I'm having slow network speeds on my 2018 MB Pro in/around 50-100mbps maximum. On my 2016MB Pro it runs ~600mbps. On my iPad Pro same.... ~600mbps. On my phone same thing ..... did anyone resolve this issue? I just bought this 2018 MB Pro and I'm really disappointed
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2018 MBP Slow WiFi on Wake
- Thread starter mcaswell
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great finding this thread.. no hair after 6 months of trying to fix it.
too bad the unlock AW has to be turned off to get it to work. but this works for sure.
Here I have a MBP end 2018. AW 5. Wifi from Ubiquity. AC pro Lite and HD. to optimize i have now split 5Ghz from 2.4Ghz and now having constant high speeds. Same issue here as most. Slow TXRate when connecting to AP.
happy eastern!
too bad the unlock AW has to be turned off to get it to work. but this works for sure.
Here I have a MBP end 2018. AW 5. Wifi from Ubiquity. AC pro Lite and HD. to optimize i have now split 5Ghz from 2.4Ghz and now having constant high speeds. Same issue here as most. Slow TXRate when connecting to AP.
happy eastern!
Well I've had my "AW off" for weeks now and it makes no difference with my 2017 MBP 13". Still TX rate of 174. If I switch to my normal router I get TX-867.
I don't know whether this is an Apple software issue, or whether the tri band Velop needs some serious love from Linksys to resolve the problems...
I don't know whether this is an Apple software issue, or whether the tri band Velop needs some serious love from Linksys to resolve the problems...
Having the same issue on my 2019 iMac 27" running 10.15. Tx Rate will be around 1,000 Mbps and all the sudden will drop as low as 6 Mbps and could stay there for a few minutes or longer. Only remedy so far is to turn wi-fi off and back on which I find myself doing a couple of times per hour 
AppleCare says its some sort of interference which makes no sense since I will have my 2016 MBP 15" running 10.14 next to the iMac connected to the same router, and it is not having this issue what's so ever.
AppleCare says its some sort of interference which makes no sense since I will have my 2016 MBP 15" running 10.14 next to the iMac connected to the same router, and it is not having this issue what's so ever.
So I spoke to a senior Linksys engineer in the states today about my slow TX problems.
They said to me that I have too many 'nodes' (4) for the size house I'm in and my devices aren't sure what nodes to talk too. ? Isn't that the whole point of the mesh network ???
So, I've turned off 2 nodes, just the primary downstairs and one upstairs.
So far, for most of the time my MBP 13" (2017) is now getting an 867 TX rate, although it has dropped down a couple of times but gone back to 867. And it retains 867 even waking from sleep with the Apple Watch unlock feature turned on.
They also showed me the secret advanced menu (via the web page) for the Velop which allows you to change channels/ channel width etc etc.... I've not played with that bit yet.
I'll see how this goes and then reintroduce the 2 offline nodes and see if it drops back to 174 TX again.
They said to me that I have too many 'nodes' (4) for the size house I'm in and my devices aren't sure what nodes to talk too. ? Isn't that the whole point of the mesh network ???
So, I've turned off 2 nodes, just the primary downstairs and one upstairs.
So far, for most of the time my MBP 13" (2017) is now getting an 867 TX rate, although it has dropped down a couple of times but gone back to 867. And it retains 867 even waking from sleep with the Apple Watch unlock feature turned on.
They also showed me the secret advanced menu (via the web page) for the Velop which allows you to change channels/ channel width etc etc.... I've not played with that bit yet.
I'll see how this goes and then reintroduce the 2 offline nodes and see if it drops back to 174 TX again.
Hey, over one year later (see: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2018-mbp-slow-wifi-on-wake.2129752/post-27076057) and after experiencing it on my Mac mini 2018 also I've finally found out what causes this issue for me! 🥳
Turns out the problem was the Wifi set to 802.11n+ac mode with 80 MHz channels. 🤷♂️ After I've set it to 802.11n+a mode with 40 MHz channels, the problem disappeared. Of course this decreases the throughput to 450 Mbit/s, so it's an inferior solution to just restarting the Wifi after wake.
I found the solution in this blog article: https://hmijailblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/macbook-2013-vs-80-mhz-wifi-channels.html
But as I said, restarting the Wifi on wake also solves the problem and does it without performance degredation.
Turns out the problem was the Wifi set to 802.11n+ac mode with 80 MHz channels. 🤷♂️ After I've set it to 802.11n+a mode with 40 MHz channels, the problem disappeared. Of course this decreases the throughput to 450 Mbit/s, so it's an inferior solution to just restarting the Wifi after wake.
I found the solution in this blog article: https://hmijailblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/macbook-2013-vs-80-mhz-wifi-channels.html
But as I said, restarting the Wifi on wake also solves the problem and does it without performance degredation.
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It's kinda the problem.
My Linksys Velop wasn't holding it's 80Mhz properly, it kept dropping to 40, hence why my Macbook (2017) & iMac kept dropping from TX867 down to 173.
However, I also have a time capsule and that holds it's 80mhz with no issue and my Macbook locks on at TX1300 and never ever drops.
I also have an EE router (Sagemcom) and that holds its 80mhz and that never drops to 40 and I get a constant TX867 with that.
So my issues have been narrowed down to a faulty Velop system so Linksys asked for it to be sent back and a new system is being sent to me.
My Linksys Velop wasn't holding it's 80Mhz properly, it kept dropping to 40, hence why my Macbook (2017) & iMac kept dropping from TX867 down to 173.
However, I also have a time capsule and that holds it's 80mhz with no issue and my Macbook locks on at TX1300 and never ever drops.
I also have an EE router (Sagemcom) and that holds its 80mhz and that never drops to 40 and I get a constant TX867 with that.
So my issues have been narrowed down to a faulty Velop system so Linksys asked for it to be sent back and a new system is being sent to me.
I've had this problem for ages - TX drops down to 27 or 13 Mbps - tried everything. I can confirm that disabling unlock with Apple watch has fixed the issue - thanks @marklemac
So my latest update.
Got my 4 node velop system replaced by Linksys. Set it all up and got my TX867 back. Only for it to keep dropping back down to 173. grrrrrrrr.
I then stumbled across an article talking about 80mhz interference. The only other device on my network which does 80mhz is my EE (sagemcom) router, so I turned off the 5Ghz channel on the router and left the 2.4 running. Rebooted the Velop and hey presto, my nodes now stay locked onto 80mhz aka TX867.
And, wake on sleep now isn't an issue (with Apple Watch Unlock turned on)
Got my 4 node velop system replaced by Linksys. Set it all up and got my TX867 back. Only for it to keep dropping back down to 173. grrrrrrrr.
I then stumbled across an article talking about 80mhz interference. The only other device on my network which does 80mhz is my EE (sagemcom) router, so I turned off the 5Ghz channel on the router and left the 2.4 running. Rebooted the Velop and hey presto, my nodes now stay locked onto 80mhz aka TX867.
And, wake on sleep now isn't an issue (with Apple Watch Unlock turned on)
I've been battling this issue for months since starting to work from home. This entire time I thought it was my home network, since I've seen issues in the past with spotty wifi connectivity or seemingly strong connections that weren't due to noise from other networks in the neighborhood. I went so far as to hard wire my mesh routers (Eero Gen 1s) to make sure there wasn't anything affecting the signal between them. Surprise, surprise when that didn't fix the issue, even with the AP being no more than 5 ft from my laptop. Speeds would start out great after toggling wifi and then randomly degrade throughout the day, sometimes coming back on their own, but usually requiring me to toggle wifi off/on again.
Since disabling auto-unlock with my Apple Watch, speeds have been rock solid. I haven't had to toggle wifi and the intermittent fast.com and speedtest.net tests I do throughout the day show numbers I would expect to see. The wifi menu also shows a Tx rate of 866 Mbps nearly every time I look, rather than dipping down to 30 or 14 Mbps and getting stuck there.
It seems so strange that the Apple Watch unlock feature could cause this issue since, according to my understanding, it uses bluetooth and not wifi. I'll miss my computer being automatically unlocked when I sit down, but will take the usability hit in exchange for a stable network connection.
I'm going to keep an eye on this for the next week or so and will report back if the issue comes back.
Since disabling auto-unlock with my Apple Watch, speeds have been rock solid. I haven't had to toggle wifi and the intermittent fast.com and speedtest.net tests I do throughout the day show numbers I would expect to see. The wifi menu also shows a Tx rate of 866 Mbps nearly every time I look, rather than dipping down to 30 or 14 Mbps and getting stuck there.
It seems so strange that the Apple Watch unlock feature could cause this issue since, according to my understanding, it uses bluetooth and not wifi. I'll miss my computer being automatically unlocked when I sit down, but will take the usability hit in exchange for a stable network connection.
I'm going to keep an eye on this for the next week or so and will report back if the issue comes back.
My update is as follows:
With the terrible lack of support from Linksys and their understanding of how their own product worked, I completely ditched the Velop system and bought a 3 node Eero Pro mesh.
With the Apple Watch unlock still turned on, and still using the same Macbook Pro, I've had ZERO issues since installing it. A constant no matter what TX Rate of 867 all day everyday.
With the terrible lack of support from Linksys and their understanding of how their own product worked, I completely ditched the Velop system and bought a 3 node Eero Pro mesh.
With the Apple Watch unlock still turned on, and still using the same Macbook Pro, I've had ZERO issues since installing it. A constant no matter what TX Rate of 867 all day everyday.
My employer recently sent me a 15” 2018 MBP and for the last two weeks I’ve noticed the WiFi speeds are less than half of what I’m seeing on my iPad literally sitting next to it on the same desk. I came across this thread after reading a few posts on reddit and never suspected it could be the Apple Watch unlock feature. I turned that off this morning and rebooted and now my WiFi speeds are close to what I’m seeing on the iPad. I would have never guessed that could be the cause. Thanks to all who posted this recommendation! I was starting to think it was an issue with my Eero Pro.
2 months later since my last post and I still have Zero issues with my Eero Pro and my MacBook with Apple Watch unlock turned ON.
I'm curious. For everybody who fixed this by turning of Auto Unlock for Apple Watch. Which AW model do you have? I have the series 3 44mm
Count me as one of the many here who fought wifi slowdown issues for a LONG time, only to finally resolve them completely by turning off the unlock with apple watch feature.
My question: has anyone tested with Big Sur to see if by chance the squashed this bug in the new OS??
My question: has anyone tested with Big Sur to see if by chance the squashed this bug in the new OS??
After having a MacBook with fingerprint scanner I don't feel the need anymore.
Yes, I've tested it, but unfortunately the bug remains.
I'm still using Sleepwatcher to restart my Wifi on Wakeup and an additional Launchd service to restart it every 30 minutes, which works pretty well. Disabling Unlock with Apple Watch did _not_ work for me, neither on my 2018 Mac mini nor my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.
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Yes, I've tested it, but unfortunately the bug remains.
Same here--2019 MacBookPro 16" on Big Sur and Apple Watch S6:
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Having wasted 2 days talking to TP-Link (M9 Mesh) about variable and slow WiFi 866Mbps dropping to 12Mbps -14Mbps, I came across this thread. I tried turning off the Apple Watch unlock (series 6) and INSTANT FIX !! WiFi is now always between 780Mbps and 866Mbps. I did not believe it would work but it does, brilliantly. Sad that Apple have not fixed this as it is clearly a bug. Many thanks to those who worked out the solution. MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) running Big Sur 11.2.