Not News: New iPad Users Reporting Weak Wi-Fi

Some owners of Apple's third-generation tablet, the new iPad, are reporting weak Wi-Fi signals on their device. You know what? It's nothing new based on some of the past forum posts we've read.

As with any new product launch, there will be some hiccups. The new iPad is not immune. We've heard that the device takes quite a bit longer to charge, and that the new LTE capabilities allow users to eat through their data limit in hours, some say it runs a bit warmer, and now this.

However, users reporting weak Wi-Fi with an iPad is not entirely new. It happened with the original iPad in 2010. It happened with the iPad 2 last year. Now it's happening with the new iPad this year.

The problems are more or less the same year after year. New iPad owners notice that their tablet isn't receiving as strong a Wi-Fi signal as their other Wi-Fi devices around the house, and they hit Apple support boards with questions and complaints about their lousy Wi-Fi reception.

One user on a thread titled 'Poor wifi reception on new iPad' posted the following:

I am in a hotel with my laptop and new ipad3. The laptop wifi reception is as strong as it gets, but the iPad only registers a weak signal. Anyone else having similar problems? Any suggestions?

Several users responded saying that they were having similar issues. However, one user did say that he has owned all three iPad models so far and that he had no problems up until the third-generation iPad. Wi-Fi is "WEAK" he says, and setup is the same across all his devices. The new iPad is the only one giving him issues.

Many are saying they are seeing an issue with the range when compared to the previous iPad models, but let's stop for a second and take a look back at 2010. Shall we?

In 2010, Apple sold 300,000 units over the iPad's first weekend. According to PC Magazine, a thread titled, "Weak Wi-Fi Pages" hit more than 10,000 views within 48 hours of the tablet's launch. Many users complained of weak Wi-Fi. In fact, the problem got so bad that Apple chimed in to help.

Some called it a deal breaker. That thread didn't go on as long as the one for the first iPad, but there were still issues. In the meantime the new iPad's obligatory "Poor Wi-Fi" thread is still growing. Incidentally, plenty of people are on the same thread saying that they don't have any problem. (One suggests that some users are holding the iPad incorrectly.)

Now, I'm not a math guy, but hear me out here. The original iPad had a massive thread with over 10,000 hits within its first few days and it had only sold 300,000. The new iPad has sold 3 million, and a few of those 3 million users are reporting problems. Maybe it's not as bad as we are making it out to be. If you get 3 million units of any product out there, somebody is going to experience issues.

Oh, the problems that come with success. Perhaps it will all blow over in a few weeks or with a firmware update.