Wifi when out & about

[Mutley66]

Hey all, I have an iPad mini but wifi networks are driving me potty.
When at home it's fine - there are 15 networks in the building (apartment block) and it sticks to mine 100%.
When I go into town (Starbucks) it's a nightmare. I connect to Starbucks (after a lot of faffing around and it not always bringing up the "connect to Starbucks wifi" screen. There is a gaming store next door, a grocery store and the mall everything is in that have networks, all free and no passwords. After about 2 minutes, it joins (or tries to) join the mall's general wifi. Then i try to manually change back to Starbucks but it says unable to join network "dismiss". I can join the grocery one or the gaming store but the same thing happens. It just flits from one to the other.
I have already:
1. Tried "forget network" on all but Starbucks but it just finds them again and does the flitting again
2. Done a RESET on the networks in general settings.

I am thinking of doing a full factory reset. These are other questions if nobody has suggestions for the above:
3. How can I tell if my stuff is backed up to iCloud?
4. If I wipe it, when I set it up as me again, will it automatically download all my apps and settings from iCloud or do I have to do that manually?

Thanks to all in advance for any advice to 1, 2, 3 &4.
Matt.

 

[J. A.]

3. You can see what has been backed up to iCloud in your settings (Settings - General - Usage - iCloud - Manage Storage). You'll also see there when your iPad was updated the last time.
Additionally, this is what's backed up to iCloud as well:
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519?locale=en_GB

4. When you erase your iPad and use one of your iCloud backups to restore it, all the apps and settings that were on your device when the backup was performed will be on your iPad again afterwards.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mutley66]

Thanks J.A. Much appreciated!

 

[The OB]

G'day Mutley66 and welcome to the forum. I've deleted your other very similar post as duplication, aside from being against our rules, does tend to fragment the conversation. Glad that J. A. Has been of assistance to you.
Incidentally, I've closed the other, (over four years old) thread as the original posters are no longer around. Enjoy the forum!
Andrew

 

[J. A.]

Thanks J.A. Much appreciated!

You're welcome.

 

[Mutley66]

Oops. Breaking the rules on day 1! Lesson learnt .Thanks OB!

 

[2112]

I have an iPad mini 2 and when connecting to public wifi I have found a roundabout way to get connected. After checking the provider you want in settings, wifi, I then go to safari and click on a bookmarked site to prompt the "agree to terms" or "get connected " to show up. If it isn't a bookmark in safari it doesn't work. At this point your iPad should stop "flitting" I'm not sure why this happens but I suspect a clear cookies and history kind of thing? Anyway it gets me connected.

 

[twerppoet]

If forgetting individual sites is not working as it should, you can try Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

When rejoining networks keep in mind that the first networks you join tend to get a higher priority than later ones; so if you really want to use the Starbucks network when in Starbucks, make sure you don't join the others.

Also, check Settings > Wi-Fi and turn off Ask to Join Network. This will keep the iPad from prompting you to join every network in the neighborhood just because it hasn't quite figured out how to join one of your previously used networks.

If none of this works, a factory reset may indeed do the job. Or not. Network connectivity can be a pain, since not everything is dependent on your iPad. The load and reliability of the networks you are trying to join can be a problem as well.

 

[Mutley66]

Thanks...I think it's the ask to join I was missing that caused the constant changing. I've always been a SQL dba.....wish I'd paid more attention at networking 101 instead of leaving it all to our network manager!!

 

[Mutley66]

Thanks buddy....I usually save the login pages on my android tablet....at the moment I need to get to them to save them. I love free wifi, but just one network is enough!

 

[twerppoet]

Thanks...I think it's the ask to join I was missing that caused the constant changing. I've always been a SQL dba.....wish I'd paid more attention at networking 101 instead of leaving it all to our network manager!!

Ah. And I came at things from a phone system background (all wires and switching at it's heart), which means networking is my strong point; though wi-fi is pushing it some.