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kurtbdudley

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 31, 2011
16
0
So my macbook Air, my macbook retina, and my girlfriends macbook pro are all sharing the same problem. The internet will just stop working about once every few hours. The only way to fix the problem is to turn off the wifi on the computer and then turn it on again. It eventually reconnects and works again. I thought maybe it was my airport express but it was doing the same thing at my sisters house and she just has a standard router. This happening to anyone else? I think it might just be a problem with 10.9.
 

ashman70

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2010
977
13
What version of 10.9 are you on? Are you all the same version? Are you all running any software package on all three laptops? Have you tried deleting the wireless network and adding it again? Have you run wifi diagnostics on the laptops, press the option key then click on wifi symbol. Doubt its a 10.9 issue, but odd its affecting all three machines the same way.
 

snipper

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2004
233
30
Are you both with the same ISP / type of modem?

I'm asking this because I spend a lot of time investigating why my MBP WiFi connection was being dropped several times per hour. Other hardware like iPhone, iPad, seemed untouched. In the end it turned out to be the modem/router-to-world connection that was dropped (not the WiFI connection MPB-to-router). The ISP pretends the problem doesn't exist but a several other customers in my street complain about it too. I fixt it by putting it in bridge mode and using an Airport Express to set up the (wireless) local network. Never had problem with the internet connection since.
 
Last edited:

Lachhh

macrumors regular
Aug 30, 2014
207
11
Mainland Europe
OK, there's several things you can try here. The issue of dropped wifi connection on Mavericks is well known, though it may not actually be the operating system causing the problem. This hasn't been stated *nearly* enough, so I'll say this now:

Try this first:
Do you have any USB 3.0 devices connected? (Dongle, USB hub, mouse, HDD, etc.) Regularly dropped wifi is a known issue when using USB 3.0 peripherals because the frequency of USB 3.0 interferes with the wifi signal, degrading wifi and cutting you off intermittently. REMOVE ALL USB 3.0 PERIPHERALS and see if that solves the issue of regularly dropped wifi.

Intel's white paper on USB 3.0 and disrupted wifi signal: http://www.usb.org/developers/whitepapers/327216.pdf
Solution: Remove all USB 3.0 enabled peripherals from your computer and see if the connection comes back up.

Do this before you start messing with your router / bluetooth settings. (A common workaround is to turn bluetooth off, and / or turn off wifi and then back on again, and / or forgetting your wifi connection and then re-connecting.)

I wouldn't try any other solution before you haven't given these a shot first. Report back.
 

gingi0

macrumors newbie
Oct 3, 2004
13
0
Been an ongoing problem on my late 2013 retina MacBook Pro. I have a Magic Trackpad and an Apple Keyboard connected via Bluetooth, and they degrade wifi drastically (I get about 25Mbps/20Mbps with Bluetooth off, 3Mbps/1Mbps with Bluetooth on and devices connected).

This has happened on both Mavericks and now on Yosemite. Removing
Code:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
seems to improve things momentarily, but within a few hours wifi degrades again.
 

snipper

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2004
233
30
@gingi0

Weird. I have a late 2013 rMBP 15' running 10.9.4. Using it in combination with an older model Airport Extreme, WiFi configured on fixed channel 1, 801.11n 2.4 Ghz. Makes absolutely no difference if I turn Bluetooth on or off. (I sometimes use it for a headset, not with mouse / keyboard.)

BtW, I use WiFi Indicator to check the WiFi reception, it expresses it in a percentage rather then a one to four bars icon.
 

gingi0

macrumors newbie
Oct 3, 2004
13
0
I took my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store. They serviced it: Replaced the clam shell (which houses the antenna) and the Bluetooth card. Just received it back yesterday. Seems to be back to normal now.
 
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