WiFi 4th Generation Disconnects??

[Futs & Jan]

My Wife has had a problem with her 4th Generation Ipad that wherever she connects wirelessly she has frequent disconnects as where my 3rd Generation Ipad stays connected in the same room or location. My question is; Is there some internal sensitivity adjustment in the Ipad 4th Generation circuitry to increase the wifi receiver sensitivity to stop the disconnects? Or does anyone have any suggestions as to how to remedy this problem. The Ipad is up to date on all updates. Thank you.

 

[giradman]

Hello Futs & Jan - welcome to the forum! Concerning your question about an intermittent Wi-Fi connection of her iPad, I'm assuming this is on your home network - correct? If so, does she have the same problem if connected to another wireless network, e.g. at a Wi-Fi hot spot or an hotel? If not the latter, then the issue may be your home network?

My first suggestion is to go into Settings -> Wi-Fi on her device and forget the network, then try to re-connect again - does this help? If unsuccessful, then disconnect the power from your modem & router (may be the same device) and 'Reset' the iPad - power up the modem followed by the router, and try to connect again to the network - let us know if this helps - Dave

 

[Futs & Jan]

Thank you Giradman for your reply. The Ipad does the same thing when trying to connect to other wifi networks. I have done the forget the network and reconnected to the network without any success. I have changed modem/routers and that didn't help. I haven't reset the Ipad in fear of losing all the programs in it. I suspect it just has a weak wifi receiver.

 

[giradman]

Thank you Giradman for your reply. The Ipad does the same thing when trying to connect to other wifi networks. I have done the forget the network and reconnected to the network without any success. I have changed modem/routers and that didn't help. I haven't reset the Ipad in fear of losing all the programs in it. I suspect it just has a weak wifi receiver.

Hello again - well, I was hoping that she could connect elsewhere and that 'power recycling' your modem/router would do the trick - often does. Concerning Reset, see the quote below - this is a 'Soft Reset' and will NOT affect the files, apps, or settings on the iPad - I've performed the process numerous times on our three iDevices, usually after iOS updates/upgrades.

Also, go to the iPad App Store and click on iPhone apps and download Wi-Fi Sweetspots to both iPads (see first image below) - then first standing next to your router, start the app on both devices, then walk to various rooms/places in your house and see what 'transmit rates' are being reported - see the second image - in my den (a room away from my router), I'm getting about 30 Mbps (probably be about 50 Mbps next to my router) - let us know your results (post similar images if you know how, but blank out your SSID, i.e. name of your network at the top). Dave

P.S. now I'm assuming that your wife's iPad might be at least working intermittently on your home network?

1. Force Close - open the multi-tasking bar (double tap the 'home buttom’) - iOS 8.x/9.x - find the offending app - then press and drag to the top of the screen - return to the home screen & try again.

2. Restart - press & hold the 'Sleep/Awake' (a.k.a. power) button until a red slider appears (may take a few seconds) - move the slider to turn off the iPad; then press & hold the same button until the Apple logo appears - wait for a restart.

3. Reset - press & hold the 'Power' and 'Home' buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears (this may take longer); release the buttons and the iPad will 're-boot' - NOTE that none of these maneuvers will alter your apps, files, or settings.

.

 

[Futs & Jan]

Thanks again Don, Well I did the soft reset and I installed the WiFi Sweetspots and compared my Ipad 3rd to my Wife's 4th generation and mine had the higher report. Being that we are on slow Centurylink DSL (12 mbps) in a rural area and the Centurylink C1000A modem/router is probably a low grade unit, I suspect that is causing the disconnects on her unit. I will have to find a higher grade replacement DSL modem/router to see if that will help. Thanks again for all your help. Forrest

 

[giradman]

Thanks again XXX Dave, Well I did the soft reset and I installed the WiFi Sweetspots and compared my Ipad 3rd to my Wife's 4th generation and mine had the higher report. Being that we are on slow Centurylink DSL (12 mbps) in a rural area and the Centurylink C1000A modem/router is probably a low grade unit, I suspect that is causing the disconnects on her unit. I will have to find a higher grade replacement DSL modem/router to see if that will help. Thanks again for all your help. Forrest

Hi Forrest - just curious; first, where you getting 12 Mbps on your iPad? Second, how much less was your wife receiving on her device? Third, how did these rates vary as you walked about your home? Finally, how many other devices in your house are 'sharing' this bandwidth (I have a dozen devices communicating w/ my Apple Extreme router)? Thanks for any additional information - Dave

 

[Futs & Jan]

Hi Dave, My 3rd generation varied from about 13 to 4 mbps and my Wife's 4th gen varied from about 4 to 0 mbps as I walked about the house. We just have the. 2 Ipad's on wifi. So I think it is a combination of her Ipad has poor receiver sensitivity and a cheap modem/router. Thanks Dave. Forrest

 

[giradman]

Hi Dave, My 3rd generation varied from about 13 to 4 mbps and my Wife's 4th gen varied from about 4 to 0 mbps as I walked about the house. We just have the. 2 Ipad's on wifi. So I think it is a combination of her Ipad has poor receiver sensitivity and a cheap modem/router. Thanks Dave. Forrest

Hi again Forrest - thanks for the further information - I'm sure that you have done some googling on the iPad 4 to see if that specific model may have Wi-Fi issues, if so, any help? I guess that you can try a new modem/router and/or visit some Wi-Fi hotspots or friend's houses to see if your wife's device behaves better on another network using the app. Finally, if you are near an Apple store, you might want to make an appointment w/ the 'Genius Bar' for a diagnostic assessment - should be free and does not have to be in warranty. Dave