Odd Connection Issue

[Michael Welter]

I have an outdoor gig next Saturday, and I went to the band's rehearsal tonight sos I could record a few songs. This will allow me to do an initial sound check before the band shows up next Saturday.

I got everything set up, and working quite well. I was using my primary iPad Air 2 (64Gb). About half way through, I decided to fire up my secondary iPad Air 2 (64Gb). Both units are identical. At least I think they are. But the secondary iPad would disconnect about every 2 minutes, for about 15 seconds. It would then reconnect and sync again. The first iPad continued to work fine. The second one continued to disconnect, and reconnect throughout the rest of the rehearsal.

I have no idea why this was happening, but it has me a little nervous. I haven't had this happen before. Any ideas of what I can check?

[ijpengelly]

I suspect it will be useful to know things like what router you are using, the version of iOS and MasterFader, whether you can recreate the issue and if firing them up at the same time resolves the issue.

Did you notice anything like the Wi-Fi signal bar on the second iPad showing any issues, like losing signal?

[Wynnd]

I've noticed how much weaker WiFi signals are with the ipad.  I get much better reception with my MacBook.  (Which isn't the right tool here.)  Might want to try assigned IP addresses for the ipads.  (At least the one that disconnects frequently.)   Also, if you're running both 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands, might try forcing them both to the 5 Ghz band.  The range is less, but the band is usually very clear.  (2.4 Ghz is getting pretty crowded.)

[Michael Welter]

The router I'm using is the Apple Airport Express, and I have the latest version if iOS and MF.

Thanks for the suggestions Wynnd. I'l give that a shot when I fire up the system.

[WK154]

Michael if this is the gear you have been using all along, nothing new or from the band like 2.4 gig mics then I would suspect the surroundings. Since this was the rehearsal is it the same place as the gig? If not then nothing can be concluded from that. You do check for interference before you turn on any of your gear and select the best channel.
If I were relying on a Wifi only mixer the minimum tools would be one of these.    http://nutsaboutnets.com/models/   . The 6G combo covers pretty much all audio gear as well as Wifi. It's cheap insurance.

[Michael Welter]

WK, thanks for the input. The rehearsal was inside the church, and the gig is outside, on the lawn. There were no wireless devices in use. However, the church has wifi (both 2.4 and 5 GHz), but I don't have the password, so I can't connect to it. The wifi network doesn't reach outside, so, if that was an issue, I should be OK outside. It's just weird that it affected 1 iPad, and not the other.

[WK154]

Next time this occurs reboot the affected iPad. After all it's a computer and not immune to traditional problems and solutions. Actually make this a habit to reboot before a gig.

[Michael Welter]

WK, I did that last night. I closed all apps, including MF, then rebooted. It didn't make any difference.

[WK154]

Are you saying that this problem still exists even away from the venue? Then I would say you have another problem. SOP reinstall MF. Remember what JMc just went thru.

[Michael Welter]

No no. I haven't had this problem anywhere until last night's rehearsal. Other than that, both iPads have been flawless. So, I'm hoping it works fine at the gig next Saturday night.

[WK154]

Got it, just me loosing track of time and place.

[Michael Welter]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Things have been busy.

So, the outdoor gig was last Saturday night. The dropped connections were happening again, but with both iPads, and at the same time with both. In fact, when Master Fader disconnected, Airplay also dropped out. That made me think the router may have been bad. And, since I have a large gig this weekend, I figured I better get another router. So, I picked up another Airport Express, and installed it in my rack with the DL32R. Yesterday, as we were setting up for this weekend's gig (a 9000 seat arena), everything worked flawlessly. But when I powered everything up this morning, it started the disconnects again. So I restarted the router, and everything's been fine since then.