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travod

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 10, 2013
172
68
Assuming the current wifi issues will be solved soon, what's the deal with this new wifi stuff on the Air? I pretend to know some things about computers, but I'm not getting this. For example, in some parts of my house the wifi signal is very weak on my 2008 Macbook (I don't know what is causing the problem, but a few years ago the signal wouldn't be as bad as it is now - aging laptop or aging router?) - is the new Air designed to make the best out of my router, IE getting a stronger signal at a greater distance from the router? Or is it only better if I have a better router?
 

Eb950vr

macrumors newbie
Jun 20, 2013
4
0
The wifi problems on the new Macbook air , or at least the ones that I have experienced with my 13 inch 1.7/8/256 have been: On my home wifi connection, I can stay connected to the network for about 30 seconds. After this, it will still show my connection as "connected" but nothing will load. Turning wifi off and on/ restarting seem to be temporary solutions that can give me and few minutes of connection before inevitably disconnecting.

I believe however that this is a software issue because I can connect to my neighbors wifi and stay connected indefinitely. Also, people are talking about on the apple support forums that some of them are getting invites to test out Apple's upcoming wifi update which should hopefully alleviate all of these problems.
 

Brandon263

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2009
404
37
Beaumont, CA
Assuming the current wifi issues will be solved soon, what's the deal with this new wifi stuff on the Air? I pretend to know some things about computers, but I'm not getting this. For example, in some parts of my house the wifi signal is very weak on my 2008 Macbook (I don't know what is causing the problem, but a few years ago the signal wouldn't be as bad as it is now - aging laptop or aging router?) - is the new Air designed to make the best out of my router, IE getting a stronger signal at a greater distance from the router? Or is it only better if I have a better router?

The WiFi issues seem to only be affecting some machines. My base 2013 Air has no problems connecting to both AC and N networks, and actually reaches higher peak WiFi speeds than my rMBP did.
 

johnjey

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2013
245
2
Northern CA
The wifi problems on the new Macbook air , or at least the ones that I have experienced with my 13 inch 1.7/8/256 have been: On my home wifi connection, I can stay connected to the network for about 30 seconds. After this, it will still show my connection as "connected" but nothing will load. Turning wifi off and on/ restarting seem to be temporary solutions that can give me and few minutes of connection before inevitably disconnecting.

I believe however that this is a software issue because I can connect to my neighbors wifi and stay connected indefinitely. Also, people are talking about on the apple support forums that some of them are getting invites to test out Apple's upcoming wifi update which should hopefully alleviate all of these problems.

Well, i have an i5/8gb/512SSD 2013 11' air....and i got scared when my air went to sleep and then as it woke up i saw that...the wi-fi is disconnected and it is trying to connect it back......so possibly i wouldn't call that i think a wi-fi issue..
 

travod

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 10, 2013
172
68
My question really isn't about the new wifi issues. It's a general question about the improved wifi capabilities of the Air versus older laptops. Can it generate better speeds out of the same router is what I'm asking.
 

Jedi Master

macrumors regular
No and maybe

My question really isn't about the new wifi issues. It's a general question about the improved wifi capabilities of the Air versus older laptops. Can it generate better speeds out of the same router is what I'm asking.


The Mac Air Does Not made older routers faster. The wireless router allows for a faster wireless protocol, li 802.ac is after than, 802.n and so on


http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/IEEE-802-Wireless-Standards-Fast-Reference


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802
 

cabster2

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2013
5
0
My question really isn't about the new wifi issues. It's a general question about the improved wifi capabilities of the Air versus older laptops. Can it generate better speeds out of the same router is what I'm asking.

I just bought the new MBA yesterday. The first one was garbage bc of the wi-fi issue and I had to go to the store and replace it. The second one was working fine for a while, and using the same router as the one my 2010 MB and MBP were on, it was much faster! Lightning speed fast. But then of course it started having the wi-fi issue also. I was impressed for a few hours but I'm probably returning it until they fix the wi-fi.
 

TC25

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2011
2,201
0
I just bought the new MBA yesterday. The first one was garbage bc of the wi-fi issue and I had to go to the store and replace it. The second one was working fine for a while, and using the same router as the one my 2010 MB and MBP were on, it was much faster! Lightning speed fast. But then of course it started having the wi-fi issue also. I was impressed for a few hours but I'm probably returning it until they fix the wi-fi.

Does your router support 802.11ac?
 

cabster2

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2013
5
0
Does your router support 802.11ac?

Here's my issue with trying to change the router. I'm moving away for school so it would be good for another month if it even worked, which I've read that many people have tried and for some it has worked and for some it hasn't. Even if I did change the router, I don't have control over public wi-fi or university wi-fi, so if it's not compatible with those, then this is a waste of my money. I really hope apple comes out with a fix for this soon, I would love the MBA if it weren't for the wi-fi issue. :(
 

keatre

macrumors newbie
Jun 14, 2013
24
0
I think there's a slight misunderstanding here.

The Macbook Air's new WiFi protocol (802.11ac) is compatible with ALL currently used WiFi protocols (or all that you'll be connecting to). 802.11ac designates that the Air can connect to the newest available routers on the market currently. But - it will also connect to router's sold all the way back to when WiFi started first becoming popular. If a public place is broadcasting, or if your University broadcasts a WiFi signal, you WILL be able to connect to it (from a protocol standpoint).

If you're describing the "MBA 2013 WiFi issue" where the wifi drops after 30 seconds, then thats a different matter. But if your concern is being able to use public/University/other routers, do not worry - the Macbook Air will connect just fine.
 
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