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I'm testing an iPad application that requires an Internet connection. I'd want to simulate a situation when the connection isn't stable and can be suddenly lossed. If it's possible I'd want to control this process and "hit a button" that will abort the connection for a couple of seconds. I'd want to abort/resume connection quickly to test that app will resume it in case of connection abort.

How can I simulate non-stable Internet connection?

I know that it's possible to just turn Wi-Fi off on iPad but will it be the same for application as abortness of connection because of other reasons?

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  • It is the actual loss of WiFi you want to detect, or a bad TCP/IP connection?
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Jul 26, 2012 at 8:32
  • @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen loss of TCP/IP connection
    – Andrei Botalov
    Jul 26, 2012 at 8:32

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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There are a few ways you can do this, depending on your situation:

  1. Move further away from your router. While this may seem a bit obvious, I realize that it isn't always possible while testing/debugging (for example, if you are working on a desktop computer).
  2. Put aluminum foil around the router and/or antenna. This will (partially) block some or all of the radio signals by creating a makeshift Faraday cage. The results you get will depend on the strength of your router signal, distance from the router, and other environmental factors.
  3. Set your router's wireless signal power to a lower setting. The method for doing this is different for each router, so you will have to look at the user guide for instructions on how to do this.

I hope this helps solve your problems!

EDIT:

Another thing I just thought about would be to make your SSID hidden. iDevices are known to have problems reconnecting to hidden networks, and you might be able to programmatically disconnect from the network at random intervals.

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  • However, I'd want this abort to be easy to control, predictable. Also I'd want to abort connection quickly. Is there a programmatical way?
    – Andrei Botalov
    Jul 26, 2012 at 8:13
  • NAFAIK, unfortunately. You might be able to programmatically modify your router's config file for #3 above, but that may or may not work (and would be more appropriate on SO.SE).
    – Matt
    Jul 26, 2012 at 8:19
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Rather than accomplishing this on the iPad, how about shifting the wifi instability to a Mac instead? You could use Internet Sharing to provide a network connection to the iPad (activate and deactivate it without disturbing the rest of your network), and ipfw to throttle the connection however necessary for your test...

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  • Does internet sharing exist in Windows? I don't have Mac
    – Andrei Botalov
    Jul 26, 2012 at 6:41
  • It does, but it's very complicated (IMO) and not very reliable (AIMO).
    – Matt
    Jul 26, 2012 at 7:57
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Another thread proposes this tool:

http://mattgemmell.com/network-link-conditioner-in-lion/

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  • Some more explanation might be required to show how this can be used to simulate a bad WiFi connection on an iPad.
    – nohillside ♦
    Dec 8, 2014 at 11:06

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