use an Eero system and am unable to manually assign a channel. We shouldn't need these stupid workarounds. Apple needs to address this.

Yes, they do, but to be fair, any vendors claiming to offer the worlds best WiFi really should be able to configure something as simple as frequencies/ channel preferences - there’s a lot of reasons why you might want to do this manually and not rely on “smart” software…

 

[Omen87]

Apple is providing an Express replacement on my Mini. I spoke with a Chat Advisor yesterday who sent me up to a Senior Advisor. We were barely able to complete the diagnostics because it just would not stay online.

 

[jon617]

Same issue. Wifi fails consistently when the iPad Mini 6 travels from the bedroom (5GHz channel 60) to the living room (5GHz channel 136). Must shutdown and boot the iPad Mini 6 for it to connect. No issues with iPhone SE 2020 (same iOS 15.0.2 version), iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 2, iPhone SE 1st Gen, and my other devices.

I have a support case open with Apple, will see what comes of it.

 

[wilberforce]

Interesting you all are having issues.
I was using DFS channels, but changed to force my router to use channel 153 (with 80MHz bandwidth, so actually bonding channels 149, 153, 157 and 161), to see if I could replicate OP's issue.
So far after 1 week have not had any disconnect issues.
Just reporting this so that others know the issue is apparently not ubiquitous, and hopefully is just limited to a limited number of defective ipads.

 

[sparksd]

Interesting you all are having issues.
I was using DFS channels, but changed to force my router to use channel 153 (with 80MHz bandwidth, so actually bonding channels 149, 153, 157 and 161), to see if I could replicate OP's issue.
So far after 1 week have not had any disconnect issues.
Just reporting this so that others know the issue is apparently not ubiquitous, and hopefully is just limited to a limited number of defective ipads.

Definitely not every one as I'm running on channel 157 on a new xfinity modem/router without a problem throughout the house.

 

[PascalFCO]

I am experiencing the same issue with the iPad mini 6 and will be opening up a support ticket. I did not get to return it in time and this specific model will be out of stock until mid-November.

The WiFi is dropping in 5Ghz on channel 161 but not on channel 36. This behaviour can be triggered with streaming video applications. iPadOS 15.0.2 did not resolve the issue unfortunately.

I might be wrong but it does appear to be software related with a process crashing. The iPad mini will usually reconnect by itself if I leave it be for a certain amount of time. I can also force it to reconnect after having cycled WiFi Off and On although this does not solve the connection stability problems.

I am not experiencing WiFi issues with any of my other Apple devices (iMac M1, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone Xs and Apple TV 4K 2nd Gen). I am using a Ubiquiti UniFi WiFi 5 router with a UniFi WiFi 5 Access Point.

It would be interesting to know if a hardware replacement solved the issue for those that went through the trouble of having their devices exchanged.

 

[nybpc]

I'm having this issue with a Google Wifi setup - with no way to change 5GHz channels, so basically I'm out of luck.

Is anybody on iOS 15 Betas? I am wondering if this is resolved on the latest builds.

The lack of engagement on this thread makes me believe that this might indeed be a rare, hardware problem that requires a swap by Apple.

 

[sodakar]

Linksys Velop in Bridged mode does not allow me to modify channels, so I'm out of luck as well.
The lack of posts and threads across the Internet would certainly seem to match our assumptions about this being an obscure hardware problem. I'd greatly prefer to not have to deal with a return + 30-day wait to acquire another one, nor do I care to spend hours with support sorting this out, so I am really hoping a software update will fix it.

 

[Omen87]

I'm having this issue with a Google Wifi setup - with no way to change 5GHz channels, so basically I'm out of luck.

Is anybody on iOS 15 Betas? I am wondering if this is resolved on the latest builds.

The lack of engagement on this thread makes me believe that this might indeed be a rare, hardware problem that requires a swap by Apple.

Linksys Velop in Bridged mode does not allow me to modify channels, so I'm out of luck as well.
The lack of posts and threads across the Internet would certainly seem to match our assumptions about this being an obscure hardware problem. I'd greatly prefer to not have to deal with a return + 30-day wait to acquire another one, nor do I care to spend hours with support sorting this out, so I am really hoping a software update will fix it.

I used Chat support in the Apple Support app. Then when they understood that they wouldn't be able to help, I got a call back from a Senior Advisor. They initiated a Express replacement, but at the moment it's not too "express". That was on Tuesday. A replacement hasn't shipped yet.

 

[gregpod9]

My Mini 6 WiFi connection is stable. I'm using channel 149 on my Asus RT-AX58U router. I think that the issue comes from mesh networks.