iPad (1 or 2) owners: Any issues with WiFi in public places?

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:55 am

I've had my iPad 2 for 5 days and last night was the first time I took it "external".

We went out to a restaurant/bar and I was easily able to connect with their open WiFi...status was showing connected, but I could not get on the net or FaceTime, etc.

I Googled and there does seem to be some reported issues with iPads and WiFi...found a couple of suggestions including rebooting, toggling WiFi off and then back on, etc.

Any other users have any issues? It works perfectly on my home/studio network.

Thanks...

Buzzy

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:15 pm

May be nothing more than their internet connection was not working or working poorly. You can sometimes log on to a WiFi and get no connectivity because either you need to first log-in on a special screen (like at Starbucks), or as I said bad connection.

I'd try logging on with a different device like an iPhone and see if it happens with the iPhone too. If so, it maybe that they just have a dead internet connection.

One final thing I've noticed. I have an iPhone 4 which is 3G. I've been guilty of making the assumption that public WiFi hotspots are going to be always better. Many times, the establishment either has a really cheap internet service plan with low speeds or it's just congested with too many people logging on, thus your phone or iPad's built in 3G will be faster.

I recommend getting something like...
Speedtest.net Mobile Speedtest for the iPhone:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speedtes ... 04847?mt=8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or, Speedtest X HD for the iPad:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speedtes ... 93092?mt=8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Often times I test the WiFi hotspot and find it SLOWER than 3G.

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:55 pm

Yes, that was my sole experience so far. Didn't think to try the iPhone. I'll try again at my Saturday night piano gig. They also have an open WiFi and I know the phone works just fine there.

I do have Speedtest on the phone and probably the same app on the iPad. I'll check out the optimized iPad one.

Thanks...

Buzzy

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:46 pm

I'm with James on that. If the iPad works great on your WiFi and not elsewhere, I'd suspect the server, not the iPad. If you have the 3G version, you can always pay the $25 a month when you need it. We do it all the time. Works great.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:36 pm

For years, I used 3G service with my work. It was possible to show good connectivity and have horrible Internet, especially in downtown San Francisco.

Now, I use WiFi and find that, often it is a lot faster than 3G. There are times I can't get a reliable Internet connection on my iPad but my laptop is no better in those places.

I still have 3G available for my laptop but rarely use it since my job no longer requires me to be in the field. It only costs me $1 a month to have it and not use it. My iPad is WiFi only.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:43 pm

Absolutely! Good WiFi beats "great" 3G any day!

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:15 pm

Right... good WiFi wins out over (bad) 3G. But then good 3G can beat bad WiFi and I've seen that happen all the time. That's why I use apps like Speedtest on my iPhone. Furthermore, WiFi itself is no indication of internet speed, which is dependent on how the business offering the free WiFi is actually connecting to the internet and how many users are sharing that connection. As I've said, I've used publicly WiFi that was MUCH slower than the 3G service sometimes.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:11 am

Well, yes but SpeedTest is not a reliable performance indicator either when it comes to applications.

My SalesForce database runs slower over my 23MBS connection in the San Francisco Bay area than it does over the 1.8MBS connection available to me at the mothership in Nashville or over WiFi in a hotel in Savannah where I was a few months ago. Same computer, same database.

The only speed bump I get at home is on my iMac using Chrome. Now it is about half the speed of my laptop running XP in Nashville - and much, much faster than running that same laptop here (or my old G5). Last year, I switched from Comcast to ATT&T to see if there was any difference - none except that AT&T has proved to be far more reliable. The database speed has bumped all the way to barely acceptable even though the internet speed is over 12x faster.

Good WiFi is a lot faster than the best 3G over the same network card on the same computer. With my job, I keep 3G because it is a lot more available than WiFi so, yes, I agree that one should have both. Since I have little reason to take my iPad 1 on the road, I've not bothered to upgrade (it is a gift from my family last May)

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:49 am

mikehalloran wrote:Good WiFi is a lot faster than the best 3G over the same network card on the same computer.

Got it... I'm just saying I encounter a lot of bad WiFi... or should I say perhaps good WiFi but with bad net connection to the router. Extreme example... someone could have a hotspot with a wireless router connected to a 256kbps up and down connection because they've got the cheapest DSL service. Good 3G is going to kill that. All I was saying is test your WiFi... I've seen public WiFi that is awful and switching back to 3G in my iPhone let me browse faster actually.

bdr · Post by **bdr** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:18 pm

When I first got my iPad I couldn't connect at Panera bread or the Corner Bakery Cafe in Encino. In both cases I was told it was to do with their router and settings, not the iPad. Haven't been back to LA since so don't know if they fixed it but whether we call it an iPad problem or a server problem there can be rare wifi problems.

There's hardly any free wifi in Australia so I don't get to test it so much here, but my home wifi can be fussy on occasion. I restart the router and do a proper shut down of the iPad and that usually fixes it.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:07 pm

Just today I was getting my hair cut and the shop where I go had a hotspot via a small hotel next door that they gave me the password for. Download speed on the WiFi hotspot according to Speed Test was .33Mbps. I switched back to 3G and ran the test again. 3G was 1.90Mbps download speed-- almost six times more bandwidth. That may not be the whole story and actual results may be different, but 3G was better than the hotspot.

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:13 pm

Must have been the restaurant's WiFi last week.

I'm at my Saturday evening piano gig that has open WiFi and the iPad recognized and joined instantly.

Not the speediest of connections (about 1.5 Mbps down and about the same up) but connected nonetheless as I type.

Just an update...

Buzzy

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:14 pm

I had lunch with a friend recently and I just mention this because I guess all 3G is not equal too. We both have iPhones. He is with AT&T and I'm with Verizon. I asked him to load a website and watched as it loaded like molasses on his screen, much slower than mine. I've heard rumors that sometimes AT&T's network is more congested etc. I'm not sure what the reason, but the difference between AT&T and Verizon was significant in this particular area of town we were in.

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:42 pm

I'm not sure what provider the restaurant uses.

Just now in the home studio (via WiFi and Comcast) I got about 17 MB/s from a Miami server. (Dallas wasn't functional for some reason.)

Via AT&T 3G: 0.75 MB/s!

Buzzy

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:11 pm

Well, I should be more clear.

I was just talking about 3G service and how it can vary from one carrier to the next.

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