I know this is wrong but as I type this I am connected to an unsecured wireless network it was purely for experimental purposes and I do not make a habit of it. I recently got an Ipad2 for my birthday and lo and behold it has not detected the unsecured wireless that I am using on me old Laptop....yes I have set the General Settings in my iPad to wifi 'on' but like i said earlier the ipad isn't picking up the unsecured network. any ideas why?
it may just not be able to pick up the signal. when i holiday i piggybacked an unsecure wifi with my iphone. Mr crx with exact same spec iphone and settings couldnt get it at all even though phones were next to each other.
It could be that your laptop can sense weaker networks perhaps or that there is some local interference the iPad can't overcome.
It would be worth trying to reset your iPad network settings:
Tap settings/general/reset, then tap reset network settings