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Early iPad User Complaints: Weak Wi-Fi, Charging Issues

except that a charging port is only necessary to charge the ipad while in use. A high power port is sufficient to charge the ipad when it is sleeping, or to power the ipad when it is in use. I still don't see where apple has misstated anything. A high power port can be used to charge the ipad.

AidenShaw said:
That's a nice summary of where we've ended up, plus useful information on which Apples have "charging ports". Thanks.


The real problem, then, is just that Apple's support document (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4060) on charging the Ipad should be using the term "charging port" rather than the term "high-power port".

The USB 2.0 spec clearly defines "high-power" to be a standard 500mA/5v (2.5w) port. The USB device class addendum defines a "charging port" which can safely deliver more than 500mA.

I will believe that "most PCs" don't have charging ports, but not that "most PCs don't have high-power ports".
_______________

By the way, I found an interesting wall wart with 4 USB charging ports, in case anyone wants to charge a family of high current devices at once:

1141_AG0940_2.jpg
(click to enlarge)
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1141
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shervieux said:
your car battery puts out less voltage and amps[/B], my car iphone (and an older charger for a very old video camera I had) take a long time to charge via the power plug / cigarette lighter.
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You're high. The battery in my car puts out 750 amps at 12 volts. That's NINE THOUSAND watts. By contrast, the typical 120V/15A circuit in your house puts out a measly 1800 watts. The iPad needs 10 watts (of 5V current) to charge at the fastest rate, and that's what the supplied AC adapter puts out.

You may have had bad chargers, but that doesn't mean a car battery is a low-power item. I have a $4 micro-usb car charger that will put a half-charge in a Droid over the course of a 20 minute drive.
 
cmaier said:
except that a charging port is only necessary to charge the ipad while in use. A high power port is sufficient to charge the ipad when it is sleeping, or to power the ipad when it is in use. I still don't see where apple has misstated anything. A high power port can be used to charge the ipad.
Click to expand...

Apple's misstatement is here:

The fastest way to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter. When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge, but only when it's in sleep mode.
Click to expand...

To be consistent with the USB standards, this should say:

The fastest way to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power charging USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter. When attached to a computer via a standard high-power USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge, but only when it's in sleep mode.
Click to expand...

The mistake is to use "high-power" in a generic sense, when the specifications have a distinctly different definition of "high-power". Apple's writers should be more careful.

This causes confusion, and encourages some to believe that Apples are somehow better than "most PCs", even though the PCs may be fully standards compliant. (e.g.: "If you have low-power USB 2.0 on a current PC it's because of cheap-ass hardware and cutting costs by the manufacturer." https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/9593281/)
 
i thought just the wifi indicator on my ipad was bogus, now when waking it from sleep, it often times will not connect to wifi at all. i have to go to prefs, turn off wifi, then turn it back on and it works again.

thats some doodie...
 
Aries326 said:
Your unit must be defective. I've got an Airport extreme on the ground level, tucked in a built in cabinet in my great room. I've got a 3GS, my wife has a 3G and we have no issues with using wifi on our phones from either the basement or upstairs or outside. We have a 3300 square foot home, just to give you an idea on what kind of range we've been getting. Maybe you've got a huge house and that's why your signal is poor. Make sure the airport extreme is set to automatic radio mode and automatic radio channel selection.

I've played around with the settings a lot since I have another computer on the wireless network that I use as a media server, connected to a flat screen and some of the movies I have are actually streamed over from the HD connected to the Airport Extreme. Letting the router pick the radio more and channel has worked best for me.
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As you know Apple likes to "recycle" product names, so there are multiple revisions of the Airport extreme. I recently replaced an older airport extreme with a newer model. With the old one I could barely get iPhone reception upstairs in my house. With the new one I get full signal. Not all Airport Extremes are built the same.
 
Workaround for Iphone charging port issues

While investigating this USB stuff, I ran across a number of reports of Iphones being picky about charging from non-Apple USB charging ports. (Dell's "PowerShare" charging port on new Latitudes in particular.)

One of the posts mentioned that there's a dongle that fools the Iphone into thinking that it's plugged into an Apple - no matter what USB charger you use.


apple_iphone_chargingadapter_lg.jpg
(click to enlarge)

Here's the link in case this would be useful to anyone:

http://www.boxwave.com/products/iphonechargingadapter/iphone-charging-adapter-apple-iphone_2661.htm
 
jegbook said:
A major frustration I have with Apple's WiFi software is its reporting of signal strength. On my MacBook, both with Leopard and Snow Leopard, it usually shows a connected network as having full signal strength, even when it's clearly not. It shows me one bar before connection and 4 after? Huh?
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I have the same problem... It's very confusing if there are full or no bars. I hope apple fixes this.
 
Burger Thing said:
Charging fiasco... Apple provided a wall charger with it for a reason, it seems. Connect it to your computer when you want to sync stuff and if it charges at the same time, fine. If not, just connect it to the wall charger. What is the big deal? :rolleyes:

It is such a non issue, really :p
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I agree with you completely. But to me it seems that the iPad is just an oversized iPod touch. The iTouch can charge via USB and iPhone too, why can iPad not when it has the same OS? It's a petty issue but just brings one to asking why? If you have to have it plugged in to sync, why have it not charge? It just increases the time it has to be plugged in to something, which defeats the purpose of a portAble unit...
 
sportguy0913 said:
I agree with you completely. But to me it seems that the iPad is just an oversized iPod touch. The iTouch can charge via USB and iPhone too, why can iPad not when it has the same OS? It's a petty issue but just brings one to asking why? If you have to have it plugged in to sync, why have it not charge? It just increases the time it has to be plugged in to something, which defeats the purpose of a portAble unit...
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The laws of physics do not respect your choice of operating system. The ability to charge via a USB port is a simple matter of physics. The "high powered USB" spec provides 500mA at 5V, or 2.5W. The optional "charging spec" provides much more current (at least 1A, meaning 5W). The wall charger provides 10W. iFixIt measured the average iPad power consumption at 2.5W. So if you are plugged into a typical USB port, you are provided with 2.5W. You can choose to use that 2.5W to power the iPad in use, or, if the iPad is asleep, you can use the 2.5W to charge it. But you can not simultaneously use it and charge it, because it takes 2.5W just to use it, and there are no watts left over for charging it. If you have a "charging spec" USB port (as on modern Macs) you can use 2.5W to run the iPad and 2.5 W to charge it (at 1/4 speed) from the USB port.

This is a function of the hardware, not the OS. (Which isn't to say that it isn't possible to make changes to the OS to "fix" this - if the hardware is so designed, it would be possible to charge one battery while running off the other, then when the second battery is fully charged, to swap. You'd never hit 100% charge this way, but you would likely be able to slowly charge up to a pretty high amount this way in actual practice).
 
cmaier said:
The laws of physics do not respect your choice of operating system. The ability to charge via a USB port is a simple matter of physics. The "high powered USB" spec provides 500mA at 5V, or 2.5W. The optional "charging spec" provides much more current (at least 1A, meaning 5W). The wall charger provides 10W. iFixIt measured the average iPad power consumption at 2.5W. So if you are plugged into a typical USB port, you are provided with 2.5W. You can choose to use that 2.5W to power the iPad in use, or, if the iPad is asleep, you can use the 2.5W to charge it. But you can not simultaneously use it and charge it, because it takes 2.5W just to use it, and there are no watts left over for charging it. If you have a "charging spec" USB port (as on modern Macs) you can use 2.5W to run the iPad and 2.5 W to charge it (at 1/4 speed) from the USB port.

This is a function of the hardware, not the OS. (Which isn't to say that it isn't possible to make changes to the OS to "fix" this - if the hardware is so designed, it would be possible to charge one battery while running off the other, then when the second battery is fully charged, to swap. You'd never hit 100% charge this way, but you would likely be able to slowly charge up to a pretty high amount this way in actual practice).
Click to expand...

Thank you for clearing that up. I don't own an ipad I was merely stating that the the average user, why one thing charges when plugged in and another doesn't just is confusing. Whatyou said makes sense as to why it won't charge and be functional. I'm just used to apple products doing what I want them to do, no questions asked. This just happens to be. A special case where it won't but there is no reason to be upset about it.
 
AidenShaw said:
To be consistent with the USB standards, this should say:
Click to expand...
Their audience isn't the group of people familiar with USB specs. Most literature, even technical literature, uses the unpowered > powered > high-power progression. USB low-power > high-power > "charging port" (a term not in existence when higher output ports first appeared) is what is confusing, just like their terms for speed classes.

To be clear, the USB group needs to come up with better labels.
The mistake is to use "high-power" in a generic sense, when the specifications have a distinctly different definition of "high-power". Apple's writers should be more careful.
Click to expand...
It's certainly sloppy, but this is hardly the first time the issue has arisen. It's not like Apple is breaking into new territory here. I doubt many consumers were confused, since I'm aware of no manufacturer that discusses USB ports in reference to the standards body's terminology, apart from version and connector type.

If you can normally charge devices from the USB port you're using, the solution is to put the iPad to sleep, because that port does not supply enough power. That seems easy enough to grasp for most people, who will never know that "standard" output power is "high-power" in the USB spec unless they come here.
 
I should think one simple fix would be to supply one of those cables with two usb cables on the other end, one for signal+power, and the other for just power - the type that frequently comes with usb hard drive enclosures.

matticus008 said:
Their audience isn't the group of people familiar with USB specs. Most literature, even technical literature, uses the unpowered > powered > high-power progression. USB low-power > high-power > "charging port" (a term not in existence when higher output ports first appeared) is what is confusing, just like their terms for speed classes.

To be clear, the USB group needs to come up with better labels.

It's certainly sloppy, but this is hardly the first time the issue has arisen. It's not like Apple is breaking into new territory here. I doubt many consumers were confused, since I'm aware of no manufacturer that discusses USB ports in reference to the standards body's terminology, apart from version and connector type.

If you can normally charge devices from the USB port you're using, the solution is to put the iPad to sleep, because that port does not supply enough power. That seems easy enough to grasp for most people, who will never know that "standard" output power is "high-power" in the USB spec unless they come here.
Click to expand...
 
AidenShaw said:
That's all you needed to say.
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Clearly not, since you're treating this whole thing as a crime against humanity, rather than the standard miscommunications involving anything USB from any company. Apple did not coin the term "high power" for use in this context, and certainly did not use it just to mess with you. You're also bright enough to understand that the standard 500mA is sufficient, but you enjoy stirring the pot too much not to make a big deal out of it.
cmaier said:
I should think one simple fix would be to supply one of those cables with two usb cables on the other end, one for signal+power, and the other for just power - the type that frequently comes with usb hard drive enclosures.
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to see if anyone has success with this approach.
 
Ok, I'm sitting about 10 feet from my Airport Extreme ap and my wireless on my iPad has disconnected at least three times in about an hour. There is nothing between me and the ap and I can see the green light on it from here, and still it drops the wi-fi. The icon literally disappears and I get the "connecting..." message. It's never on for a long time, but this does SUCK if I can be right practically on top of it and have it disco...
 
AidenShaw said:
The real problem, then, is just that Apple's support document on charging the Ipad should be using the term "charging port" rather than the term "high-power port".
Click to expand...


matticus008 said:
Clearly not, since you're treating this whole thing as a crime against humanity,
Click to expand...


If you think that I'm using "crimes against humanity" language, then what do you say to describe the real horrors?

</EOT>
 
Well the wifi complaints must have struck a nerve with Apple. Subscribe to their discussion thread on the wifi complaints and you'll get notified as people post and then wait a few minutes and go and check the thread and you'll see them deleting posts. My buddy just his pulled. He showed me what he wrote and it wasn't that bad. He just said that people should hold off buying the iPad until they are sure Apple is going to respond with some kind of fix. Also, he said the Genius swapped out his iPad but made a big deal that it was only as a "good faith" swamp and he wouldn't get another. They were doing him a favor. He couldn't return it unless he paid a restocking fee and they wouldn't budge on that one. I'm thinking Apple's a little annoyed right now.
 
AidenShaw said:
If you think that I'm using "crimes against humanity" language
Click to expand...
Your comments speak for themselves (especially your own use of improper terminology while whining about Apple doing the same, "confusing" language that makes sense to everyone but you, false advertising that isn't, imagined claims of superiority, and made-up standards violations).

Keep stirring. It's a valuable contribution.
 
Burger Thing said:
Personally, I think this is a non-issue. Maybe a bit annoying for some. But "Fiasco"? Ha Ha.
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perhaps .1% of sold units have reported this 'problem'. The issue is actually not the ipad but the computer and Apple provided a wall plug for charging. So it's not like you end up with a dead unit and nothing you can do.

now, exploding ipads, urine colored screens, cracked screens, dead and uncharging batteries not matter what you try, wifi that never connects cause the internals are borked. each in 10% or more these are fiascos.

PinkyMacGodess said:
Ok, I'm sitting about 10 feet from my Airport Extreme ap and my wireless on my iPad has disconnected at least three times in about an hour.
Click to expand...

And are you using a dual band unit. are both networks using the same name etc as mentioned on Apple's support page. did you do as the page suggested.
 
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