If you’re having problems getting your brand new iPad to connect to Wi-Fi, you aren’t alone. Speak up! Let AppleCare know and Apple will replace your unit. An internal Apple Care memo describes Apple’s planned response to the problem. Owners of the new Wi-Fi-only iPad report experiencing intermittent connectivity, slow Wi-Fi speed, and even the inability to detect a Wi-Fi network at all.
The memo instructs AppleCare reps to “capture” any third generation Wi-Fi-only iPad that displays these problems so that Apple can establish whether the problem stems from an actual hardware problem, rather than a software bug. “Capture” is Apple speak for taking the device and shipping it directly to Apple engineering for further investigation.
Apple instructed AppleCare reps to capture the device, plus its charging adaptor and USB cord.
Since Wi-fi-only tablets are more popular than their pricier WiFi+3G/4G versions counterparts, this issue has the potential to affect a large number of units. A thread on Apple’s online support forum has hundreds of comments, and thousands of pageviews.
The 4G LTE version of the third generation iPad may be spared Wi-Fi connection problems because the black rubber cut at the top of the unit allows it to draw extra network power.
As we’ve previously reported, the new iPad runs hot and has had battery issues, yet both Consumer Reports and regular consumers who bought the device still give it high marks. How happy are you with your new iPad? Have you had trouble connecting to Wi-Fi? Let us know in the comments.
[via 9to5Mac]
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I was very happy when I first had the new iPad on my hands. I didn’t notice this at first, but when I took the tablet to my backyard, and my iPhone was able to pick up my router signal without a hassle, and the iPad didn’t found the network at all, this issue became a nightmare to me. The worst part was no matter where I looked, I always found the same step by step guide to reset the network configuration, which worked only for the older models that could not recognize your home network at all Finally I had the luck to land on a review of a case from Pong Research . They produce this really interesting cases that have an antennae in between layers of the back cover, which redirects and boost the wifi signals into/from the antennae built-in the iPad, solving the range issue finally!