Having weak or unstable Wi-Fi signal can yield to various network problems on your mobile device from slow browsing to intermittent or no Internet access. What’s more exasperating is that a lot of your apps are affected and unable to work. This therefore calls for immediate solution. To give you some points, I’ve mapped out some of the most effective solutions to a pertinent issue on the recently released third-generation iPad Air by Apple. Read on to find out what to do if your iPad Air (2019) keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi network from frequent Wi-Fi signal drops.
Unstable signal is often attributed to distance issues between the device and the signal source. Thus, it’s possible that your iPad Air is way too far from the Wi-Fi source, which is the wireless router or modem. As resolution, try to move closer to the network equipment and see if your Wi-Fi signal drops continue to occur on your iPad Air. Aside from distance, interference is also another thing to consider. Appliances such as wireless video cameras, fluorescent lights, cordless phones, some wireless monitors, and microwave ovens that utilize the 2.4GHz band may also interfere with Wi-Fi. To make sure that these aren’t the cause of the problem, avoid using your iPad Air near common sources of interference.
If neither distance nor wireless interference is at fault, you may then start ruling out other factors or possible triggers using any of the following methods.
First solution: Power cycle the modem/router.
The very source of your Wi-Fi internet connection is your router or modem, depending on how your network is set up. Thus, when dealing with wireless connectivity issues including Wi-Fi drops, working on your router or modem can be considered as the first troubleshooting approach. The simplest yet very effective solution you can perform is the so-called “power cycle” on the wireless router or modem you are using. It works by allowing your router/modem to power off and rest of at least 30 seconds before rebooting. Firmware crashes that inflicted network connection errors are remedied by this process. Here’s how it works:
- Find the Power switch on your wireless router or modem then press on it until the device powers off.
- While the modem/router is turned off, unplug it from the power source and keep it unplugged for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- After the elapse time, plug it back into the power source then press the Power button to turn it on again.
- Wait for its signal indicator to become stable.
Once the signal stabilizes, your iPad Air and other wireless enabled devices automatically reconnects. Then you can test your device to see if that fixes the problem or not.
Second solution: Reboot your iPad Air (soft reset).
If the first method doesn’t yield to a positive outcome, then it denotes that the problem is not on the network equipment. So the next thing you should rule out are random software glitches on the iPad Air that caused its wireless system to flaw. And this is when a soft reset is needed. Performing a soft reset clears out random symptoms inflicted by minor app glitches and firmware crashes without affecting the internal data. Here’s how it’s done:
- Press and hold the Top or Side button until the Power Off slider shows up.
- Drag the slider to turn your iPad completely off.
- After about 30 seconds, press and hold the Top or Side button again until the Apple logo appears.
Allow your iPad to finish rebooting and re-establishes connection to Wi-Fi network.
Third solution: Forget Wi-Fi network then add it back.
The problem could be on the Wi-Fi network itself. Symptoms like Wi-Fi drops that could not be remedied by system restarts are often due to a corrupt Wi-Fi network. If this is what’s occurring on your iPad Air, then you will need to delete the corrupt network and then set it up again. Here’s what you should do then:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Select Wi-Fi. Make sure that the Wi-Fi switch is enabled.
- Find and select your Wi-Fi network in this list.
- Then tap the information icon (i) next to the name of the Wi-Fi network where your iPad is connected to.
- Tap Forget This Network to continue.
- Then tap Forget network when asked to confirm.
Follow the same steps to delete or forget all other wireless networks in the list. This is important to prevent other networks from interfering with your chosen Wi-Fi network.
Reboot your iPad once you’re done deleting all wireless networks. As soon as it boots up, return to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu, enable the feature then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network. Be sure to enter the correct Wi-Fi password to successfully connect to the network.
Fourth solution: Toggle Airplane Mode on and off.
Another trick that has worked wonders to many iOS device owners who have dealt with different types of wireless issues is the so-called Airplane mode trick. It works by abruptly restarting wireless radios and associated functions on the device. Here’s how the Airplane mode tweak is done on an iPad Air:
- From your Home screen, tap on Settings.
- Select Airplane Mode.
- Toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode ON. Doing so disables the wireless radios of the iPad. This means that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections are disabled.
- While Airplane Mode is turned on, restart/soft reset your iPad Air.
- Then go back to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu and tap the Airplane switch again to turn the feature OFF.
Wireless functions are now activated. If your device doesn’t reconnect to Wi-Fi automatically, then you have to do it manually.
Fifth solution: Reset network settings.
Network problems that could not be resolved by the previous methods are usually due to complex network system errors that often require resets. Since the problem you’re dealing with is on Wi-Fi drops, resetting network settings on the iPad Air will likely fix it. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Tap General.
- Scroll down and tap on Reset.
- Select Reset network settings from the given options. Network settings, saved Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth connections, APN settings and other relevant information will be deleted.
- If prompted, enter your passcode to proceed.
- Then tap the option to confirm network settings reset.
Your iPad Air should restart automatically after the reset and then loads the default network options and values. To reconnect to the Internet, you will need to enable Wi-Fi and connect to your Wi-Fi network like the first time.
Installing the latest iOS version available for your iPad Air can also help if the problem is linked to network bugs and malwares. The new iPad runs a default iOS version 12.1.3 hence, it upgradable to iOS 12.2. But since your Wi-Fi connection is unstable, you will need to use iTunes to manually check for and update your iPad Air on a computer instead.
Is your iPad Air still experiencing Wi-Fi signal drops?
If your iPad Air’s Wi-Fi signal continues to disconnect even after applying the above solutions, contact your Internet service provider. The problem may be due to some temporary problems on the network base like scheduled system maintenance and unexpected outages. In that case, all you have to do is to wait until the network is back up and working stable again.
Alternatively, you can escalate the problem to Apple Support, especially if it instigated from the recent iOS update installation. Should this be found to be attributed to iOS bugs, Apple will be obliged to develop a dedicated fix patch.
If you suspect that a faulty network equipment is to blame, like when your wireless router or modem keeps losing signal, contact your Internet service provider or carrier to help you carry out advanced troubleshooting procedures to clear out firmware issues on the wireless router or modem. You can also ask them to reset the modem or router from their end using a remote system.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!