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I love my new MacBook Pro BUT

G

GregGebhardt

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2010
313
0
WiFi reception SUCKS!

I use a commercial Cisco WiFi system that half of my neighborhood uses and all my computers get full bars on wifi including my iPad and iMac but my new i7 MBP is lucky to get one bar!

The aluminum unibody looks good but must be a big impediment to the RF on WIFi !
 
GregGebhardt said:
WiFi reception SUCKS!

I use a commercial Cisco WiFi system that half of my neighborhood uses and all my computers get full bars on wifi including my iPad and iMac but my new i7 MBP is lucky to get one bar!

The aluminum unibody looks good but must be a big impediment to the RF on WIFi !
Click to expand...

The WiFi antennae is located right by the optical drive port so Apple did what they could to give it a free and clear path. But I've never heard this before. My friend has a UMBP from 2009 and always has gotten better reception than me. Then again, I was using a Asus EEE 1000HA at the time. I'll have to check back when I actually receive my new MBP.

What size laptop is this? Also, have you actually noticed any performance issues with the laptop? I get 1-2 bars on my i Phone in my apt even though I'm just in the other bedroom but it still runs super fast. I know that some people elsewhere have reported things like this on non-apple routers, which is shady, but kinda makes sense that Apple is not testing it's wireless products with every other router, but you'd think they'd do something.
 
hmmmm... be interesting to see if any other of the new ones have the same problem. My previous gen unibody has great wifi reception, better than any of my friends windows based machines.
 
It is the i7 15". The C2D I owned for 3 days prior to the i7 did the same thing so it must be the exact location on my lazy boy chair as I get great WiFi reception else where. My thinkpad got full bars in the same chair/lap
 
alexh123drum said:
hmmmm... be interesting to see if any other of the new ones have the same problem. My previous gen unibody has great wifi reception, better than any of my friends windows based machines.
Click to expand...

I do not think it is a large problem or we would be reading about it more here!

I think it is just mine and it's location!

RF propagation can be a mysterious thing.
 
You could get a DD-WRT compatible router and setup a wireless bridge. Then have another WiFi access point hang off that for local WiFi access as well as provide local Ethernet access to devices in your house/apartment.
 
I would have the Apple Store look at it. You will get worse connections with the aluminum body but it shouldn't be worse then the previous macbook pro models. It could be an antenna connection issue.
 
GregGebhardt said:
WiFi reception SUCKS!

I use a commercial Cisco WiFi system that half of my neighborhood uses and all my computers get full bars on wifi including my iPad and iMac but my new i7 MBP is lucky to get one bar!

The aluminum unibody looks good but must be a big impediment to the RF on WIFi !
Click to expand...

It could be one of those freak compatibility issues between a router and the laptops wifi. I had an a-link adsl/wlan router in the household and one laptop always had horrible reception on it yet it performed great on other networks, and on this network every other laptop performed great.

I never could pinpoint the issue but i got a new router and everything has worked fine since. This is a very long shot tho and prolly not worth the money to experiment, I needed to upgrade my router anyway so that wasnt an issue.
 
i have a feeling it's your laptop or router because my new 15'' i5 is doing good.. i have 2 lnksys wireless g's and a fios one.
 
Just got my 15" low end mbp for a few days ..
fyi ... i don't have any problems with the wireless connection ... probably your specific one have this problem ... might want to let them check it for u ... Cheers
 
GregGebhardt said:
WiFi reception SUCKS!

I use a commercial Cisco WiFi system that half of my neighborhood uses and all my computers get full bars on wifi including my iPad and iMac but my new i7 MBP is lucky to get one bar!

The aluminum unibody looks good but must be a big impediment to the RF on WIFi !
Click to expand...

The newer ones are supposed to have better reception than the older ones as well due to a new wifi antenna, but they weren't known for very good reception before...
 
My new 15" has lower strength, but no real connection issues.

So far I have tested it at work, home and a friends house and I can never get full strength. Same when I boot to Windows 7.

However, my old MacBook, iPhones and iPad get full strength. My MacMini at home gets full bars as well.
 
hcmitchellr said:
My new 15" has lower strength, but no real connection issues.

So far I have tested it at work, home and a friends house and I can never get full strength. Same when I boot to Windows 7.

However, my old MacBook, iPhones and iPad get full strength. My MacMini at home gets full bars as well.
Click to expand...

sometimes it is due to the systems. i got weak connection in xp and cannot connect in vista on my old sony sz
 
For those reporting a low signal strength. I would be interesting to do the following in a terminal and post the results on this thread:

/usr/local/bin/airport -s

Also you can option+click the AirPort icon to get the RSSI and data rate of your connection.
 
I just got my new MBP and I also moved to a new house so my ISP couldn't set my internet up until tomorrow. For the last week I have been leaching off the neighbors internet. Out of all the machines I own, my new MBP is the only that can get reception. I have been totally satisfied with my wireless. Not dropping signals, good range, and fast as heck. Perhaps something is wrong...
 
I haven't had that problem so far. I only have one router and I get wifi pretty far away.
 
DrVenture said:
For those reporting a low signal strength. I would be interesting to do the following in a terminal and post the results on this thread:

/usr/local/bin/airport -s

Also you can option+click the AirPort icon to get the RSSI and data rate of your connection.
Click to expand...

Unknown directory...

I don't have a bin directory inside /usr/local... just include and lib
 
DesmoPilot said:
Just checking in case you aren't aware; I believe you replace "usr" with your account name.
Click to expand...

I will check that out...but there is a directory called /usr so that's why I didn't assume to replace 'usr' with my /Users/account directory...two totally different things. Alas, I will check again.

EDIT: checked...no such directory.
 
I have a 2010 13" MBP and have MUCH better reception than I do with both my Windows based netbook or my husband's HP laptop. Also better reception than my iPod touch. I am getting reception in areas of the house that are absolute dead zones with everything else.
 
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