iPad Losing Ethernet Connection on Shopify Connection Hub – Any Solutions?

[bfabricio]

Hi everyone,

We recently switched over to Shopify, and due to poor Wi-Fi in some of our stores, we planned to use Ethernet for our iPads via the Shopify Connection Hub. After a lot of trial and error, I figured out that the Ethernet adapter needs to be connected in a specific order for it to work. However, even when it does connect, the iPads will eventually drop the connection—sometimes after a few hours if we're lucky. The only fix so far has been a full restart of the iPad, which is not a practical solution for our store operations.

I've already tried all the basic troubleshooting steps, but nothing seems to resolve the issue permanently. The iPads are in Guided Access mode, and I suspect this may be a factor, but I can't find a clear answer.

I reached out to Apple Senior Support, and they told me that iPads are designed to be portable and are not really meant for Ethernet? However, when I asked for a list of compatible models, they couldn’t provide one. Some people have suggested using an official Apple adapter, but my iPads are set up with the Shopify stand, which uses a USB-A Ethernet adapter—and Apple no longer makes these.

I also tested this issue on my MacBook Pro, and it was happening there too until I changed IPv6 settings to "Link-Local Only" and disabled power-saving features. I got this tip from Chat GPT. However, Apple Support told me that this solution can't be applied on iPads. 

I'm now wondering:

1. Has anyone successfully run iPads over Ethernet long-term without connection drops?
2. Are there any settings (either on iPads or network-side) that could help keep the connection stable?
3. Do large retailers using iPads as kiosks rely solely on Wi-Fi, or is there a known Ethernet setup that works?

Would really appreciate any insights! Thanks in advance.