Apple Acknowledges iPad Wi-Fi Problems UPDATED
Apple admits to iPad Wi-Fi difficulties and suggests that you reconfigure your router to help it along.
Yesterday we reported on the early issues plaguing the early adopters of the Apple iPad. Problems include weak Wi-Fi performance and sensitivity to high temperatures.
It appears that Apple has quietly acknowledged some of the Wi-Fi issues in an update to its support site.
Apple described the Wi-Fi problem symptoms as, "Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep. This can occur with some third-party Wi-Fi routers that are dual-band capable when: * Using the same network name for each network; * Using different security settings for each network."
Apple suggests a solution of giving each Wi-Fi band a different SSID name but both bands to have the security type.
Read more about the reported iPad problems here.
UPDATE: Apple's also updated this support article for those having Wi-Fi problems. Of course, it may not be the most helpful as one of the suggestions that Apple gives to those with a weak Wi-Fi signal is just to move closer to the router -- partially defeating the freedom of wireless internet.
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typical that they blame the problem on other hardware.. always seems to be the way.. it isn't our fault.. it is the "insert hardware here" that you are using... went through that when I had a problem with my cable internet.. they said it was my router.. problem went away when I switched provider and same router worked fine..
If Apple is having a problem with their product.. they should just own up to in NOW.. instead of waiting and hoping it goes away .. like MS did with the 360 problem.
cough*bullshit*cough
Ignoring problems... there's an app for that!
third party wifi routers.....
so I guess it must work perfectly with an apple airport router then right? not likely.....
its Apple... of course its not their fault. They are perfect.
Considering that the hardware is so similar to the Iphone or Ipod, I don't understand why their having problems with the wifi?
I love how you have to change your stuff to work with the iPad not have the iPad work with your stuff.
While I'm at it why don't I just redesign my network around the iPad while I'm at it.
I'd love to see someone bring this to there net admin at work "ummm I need you to redeploy our wireless so it'll work with my iPad"
Wow Apple, just wow.
Since it's mostly tech noobs that buy Apple Products, they'll be even more helpless with this.
"Apple suggests a solution of giving each Wi-Fi band a different SSID name but both bands to have the security type."
Surely 90% of ipad owners will NOT understand the above phrase.
I love how you have to change your stuff to work with the iPad not have the iPad work with your stuff.While I'm at it why don't I just redesign my network around the iPad while I'm at it.I'd love to see someone bring this to there net admin at work "ummm I need you to redeploy our wireless so it'll work with my iPad"Wow Apple, just wow.
Well one, they have a massive wall of aluminium right between the wifi radio and the outside world, they don't redesign it because they suck at making radical redesigns, much like their macbook line, and ... overall the fruit is more of a hassle then M$
Okay I'm the first to throw an apple product under the bus and then burn the remains (and I do on most of these articles)...but this is just silly.
Even Windows 7 will pop up and say that the settings saved for network XYZ don't match the current environment if you try to save multiple networks with the same name and different settings. Either one won't connect or you have to overwrite one.
Now the RANGE issue is different, but I don't see them addressing that here. ...must have been 'accidentally' deleted from their boards so they aren't yet aware of that part.
So if the wifi models have issues will they fix it in the 3G models before shipping them out?
Since it's mostly tech noobs that buy Apple Products, they'll be even more helpless with this. "Apple suggests a solution of giving each Wi-Fi band a different SSID name but both bands to have the security type."Surely 90% of ipad owners will NOT understand the above phrase.
That first part... "Since it's mostly tech noobs that buy Apple Products, they'll be even more helpless with this. "
Most accurate statement I've EVER heard, walk around best buy or a (shutter ~ Apple Store) listen to some of the INSANE questions current/future users ask sales reps!!
Hey Steve, why should I have to do anything to my router? Every other device I have connects just fine. I can't believe the balls Apple has.
As someone already has said, do you really think the average Apple product buyer is going to have any freaking idea how to do that?...lol
I have had a similar problem sporadically with both my old iPod Touch and my iPhone 3GS - sometimes when I got back to my house after work, it wouldn't auto-join my home wifi network and it said the password was wrong. Well, I discovered that during the day I had been passing through a network with the exact same name and presumably same encryption method as mine - this caused a problem with the auto-join feature and really bugged me for a while. I had to change my SSID to a totally unique name to stop the problem. Pretty awful programming flaw in my opinion, and i'm very surprised they didn't fix it in the iPad, even though it's the same OS.
Another thought - anyone who bought an iPad and expected the range of the wifi to be as good as, say, a MacBook or any other laptop was extremely delusional; if you have ever compared the wifi range of the iPhone or iPod Touch to a laptop, it is just sad. I can get my home wireless-N signal almost two blocks away with my notebook (a vaio) but I almost have to be in my house to pick it up with my iphone 3GS. Don't see why this would change on the iPad; its probably a very similar wifi antenna.
just another sign of Apple's arrogance, thinking that the consumer needs to do things their way. Apple = PHAIL!!
From what I have seen, it is an antenna polarization issue. Try this... take your your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch about 25-35 feet away from your router or in another room. You should get at least a couple good bars. Next, face the iPad/iWhatever so the screen is facing the ceiling and the bars will most likely go down or drop signal. This is caused by the signal being disrupted because the antennas of both the iWhatever and the router are not pointing in the same direction. And FYI, yes, part of my job is modeling antenna and radio wave RF propagation so I do know what I'm talking about.
iPad FAIL!
From what I have seen, it is an antenna polarization issue. Try this... take your your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch about 25-35 feet away from your router or in another room. You should get at least a couple good bars. Next, face the iPad/iWhatever so the screen is facing the ceiling and the bars will most likely go down or drop signal. This is caused by the signal being disrupted because the antennas of both the iWhatever and the router are not pointing in the same direction. And FYI, yes, part of my job is modeling antenna and radio wave RF propagation so I do know what I'm talking about.
And yet my laptop, when I try this, doesn't have any issues connecting; funny that.
What exactly is a 3rd party device? Who are the first and second parties? This is an iPad software glitch where they didn't link mac addresses to the ssid.
Instead of pointing fingers they should quickly develop a fix. Acting like a bunch of 12 year old kids is not a way to go.
Instead of pointing fingers they should quickly develop a fix. Acting like a bunch of 12 year old kids is not a way to go.
Instead of pointing fingers they should quickly develop a fix. Acting like a bunch of 12 year old kids is not a way to go.
How'd they screw this up?
its called "Bleeding Edge" for a reason... Glad I'm waiting until the second generation so all the kinks are worked out.
How'd they screw this up?
Haven't you been listening? They are Apple Almighty! THEY "DON'T" screw "ANYTHING" up. It's everyone elses fault! So it has been written in the stone and handed down from the mount. OBEY!
/extreme sarcasm/
What exactly is a 3rd party device? Who are the first and second parties? This is an iPad software glitch where they didn't link mac addresses to the ssid.
Apple Almighty is the "First Party," you are the "Second Party," and anything else is "Third Party."
Comes from contract legal speak.
I really wish that people were this engaged when it came to issues that really matter - like starving children, crime, stupid people allowed to breed uncontrolled, etc... wow, please evolve - quickly... before we all go extinct...
"Under certain conditions" = when being used.
Changing the router's SSID works for some people but not all... but it's better than telling users to rewrite the wi-fi stack so it works. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I'm assuming they're going to be doing that, but are offering a workaround for some people in the meantime.
To put this in perspective, I have some wakeup issues on both my desktop and my laptop. Neither one Apple. I wouldn't know who to call (microsoft? graphics or wi-fi board maker? motherboard maker? bios maker?) and imagine I would wait 30 minutes and have to pay $40 to be told it's someone else's problem. So I just live with it.
That doesn't make apple right, but perhaps apple users have more of an expectation that the product will work, and they can get apple to fix it if it doesn't?
Note -- not an apple fan-boy. I don't own an apple, unless you count a shuffle.
Ok, so you can't charge your iPad over a standards-compliant USB port (not while doing anything with it anyway), but you CAN charge it if you use an Apple completely-making-this-crap-up-as-we-go high-powered USB port (12V, what the hell Apple?).
Now, you can't get a reliable Wi-Fi connection using your standards-compliant wireless router, but if you mess with the default settings that every other product uses just fine, you should be able to correct the problem.
Thanks for that Apple!