Move closer to your router. The first solution is to move closer to your router. If you are too far away, the Wi-Fi signal strength may not be strong enough for your iPad to connect to Wi-Fi. Make sure the Wi-Fi network is running. Before spending too much time troubleshooting your iPad, make sure it’s actually the device that has the problem. Use your laptop, desktop or smartphone to connect to the Internet and verify the router is working. It’s preferable to connect wirelessly to verify the Wi-Fi is working, but if you don’t have another wireless device, using your desktop will be fine. Remove any case or covering from the iPad. If you have a case, it’s a good idea to remove it while following these troubleshooting steps. This probably won’t fix the problem, but any obstruction could cause the signal to lose some strength. Verify the password. If you are being asked to join a network and keep getting denied after entering the password, it’s a good idea to verify that you are typing in the right password. Some passwords can be quite long and complicated and it is easy to mistake an “8” for a “B” or a “0” for an “O”.
If none of these fix the problem, move to the (slightly) more complicated steps below. This process is very fast, but it could correct some problems. Restarting a router is a simple matter of turning it off for a few seconds and then powering it back on. If you are unsure how to do this, refer to your router’s manual. Most routers have an on/off switch in the back. Once your router is powered on, it can take from several seconds to several minutes to fully come back up and be ready to accept network connections. If you have another device handy that connects to the network, such as your laptop or smartphone, test the connection on this device before checking to see if it solved the problem for your iPad. Unfortunately, this is something that is specific to your individual router. You can either consult the manual or go to the manufacturer’s website for instructions on how to update the firmware on your individual router. If you are really stuck and don’t know how to update the router’s firmware, or if you have already checked to make sure it is up to date and are still having problems, you can reset the entire iPad to factory default. This will erase all settings and data on the iPad and put it in a ’like new’ status. You’ll want to make sure you sync the iPad before performing this step so that you back up all of your data. Once you have plugged the iPad into your computer and synced it through iTunes, you can reset the iPad to factory default settings.
