iPad mini iPad Mini 6 owners, check if the WiFi hardware 5 Ghz is defective

[blackbirdz]

iPad 6 Mini 256GB (WiFi model): Mine is purple color.

Issue:
Connection to WiFi 5 Ghz (at channel 149-161) intermittently drops.
Channel 149-161 is the proper default channel for WiFi 5 Ghz.

Temporary solution:
Change the channel in the router to 36-48, but this is not an ideal solution as WiFi 5 Ghz is best at channel 149-161.

Other iOS devices in the house do not have such issue and this could be an indication of hardware issue in iPad Mini 6.
So for those of you who just got iPad Mini 6, please do check.

How to produce the issue:
I found the issue mostly appear in constant streaming app. like

1. Zoom meeting. The video/audio will be jittering.
2. Browsing long pages with long scrolls (like Reddit, YouTube). Somewhere in the middle, you will find the page or some parts of the page will not load.

In 1 and 2 - you will notice the WiFi icon will disappear and re-appear.

If your device is affected, please post here so we can raise to Apple.

 

[LibbyLA]

iPad mini 6 disconnecting from Wi-Fi

Just encountered this issue. If the router is configured to 5GHz bands 149-161, the Wi-Fi intermittently drops off, preventing even normal use of the iPad. Changing 5GHz band to 36 solves this issue as of now. So far did not encounter this problem on 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Reported this to Apple...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Rafterman]

I use channel 100 with no issues (default for Nighthawk Wifi 6)

 

[sparksd]

With newer xfinity gateways you're screwed - channels are not changeable by the user.

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/change-wifi-mode-admin-tool-xfinity-xfi

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Can't confirm.
Unifi U6-Mesh one on 151 and the other 159... ping to gateway = 5ms, peaks at 8ms... no loss...

 

[zyrilth]

mine also has the same problem as yours. Keeps dc everytime when it was on 149-161. I did change the channel to 36 and it worked. However this is not an ideal solution. I wish apple would apply a patch to fix it, otherwise, I would do the refund.

 

[bobcomer]

No problem here, but my router is a wifi6 router and it defaults to channel 44 5Ghz.

 

[Hello...]

No problem no disconncting

 

[alphanumeric72]

getting the same issue

 

[60+IT]

I have the same issue. In addition, slow speed (63Mbps) when using the 2.4GHz band. Lowering the 5GHz channel to below 149 alleviates the disconnect issue, however, the slow speed remains. This only works with in-house wifi. Once you are in the field, the disconnect issue returns.

Question for those knowledgeable: Do you think this issue can be corrected through firmware or is it definitely hardware?

It will be a pain to return, but if it is definitely hardware, there is no other suitable choice.

Thanks

 

[sparksd]

I have the same issue. In addition, slow speed (63Mbps) when using the 2.4GHz band. Lowering the 5GHz channel to below 149 alleviates the disconnect issue, however, the slow speed remains. This only works with in-house wifi. Once you are in the field, the disconnect issue returns.

Question for those knowledgeable: Do you think this issue can be corrected through firmware or is it definitely hardware?

It will be a pain to return, but if it is definitely hardware, there is no other suitable choice.

Thanks

Posters in the related thread mentioned not having the issues in replacement units so it would appear to be h/w.

 

[PascalFCO]

I can confirm that a hardware replacement did not solve the problem.

The iPad mini 6 appears to have a weaker WiFi signal strength than some of my other Apple devices (iPhone Xs, iPhone 13 mini and Apple TV 4K 2nd Gen).

I was able to boost 5Ghz signal strength on the access points and my replacement iPad mini 6 no longer drops on either channel 36 or 161.

At this point it is probably very highly router dependent and I would venture into saying it might have to do with the WiFi antenna design or placement of the latest iPad mini.

 

[zyrilth]

I have the same issue. In addition, slow speed (63Mbps) when using the 2.4GHz band. Lowering the 5GHz channel to below 149 alleviates the disconnect issue, however, the slow speed remains. This only works with in-house wifi. Once you are in the field, the disconnect issue returns.

Question for those knowledgeable: Do you think this issue can be corrected through firmware or is it definitely hardware?

It will be a pain to return, but if it is definitely hardware, there is no other suitable choice.

Thanks

Hi there, It seems that upgrading to Ios 15.1 helps solving this issue.

In my community, lots of people that have reported that their problems were solved after update the ios. My ipad also does not experience any wifi issue as well after doing so.

 

[bobcomer]

No problem here, my router is a ZenWiFi AX. Looks like it defaults to channel 44 for 5.0Ghz. It's almost as fast as a wired Gb connection when using my Mini.

 

[allapon]

Just got 256GB Wi-Fi and cellular starlight yesterday after 1 month waiting. Since I used Netgear Orbi, they use the backend on higher channel. I have no problem with 5 GHz WiFi at all and got almost 1000/500Mbps on the connection!

 

[60+IT]

Update for my iPad mini 6 WiFi drop issue -

I spoke with both Amazon and Apple last week to begin a contact trail for replacement or correction. Apple performed some diagnostics (which did not show anything wrong) and escalated to a senior Tech/Engineer. We went through the normal diagnostics and questions with the call ending in another contact date (this Friday).

In the meantime, the issue seems to have subsided. I am getting acceptable speeds and very few dropouts. I'm not sure if Apple has performed some corrective action on my iPad mini 6 or not, but it now works as expected. I am on the same iPadOS 15.1.

At this point, it appears as though the issue may be caused due to the modem being extra sensitive to noise or the environment which may ultimately be corrected by firmware Not sure again).

Well, that's the current update. Strange that the issue is almost gone without changing anything on my end.