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10.5 terrible WiFi antenna?

N

nStyle

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 6, 2009
1,518
1,078
Having a range issue. Using same router my iPhone picks up and everything loads about 2-5 seconds faster than anything on the iPad. iPhone also working in places the iPad isn’t.

Works fine if within usable range...

Bad unit or is this the case with them all?
 
Bad unit.
[doublepost=1527662807][/doublepost]Try resetting network settings first and also restarting the router.
 
nStyle said:
Having a range issue. Using same router my iPhone picks up and everything loads about 2-5 seconds faster than anything on the iPad. iPhone also working in places the iPad isn’t.

Works fine if within usable range...

Bad unit or is this the case with them all?
Click to expand...

Test the iPad in a few other networks. A bad unit performs bad everywhere.
For the sake of it also make sure your router firmware is up to date. Best success!
 
nStyle said:
Having a range issue. Using same router my iPhone picks up and everything loads about 2-5 seconds faster than anything on the iPad. iPhone also working in places the iPad isn’t.

Works fine if within usable range...

Bad unit or is this the case with them all?
Click to expand...

Follow ericwn's good advice.

Are both devices using the same signal, e.g., is it possible that the phone is on 2.4GHz and the iPad on 5GHz (less range)? You can also use apps like Dr WiFi and AirPort Utility to check signal strength.
 
sparksd said:
You can also use apps like Dr WiFi and AirPort Utility to check signal strength.
Click to expand...

Dr WiFi is just another internet speed test (and there are hundreds of those on the App Store) unless you pay to upgrade, and if you just want the LAN speed testing it seems very over priced to me.

I don’t think you can use Airport Utility for what you claim. I’m prepared to be convinced otherwise though.

If the OP has a Mac then they can use TamoSoft. Or failing that could try the app WiFi Sweetspots.
 
steve23094 said:
Dr WiFi is just another internet speed test (and there are hundreds of those on the App Store) unless you pay to upgrade, and if you just want the LAN speed testing it seems very over priced to me.

I don’t think you can use Airport Utility for what you claim. I’m prepared to be convinced otherwise though.

If the OP has a Mac then they can use TamoSoft. Or failing that could try the app WiFi Sweetspots.
Click to expand...

True on the Dr WiFi but I originally wanted the strength test.

Airport Utility works as I described.
 
sparksd said:
I hit the "WiFi Scan" in upper right corner and the "Scan" in the pop-up window. It then shows visible networks and RSSI for each (e.g., my 2.4GHz signal shows -47dBm).
Click to expand...

Errr... I see no such option in either the MacOS or iOS app. Is this a feature of the old MacOS app which is no longer readily available?
 
steve23094 said:
Errr... I see no such option in either the MacOS or iOS app. Is this a feature of the old MacOS app which is no longer readily available?
Click to expand...

I have version 1.3.4 on my 10.5, downloaded early last year. Here is a screenshot before I hit "Scan":

upload_2018-5-30_10-17-5.png
 
steve23094 said:
Do you have an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule? I have an Express as an access point off a Synology Router and this feature is not available.
Click to expand...

I don’t have any Airport devices — I have an ASUS router. The utility also shows data for my neighbors’ visible signals and the signals from our xfinity modem’s own WiFi.
 
I’ve got both the latest IPP 12.9 and 10.5, and neither have as good of WiFi range as my iPhone X or 2013 MBP. It’s not a huge difference, but big enough that when I go to one of the farthest rooms from my router, I’d rather have the laptop over my iPads.
 
nStyle said:
Having a range issue. Using same router my iPhone picks up and everything loads about 2-5 seconds faster than anything on the iPad. iPhone also working in places the iPad isn’t.

Works fine if within usable range...

Bad unit or is this the case with them all?
Click to expand...
I achieve 500Mbit over WiFi, it is AWESOME. It could be a router issue even if you experience it only on iPad. Networks are complicated.
 
steve23094 said:
I have discovered this is a feature you have to specifically turn on in the settings for the Airport Utility app.

https://iphone-tricks.com/tutorial/6941-using-airport-as-wi-fi-scanner-on-iphone
Click to expand...

ahh, didn't remember that. I do remember that finding an app with signal strength was difficult until someone pointed me to Airport Utility. And it turns out, I only bought one month of Dr WiFi premium (thankfully) so now it's just a variation of Speedtest and I'll delete it. I was also having problems with my home WiFi at the time and buying a new router ended up being the fix. I was able to dump my extenders and all is good now.
 
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