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Dropping wi-fi connection

Garymidd

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I have an iPad 2 (6.1.2) on a Verizon Internet (3Mbps). I have a cisco wireless router and I have been able to connect just fine for a bout 2 years. Just recently I have noticed it looses the Wi-Fi and switches over to 3G when i am more than 30 feet or so from the router. I am still able to connect to the Wi-Fi quite a distance away from the router on my laptop. Any ideas?
 

twerppoet

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This used to help.

Go to Settings > Wi-Fi, select your network and Forget it. Restart your iPad. That's a power down, tap just the power button to sleep.

Turn your router off, and leave it off for a minute or two.

Turn the router back on and wait for it to completely reboot.

Open your Settings > Wi-Fi and join your network again.


Routers sometimes decide they don't like certain devices anymore, and get finicky. Restarting usually clears this. Forgetting the network on the iPad insures that older network settings don't linger, in case that was causing problems. Restarting it clears most other problems that might have accumulated. All computers should be restarted now and then for this reason.


It would not hurt to go to the Cisco site and make sure your router has the most recent firmware update as well.


Good luck.



------------------------------
The Usual Fixes
------------------------------


When you have problems with an app it's a good idea to clear it from RAM.

Close/Clear the app:

iOS 6: With the problem app closed, double tap on the Home button to get the multitask bar. Tap and hold on any icon in the bar until they jiggle, then tap the minus sign on the problem app.

iOS 7: Double tap the Home button to get the multitasking display. Swipe up on the problem app's thumbnail image (not the icon).

If that does not work try a restart,

Restart: Hold down the power button until the power off slider appears. Slide it off. When the iPad finishes shutting down, hold down the power button again until the Apple logo appears. Apple recommends you restart the iPad at least once a month.

and then a reset if that does not work.

Reset: Hold down the power and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. The iPad will reboot. This usually takes a bit longer than a restart.

Reset All Settings: Another, somewhat more drastic thing you can do is Reset All Settings. You'll find this under Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. It won't erase any of your content, apps, or accounts; but you will have to go through most of your other settings and re-tweak them back to your liking. Do not confuse this with Erase All Content and Settings.

More detailed information at: iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
 

leelai

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Hi and welcome to the Forum!

I do hope your issue is now fixed after the good advice you have received.

As you had posted duplicate threads, I have merged the other response you received with this thread and deleted your other thread.
Please do not post twice on your issue as it divides the information given and makes it confusing for members to follow. It is also against our Forum Rules. Please keep all further information on this issue to this thread alone.
 
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Garymidd

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Thank for all your input. I have done all that. Actually I went out and got the new Cisco router yesterday because I thought it might be that. No improvement. Can the antenna in the IPad go bad? The Wi-Fi connection actually drops when I get more than 10 feet away from the router. And I see the loos of bars 5 feet away. But like I said I still get a strong signal on the laptop many rooms away.
 

leelai

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Thank for all your input. I have done all that. Actually I went out and got the new Cisco router yesterday because I thought it might be that. No improvement. Can the antenna in the IPad go bad? The Wi-Fi connection actually drops when I get more than 10 feet away from the router. And I see the loos of bars 5 feet away. But like I said I still get a strong signal on the laptop many rooms away.

I see you have bought a new router, did you then look to see if there were updates available for it?

The only times I have heard of an 'antenna' going bad is if you've had a drop or the screen has been replaced....has this happened at all?
 
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Garymidd

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The new router was set up with help from Cisco so it is all up to date, like I said the laptop 3 rooms away still has connection. There was a drop months ago. Still worked fine up to a week or so ago.
 

leelai

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The new router was set up with help from Cisco so it is all up to date, like I said the laptop 3 rooms away still has connection. There was a drop months ago. Still worked fine up to a week or so ago.

WelI hope nothing has been jarred loose by the drop.

Have a look at these 2 links and try the advice given.....I hope one works for you....let us know.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1398
http://appletoolbox.com/2010/04/ipad-wi-fi-problems-comprehensive-list-of-fixes/
 

twerppoet

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Does the signal strength on the iPad drop off after those 10 feet? If so, then it may indeed be a hardware problem. If the signal is looking good and the iPad is still dropping off, I'm not so certain.

If you have other wi-fi networks nearby that you play with on the iPad (Starbucks, McDonalds), it might be worth trying those for comparison.
 
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Garymidd

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leelai, I will try those suggestions tomorrow. Thanks
Twerppoet, yes I watch the signal strength diminish as I more away from the router. I will try a free Wi-Fi hot spot. Good idea, thanks.
 
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Garymidd

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Well I have tried looking for a lot of the settings mentioned here on my router setup pages. Most I cannot find. I even called linksys support and the woman in some third world country could not help me. She wanted me to clear my web browsers cache and she didn't know what the fragmenting or CTS / RTS thresholds were. (She wanted me to take my iPad to a service tech to be de-fragmented. So I am once again at a loss. I have tried different frequencies - no help. (Should I have to reboot the router every time I change the frequency?). I will still try an outside Wi-Fi hotspot sometime see what that does, although I imagine that when I am in range of Starbucks Wi-Fi I will connect and when I move out of range it will change to 3G. Same issue I am having at home except that at home I now seem to be out of range within 30 feet.
 

Fred Garvin

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Sounds like it's time to really pinpoint the issue:

Go to a friends house with wi-fi and test your iPad.

Go to any wi-fi hotspot you can access and test your iPad.

Test by seeing how far away you can get before you lose signal. This will tell you if the problem is with the iPad, or just the iPad at home.

Test your home wi-fi with the laptop (as you have) and try to get a picture of your effective bubble. Verify this with other devices as well (phones, etc).

Test your iPad at home in different directions. See if it's only one direction you're losing signal.

Test with the iPad and laptop/phone/etc next to each other, at the same time. You're trying to see only the IPad lose signal.

The more information you can gather to pinpoint the failure the better.

Once had a CRT monitor getting rainbows. Tried all sorts of things to no avail. Finally, with a pie pan we could block the interference, and tracked down a burned out lightbulb on the other side of the room in a light cluster....changed bulb, rainbows went away.

Point being, the more you focus your troubleshooting, especially when you can reproduce the issue on demand, the better your chances of fixing the issue.

iPad Air 32Gb Wi-Fi; 17" MacBook Pro; 24" iMac; iPhone 4; iPod Nano 6th Gen; iPod Shuffle; Apple TV 2
 

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