Buy now or wait for Wifi issues to be fixed?

[maxxed]

There is a lot of talk here about screaming performance, Sata-3, vertex-3, etc. I have been itching to pull the trigger on a 15"/2.3 for some time, but the obvious failings of the wifi in these units bugs me to no end.

How are you guys glossing over this? It seems this is a known issue and I would hate to have a blindingly fast machine only for it to stall every time I need to transfer files over wifi, or trying to connect to wifi networks when I travel.

Please help me see the light.

 

[DustinT]

I'm not sure how much of an issue it is. I've not had any problems with mine although I've heard about the issues. I'm of the opinion thats its all a little overblown.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

No wifi problems

2011 MBP 13. Do it.

 

[blevins321]

I would guess that the issue is driver/kext related. Possibly even firmware. All of which can be rectified by downloadable firmware updates. So if you really want one, get one. The problems will surely be addressed.

 

[awer25]

Mine works perfectly too. Just get one - any issue you could potentially have will be fixed by a software update or Applecare.

 

[ELA2]

No WI-FI problems here either.

 

[Dwalls90]

No signal or speed problems here whatsoever. My guess is whatever "widespread problem" there was, ended up being an isolated situation.

 

[daneoni]

I have no issues...then again i use an Airport Extreme. Maybe get one of those or hold off the entire revision until 2012.

 

[maxxed]

No signal or speed problems here whatsoever. My guess is whatever "widespread problem" there was, ended up being an isolated situation.

Mine works perfectly too. Just get one - any issue you could potentially have will be fixed by a software update or Applecare.

No WI-FI problems here either.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Can you confirm you have tried the ping test? (Pinging any local machine and looking for pingspikes).

I would hate to get stuck with a dud, as I often move large files (1gb+) on the local.

 

[DustinT]

I've moved gigs over wireless before. As always, gigabit ethernet is much faster but the wireless worked. I have played with the ping test and saw some erratic results but but it didn't seem to affect performance very much.

 

[Saberon]

MBP 13" with an old WRT54GL flashed w/ tomato. Never any issues with any devices.

 

[rockinrocker]

I'm not sure how much of an issue it is. I've not had any problems with mine although I've heard about the issues. I'm of the opinion thats its all a little overblown.

Just because it doesn't effect you doesn't mean it's overblown.

Some users are still having some issues. Not all. Odds are you won't be one of them, but it's always possible. Of course, this is true with any tech product.

And as others stated, it's likely to be a software issue that'll be addressed at some point anyway.

 

[maxxed]

My understanding is that this problem affects all 2011 MBP's, and users who 'aren't affected' have not done a ping test. Empirical evidence suggests this.

It worries me that this issue hasn't been solved. If it hasn't been fixed by now, why not?

edit: The first thing I will do when buying mine is post ping test results. On the 'off chance' mine has no problems, this will be the first confirmation that ANY 2011 MBP doesn't have borked wifi.

 

[snaky69]

What issues? People have been whining about the MBP's wireless ever since they came out in 2006, I've never had a problem with mine, in fact, it sometimes sees networks windows PCs don't.

What you see on the internet and on forums is a very vocal minority, nobody's going to post about how well their machine works.

 

[JTToft]

nobody's going to post about how well their machine works.

- That's actually not true. I did just that a couple of months ago.

 

[maxxed]

What issues? People have been whining about the MBP's wireless ever since they came out in 2006, I've never had a problem with mine, in fact, it sometimes sees networks windows PCs don't.

can you ping any local machine (or any website) with consistent results, or are the results all over the place. That's all I'm trying to determine; if this is really an issue that affects all MBP2011's.

 

[JTToft]

can you ping any local machine (or any website) with consistent results, or are the results all over the place. That's all I'm trying to determine; if this is really an issue that affects all MBP2011's.

- I can. But if I ping my MacBook Pro from another machine (ThinkPad on Windows XP) on my local network, the results are not that good.

Screenshots of both scenarios below.

 

[Blipp]

My understanding is that this problem affects all 2011 MBP's, and users who 'aren't affected' have not done a ping test. Empirical evidence suggests this.

It worries me that this issue hasn't been solved. If it hasn't been fixed by now, why not?

edit: The first thing I will do when buying mine is post ping test results. On the 'off chance' mine has no problems, this will be the first confirmation that ANY 2011 MBP doesn't have borked wifi.

Let's assume for a minute that you're correct and this issue exists in 100% of 2011 MBPs. You're telling me that a problem that is so insignificant none of us even know we have it, if at all, is a devastating blow to your purchase plans? That's a first-world problem if I've ever heard one right there.

 

[maxxed]

- I can. But if I ping my MacBook Pro from another machine (ThinkPad on Windows XP) on my local network, the results are not that good.

Screenshots of both scenarios below.

Thanks for that, that really helps. Looks ok to me.

Let's assume for a minute that you're correct and this issue exists in 100% of 2011 MBPs. You're telling me that a problem that is so insignificant none of us even know we have it, if at all, is a devastating blow to your purchase plans? That's a first-world problem if I've ever heard one right there.

Straight up answer is yes, it is a devastating blow to my purchase plans. Why wouldn't it be? The fact that (possibly) 'none of you' know you have it is your own ignorance, and has no bearing on my purchase plans at all. Why would it?

There are a large number of users who 'are' aware of the problem. The fact that this may sway my buying decision is valid, no matter how much coolaid you've had today.

 

[stevemiller]

first off, i had a good 5 month run after first getting snow leopard where my mac was dropping wifi all the time, so i don't doubt the potential for problems.

but i think what many people are trying to point out is that if the problem exists, but is mainly only perceivable through ping tests rather than actual use, then its not really that widespread of an issue. if you are truly interested in the computer, i'd say get it and test it at home and a few local wifi networks to see how well it handles file transfers, downloads, connection stability, etc... and return it if its not up to snuff!

i know standardized tests and benchmarks are good ways of getting a baseline for performance, but looking around here it sometimes feels like testing computer performance is the primary use for some people's machines. like they need maximum power just so they can repeatedly verify and quantify that power

anyway, like i said i am quite wary of apple's wifi track record too, but i'm still hoping to grab one of the new mbp's this summer. mainly for geekbenching

 

[brentsg]

The issue will affect any application that is sensitive to jitter, but most people probably won't detect it w/out looking.

 

[DustinT]

My understanding is that this problem affects all 2011 MBP's, and users who 'aren't affected' have not done a ping test. Empirical evidence suggests this.

It worries me that this issue hasn't been solved. If it hasn't been fixed by now, why not?

edit: The first thing I will do when buying mine is post ping test results. On the 'off chance' mine has no problems, this will be the first confirmation that ANY 2011 MBP doesn't have borked wifi.

I have tested mine and seen the issue. But, I've never had a problem in real life. My games work fine, VOIP apps work fine, its a non-issue.

You need to stop worrying.

 

[mikeytwice]

Straight up answer is yes, it is a devastating blow to my purchase plans. Why wouldn't it be? The fact that (possibly) 'none of you' know you have it is your own ignorance, and has no bearing on my purchase plans at all. Why would it?

maxxed: As a prospective buyer I sympathize with your concerns. But it's worth considering that ping is only one metric (a good one, no doubt) by which to measure wifi performance. If, in actual use, people are engaging in high-bandwidth activities like downloading from bittorrent and streaming video without problems, ping stats are only so relevant. NICs can respond to ping even though they're down, and you can find plenty of discussions all over the interwebs about how ping is a poor measure of throughput. See this, for example.

And, as people have suggested, Apple probably won't change the hardware... this will most likely be fixed via firmware, if it is indeed a problem.

I've been waiting to pull the trigger on an MBP for a few months now, and reading the boards has just made me a bag of nerves. Everyone has something to complain about, yet everyone at my university seems to have an MBP and seems to love it... (granted most of then don't know anything, but if they were as awful as complaints made them out to be...)

 

[awer25]

I've been waiting to pull the trigger on an MBP for a few months now, and reading the boards has just made me a bag of nerves. Everyone has something to complain about, yet everyone at my university seems to have an MBP and seems to love it... (granted most of then don't know anything, but if they were as awful as complaints made them out to be...)

Just to get a quick positive comment out there...I've had mine for almost 2 months now and haven't had a single issue. I'm using the Optibay, running OSX on a Vertex 3 and Bootcamp off the HDD. Still, no problems.

 

[Macsavvytech]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Can you confirm you have tried the ping test? (Pinging any local machine and looking for pingspikes).

I would hate to get stuck with a dud, as I often move large files (1gb+) on the local.

As i understood it the issue only occurred when running a ping test, as soon as one actually started transferring information the ping stabilized.
Even my ping test are solid since the 10.6.7 update.

Not Bad, thats also off my week Router that doesn't support 5Ghz Wireless N ...

PING 10.1.1.1 (10.1.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=1.098 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.278 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.203 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=3.967 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.340 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=3.978 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=1.150 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=1.249 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=1.161 ms
64 bytes from 10.1.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=3.715 ms

--- 10.1.1.1 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.098/2.014/3.978/1.230 ms

Thats off my Wireless Router. Although i dont have the exact results when i tested my ping before the 10.6.7 update I was getting erratic ping between 1 and 10000ms.