14 DAY TRIAL // Following user reports saying that iPads are experiencing WiFi issues out-of-the-box, the company behind the Mac operating system has acknowledged potential instances where iPads will fail to rejoin a network. Besides the knowledge base article offering some resolutions for this issue, an FAQ posted on the Apple Support forums by an actual company staffer provides additional links for more assistance in these types of situations.
Apple, however, doesn’t seem to address the wide variety of issues reported by iPad users, but rather limits the support note’s contents to a very specific situation concerning multi-band routers. “Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep,” Apple states. “This can occur with some third-party Wi-Fi routers that are dual-band capable when:
“- Using the same network name for each network; - Using different security settings for each network.”
A possible resolution is to, “Create separate Wi-Fi network names to identify each band,” according to the iPad maker. “This can be done easily by appending one or more characters to the current network name,” the company explains, continuing with an example: “Add a G to the 802.11b/g network name and an N to the 802.11n network name.”
Apple also asks users to make sure that both networks use the same security type (WEP, WPA, WPA2, and so on), and finally advises them to reset their network settings, if the issue persists. This can be done by accessing Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings on an iPad. Finally, users should always ensure that their Wi-Fi router firmware is up-to-date.
As noted above, an FAQ posted on Apple’s Discussions forum by an Apple employee provides more ways to solve similar issues. Some of these resolutions include moving closer to the WiFi router or hotspot, which sounds like the worst piece of advice for someone who has bought the iPad thinking they’d actually do some mobile web surfing when moving from the kitchen to the living room.