My wifi is perfect for a month then gone for a while then back again??

[Catwilxan]

I have a fully updated 1st gen iPad and a belkin modem router. Since the beginning I have had sporadic wifi success at home. Some weeks it works great then it drops out and although the iPad settings tell me I have working wifi it doesn't actually work at all and uses 3G instead. My laptop is having no problem with the home wifi at any time. The iPad seems to work fine in other locations with wifi?

I have reset, fiddled, followed all suggestions I have come across with no joy. I rang belkin and they assured me my modem was fine. The next day I was due to see the apple genius desk but then the wifi came back perfect and stayed for a few weeks now it's gone again without me doing anything either time to any settings... Doing my head in. I am thinking of changing the modem/router. Is there one that would be best you can recommend?

Or does anyone have any thoughts on my situation?

Thanks so much!!

 

[OUTL4W]

just a few q's:
how old is router?
do you have security enabled? if not, any close neighbors?
have you checked to make sure router has up-to-date firmware?

maybe resetting router to original factory settings?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

OUTL4W's suggestion are excellent. We've had a few people who have found that their iPad is trying to connect to a neighbour's WiFi without them realising! The WiFi antenna on the iPad is quite sensitive so you'll find that it can 'see' WiFi networks your PC may not be able to.

Tim

 

[Catwilxan]

My modem is just over 2 years old. I haven't been able to update it's firm wear. I've tried but it just doesn't happen. I have reset the modem a couple of times. I have also checked the security on it and changed it to wpa/wpa2. I do have a neighbor who's wifi comes up but I cancel it when it does.

The weird thing I have noticed is that when the wifi isn't working properly my iPad appears to have the wrong ip address in the settings it has gotten from the modem, it is just the wrong address but when it is working the address is the right one. It appears to be happening at random and I can't seem to force the correct address? Or don't know how to or how to keep it unchanged. I'm thinking the communication between the 2 is just not working properly. That's why I am thinking it must be the modem/router?

Thanks guys...

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

My modem is just over 2 years old. I haven't been able to update it's firm wear. I've tried but it just doesn't happen. I have reset the modem a couple of times. I have also checked the security on it and changed it to wpa/wpa2. I do have a neighbor who's wifi comes up but I cancel it when it does.

The weird thing I have noticed is that when the wifi isn't working properly my iPad appears to have the wrong ip address in the settings it has gotten from the modem, it is just the wrong address but when it is working the address is the right one. It appears to be happening at random and I can't seem to force the correct address? Or don't know how to or how to keep it unchanged. I'm thinking the communication between the 2 is just not working properly. That's why I am thinking it must be the modem/router?

Thanks guys...

When you say it has the 'wrong' IP address, what exactly do you mean? It's normally something like 192.168.1.100 - i.e. a private IP address. When you notice it's 'wrong' what is it?

Tim

 

[Catwilxan]

When the wifi is working properly the ip address in the wifi settings is the correct one for the router, 192.168.2.1 or something like that. When the wifi stops working the ip address in the settings has changed to something like 169.254.101.256. This change in address seems totally random and unpredictable. Thanks again, is it mysterious or what?

 

[OUTL4W]

sounds like the ipad is attempting to connect to another access point with a stronger signal. under wifi settings...do you have "Ask to join networks" turned on?

 

[Catwilxan]

I do have the 'ask to join other networks' on. I will turn it off and see how that goes. Thanks!

 

[Catwilxan]

However, the strange ip address is in the settings under my home pc details? But will turn off the option to join other networks.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

If your local IP address is returned as 169.254.y.z with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, the IP address was assigned by the Automatic Private IP Addressing feature of the iPad. This assignment means that TCP/IP is configured for automatic configuration, that no DHCP server was found, and that no alternative configuration is specified. This configuration has no default gateway for the interface. DHCP - or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - is the mechanism by which the iPad is assigned its IP address on your home network. It is normally the router that handles this task, handing out IP addresses to all the various devices on the network.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For some reason or other, when your iPad exhibits the problem you are describing, it has failed to receive an IP address from the router and assigns itself a default address.

OK - this 'explanation' doesn't solve the problem in any way, but we are getting closer to understanding what is going on here....

So, to clarify, you see this 169.254.x.y address actually under 'Settings' on the iPad and you can also see it reported by the router, when you interrogate the router from your PC?

Tim

 

[Catwilxan]

Ok, to clarify the IP address shown in my Ipad Wifi Settings page under my home pc connection is 169.254.101.156, subnet mask 255.255.0.0.

The ip address in my router settings found via the router page on my pc is 192.168.2.1. Subnet mask 255.255.0. When I look under the security log on the router page on the pc it says it continually sends out offers (a bunch every minute) to my ipad but is being ignored. (Don't know if this is relevant) When it sends out the offer to my laptop it is accepted and logged on.

Thanks again...

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

OK - I've looked back through the various posts and, although you say that you've reset the router, I can't see anywhere that you've reset (power off - power on - by holding down the Power button for a couple of seconds) the iPad. I can't imagine that you haven't done this occasionally - Apple recommend once a week - but thought I'd ask anyway....

Tim

 

[Catwilxan]

Yes, I have turned the iPad off and on recently. I try that each time this wifi problem occurs but it doesn't help. I will do it weekly. My ipad wifi is working fine at other homes and businesses just not mine. I have also turned the router off and on a number of times as well as resetting it through the router page.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Yes, I have turned the iPad off and on recently. I try that each time this wifi problem occurs but it doesn't help. I will do it weekly. My ipad wifi is working fine at other homes and businesses just not mine. I have also turned the router off and on a number of times as well as resetting it through the router page.

OK - thanks. You can see I'm running out of ideas....

But I just hate to be beaten by a problem!

So I'll keep coming up with equally useless ideas....

Tim

 

[OUTL4W]

Just a couple other useless suggestions....
And you did reset router to factory settings via the pin hole on back/side of unit?..not via the router page.
You said the ipad connects fine at other homes and business's....what type of security are they running if any?

you tried turning off wpa security and see if ipad connects?...

only other thing I can suggest is to spend the 40 or 50bones for a new router.