14 DAY TRIAL // The seemingly widespread issues with WiFi connectivity in the third-generation iPad may soon be addressed with a software update, reports indicate.
Members of the tech blogosphere are looking closely at the complaints coming from iPad 3 owners, while also carrying out tests of their own which seem to confirm that the problem is software related - not a hardware flaw.
9to5mac points out to a comment from a person who owns multiple Apple devices that work fine on various wireless networks, yet his new iPad fails to do so.
“My iPad 3rd generation has much worse range than my iPad 1. Two places I use it most My Driveway, and ‘down the hall at work’ iPad 1 (iPhone 4s, and Macbook) all have solid connections. New iPad nothing. not a thing,” this person said.
Apple community forum users seem to have found a temporary fix for the problem by toggling WiFi on and off in the settings, or by rebooting the device outright.
A guide by OS X Daily includes these workaround as well but, as noted above, the fix seems to work only for brief periods of time for most users.
Apple may soon release a software update to address the flaw, just like it did in 2010 when the first generation of iPads came out, with a small number of customers experiencing similar issues.
At the time, Apple said “A very small number of iPad users have experienced issues with Wi-Fi connectivity. This article outlines workarounds for these issues. Apple will also address remaining Wi-Fi connectivity issues with a future iPad software update.”
Going by Apple's natural incrementation of iOS updates, iOS 5.1.1 is next in line. Although developers are yet to confirm any internal seeding, the seemingly widespread nature of the problem may prompt Apple to release the patch without any further notice to those enrolled with its developer program.