A very common, and also very annoying, problem experienced by many of us is when our iPad will not connect to our WiFi. It seems to be a haphazard problem too, you can be surfing away when suddenly you have lost your internet access, at completely random times of the day and for no apparent reason. We will cover some of the causes of this extremely frustrating issue.
It may sound really obvious but the first step you should try is to ensure that your router is switched on and working properly, it may have accidentally been disabled and will require resetting before you can use it again. Try connecting with your phone, if you have checked that everything is switched on and running but you still cannot connect then you may have a problem with the router itself, if you are able to connect with your phone then your problem may be with your iPad. Try restarting your router, it is possible that this may kick everything back into action.
Try a restart of your iPad, you probably know how to do this but for those who don’t …
- Press the power button until you see a red slider on your screen
- With your finger swipe the slider to the right and your iPad will power down
- Once your iPad has completely powered down, press the power button and hold it again until you see the Apple logo
Your iPad restart is now complete
You may also want to try and reset your iPad WiFi connection, the following steps will tell you how:
From Settings select WiFi. Slide the WiFi button to the Off position. Wait for a few seconds. Slide the button to the On position. You have now reset your iPad WiFi connection
Is your iPad case or cover blocking or interfering with the WiFi connection? Does it make a difference when you remove it? It is worth a try, some people have reported that this is a problem so it is best to eliminate this possibility
Now you should check to make sure that you are using the correct password for your WiFi network, an easy mistake to make if your password is a complex one. You would be amazed at how many people do this, convinced they are entering the correct password, they discover after a long and frustrating time later that they were just one digit out!
The next step is to move your position, how close to your router are you? If you are too far from the router then the strength of your WiFi signal may not be strong enough for your iPad to connect. Do you have anything between you and your router that may be blocking the signal? Thick walls can often weaken or block a WiFi signal, large refrigerators have also been known to cause problems when iPads are used in the kitchen and the router is in another part of the house. Try moving around your building and testing the signal in different rooms, even different areas of rooms can have completely variable signal strengths.
Another option that may fix the problem is to reset your iPad network settings, although you should be aware that if you follow this route all saved WiFi passwords will be deleted so make sure that you can remember them before you begin. To reset your iPad network settings take the following steps:
- Go to settings and select General Settings
- Go to Reset and select Reset Network Settings
Always ensure your iPad is regularly updated, your problem may be caused by a software issue or bug and a simple update could be the answer.
If your iPad still refuses to connect to your WiFi or you are still experiencing intermittent problems and you have an Apple store near you then we suggest you pop in and ask for their advice, or you can always contact Apple support via phone or online.