iPad 3's Wi-Fi Signal Drops Sooner and More Than Other Apple Devices?

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Posted March 28, 2012 at 7:09pm by iClarified

Prompted by reports of the iPad 3's Wi-Fi signal falling off, TabletPCReview has performed some tests to examine the situation.

The hardware involved in the tests were a brand new iPad, a first-generation iPad, an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 3GS for good measure. The access point is a Cisco WRT310N 802.11a/b/g/n single channel wireless access point. Tests were done using the mobile version of SpeedTest, an up/down test utility.

The tests were done over the space of my house, all on the same floor, at various distances with different numbers of walls in between. Tests were done on two servers, one in Los Angeles 32 miles from me, and one in Ft. Worth, Texas, 1,175 miles away.

After numerous tests, TabletPCReview found that the reports were in fact true. The new iPad's signal dropped faster and further than any other Apple device. In the chart below you can see that behind three walls the new iPad's download rate was measured at 0.02 megabits per second compared to 4.14 megabits per second for the iPhone 4S at the same location. The two devices use the same Broadcom BCM4330 chip.

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iPad 3's Wi-Fi Signal Drops Sooner and More Than Other Apple Devices?

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Lucas - March 29, 2012 at 5:57am

Le sigh...so, is this supposed to what...make people STOP buying the iPad 3 'cause...that's not going to cut it! Short of the Surgeon General coming and saying that the iPad 3 causes testicular cancer...it's ju going to keep selling. Nice try though...

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Sev - March 29, 2012 at 5:04am

My iPad gets better wifi than my MacBook pro and my iPhone 4. Wherever I am in the house even through 4-5 walls, my iPhone loses signal but my iPad still browses fine. I'm sure some ppl are having issues. But this is def not a generalised iPad problem and should be fixable with the next iOS update.

Steve - March 28, 2012 at 11:58pm

People will always find ways to bring the IPad or any apple product down. My new iPad Gets better ping than my new IMac and is blazing fast in nearly every corner of my house . Not saying some people arent having problems but mine def is suffering in the wifi department ?

JasonBourne - March 28, 2012 at 10:14pm

Yeah, another gate. What shall we call this one? Wifigate, I'm assuming. Nothing shall bring the iPad sales down, but a launch of worthy competitor. Nothing.

joyz - March 28, 2012 at 9:32pm

Hardly a scientific independent test now is it...

NoGoodNick - March 28, 2012 at 8:39pm

So the conclusion is: Move to LA cause they build cheaper houses with thinner walls? No, the point that NO ONE brings up is, when at home, turn the 4G OFF! That way you avoid all the conflicts which reduce the WiFi access!!! But no, people would rather create an issue than find a solution.

PReaper - March 28, 2012 at 11:06pm

All, most people would think Apple is a company with smart enough people to make the iPad ditch 4G automatically when on WiFi but I guess they don't want to steal that function from Android devices or something..

Marcus - March 28, 2012 at 7:16pm

My New ipads Wifi really sucks.... i cleary notice the difference between my ipad 2 and the new ipad! Hope Apple fix it with a software update of somekind...

Paul - March 28, 2012 at 9:37pm

Return it and get another one. Yours must be defective. Mine works great.