I didn't realise you could get an external wifi connector for the iPad!

In reply to a post by hk11:

I didn't realise you could get an external wifi connector for the iPad!

The more modern iPads (Air4/Air5, the 2018 11" pro's and later) have USB-C which supports lots more accessories.

The lightning port equipped older ones can work with the Camera Connection Kit which provides a USB-A connector, and there are some reports that USB ethernet adaptors can work, but much slower as many iPads only support USB 2.0

Interesting: thanks.

New (meaningless?) speedtest on Plusnet 80/20 FTTP v Wi-Fi on iPad - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/16919933852...

V Wi-Fi on iPhone - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/16919939505...

Edited by hk11 (Mon 14-Aug-23 07:26:04)

In reply to a post by hk11:

New (meaningless?) speedtest on Plusnet 80/20 FTTP v Wi-Fi on iPad - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/16919933852...

V Wi-Fi on iPhone - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/16919939505...

I think the iPhone is newer then the iPad. The iPhone can keep up with the new speed service, 75 download and 20 upload is pretty good. This shows the iPad is struggling.

Which model iPad and iPhone are you using?

Well that is pretty conclusive evidence that the Ipad wi-fi is rubbish. End of story.

It’s only evidence that this particular combination of iPad, router, frequency, channel, and external influences is rubbish.

Tests with another router might produce completely different results.

I’m still intrigued to know what anyone does with an ancient iPad that requires a higher upload speed. In general iPads consume data rather than producing it interactively.

In reply to a post by TinyMongomery:

It’s only evidence that this particular combination of iPad, router, frequency, channel, and external influences is rubbish. Tests with another router might produce completely different results.

Very true, but the use of the iPhone as well showing quite different speeds at basically the same time, means the likelihood is the age of the iPad, with a slow CPU, at a guess an iPad 1 or 2, is just not remotely sensible for doing speed tests.

and the weekend testing shows that WiFi speeds of 144 or even 2400 Mbit/s don't translate to that in the real world. Unlike Ethernet.

Not really. The chipsets in the two devices are different, and they could be using different frequencies. Testing with a different router is an obvious step to test if it’s the particular device/router combination.

If you have a variety of variables you can only draw meaningful conclusions if you try varying each of those variables to test how they affect the result. And you need to first identify what those variables are and ensure everything else is kept constant.

Yup, my thoughts as well, hence my post here.

All that talk about interference and which way the wind was blowing might be valid, but not really the issue here.

I think they iPads are iPad2, but no model numbers on them as far as I can see.

The iPhone is an SE.

In reply to a post by hk11:

All that talk about interference and which way the wind was blowing might be valid, but not really the issue here.

With WiFi sadly interference is a fact of life.

I think they iPads are iPad2, but no model numbers on them as far as I can see.
The iPhone is an SE.

See this apple page to identify the iPad:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201471

Is the SE a version 1 (looks like iPhone 5/5s) or a version 2 or 3 (looks like the iPhone 8). The original iPad from 2010 supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz for connectivity, but it has no cameras at all. The iPad 2 has cameras, and introduced FaceTime.