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Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
I lose WiFi on my iMac occasionally and my older airport extreme is 3' away from the machine.

Whatever the case with the Airs, I hope this AppleSeed beta will fix the problem for everyone.
Use a cable.

Problem solved.

You're welcome.
 

infinitech

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2012
54
12
Use a cable.

Problem solved.

You're welcome.

2nd that.

I don't understand the misconception that instability issues of even the latest wifi ever trump the reliability of a fixed connection one achieves with a 3' patch cable. If you're just being curious that's understandable i just want to know.
 

firestarter

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2002
5,506
227
Green and pleasant land
I returned the 2012 MBA I bought a few months back because it had exactly this same problem. Looking on the web I found I wasn't alone - bad WiFi connectivity has plagued previous models. (Oh, and for the benefit of the apologists - I have a 100% Apple WiFi setup at home).

And now it pops up again. Makes me really doubt that it's something about this current chipset or driver - more of a fundamental design problem in the MBA (bad antenna placement? bad WiFi power supply?).

I won't be buying an MBA again - I just don't trust the engineering in this range.
 

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
Use a cable.

Problem solved.

You're welcome.

I'm sorry, are you seriously suggesting not using WiFi, a major function in today's computing needs, and using a cable for a direct connection on a ~$1500+ iMac (which requires a USB - Ethernet adapter for the MacBook Air)? Let's just move all our systems next to our routers and connect them directly, cause "it just works". I thought I had seen it all on here.
 

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
19,546
4,556
Space The Only Frontier
Sounds like they're testing a firmware update that would be separate from the generic update. And with all the myriad of routers out there being used there's bound to be problems considering the new 802.11ac
 

4TheLoveOfTech

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2013
432
0
Sounds like they're testing a firmware update that would be separate from the generic update. And with all the myriad of routers out there being used there's bound to be problems considering the new 802.11ac

So all the Air Users are beta testers?

I guess I have to ask myself as Apple has done recently.

"Does this deserve to exists"?

Designed in California, Beta Tested in the Wold and made in China.
Apple, You Bet Your Ass We Can Still Innovate...
 

appleisking

macrumors 6502a
May 24, 2013
658
3,022
2nd that.

I don't understand the misconception that instability issues of even the latest wifi ever trump the reliability of a fixed connection one achieves with a 3' patch cable. If you're just being curious that's understandable i just want to know.
How about the notion that I'm not spending over a grand and then finding out that I can't move my machine more than 3 ft from a wired router. It's not a misconception. It's called I paid good money, and I expect the product to be completely functional in all major areas, wifi being prob. the most major of them. Not to mention, how am I gonna access the internet at school, in a cafe etc. where there's no access to a wired router (in the case of macbooks)?
 
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tigres

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2007
4,213
1,326
Land of the Free-Waiting for Term Limits
I have the new air, but retured the new AC AirPort Extreme. It was not compatable with my 2 express's for iTunes.

As far as the wifi is concerned, I haven't noticed a problem yet. But I do wonder why apple has constant issues and complaints with basically every device that make with wifi.
 

Kenrik

macrumors 6502
Dec 21, 2004
332
49
Had my Macbook Air replaced for this issue today. in and out in 20min because of the capture order.
 

appleisking

macrumors 6502a
May 24, 2013
658
3,022
I have the new air, but retured the new AC AirPort Extreme. It was not compatable with my 2 express's for iTunes.

As far as the wifi is concerned, I haven't noticed a problem yet. But I do wonder why apple has constant issues and complaints with basically every device that make with wifi.

Aluminum. Screws up the wifi contact.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
19,546
4,556
Space The Only Frontier
So all the Air Users are beta testers?

I guess I have to ask myself as Apple has done recently.

"Does this deserve to exists"?

Designed in California, Beta Tested in the Wold and made in China.
Apple, You Bet Your Ass We Can Still Innovate...

Don't think "all" Air users have the problem. Thus the select Appleseed.
 

robeddie

Suspended
Jul 21, 2003
1,777
1,731
Atlanta
What's coming?



What's unbelievable?

Really, these posts are useless. If you have a viewpoint, express it for goodness sake.

They didnt have a damn thing to say. They just posted something in an attempt to be the 'first' poster, which apparently in their worthless lives, means something.
 

donutbagel

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2013
932
1
Did they not TEST these before they released them?! Either someone retarded was in charge of this, or it's a rare problem that they couldn't catch because they got lucky (well, unlucky) when testing.

Aluminum. Screws up the wifi contact.

The aluminum case doesn't make a real difference. Wifi would be blocked by a mesh-like shape of metal, but it won't resonate with the casing.
 
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donutbagel

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2013
932
1
Use a cable.

Problem solved.

You're welcome.

Ahem, 2 cables.

----------

I lose WiFi on my iMac occasionally and my older airport extreme is 3' away from the machine.

Whatever the case with the Airs, I hope this AppleSeed beta will fix the problem for everyone.

I've noticed that putting something with wifi connectivity right next to the router or switch actually makes it unreliable, as if there is a minimum range.
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
They didnt have a damn thing to say. They just posted something in an attempt to be the 'first' poster, which apparently in their worthless lives, means something.

95% sure you're right, but I thought I'd try to prod them into explaining what - if anything - their posts referred to. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any followup explanations...

:rolleyes:
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,636
4,036
New Zealand
And now it pops up again. Makes me really doubt that it's something about this current chipset or driver - more of a fundamental design problem in the MBA (bad antenna placement? bad WiFi power supply?).

There does indeed seem to be something wrong with the Wi-Fi in newer machines. I previously had a 2006 MBP and Wi-Fi was fine. It was reliable, and was only a few ms slower than Ethernet.

I moved to a 2011 MBP and at first the latency would jump all over the place:

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=108.653 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=31.599 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=225.406 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=179.671 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=100.916 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=22.255 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=255 time=223.938 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=255 time=172.055 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=255 time=93.338 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=255 time=14.747 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=255 time=223.269 ms

That was fixed with an update after a couple of months, but to this day there's still something not quite right with it; pings are reliable and about the same speed as Ethernet, but it still "feels" slower when gaming. I've made a habit of keeping a cable plugged in just to avoid any issues.
 

silverbillet72

macrumors newbie
Dec 5, 2010
5
0
Wi Fi drop Mac Pro!

I got news for you Apple geeks, it's NOT just the new Mac Air that has the bug! I have a 1,1 Mac Pro that has the same problem and I discovered it right after my last automatic update. I know I am not the only non mac air alt mac consumer/ owner with the whole dropped wifi issue. It is or was a giant pain that forced me to use my windows back-up machine which I hate. If mac works out the bug I may attempt at using their equipment again if not I don't care anymore. It's one thing after another lately with Apple pissing off it's consumers. If patiently waiting 3.5 years for a new Mac Pro wasn't enough, now this. I express my anger because I know that the problem lies in one of their WiFi updates. Can't prove it yet but I'm working on it (in my spare time ya right)!
 

donutbagel

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2013
932
1
I already do.

Try moving the base station away from the computer a little. I haven't really tested, but I feel like my iPhone doesn't connect to the wifi reliably if it's really, really close to the AirPort Express.
 

MrNomNoms

macrumors 65816
Jan 25, 2011
1,156
294
Wellington, New Zealand
I returned the 2012 MBA I bought a few months back because it had exactly this same problem. Looking on the web I found I wasn't alone - bad WiFi connectivity has plagued previous models. (Oh, and for the benefit of the apologists - I have a 100% Apple WiFi setup at home).

And now it pops up again. Makes me really doubt that it's something about this current chipset or driver - more of a fundamental design problem in the MBA (bad antenna placement? bad WiFi power supply?).

I won't be buying an MBA again - I just don't trust the engineering in this range.

Just a quick question: What frequency are you using? 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz? Maybe the MacBook Air is more sensitive to interference meaning that the problem might only appear in more congested Wifi airspace. I know for me both my computers are running on 5Ghz but in the past when using 2.4Ghz the experience was less than stella considering there are 6 base stations in the area where I live.
 

ConCat

macrumors 6502a
I'm sorry, are you seriously suggesting not using WiFi, a major function in today's computing needs, and using a cable for a direct connection on a ~$1500+ iMac (which requires a USB - Ethernet adapter for the MacBook Air)? Let's just move all our systems next to our routers and connect them directly, cause "it just works". I thought I had seen it all on here.

Surely you mean a thunderbolt ethernet adapter? 100mbps doesn't cut it these days.
 
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