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New Ipad Owner - wifi not very hot

G

Garand

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2006
56
0
Decided to go for a 32GB wifi ipad. Love the machine, synced up several apps. runs and looks great. However, the wifi is not that great and is spotty. The Ipad has the new update 3.2.1, recognizes the home wifi system which is hardwired to a PC and has wifi to xbox 360, and 2 other macs. I am using Comcast high speed with a Lynksys home networking modem

The PC downloads at great speeds, the xbox loads game videos quick - 30mb in 2 mins. But when I click on safari to surf I get a full signal but web sites that time out with the small spinning icon.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 
Something sounds wrong. iPad safari is very good for me.

Maybe the sites you are going to don't work well on the iPad?
 
Garand said:
Decided to go for a 32GB wifi ipad. Love the machine, synced up several apps. runs and looks great. However, the wifi is not that great and is spotty. The Ipad has the new update 3.2.1, recognizes the home wifi system which is hardwired to a PC and has wifi to xbox 360, and 2 other macs. I am using Comcast high speed with a Lynksys home networking modem

The PC downloads at great speeds, the xbox loads game videos quick - 30mb in 2 mins. But when I click on safari to surf I get a full signal but web sites that time out with the small spinning icon.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Click to expand...

What sort of WiFi are you running 802.11g, 802.11n?

If you look at the details of your WiFi connection (Settings > WiFi > yourNetworkName) are you getting a valid IP address (not one that starts with 169)?

You might want to try restarting your router.

You could try reading Apple's trouble-shooting documents:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3237

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304?viewlocale=en_US
 
my wifi has been shotty too - when towards the outer signals of my routers range. when i am in range it seems fine. its only youtube that ALWAYS loads slow :(
 
Well clicking around on the PC see 802.11b/g for drivers - under the realtek driver. Not sure if that is it or not.
 
i'm sure the iPad itself is fine. if it works fine on other wifi networks, then it is something with your router/modem. if you are running WEP security switch it to WPA, update the firmware on your router, etc.

if all else fails, seriously just buy a new router that supports N.
 
You should make sure your router has the most recent firmware. You may need to adjust the settings, but for me updating the wireless routers firmware solved my problems.
 
DoFoT9 said:
my wifi has been shotty too - when towards the outer signals of my routers range. when i am in range it seems fine. its only youtube that ALWAYS loads slow :(
Click to expand...

Ugh yes. Since the update I constantly drop signal on the other side of the house. But as soon as I get into settings, it shows my network and I can connect again. Just annoying. And I never had a problem before the "wifi fix"
 
I hate to say it, but buy an Apple Airport Extreme and replace your Linksys router. That's guaranteed to solve the problem. The Extreme works perfectly with my iPad. Although probably part of Apple's grand plan to have us buy all their stuff, their stuff admittedly works flawlessly with each other.
 
Sounds like that is the way to go - Airport Extreme. Being a non-teckie. I am hoping the comcast line links to the airport extreme, then I can hard wire to the gaming PC as I do today. Then set up wireless for the xbox360, wii, PS3, ipad, and the 2 macs. Is it that simple?

Thanks.
 
Garand said:
Sounds like that is the way to go - Airport Extreme. Being a non-teckie. I am hoping the comcast line links to the airport extreme, then I can hard wire to the gaming PC as I do today. Then set up wireless for the xbox360, wii, PS3, ipad, and the 2 macs. Is it that simple?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think almost certainly so.
 
I find the iPad wifi is weak.

You need to be have 1 wall or no wall between iPad and wifi station.

Even 1 wall can result in spotty reception.
 
I use the DLINK DIR 655 wireless a/b/g/n router and it's great for me... i doubt G will work well with ipad. N is the way to go (don't pick draft n though).
 
Consultant said:
I find the iPad wifi is weak.

You need to be have 1 wall or no wall between iPad and wifi station.

Even 1 wall can result in spotty reception.
Click to expand...

Interesting, but not so in my experience and situation. My Airport Extreme is upstairs on the 2nd floor, while I'm down in the basement with the iPad and a flawless connection, altho at half the signal strength compared to 1st floor full strength.
 
Richard8655 said:
Interesting, but not so in my experience and situation. My Airport Extreme is upstairs on the 2nd floor, while I'm down in the basement with the iPad and a flawless connection.
Click to expand...

I use 5ghz. you?

2.4ghz at work seems more stable.
 
I'm running a dual 2.4 and 5ghz network on my linksys WRT-610N router (seperate SSID's). I run my 64gb Wifi+3G iPad on the 5ghz network, which currently is only my laptop and my iPad and everything else runs on the 2.4...

I have zero issues with iPad wifi, it runs fast and smooth, video loads quick (3G isnt too bad either)

I get about 16mbps down and 4mbps up with wifi according to speedtest app.
 
Richard8655 said:
Not sure, as the Extreme provides simulteneous 2.4ghz and 5ghz (dual) signals. Maybe you're onto the reason why some users have better iPad signal strength with some routers vs. others.
Click to expand...

Mine is the old version set to 5ghz only.
 
saberahul said:
I use the DLINK DIR 655 wireless a/b/g/n router and it's great for me... i doubt G will work well with ipad. N is the way to go (don't pick draft n though).
Click to expand...


My mom has an old d-link wireless G and my iPad works great with it.
 
nixiemaiden said:
Ugh yes. Since the update I constantly drop signal on the other side of the house. But as soon as I get into settings, it shows my network and I can connect again. Just annoying. And I never had a problem before the "wifi fix"
Click to expand...
yeh man i have the same problem sometimes! i actually havent updated yet. so the issues seem to be across the versions :( ive always had the problem

Richard8655 said:
Not sure, as the Extreme provides simulteneous 2.4ghz and 5ghz (dual) signals. Maybe you're onto the reason why some users have better iPad signal strength with some routers vs. others.
Click to expand...
it will automatically pick the 5ghz spectrum if you are on the network hat supports it.

PaulNY said:
I have zero issues with iPad wifi, it runs fast and smooth, video loads quick (3G isnt too bad either)

I get about 16mbps down and 4mbps up with wifi according to speedtest app.
Click to expand...

i dont have any issues either parsay, but youtube sometimes takes FOREVER to load. and just so you know, those speedtest apps dont represent the download/upload speeds that individual apps might get - due to a number of factors. :)
 
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