[Mervoid]

I'm a photographer and recently returned from shooting a wedding in Barbados and wanted to share my dismal PlayBook experience with you all. I'm an iOS user primarily but I when OS2 was finally released, I decided to purchase a PlayBook. I have to say that up until now, my experience with the PlayBook has been pretty much exceptional. There are a few issues / bugs to iron out in OS2, but overall, I love(d) my PlayBook. So, here's what happened.

I loaded up the PlayBook with a bunch of video for the flight (RIM; please, please, please add an AC3 audio codec to your video player and the ability to resume where you left off!) and was off to the airport. WiFi has generally worked well since I've owned the PlayBook and the airport was no exception. Connected up to the free hotspot and was happily checking my email and reading my news in the News app. Perfect!

Got on the plane, Airplane mode on, kicked back and watched some shows during the flight. Again, perfect!

Got to the resort where we were staying, turned off Airplane mode and attempted to connect to their WiFi and here is where everything fell apart...

The PlayBook was able to see all of the resort's base stations without issue but was not able to connect to any of them. Hmmm... Strange... Then pulled out my iPhone and my iPad and connected without issue with both of them. My MacBook Pro connected without issue. My wife's iPhone and her MacBook Pro connected without issue. So, essentially every other wireless device we had with us, worked as normal and connected to the resort's WiFi perfectly. PlayBook? Not so much.

And then things get really strange...

Looking at the connection info in the WiFi settings on the PlayBook showed that I was, in fact, connected and even showed a valid IP address and DNS server but with no actual data ever making it to the PlayBook. Odd... Deleted the connection profile and tried again. Same thing. Attempted a manual connection; same thing. Gave up for a bit and decided to take some pictures using the camera app. Camera app would launch but no image would appear on screen. Closed the camera app and tried to launch Videos. Nothing. I noticed that the camera app icon was ghosted out and that the app had frozen and was not shut down. What to do? Reboot. Yes, a reboot should fix al this weirdness... Except, no, it didn't fix anything; in fact, things got worse. The PlayBook would not reboot. It got stuck at the coloured, pulsing Blackberry boot screen and stayed there. Held down the power button to force it to shut down and rebooted again. Same thing. Repeated about 5 times and the PlayBook finally booted normally. Still no WiFi connection, but the camera app at least worked now. A while later, I launched the Video app to watch a show and boom! Here we go again... App would launch and nothing appeared on screen. Had to go through the whole reboot process again. It finally rebooted and I was able to launch and watch a few shows, but still no WiFi.

Now I'm thinking, my PlayBook is somehow hosed and I'll just have to use my iPad for the duration of our stay. And then I noticed another guest who also had a PlayBook and we got to talking. Guess what!? His PlayBook was experiencing the exact same weirdness as mine! Hmmm... Maybe it's not just my PlayBook after all!? I basically decided at that point to leave it in my hotel room and only use it watch a show before bed. Carried the iPad with me and had absolutely zero issues the rest of the my stay.

Got back on the plane and headed home (to Toronto) wondering WTF to do about my PlayBook. Got home, turned on my PlayBook, and...

Wait for it...

Everything is back to normal! WiFi works, apps are launching normally without crashing, no reboot issues, nothing! WTF happened while I was down south? And not just to my PlayBook, but the other guest's as well? Was it humidity / heat? Was it a time zone thing? Why would WiFi connectivity issues lead to the practically complete unusable state of the PlayBook? Has anyone else experienced this systematic failure of their PlayBook while traveling?

I'm happy that my PlayBook is back to its normal self but WTF!?

Anyone?

Merrill

[OttawaGabe]

Bermuda Triangle?

[notfanboy]

Then pulled out my iPhone and my iPad and connected without issue with both of them. My MacBook Pro connected without issue. My wife's iPhone and her MacBook Pro connected without issue. So, essentially every other wireless device we had with us, worked as normal and connected to the resort's WiFi perfectly.

So you brought at least six different computers and all their chargers on a trip to Barbados. Isn't that a little excessive?

I suppose in hindsight, it was good you had backup devices because what if you had brought only the Playbook?

[cogsinister]

I have the same thing happen here sometimes my PB will refuse to connect with my access point, then i give up leave it in standby all night and in the morning it will connect 1st time.

I have to say tho that most of the time it works fine, but now and again it just refuses to play ball.

[Yankee495]

Maybe a couple of these:

Caribbean Pain Killer



No, just kidding. My camera icon turned invisible. It would launch, but you couldn't see the icon.

I held an icon for edit mode....then exited it...it became visible again.

Glad to hear it is working. It has taken MS 25+ years and they ain't got all the bugs out yet.

[omniusovermind]

Sorry to hear that Merrill. I and a few others have had similar experiences. I think only just recently the community is starting to realize that the way PB handles WiFi is pretty glitchy, because not too long ago, most of the responses have been along the lines of blaming the network setup, not the WiFi radio adapter in the PB. After stories like yours increasing in frequency, that's starting to change.

The bad news is if that's true, and it's NOT a problem that can be fixed with an update, but rather hardware based, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it.

My personal opinion is that there's a compatibility issue between the PB and a certain wireless router manufacturers, or perhaps network types, and it is less forgiving than what you'll get on other devices. My own troubles have also led me to believe that the PB has a lot of trouble handling networks with multiple access points, and does not hand - off very well between them. I think when that happens, it gets stuck and refuses to connect properly at all.

This problem is apparent on other manufacturers as well though. My phone is a Motorola and on rare occasions I run into a wifi network that causes it to enter a continuous loop of connect/disconnect. Sadly, there's not really any way to guarantee that whatever gadget you buy will not have these problems down the road. I will grudgingly admit though that the most popular device on the market will be least likely to have this problem without it getting fixed due to the public outcry, like that iPhone signal radio debacle a couple years ago was. (that did get fixed fairly quickly didn't it?)

[trsbbs]

I have the same thing happen here sometimes my PB will refuse to connect with my access point, then i give up leave it in standby all night and in the morning it will connect 1st time.

I have to say tho that most of the time it works fine, but now and again it just refuses to play ball.

Change the channel on the router. Could be someone close to you is using the same freq.They turn the wireless router off and boom, yours works.

Just a thought...

Tim

[dbmalloy]

Actually I had the reverse situation.... I took ye old IPad 2 instead of my Playbook ( wife would not part with it....) for a trip to Utah.... as with you... all was well going down but when I arrived at the Hotel I was staying at .... same issue... IPad saw the network no problem when I tried to log on.... no go.... Went to meeting at a different location.... Had WIFI logeed in.... no problem..... As I service computers for a living, I did a bit of digging and in my case it was their router....

It is unfortunate that many of these incidents are what usually define users view of a given platform.... If BB and Apple had made all the components when networking it would be a valid complaint.... In my field of work I could write a book on things that shoiuld work and do not.....

Welcome to the wild and wacky world of connecivity.....

[cogsinister]

Change the channel on the router. Could be someone close to you is using the same freq.They turn the wireless router off and boom, yours works.

Just a thought...

Tim

All the other computers in the house and smartphones can connect to it OK, but not the PB.

[Superfly_FR]

The bad news is if that's true, and it's NOT a problem that can be fixed with an update, but rather hardware based, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it.

In that case, the problem should disappear when turning off wifi, either in airplane mode or by settings (it stops wifi power so that it can't interact with anything). Isn't it ?

[BackDaws]

Thats spooky mate, was it just in the Hotel you were staying in that you had problems ? could it be interference just isolated to the hotel that the PB is sensitive too?

[omniusovermind]

All the other computers in the house and smartphones can connect to it OK, but not the PB.

I agree, I went through this problem already, and channels was the most common suggestion, but also turned out to not be the problem after all. I ended up actually installing another router brand and using the same channel and that fixed it. Fortunately my other router was 3 years old so upgrading it was something I wanted to do anyway.

[Yankee495]

I have read about connection issues when using N...changing the router to G and back to N will fix it. In his case that was not an option.

He didn't say if he just restarted or held p, vup,vdn or what.

[omniusovermind]

In that case, the problem should disappear when turning off wifi, either in airplane mode or by settings (it stops wifi power so that it can't interact with anything). Isn't it ?

I discovered that in certain networks, depending on how nice the PB plays with certain router and AP brands, that I had to turn off my wifi at one AP, wait a full 10 minutes before turning it back on at the next AP. I could not roam between AP's or the PB would flat out stop connecting. It would show as connected on the PB, but it actually was not. This is because it had started trying to hand off to the next AP, failed to do so, and basically stayed stuck. If I tried to reconnect by turning it off at one AP and then on again in any time less than about 10 minutes, it wouldn't resolve itself. Don't ask me why the PB's wifi needed to be off for 10 minutes between access points, it just did for some wierd reason I've never learned the answer to.

With my new hardware this isn't happening. My uneducated and layman's guess is that the new hardware is pumping out a much stronger signal, and increasing the overlap range between my AP's, and allowing the PB's very finicky wifi adapter to play nicer.

Welcome to the wild and wacky world of connecivity

lol so true. wireless connectivity is like one of the mysterious and ancient dark arts

[elshaman]

I'm a photographer and recently returned from shooting a wedding in Barbados and wanted to share my dismal PlayBook experience with you all. I'm an iOS user primarily but I when OS2 was finally released, I decided to purchase a PlayBook. I have to say that up until now, my experience with the PlayBook has been pretty much exceptional. There are a few issues / bugs to iron out in OS2, but overall, I love(d) my PlayBook. So, here's what happened.

I loaded up the PlayBook with a bunch of video for the flight (RIM; please, please, please add an AC3 audio codec to your video player and the ability to resume where you left off!) and was off to the airport. WiFi has generally worked well since I've owned the PlayBook and the airport was no exception. Connected up to the free hotspot and was happily checking my email and reading my news in the News app. Perfect!

Got on the plane, Airplane mode on, kicked back and watched some shows during the flight. Again, perfect!

Got to the resort where we were staying, turned off Airplane mode and attempted to connect to their WiFi and here is where everything fell apart...

The PlayBook was able to see all of the resort's base stations without issue but was not able to connect to any of them. Hmmm... Strange... Then pulled out my iPhone and my iPad and connected without issue with both of them. My MacBook Pro connected without issue. My wife's iPhone and her MacBook Pro connected without issue. So, essentially every other wireless device we had with us, worked as normal and connected to the resort's WiFi perfectly. PlayBook? Not so much.

And then things get really strange...

Looking at the connection info in the WiFi settings on the PlayBook showed that I was, in fact, connected and even showed a valid IP address and DNS server but with no actual data ever making it to the PlayBook. Odd... Deleted the connection profile and tried again. Same thing. Attempted a manual connection; same thing. Gave up for a bit and decided to take some pictures using the camera app. Camera app would launch but no image would appear on screen. Closed the camera app and tried to launch Videos. Nothing. I noticed that the camera app icon was ghosted out and that the app had frozen and was not shut down. What to do? Reboot. Yes, a reboot should fix al this weirdness... Except, no, it didn't fix anything; in fact, things got worse. The PlayBook would not reboot. It got stuck at the coloured, pulsing Blackberry boot screen and stayed there. Held down the power button to force it to shut down and rebooted again. Same thing. Repeated about 5 times and the PlayBook finally booted normally. Still no WiFi connection, but the camera app at least worked now. A while later, I launched the Video app to watch a show and boom! Here we go again... App would launch and nothing appeared on screen. Had to go through the whole reboot process again. It finally rebooted and I was able to launch and watch a few shows, but still no WiFi.

Now I'm thinking, my PlayBook is somehow hosed and I'll just have to use my iPad for the duration of our stay. And then I noticed another guest who also had a PlayBook and we got to talking. Guess what!? His PlayBook was experiencing the exact same weirdness as mine! Hmmm... Maybe it's not just my PlayBook after all!? I basically decided at that point to leave it in my hotel room and only use it watch a show before bed. Carried the iPad with me and had absolutely zero issues the rest of the my stay.

Got back on the plane and headed home (to Toronto) wondering WTF to do about my PlayBook. Got home, turned on my PlayBook, and...

Wait for it...

Everything is back to normal! WiFi works, apps are launching normally without crashing, no reboot issues, nothing! WTF happened while I was down south? And not just to my PlayBook, but the other guest's as well? Was it humidity / heat? Was it a time zone thing? Why would WiFi connectivity issues lead to the practically complete unusable state of the PlayBook? Has anyone else experienced this systematic failure of their PlayBook while traveling?

I'm happy that my PlayBook is back to its normal self but WTF!?

Anyone?

Merrill

Here is my thought. It has happened to me withn pb that sometimes u need to agree in a website when u get connected and is not happens on the PB...it has happened to me in a mall...also happened with ma laptop on a hotel in the USA�

If u don't agree to the website there is not Internet...also some routers are not compatible with the playbook...

[cogsinister]

I agree, I went through this problem already, and channels was the most common suggestion, but also turned out to not be the problem after all. I ended up actually installing another router brand and using the same channel and that fixed it. Fortunately my other router was 3 years old so upgrading it was something I wanted to do anyway.

As we are cheapskates here and as our city has a free WiFi service we have a D Link wifi range extender that picks up the signal from the local ( Cisco ) access point and boosts it around the house, so its not easy to replace as very few of these products seem to be for sale these days.

[omniusovermind]

wait... your entire city has free wifi access points!?!?

[childan]

Enjoyed similar connection issues - the short story is that some wifi routers will not allow connections unless they can identify the type of device - and the PlayBook is not widely known.. I got rejected as "unknown device "

[cogsinister]

wait... your entire city has free wifi access points!?!?

Most of the central part and a few outlying areas yes.

Fred-eZone - Free WiFi for Fredericton

[omniusovermind]

Here is my thought. It has happened to me withn pb that sometimes u need to agree in a website when u get connected and is not happens on the PB...it has happened to me in a mall...also happened with ma laptop on a hotel in the USA�

If u don't agree to the website there is not Internet...also some routers are not compatible with the playbook...

yes, many public wifi's use this method, but if that were the case, he would have known about it because as you can see in his post, he did establish a connection with his ipad tablet.

[omniusovermind]

Most of the central part and a few outlying areas yes.

Fred-eZone - Free WiFi for Fredericton

damn, I never would have figured you NB hillbillies would be that tech advanced! just teasing

pretty cool though, I've never even heard of that before. I guess I'm the hillbilly!

[cogsinister]

damn, I never would have figured you NB hillbillies would be that tech advanced! just teasing

pretty cool though, I've never even heard of that before. I guess I'm the hillbilly!

LOL.
It works pretty well for free.

[Chrysalis1156]

Enjoyed similar connection issues - the short story is that some wifi routers will not allow connections unless they can identify the type of device - and the PlayBook is not widely known.. I got rejected as "unknown device "

Wow, that sucks. We've got an "unknown device." I'm getting a bigger inferiority complex than I already had...

[jeffreytoronto]

Got back on the plane and headed home (to Toronto) wondering WTF to do about my PlayBook. Got home, turned on my PlayBook, and...
Merrill

These type of issues are fairly easy to resolve. We'll of course need you to fly back down to re-create the problem.

Sounds like an issue with Hot Spot login that some of the hotels have... I have been to a couple hotels down south where it wasn't easy getting logged in (not just on PB).

[Mervoid]

Here is my thought. It has happened to me withn pb that sometimes u need to agree in a website when u get connected and is not happens on the PB...it has happened to me in a mall...also happened with ma laptop on a hotel in the USA�

If u don't agree to the website there is not Internet...also some routers are not compatible with the playbook...

All the base stations at the resort were open. No need for passwords or any other type of authentication. Just connect and go...

Merrill