no wifi hardware detected

[PsyMan]

I have an iPad 2 that refuses to detect the wifi hardware, wifi option is greyed out and wifi mac address = N/A in the about section. I have purchased and installed a new wifi antenna (long old job that turned out to be but satisfying none the less) but was disapointed to find the same problem when it was all back together and working again. I have restored via itunes and my macbook pro and done all of the usual resets of iPad and networking to no avail. Annoyingly the bluetooth turns on but gets stuck in a search for devices else I would have piggybacked the internet off of the bluetooth WAN option on the macbook.

My questions are:

1. Is this a know issue and can it be fixed cheaply enough (obviously out of warranty now as I have opened it)
2. Can I load apps to it from the macbook pro somehow when the iPad cant connect to the internet at all (sync to macbook is fine)
3. Is there any 3rd party external wifi adapter that can be purchased or any other feasable way of getting it online (via USB?)

Seems to be pretty dead in the water without any internet connectivity but I am hoping someone might be able to offer a solution.

It has been updated via iTunes to 7.0.3 by the way and it appears I can't reverse that now.

Any advice would be appreciated before I condemn it to the bin

 

[scifan57]

Maybe the problem is not your iPad, but the router. Have you tried other routers? Will your iPad connect to WiFi at other locations?

 

[PsyMan]

I cant turn on the iPads wifi to find out, I am fairly confident that if I could enable wifi on the iPad that it would connect through my router.

 

[scifan57]

If changing the antenna made no difference, the problem may lie with the controlling circuitry.

 

[PsyMan]

I think I have given up on fixing the wifi or getting it online at all but it would be really useful to get some apps on there using the macbook and itunes somehow, games for the kids etc, anything that doesnt involve internet connectivity. I have a new Nexus 10 arriving next week from work so not overly fussed about an online tablet but rather than waste an otherwise perfectly good device it would be good to make it usable for something apart from an interactive tablemat

 

[PsyMan]

update: i now managed to get bluetooth working and connected to my macbook, internet sharing is enabled through bluetooth on the macbook, anything i need to do on ihe ipad to get online? Scratch that, onnection via bluetooth is touch and go (20 seconds at best)

 

[JewelGarden]

If you can sync your iPad with iTunes on your Mac you should be able to load apps from iTunes to the iPad. Have a look here: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12315

 

[PsyMan]

Jewelgarden, you are a saviour, viewing the ipad apps on the macbook in a browser allowed me to view them in itunes, download them and then sync them to the interactive tablemat. Brilliant, at least it is useful for something now. Thanks again. My google-fu must be weak not to have found that . I must say, iTunes is not the most intuitive application I have ever used. On my android I just browse in google play store then click "install" and my phone gets the app, seems long winded using iTunes but at least it works, thats fantastic, 2 very happy children now . Ironic, I look after 600+ iMacs, 200+ macbooks, 12 xserves and countless idevices for my job but never in 10 years have I ever used iTunes for anything LOL

 

[JewelGarden]

Glad to be of help.