Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tiger8

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 23, 2011
2,479
649
Ok so this is really strange, and I don't know if it's the result of upgrading my 3rd gen iPad to iOS 6 (and keeping my iPhone 4S on iOS5). I am staying in a hotel, and I have been noticing consistently that the iPad is unable to pick a signal, while iPhone picks it in 2 seconds. Once it picks it it is fine, but once I set it to stand by, it loses signal.

I understand -thanks to Amazon- that laptops have better wifi antennas, but does the iPad wifi antenna suck so much that even a tiny iPhone has a better chance of picking a signal? or is it an iOS 6 side-effect?
 

plympton

macrumors newbie
Jul 22, 2002
14
1
Yes it is true I believe. My iPad can't connect at the moment but I'm tapping this away on my 4s. Bummer. With all that space you'd figure otherwise!
 

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
Yes it is true I believe. My iPad can't connect at the moment but I'm tapping this away on my 4s. Bummer. With all that space you'd figure otherwise!
No. You'd figure exactly as the OP observes.

iPad is full metal shielded rear, can only transmit WIFI through the front glass.

The 4/4S/5 has RF transparent glass panels front and back. RF signals can propagate in/out from wider angles..
 

davyvfr

macrumors regular
Sep 3, 2012
148
0
I noticed this too with my iPad 3 16GB Wifi and iPhone 5. With a 100 Mb/s connection, my iPhone gets around 60-80. My iPad will get 40mbps. Its reception is horrible and I am wondering if I should take it in this March since my warranty will be up soon. Does anyone have a defective Wifi iPad?
 

Batavian

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2011
464
38
The wifi antenna is located behind the speaker. You can test this by putting your hand/palm over the speaker grate and see the number of wifi bars drop.
 

davyvfr

macrumors regular
Sep 3, 2012
148
0
Yep, its known as the "death grip". But the real question is, is why does the iPad get 1/2 the network connection speed as the iPhone 5. Surely, there has to be a different Wifi chip between the two. Multiple SpeedTest on the same server confirm the iPad is slower than the iPhone.
 

AndyKE

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2016
2
0
Nairobi, Kenya
I noticed this too with my iPad 3 16GB Wifi and iPhone 5. With a 100 Mb/s connection, my iPhone gets around 60-80. My iPad will get 40mbps. Its reception is horrible and I am wondering if I should take it in this March since my warranty will be up soon. Does anyone have a defective Wifi iPad?
Your iPad wifi isn't defective. The iPhone 5 was released after the iPad 3, meaning the wifi technology is better hence the difference. To be exact, iPhone 5's wifi specs are (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz) while the iPad 3's wifi specs is just (802.11a/b/g/n)
 

lagwagon

Suspended
Oct 12, 2014
3,899
2,759
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Your iPad wifi isn't defective. The iPhone 5 was released after the iPad 3, meaning the wifi technology is better hence the difference. To be exact, iPhone 5's wifi specs are (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz) while the iPad 3's wifi specs is just (802.11a/b/g/n)

Pretty sure the person doesn't care anymore about it. Considering this entire thread is 4 years old and post you quoted was a little over 3 years ago.
 

Badrottie

Suspended
May 8, 2011
4,317
335
Los Angeles
I remmedered at the main public library with so many people carrying laptops/tablets, etc. iPhone picked up library wifi pretty well but slow connection. my Air 2 took so long to find wifi. LG G Pad F 8.0 was very quick connect to wifi.
 

darkinners

macrumors member
Mar 15, 2013
85
30
Weird . My iPad mini4 have much better wifi strength than my iPhone 6.
At the same spot iPhone barely load webpage while iPad streaming 1080p Netflix with ease
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.