Apple responds to iPad wireless issues, offers fix tips

We reported Monday on complaints from many iPad owners regarding issues with the device’s wireless connection — which included bad reception and slow speeds. Apple still hasn’t come up with a complete fix, but it’s now offering some troubleshooting tips that may help users who are having trouble.

A Knowledge Base article for general iPad wireless issues has been up since the day after its launch, and on Monday Apple also put up a support article specifically for problems with the device not reconnecting to wireless networks. Even though the latter support article is aimed at a single iPad wireless issue, the fact that Apple is acknowledging one problem also lends some credence to the many other issues being reported.

If your iPad isn’t reconnecting to your network, and you have a dual-band router (one that’s capable of broadcasting an 802.11b/g network and an 802.11n network simultaneously), Apple suggests making sure that your wireless networks are named differently. This prevents confusion with 802.11n-capable devices like the iPad, since they won’t have to struggle to figure out the wireless standard difference between the networks. In addition, Apple also suggests using the same wireless security standard on both networks (WEP, WPA, or WPA2).

If you’re having another wireless issue with the iPad, you can try out some of Apple’s general suggestions:

• Update your router’s firmware: Head to your router manufacturer’s website, and follow the instructions to update its firmware. This is usually the first step for any odd networking issue with your router.
• Disable your wireless security: This lets you see if the iPad is simply having trouble with the specific security type that you’re using. If it works fine with the security disabled, try another security standard from what you were initially using.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in either of these methods fixing your iPad wireless woes though. Many users facing the issues reported that all of their other computing equipment worked fine — it was the iPad that was the lone troublemaker. I suspect we’ll soon see a more concrete fix from Apple, because this isn’t exactly the sort of issue it can let stand for too long.