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M1 Macbook Pro suddenly has terrible internet (no other device does)

alexjholland

alexjholland

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 3, 2011
848
825
Bali, Cambridge, Sydney.. anywhere.
Hey, I live in Portugal and we have fast 400/200 fibre internet with Vodafone PT.

Our entire apartment has fast, reliable internet over both wireless and cable.

I'm only one room away from the router and until recently had fast internet.

Recently my M1 Macbook Pro has chunks of time where the internet is barely usable.

Safari, Chrome - both have the same issue.

Other devices don't seem to be affected.

I already tried disabling the 'Limit IP address tracking' feature - as some suggested - but this didn't help.

Any ideas?
 
Search how to clear the DNS on your version of macOS via Terminal. Then set the DNS to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 in advanced WIFI network settings. Alternatively you can set to Google's DNS 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 9.9.9.9.

If you want to unify all the devices set the DNS on the router, if on the go set on the devices. It's not a MacOS issue, more likely your ISP. I have no such issue over a strong VPN.

192.168.1.1 is your own lookback DNS from your router.

Q-6
 
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Queen6 said:
Search how to clear the DNS on your version of macOS via Terminal. Then set the DNS to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 in advanced WIFI network settings. Alternatively you can set to Google's DNS 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 9.9.9.9.

If you want to unify all the devices set the DNS on the router, if on the go set on the devices. It's not a MacOS issue, more likely your ISP. I have no such issue over a strong VPN.

192.168.1.1 is your own lookback DNS from your router.

Q-6
Click to expand...
Yeah, with me it was was very much an edge case - connecting to employers network occasionally led to my ISP's DNS going missing. Solution? Add it back in. Putting Google's DNS in (and making it first) might be an easy fix for the OP.
 
Is it possible for the antenna connection to have come loose in the MBP? Apple's devices are well assembled, but there are millions and occasionally one can have such a production issue.
 
I get these calls all the time. ONE device has issues, “can’t be my internet, everything else works”.

Unplug your router and modem for 30 seconds, plug modem back. Wait 5 minutes, plug router back in.

Check results.

Before you go digging into DNS/IP configs/etc, just reboot the router. It’s the start of your internet chain. You may not get the result you’re looking for, but you’ll save hours of frustration if you troubleshoot in the proper order (I’m assuming you’ve actually rebooted your computer already).
 
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alexjholland said:
Hey, I live in Portugal and we have fast 400/200 fibre internet with Vodafone PT.

Our entire apartment has fast, reliable internet over both wireless and cable.

I'm only one room away from the router and until recently had fast internet.

Recently my M1 Macbook Pro has chunks of time where the internet is barely usable.

Safari, Chrome - both have the same issue.

Other devices don't seem to be affected.

I already tried disabling the 'Limit IP address tracking' feature - as some suggested - but this didn't help.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
This has happened to me sometimes rarely. It doesn’t seem to be related to ANYTHING so I suggest ignoring it until it fixes itself Or at least not worrying about it.

The ONLY difference is my macbook is a 2017 intel mac
 
I had the same issue while helping run an event at the local convention center two weeks ago. While my Windows PC that I had onsite (I was running a lot of the tech stuff from one of the offices in the building), I could connect to the WiFi just fine. But my MBP couldn't connect, even though it was literally three feet away from the PC. The Mac would connect just fine on any other network, it was just the one network that wouldn't work.
 
dmccloud said:
I had the same issue while helping run an event at the local convention center two weeks ago. While my Windows PC that I had onsite (I was running a lot of the tech stuff from one of the offices in the building), I could connect to the WiFi just fine. But my MBP couldn't connect, even though it was literally three feet away from the PC. The Mac would connect just fine on any other network, it was just the one network that wouldn't work.
Click to expand...
Had the same happen in some hotels. My solution was to get a portable 4G cellular router that I knew connected to the Mac and then use it as a repeater for the hotels network. Also adds some more security as the router has it's own firewall.

There is just an issue with Mac's and some networks and they either refuse to connect or have very poor connectivity.

Q-6
 
Queen6 said:
Had the same happen in some hotels. My solution was to get a portable 4G cellular router that I knew connected to the Mac and then use it as a repeater for the hotels network. Also adds some more security as the router has it's own firewall.
Click to expand...

A good solution. But, if you ever forget the router, here's what I've found.

If you have set your DNS manually on your Macbook, say to Google's DNS, or anything else, go into Network settings and delete any and all DNS entries you have. Close the Network settings. Then try to reconnect to the hotel website, starting from step one. You may find you can now get connected.

I've found that for some hotel and convention networks, you have to let your MacOS network settings default to the DNS used by the hotel router/wifi/provider, else you can't even connect. It's a very strange behavior, but I've had it happen repeatedly with MacOS/MacBooks in particular. Deleting DNS that I've manually entered fixes it every time.
 
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alexjholland said:
Hey, I live in Portugal and we have fast 400/200 fibre internet with Vodafone PT.

Our entire apartment has fast, reliable internet over both wireless and cable.

I'm only one room away from the router and until recently had fast internet.

Recently my M1 Macbook Pro has chunks of time where the internet is barely usable.

Safari, Chrome - both have the same issue.

Other devices don't seem to be affected.

I already tried disabling the 'Limit IP address tracking' feature - as some suggested - but this didn't help.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Have you tried rebooting your router?
Power it off, wait a minute, then switch it back on.

Also what does your phone get over cellular? You could try tethering your laptop to the phone to se if they both get the same speeds. That would rule out your WiFi being the issue.
 
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ManicMarc said:
Have you tried rebooting your router?
Power it off, wait a minute, then switch it back on.

Also what does your phone get over cellular? You could try tethering your laptop to the phone to se if they both get the same speeds. That would rule out your WiFi being the issue.
Click to expand...
I switched to a hotspot on my iPhone - it's perfect.

No issues. Lightning-fast internet.

Does that definitely rule out the issue being Macbook side - and it's inside my router?
 
NT1440 said:
I get these calls all the time. ONE device has issues, “can’t be my internet, everything else works”.

Unplug your router and modem for 30 seconds, plug modem back. Wait 5 minutes, plug router back in.

Check results.

Before you go digging into DNS/IP configs/etc, just reboot the router. It’s the start of your internet chain. You may not get the result you’re looking for, but you’ll save hours of frustration if you troubleshoot in the proper order (I’m assuming you’ve actually rebooted your computer already).
Click to expand...
Yup - I've rebooted the router.
 
alexjholland said:
I switched to a hotspot on my iPhone - it's perfect.

No issues. Lightning-fast internet.

Does that definitely rule out the issue being Macbook side - and it's inside my router?
Click to expand...
In my mind that points to your network. If it's fine on a cellular hotspot or any other wifi network, it's something with your wifi setup I'm sure.
 
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Queen6 said:
Search how to clear the DNS on your version of macOS via Terminal. Then set the DNS to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 in advanced WIFI network settings. Alternatively you can set to Google's DNS 1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1, 9.9.9.9.

If you want to unify all the devices set the DNS on the router, if on the go set on the devices. It's not a MacOS issue, more likely your ISP. I have no such issue over a strong VPN.

192.168.1.1 is your own lookback DNS from your router.

Q-6
Click to expand...
Thanks - the Google DNS settings solved this!

My internet's lightning-fast again.

I've since switched to Cloudflare's DNS and these also work great.

I didn't clear the DNS via Terminal - should I do this?

And are there likely to be any issues caused by the fact that all my other devices use the stock Vodafone Portugal DNS - apart from my Macbook?

Thanks
 
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alexjholland said:
Thanks - the Google DNS settings solved this!

My internet's lightning-fast again.

I've since switched to Cloudflare's DNS and these also work great.

I didn't clear the DNS via Terminal - should I do this?

And are there likely to be any issues caused by the fact that all my other devices use the stock Vodafone Portugal DNS - apart from my Macbook?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Wont hurt anything to flush the DNS, so may as well. Rest of your devices will be fine or you can try Cloudflare/Good and revert to see if any difference. In general I avoid the ISP's DNS as it's more aligned to serve them than the user.

Q-6
 
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