iPad 2 WiFi Death Grip

greendog said:

I've been having major WiFi problems with my iPad 2, and I read through the various posts here about wireless-N vs. mixed mode, but I've discovered something else:

If my iPad is sitting on the table, or I'm holding it by the top, left, or right edge, I consistently get 20 Mbps downloads (which is full speed from my cable company).

If I hold the iPad by the bottom (near the home button), download speeds drop to 0.4 Mbps and sometimes downloads stall completely for several seconds.

I almost always use landscape mode and hold the iPad in my left hand, so I'm usually gripping the "bottom" edge of the iPad, and experiencing this problem.

Can anyone else confirm similar problems?

Here's a link to a YouTube video demonstrating the issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmLnOPulEfA

Click to expand...

I have the exact the same issue. I'm used to landscape mode, holding with my left hand. When holding near the speaker grille, the wifi signal strength drops instantly. I guess I never noticed this for the iPad 1 since it was always in a case.

From what I can tell from the disassembly videos/stills, the antennas run along the bottom. The iPad 1 had an antenna there, but also one behind the Apple logo. The iPad 2 does not have the logo antenna..

It seems like it would be better to hold the iPad in landscape by the top edge, so the speaker isn't blocked. That's been what I've been doing with my iPad 1 - mostly to keep the speaker clear.

Bottom line, the antennas have to be somewhere. Someone will be unhappy no matter where they put them. I'm sure Apple did a lot of research to determine the optimal location. As with most engineering designs, there is always some kind of compromise. In this case it's a combination of RF performance (including interference with other components) and ergonomics.

I hate to use this line, but: "you're not holding it right".