iPad Wifi slow downs at Panera and the like?

[ninermac]

Ever since iOS 6, my iPad 3 has had a terrible time at Panera with page load times, timing out, losing connectivity, etc. Works great on my home wifi and other places that don't have a landing page for access to wifi. However if a landing page is used to gain access, it seems my iPad ends up not working too well.

Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

 

[Carla748]

I had trouble connecting at Panera with a galaxy tab 2.7.0

 

[bagelmaker]

I've had similar issues at Starbucks with my mini. Works great at home, drops wifi at Starbucks. Thought it might be a problem with my new device.

 

[JtheLemur]

Duh and/or hello: bread, especially dense loaves, muffins, etc, absorbs WiFi on the 2.4 GHz band. Try the WiFi in a park and see the difference.

 

[T4R06]

if you have phone to tether that is the best way. i dont like connecting my iPad on public place like panera and starbucks. unsecured, slow and unusable.

i have verizon S3 grandfathered and its amazing when tethered on iPad and watch netflix on starbucks without any buffering

 

[nostresshere]

Thirty people trying to share a low speed internet connection. What is the problem?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Are you sure it's not the restaurant's WiFi system? It's one thing if you get great speeds on one device, but not another, at the same place and time. But just to say your speeds are slow at a particular place leaves many variables. I don't see how you can pin it on the device.

 

[aka777]

It's public wifi people, what do you expect. Those stores probably do not even use the 80211.n yet either.

 

[maflynn]

Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Panera like many other restaurants do not offer 80211.n but the slower 80211.g (or even the 80211.b).

Get the free app speed test and you can see for yourself.

 

[mcdj]

troubleshooting public wifi is about as useful as the spam link in the OP's sig.

 

[ninermac]

Are you sure it's not the restaurant's WiFi system? It's one thing if you get great speeds on one device, but not another, at the same place and time. But just to say your speeds are slow at a particular place leaves many variables. I don't see how you can pin it on the device.

When I've had issues, I have tested with other devices and had no issues... Not just one single Panera store either...

 

[glen e]

"It's the bread"....

best post of the day so far....LOL

 

[HazyCloud]

if you have phone to tether that is the best way. i dont like connecting my iPad on public place like panera and starbucks. unsecured, slow and unusable.

i have verizon S3 grandfathered and its amazing when tethered on iPad and watch netflix on starbucks without any buffering

This. OP, like others have said, it's unsecured, unreliable, and many other users are using it at the same time. You may look into tethering your iPad with a smartphone.