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Early iPad User Complaints: Weak Wi-Fi, Charging Issues
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Wi-Fi is blazing fast for me. Then again, I just replaced my old router with a dual-band Airport Extreme, replaced all old cables on my network with cat-6 and did some rearrangement of my wireless access points.
Wifi fluctation is not an issue
I do not own an ipad just yet (holding out for the 64gb 3g version, as I need the space for multiple apps and uses - business, ministry, and enterainment; looking to replace taking my macbook when not at home and on the road - some hotels do not have wifi or they charge an arm and leg for it).
Here is why I do not think the wifi is an issue. I have an iphone 3g (I purchased it one month before the 3gs came out), and have all the patches. I have noticed that when not connected to the internet (safari or an app requiring internet connection) the wifi strength drops way down. however, as soon as something is requiring internet (or wireless connection for sharing files between my macbook and apps). the strength goes up almost immediately.
I think the issue you are seeing (due to the way my iphone acts) is the wifi going to sleep until it is needed, thus saving on power. Strangely enough, I have also noticed the same occurance on my macbook in battery mode (not plugged in).
This maybe a good thing. and part of the design. after all why draw power when not using it.
After all (and I have seen this on web servers at a company, and had to change this often). Even MS in the operating system has a powersave option to allow the nic card to go to sleep until it is needed. only problem is that is detected by outgoing applications, not something coming in - thus why TURN OFF THE OPTION ON WEB SERVERS.
appearantly whether integrated or a separate card, both MS and Apple knows the power drain of wifi and nic cards..
I do not own an ipad just yet (holding out for the 64gb 3g version, as I need the space for multiple apps and uses - business, ministry, and enterainment; looking to replace taking my macbook when not at home and on the road - some hotels do not have wifi or they charge an arm and leg for it).
Here is why I do not think the wifi is an issue. I have an iphone 3g (I purchased it one month before the 3gs came out), and have all the patches. I have noticed that when not connected to the internet (safari or an app requiring internet connection) the wifi strength drops way down. however, as soon as something is requiring internet (or wireless connection for sharing files between my macbook and apps). the strength goes up almost immediately.
I think the issue you are seeing (due to the way my iphone acts) is the wifi going to sleep until it is needed, thus saving on power. Strangely enough, I have also noticed the same occurance on my macbook in battery mode (not plugged in).
This maybe a good thing. and part of the design. after all why draw power when not using it.
After all (and I have seen this on web servers at a company, and had to change this often). Even MS in the operating system has a powersave option to allow the nic card to go to sleep until it is needed. only problem is that is detected by outgoing applications, not something coming in - thus why TURN OFF THE OPTION ON WEB SERVERS.
appearantly whether integrated or a separate card, both MS and Apple knows the power drain of wifi and nic cards..
I just used the speedtest app that I brought over from my iPhone. It's kinda fun to play with.
I am in group B, but keep in mind that this trickle charge is VERY slow. A drained iPad may not even reach a full change over night. I do understand the technical issues at play and consider the all-day battery more important then convenient charging.
That said, I would like for Apple to provide a proper sync/change adapter to affected users as a courtesy.
I've been using my iPad extensively since Saturday morning and have had no issues at all. Well, the only problem is that I'm getting little sleep because I'm addicted.
(
iPaddicted)
It's like those stories you would hear in the mid nineties of guys staying up for days at a time because they just couldn't stop looking at the internet (WWW).
(
iPaddicted)It's like those stories you would hear in the mid nineties of guys staying up for days at a time because they just couldn't stop looking at the internet (WWW).
Well it have been said millions of times...
Never buy the first generation of anything... specially Apple products.
The first generation of any apple product is not an scam but comes with serious problems and lack of key fetures.
Myself... I MAY buy the next generation iPhone probably, it has been enough test drive alredy.
With the iPad? 2 more revisions at least.
I remember when the 15" Titanium powerbook came out, everybody drooped their Pismos to realize that the Ti had a third of the features and it took 2 years to became barely equivalent to the Pismo. At the end, the Pismo line became the best laptop ever made in the world and lasted me 4 more years after the 12" powerbook came and I got... again... the last revision ever made of that model and I still running 2 of them today 6 years later they still working just fine. But because I know what Apple product to buy.
Never buy the first generation of anything... specially Apple products.
The first generation of any apple product is not an scam but comes with serious problems and lack of key fetures.
Myself... I MAY buy the next generation iPhone probably, it has been enough test drive alredy.
With the iPad? 2 more revisions at least.
I remember when the 15" Titanium powerbook came out, everybody drooped their Pismos to realize that the Ti had a third of the features and it took 2 years to became barely equivalent to the Pismo. At the end, the Pismo line became the best laptop ever made in the world and lasted me 4 more years after the 12" powerbook came and I got... again... the last revision ever made of that model and I still running 2 of them today 6 years later they still working just fine. But because I know what Apple product to buy.
Nothing new
This is nothing new for me. Both my iPhone 1st Gen, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, 2nd Gen all do the same thing regularly. It is an annoyance. And it has gotten worse since the last AirPort Extreme firmware update. Now most of the time it wont find the wireless at all.
This is nothing new for me. Both my iPhone 1st Gen, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, 2nd Gen all do the same thing regularly. It is an annoyance. And it has gotten worse since the last AirPort Extreme firmware update. Now most of the time it wont find the wireless at all.
Oh, well I guess we'd all better stop using it then. Are you going to put that in your sig as well? Help kill wifi?
What? There is an USB charger included? Oh the luxury! My 100% certain prediction for the big iPod Touch 2.0: say goodbye to that USB charger.
So the iPad is not a netbook when we're talking about features, but as soon as it's a convenient excuse for a problem...
(Just poking fun at this here.)I'd bet that most of the people who have had complaints about the feature lists and specs of the iPad are the people who do not have an iPad now. I know I don't.
I'd expect there would be a tiny, tiny handful of people with that sort of predisposition who purchased one, and a small number of reviewers who received a free one from Apple with the same outlook. Not some vast conspiracy of 'iPad haters' going out to purchase one, just so they can complain better -- in other words, most of these sort of complaints would be coming from the sort of person who were waiting in the line on opening day to purchase one.
5 GHz is shorter ranged wireless than 2.4GHz. It tends to have better signal strength (at those slightly shorter ranges) due to less interference (less devices use 5 GHz -- no cordless phones, less neighbour's wifi, etc.) and shorter range for interference. In an ideal situation, when interference isn't an issue, 2.4 GHz is usually on-par with (or sometimes better than) 5 GHz.
There are no problems. User error and unrealistic expectations of sunshine coming out of your butt.
Why just 2 more revisions? Why not wait till the last iPad ever? - that'll surely be the most stable. Might be ten years out of date by then, but at least it will be stable. And good luck with the next iphone - meanwhile I have been using my 1st gen, trouble free, for almost 3 years. Should have gone to Specsavers.
iPad: Does not automatically rejoin known Wi-Fi networks
I wonder if this Apple support doc is relevant:
"Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304
I wonder if this Apple support doc is relevant:
"Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304
Dunno. I don't have either issue, so maybe the reviewers didn't have them either. I get better Wifi reception on my iPad than I do on my MacBook Pro or my HP laptop. I was able to use it in the master bedroom, which is dead to both of my laptops.
Might not be the only ipad for that one.... My iPhone does that often, along with my wifes too...
Other issues
Other issues were profiled earlier this morning. Wifi, Storage, iWork, iPhone Apps resizing, etc.
Other issues were profiled earlier this morning. Wifi, Storage, iWork, iPhone Apps resizing, etc.
Ah, cool, much thanks. Of course.
I was thinking it was a measure of the actual bandwidth between the wireless router and the iPad, and not simply the overall internet connectivity, but with a baseline, this works too.
WiFi reception will hopefully be better with the 3G model
If Apple are bright enough to place the wifi antenna in the same place as the 3G -- near the non-metallic area at the top of those models -- then it certainly should be better.
I think the Wifi issues people are seeing are due to the effect of signal degradation from to the aluminum back combined with low power output from wireless access points. I have an old-school WRT54G linksys at home running dd-wrt -- which allows one to tweak the snot out of wireless parameters, among many others -- and have no issues no matter where I am in my house. No problems at work either, although this building is inundated with wireless signals (we have WAPs and micro-cells all over the place). Then I go to my g/f's parents' house, who have an Airport. The Wifi reception fluctuates all over the map while I'm sitting stationary and no more than 10 feet away from the thing.
And this is why I don't buy the 1st generation of any company's products, no matter how cool they look. I hope that these issues can be fixed via software updates - I can imagine how frustrating it can be.
If anyone wants to donate their issue laden iPad to me, I'd be more than willing to put up with said issues!