FIXED: Snow Leopard and wireless latency/slow ping?

[amusiccale]

After upgrading to Snow Leopard (SR MBP), I've experienced unusually high and unpredictable latency from the airport connection. The Ethernet connection works fine (consistent and short ping times to the wireless router), but the airport connection's ping times vary wildly.

A different MBP (unibody) on Leopard does not have this problem with the same router (so it seems unlikely that the router is at fault), and I did not have this problem before my upgrading.

Programs such as Skype that require a steady stream of information are now unusable.

Any ideas? (does Archive and Install work for downgrades?)

 

[iLog.Genius]

Reset your network. If that doesn't work, you can try to delete .plists.

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/

remove: com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and preferences.plist

You will need to enter in your password to remove those files.

If everything was working prior to upgrading to Snow Leopard, just might be some bad files that need to be recreated.

 

[amusiccale]

I've reset what I think are all elements of the network (though, as mentioned, the inconsistency lies only with this particular computer and not others using it) and trashed those 2 preference files, but the problem remains:

(screenshot)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/amusiccale/Screenshot2009-09-05at101600AM.png

Any thoughts?

 

[iLog.Genius]

Try creating a new user and see what happens there. Also, try to be in the same room as the router if you're not already and also try to see if you get the same problem if connected through ethernet.

 

[amusiccale]

Problem does not appear through an ethernet connection, however, it persists in different users, including the guest user, when using the wireless. My computer is less than a meter from the router, so distance is unlikely to be a problem. The same command on a different mac across the room generates consistent 2-4 ms response times on the wireless network. Thanks for the suggestions, but so far, no luck.

 

[iLog.Genius]

last thing to really suggest before considering taking it to Apple is do a SMC reset and/or PRAM reset. Do you have Windows installed through Boot Camp? I'm curious to see if it behaves the same. Another option is try taking it to a wireless hotspot. Sorry if I'm just throwing ideas out, just trying to isolate/determine the problem before you take it to Apple (if you need to) to help speed up the repair process.

 

[amusiccale]

I created an ad-hoc network with the other laptop with similar results in pinging the other computer.

I will attempt the SMC/PRAM zap and try pinging from an ubuntu live cd this afternoon (no windows on this one, unfortunately).

 

[amusiccale]

Interesting news: using a live cd of ubuntu (9.04), all is well in the network latency department using the built-in airport wireless:

Nothing more than about 2 ms delay with the same hardware setup and the same router when using Linux. Still ranging between .8 and 2000 ms in 10.6: something strange seems to be occurring.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Yeah, it has to do something with Snow Leopard. I think a backup and then clean install should be considered. I'm thinking of doing the same as I am running into a few minor annoyances because of upgrading rather than doing a clean install.

 

[amusiccale]

ugh, guess I'll have to find time to sort that out or leave it as a desk-bound laptop until I have time in a few months. [Not having used it since Fiesty Fawn, ubuntu's looking pretty appealing]

Any idea if archive and install works for Leopard after Snow Leopard?

 

[iLog.Genius]

ugh, guess I'll have to find time to sort that out or leave it as a desk-bound laptop until I have time in a few months. [Not having used it since Fiesty Fawn, ubuntu's looking pretty appealing]

Any idea if archive and install works for Leopard after Snow Leopard?

I don't think going backwards is possible and supposedly Archive and Install is done by default now on Snow Leopard. You're still going to go through the trouble of reinstalling applications again but your data should still be there. That's why I'm so hesitant in doing so, reinstalling CS4 is a PITA.

 

[amusiccale]

Yeah, no CS4 troubles for me, but I had some difficulty prodding Office 2004 to remember how to deal with .docx files again. Maybe it will stay wired for now until I have time later.

 

[amusiccale]

So, I reinstalled SL in place, without any success. Oddly, after connecting to the wireless from the installation DVD, network utility was able to successfully ping the router without delay. After installing, however, the issue remained the same. Since I don't seem to be able to move backwards with my existing time machine (having upgraded), what options to I have? Would a full wipe be significantly different than the archive and install that I just did, considering that the issues appear on all user profiles, including a Guest user? I just don't see it making a significant difference, unless my understanding of the archive/install process is wrong.

[Edit:]

Solved! Turns out the version of Undercover that I downloaded this past week was yet not the updated version that I thought it was. Got the new version (3.2) and wireless latency has returned to normal. Looks like the 3.1 that I downloaded doesn't work with SL.