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iPad WiFi speed question

C

canuckle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 18, 2011
137
1
Hey all,

I have a 100 MB/s connection at home, and a dedicated 'n' 5Ghz wireless network via an E4200 router. I consistently get speeds of 70-85 on my Late 2011 MBP, but struggle to get over 10 with the new iPad. I get 15+ easily on the iPhone4 on a separate 2.4 network. This seems backwards to me?

Same place in the house for the test, and the network is NOT a mixed network, it's dedicated at 5 Ghz only. Only devices on that network are the Apple TV (2), MBP, and iPad. ATV was off during these tests. No downloads were happening, no FaceTime calls were happening, the network was relatively quiet.

Ideas?
 
Last edited:
You could try another router channel.

There are quite a few people with this sort of problem, I for one have the iPad (NEW) or 3 whatever and it is a great tool, but, the wifi does drop out and if I sit near the router it is ok, if I go about 20 feet away the signal is up and down. I don't put this down to apple, I put it down to Broadcom who make the receiver, they are currently about to launch a superior receiver and this will make its way into the Apple products very soon I am sure.

Changing channels may help, also if you have connected to other routers at anytime and don't use them it would be best to remove them. I did this and my iPad worked even better after the clear out.
 
Strangely enough, my iPad 3 is faster on my wifi network than the 2 ever was...I would do as suggested and try another channel, but if you are up on the 5GHZ band interference shouldn't be an issue...You can try re-booting your modem / router, I find this is a good policy once a month or so. Many of the iSP supplied routers really are not up to the job. I now use a my TC for wifi management, but prior to that used a high end Draytek. Simply disabled the wifi on my Netgear ( ISP supplied) hub, and let the Draytek take care of the wifi....Worked well, as does my TC...I also have an AEBS acting as an extender for the 5GHZ network. Never get dropped connections (Expect when I accidentally unplugged the AEBS..:)
 
OK, so help me understand then. If the speed is excellent on the MBP on the current channel, but substandard on the iPad, how will changing the router channel help the iPad without harming the MBP?

harlex said:
You could try another router channel.

There are quite a few people with this sort of problem, I for one have the iPad (NEW) or 3 whatever and it is a great tool, but, the wifi does drop out and if I sit near the router it is ok, if I go about 20 feet away the signal is up and down. I don't put this down to apple, I put it down to Broadcom who make the receiver, they are currently about to launch a superior receiver and this will make its way into the Apple products very soon I am sure.

Changing channels may help, also if you have connected to other routers at anytime and don't use them it would be best to remove them. I did this and my iPad worked even better after the clear out.
Click to expand...
 
This topic interests me since I would like to test the speeds I'm getting out of the WiFi on my iPad 3.

How can I check the speeds? Are you using an app on the iPad itself or a diagnostic tool on the mac?

Thanks.
 
nampramos said:
There you are testing your internet connection.

Not the full potential of a WiFi transfer.

If my line would only be 1Mbps, then that would be the max transfer rate for the iPad.
Click to expand...

Any decent wifi router will give you transfer speeds way above device capability, so as long as you have a half decent router that side of the speed is not really an issue. If you think that your wifi transfer rates are lower than they should be the first port of call is always the router. Basically you are looking for one that has the "Gigabit" designation...This provides more than enough bandwidth.
 
But do you understand that by doing a simple bandwidth test from the internet, you are limited to your internet line connection?

Why not send a file from the mac to the iPad through WiFi and make the test that way?
 
nampramos said:
But do you understand that by doing a simple bandwidth test from the internet, you are limited to your internet line connection?

Why not send a file from the mac to the iPad through WiFi and make the test that way?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the true test of your wifi...But as I posted above, any decent Gigabit router should cope well above device limits....Some of the cheaper offerings are not so good...It's one area of networking where you really do get what you pay for...Draytek are not cheap, but they are industry award winners...I was very surprised that my TC worked so well...I was planning on leaving the Draytek in place, but found it to be unnecessary as the TC does just as good a job...Hence I have boxed routers I don't need...:)
 
You still didn't quite understand me.

Imagine someone that only has a one mb/s internet connection at the moment.
Sure the iPad uses all that speed with no problem.

But imagine that in 12 months that same person get a 100 mb/s connection and then realizes that his/hers iPad suffers from WiFi problems (like some users have reported).

Then the warranty is gone and he/she can't change the iPad.
 
nampramos said:
You still didn't quite understand me.

Imagine someone that only has a one mb/s internet connection at the moment.
Sure the iPad uses all that speed with no problem.

But imagine that in 12 months that same person get a 100 mb/s connection and then realizes that his/hers iPad suffers from WiFi problems (like some users have reported).

Then the warranty is gone and he/she can't change the iPad.
Click to expand...

Okay, it's a little paranoid, but I'll go with you...Simple, test the device on another faster BB network...A friends or place of work perhaps?
 
takeshi74 said:
How are you testing?


100MB (i.e 800Mb) or 100Mb?
Click to expand...

Sorry:

100 Mbps

Testing all devices the same, speedtest.net (web or app) and the isp's speedtest via browser.

Bottom line is that iphone and ipad, both using the speedtest app, behave backwards...iphone faster than ipad, and on a (theoretically) slower connection for the iphone.
 
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