New Macbook Pro and lousy wireless connection

[Matari]

Hi all

I have a macbook and a new Macbook Pro. The macbook connects wirelessly via airport and gives great speeds; the macbook pro (with exactly the same settings) gives lousy speeds. Have been on the phone to both Apple and o2 and have got nowhere. So, my question is - is there a configuration difference between my 'old' macbook and my new Macbook Pro that is interfering with the wireless reception?

Please help, because it is driving me mad.

 

[aicul]

Could you tell us what the settings are, if the two macs run on the same os (leopard?), and whether the wifi is based on a mac product (airport express or similar) or an o2 product.

 

[mcvaughan]

Are you having an issue with signal strength or actual throughput?

 

[Matari]

Hello aicul
Both macs are on 10.5.7 and I have an o2 wireless router, but tend to access my wireless through airport express base station.


Hello mcvaughan

It is throughput I am having problems with - for example, last night I did a speedtest (speedtest.net) on the macbook pro and got less than 2mbs download speed, but on the macbook i got 12 mbs download speed. These are consistent between both macs, whether i am doing the speedtest on the o2 wireless router or the airport. When I do a speedtest via an ethernet cable I get rougly 17mbs on both machines.




aicul Could you tell us what the settings are, if the two macs run on the same os (leopard?), and whether the wifi is based on a mac product (airport express or similar) or an o2 product.

Are you having an issue with signal strength or actual throughput?
Yesterday 09:30 PM

 

[b348xyx]

Hello aicul
Both macs are on 10.5.7 and I have an o2 wireless router, but tend to access my wireless through airport express base station.


Hello mcvaughan

It is throughput I am having problems with - for example, last night I did a speedtest (speedtest.net) on the macbook pro and got less than 2mbs download speed, but on the macbook i got 12 mbs download speed. These are consistent between both macs, whether i am doing the speedtest on the o2 wireless router or the airport. When I do a speedtest via an ethernet cable I get rougly 17mbs on both machines.




aicul Could you tell us what the settings are, if the two macs run on the same os (leopard?), and whether the wifi is based on a mac product (airport express or similar) or an o2 product.

Are you having an issue with signal strength or actual throughput?
Yesterday 09:30 PM

First off speedtest.net test's you internet speed not your wireless speed lol

you need to read before posting silly things like this


so if you have 8mb broadband you will get like 7-8mb on speedtest.net

 

[Matari]

frag master:

Calling me silly is not helpful to me or others who are asking for help from what is usually a very friendly mac community.

So for those who are more inclined to help without being offensive, my problem is that I get a lousy download speed when my macbook pro is connected wirelessly either to my router or my airport; whereas when my macbook is connected, the speeds are much faster.

 

[iLog.Genius]

First off speedtest.net test's you internet speed not your wireless speed lol

you need to read before posting silly things like this


so if you have 8mb broadband you will get like 7-8mb on speedtest.net

There's nothing wrong with what OP posted. He stated that he gets around 17Mbps when he is directly connected to the modem/router but when using the AirPort on his MacBook Pro, there is a significant decrease, less than 2Mbps which means his wifi is not stable which is what the OP's problem is not a speed problem. So maybe you need to read before posting "silly things"

 

[Shiner]

I have horrible reception on my macbook pro. I found similar numbers when I compared my wife's macbook and my new macbook pro. I hate to say it, but I think the damn thing just sucks at wireless connections. Wired I have the exact same results you have. I run an airport extreme base station and I always get schooled by the macbook. Apple really needs to drop the pro behind the laptop name. It is no longer worth it. I really wanted the dedicated graphics card and 15 inch screen but it might not have been worth the extra $500. Apple genius (huge stretch of that word) bar told me it is impossible to trouble shoot wireless connections made at home. I said great, lets test it out in your apple store. He used the macbook pro in the store compared to mine (exact same model). We had very similar results. I then said great now lets compare that to the macbook in the same location. It beat the hell out of the pro. The "genius" said well that is due to the extra aluminum in the case! I hate to say it but this might be my last macbook pro purchase unless something really changes at apple.

 

[Thomas Davie]

I have an 8 mbps connection, and 50-60 feet away (through a lot of interference I might add), I get download speeds of 1 MB/S on my UMBP 17.

Tom

 

[iLog.Genius]

MacBook Pro's have a long history of having spotty wifi performance. I can't really complain since mine hasn't acted up. As for the MacBook, as far as I can remember, it has been the "king" of wifi of the whole Apple lineup. Are you testing using an unibody MacBook or the white/black MacBook?

 

[Matari]

Hi ILog

My macbook is a nice plain white one - and yes it is the 'king' of the the apple lineup for me - equally good was my old ibook (sadly sent to the grave by a pint of water and a clumsy son). However my old macbookpro - also alum - was OK - it is just this new one that seems to have the problem. Spend a lot of time hardwired now, which is a pain and not what you would expect for the money. Luckily my macs are provided by work, so I don't feel as disgruntled as I would if I had forked out the dosh myself.

Thanks, with one exception, for all your comments.

MacBook Pro's have a long history of having spotty wifi performance. I can't really complain since mine hasn't acted up. As for the MacBook, as far as I can remember, it has been the "king" of wifi of the whole Apple lineup. Are you testing using an unibody MacBook or the white/black MacBook?

 

[h0e0h]

I'm having exactly the opposite with my 15" uMBP. I had a BlackBook that I used in my office at work. When I was given my uMBP by the company I began using it in my office as well. I've tested both side by side and in my office (in a large warehouse-type building) where our access point (Linksys wireless N with Dual-Antennas) is about 400' away, traveling through one corrugated metal wall, another office, and my Sheetrock walled and the BlackBook (as well as the 17" MBP classic style) would not pick up a wi-fi signal at all. Neither would my iMac that I use as my work computer nor my iPhone, but the uMBP picks up the signal with about 72% signal strength. All of the machines were running 10.5.6 when tested. Now the iMac and uMBP are running 10.5.7 with no changes and I have no access to the BlackBook and 17" classic to test on 10.5.7. It's very odd that you're having the inverse situation. Maybe I'm lucky...