Hi Mary and Others,
I posted a possible fix for this intermittent WifFi dropout problem
with the iPod Touch back in April, to both this list and the
macvisionaries list:
http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg18864.html
(Another possible Wi-Fi Work Around for low Signals [was Re: Apple
Confirms iPad Wi-Fi Problems; Try These Fixes])
First of all, I'll point you to the Apple Support document:
• iPhone and iPod Touch: Troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1398
This document covers common issues (including Biron's suggestion about
checking whether your network has been set up as a "private" network
that doesn't broadcast an SSID). In addition to power cycling the
device, they suggest that you reset your network settings by using:
Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings on your iPod
Touch. This causes the iPod Touch or iPhone to forget any previous
network selections and passwords. I'll just say that doing all this
didn't work for me, and I previously experienced behavior similar to
what you've described: both intermittent connectivity issues and
fluctuations in signal, but only on a home network that used WPA
encryption when the signal was weaker. Other devices -- even other,
older model iPod Touches, did not have the same issues on this
network. Earlier Apple Support documents also recommended checking
that your router firmware, etc. was up to date. (I was using an older
Apple Express, so I don't believe that your problem hinges on using a
linksys router.)
What worked for me was going in and changing my home network
assignment on the iPod Touch from DHCP to Static by copying the
entries in the 5 fields for network information that were assigned
under "DHCP" to the corresponding 5 fields for the "Static" entry.
I'm guessing that you, like most people, use DHCP in your default
configuration.
1. Connect to your home network as you usually do (under DHCP) with
"Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi" and select your network under
"Choose a Network"
2. Flick right to the "More Info" button for your selected network and
double tap.
3. On the detailed network page for your selected network, flick right
past the "Forget this Network" button to the three buttons listed
under "IP Address". These will read (from left to right): "DHCP,
selected, button", "BootP, button", and "Static, button".
4. Flick right past the last of the IP Address buttons (or just run
you finger down the center of the screen below that row of three IP
Address buttons) to read out 5 text entry fields. You will not hear
all the text entry fields labeled properly - only the first three are
announced under DHCP, and none of the field labels are announced under
the Static button setting, but they are (with made-up entries for the
text field)
1) IP Address: 192.168.1.2
2) Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
3) Router: 192.168.1.1
The next field is only announced as "Text field", but from the filled
in contents this is my Domain Name Server address, so
4) DNS: 192.168.1.1
the next field is also only announced as "Text field", but again from
the filled in contents this is the Search Domain
5) Search Domains: cox.net
What you will need to do is make a note of the 5 text field entries
for your home DHCP setting: the 4 sets of address numbers and the
search domain name.
5. Then, once you have noted these five sets of text field entries,
either flick left or move your finger back up to the row of IP Address
buttons and switch from "DHCP" to "Static" by double tapping the
"Static" button.
6. Once the "Static" button has been selected, flick right to the each
of the five text fields (which will not be announced with labels under
the "Static" button, but which still be the fields for IP Address,
Subnet Mask, Router, DNS, and Search Domains), and enter in each of
the corresponding text entries from the DHCP setting. (Double tap the
text entry field to bring up the virtual keyboard, type in the numbers
or text, double tap the "Return" button at the bottom right of the
keyboard after you've entered the values for the field).
7. When you're done, double tap the "Wi-Fi Networks" button at the top
left of the screen to return to the "Wi-Fi Networks" screen. You can
also check the "Status bar" at the top of this screen, and your "Wi-Fi
Signal" reading should now register as "100 per cent Wi-Fi Signal".
After making this change from DHCP to Static connection, I have never
had any problems with dropped or faulty connections to my iPod Touch
at my home network. Since most people do not have that many devices
on their home DHCP networks, this assigned static address may continue
to work for you. However, occasionally your home network will assign
you a different IP address (e.g., instead of 192.168.1.2, it will be
192.168.3, etc.). In that case, change the button from "Static" back
to "DHCP" so you can pick up a connection, then switch back to
"Static" and copy the new set of 5 text entries into the text field.
You may want to read up in detail the article, "Workaround For One Of
The iPhone/iPod Touch WiFi Bugs" by Joe T on November 14, 2009, from
the "Just Another iPhone Blog" web site:
<http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/iphone-tips/workaround-for-one-of-the-iphoneipod-touch-wifi-bugs
>
What I think is happening is that the new OS 3.1 software is set up to
drop connections or reduce Wi-Fi receiving as fast as possible when an
address isn't found, in order to conserve battery power. This is
actually set too fast. When you connect to a network that uses
encryption, or where the signal strength is below the setting that the
software is optimized for, the operating system just drops you out
before the connection can be completed. In the case of DHCP
connections, the iPhone or iPod Touch is looking up the address to use
for the Domain Name Server, even though it is always the same. By
switching over to a Static connection, you're telling the device to
just read in the address instead of taking the slightly longer time to
look it up. That time savings is enough to keep your iPod Touch from
simply dropping the connection.
One of the nuisances of the dropped connection is that the iPod Touch
prompts you to enter network password again. I could avoid that if I
reconnected with the WiFi Trak app (that detects wireless networks in
my vicinity and their signal strength), but that's not an option for
you since Apple pulled all WiFi hotspot detecting apps from the App
Store at the beginning of March. That app actually let me diagnose
the issue as a time-out problem, because it uses a timer to check how
long it retries before giving up on a conncection. (The fact that
this time is longer than the typical time used by the WiFi selection
under the Settings menu was one of the clues to the solution.)
HTH. Let us know whether this solves your problems. (The other way I
ran a temporary fix was to play a low-bit stream from ooTunes or
Wunder Radio in background while I was connected -- that kept the
connection from being dropped. It did mean that I couldn't easily run
a web search, but all other functions like "AroundMe" location,
reading and finding books, etc. would work.)
Cheers,
Esther
Mary Otten wrote:
Hi Bill,
I've seen the signal fluctuate for no apparent reason, going from
100 to 33% when the unit is in the same location. Just now, when I
am right next to my router, its telling me it has 66% but I am still
not getting connected. will have to wait for sighted assistance to
do password reentry and see if that helps.
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