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xaquaticx

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 6, 2010
101
0
My 2010 15" MBP has constant Wifi dropouts, sometimes minutes at a time. Sometimes I have to reconnect. Yet it gets 4 bars. My MacBook never had these problems. It's generally slower, too. It's now useless for online video like Hulu. Anyone else seeing this? I wonder whether it's hardware (e.g. they moved the antenna, and/or because of the metal case) or software/drivers? I'm going to submit feedback after input from ya'll.
 
My 2010 15" MBP has constant Wifi dropouts, sometimes minutes at a time. Sometimes I have to reconnect. Yet it gets 4 bars. My MacBook never had these problems. It's generally slower, too. It's now useless for online video like Hulu. Anyone else seeing this? I wonder whether it's hardware (e.g. they moved the antenna, and/or because of the metal case) or software/drivers? I'm going to submit feedback after input from ya'll.

Sounds like you need to take it in for service.
 
I can't speak for the new model.. but from past experience using mbp's I can agree with everything you say. I've noticed that wifi reception is average, internet is generally slower and dropouts happen for no good reason.. and sometimes it will not reconnect when others around me are fine.
 
+1 constant drop outs, too small of screen fonts on hi rez, a few other issues I am starting to wonder if apple is worth the price. So far I am not feeling that good about it.

Phil
 
I'm not having any issues. Are the other computers around you having issues?
 
My 17" i7 has been perfect for the 6 days I've had it. I use it about 30 feet from my airport extreme and it has never dropped a connection and even after waking my MBP from sleep it connects instantly. Also, my speed test over WiFi is limited by my internet service provided at 20mbps down and 5mbps up.
 
I'm having no problems with my 15" i7 using a wndr3700 dual band router. I'm connecting without problems on either band and actually the internet seems faster on this than my HP laptop with a PCMCIA Wireless N card.

What band are you connecting over B,G,N and what is the brand router. That could explain some of the issues you are having.
 
+1 constant drop outs, too small of screen fonts on hi rez, a few other issues I am starting to wonder if apple is worth the price. So far I am not feeling that good about it.

Phil

Well aside from my minor quibbles with the weird no button trackpad, it's great. I got used the high res quick but I'm also counting on Resolution Independence in 1.07.

But the connection dropouts are seriously pissing me off. I might need to return it and swap it for a MacBook! :(

I'm going to wait just a few weeks and see if 10.6.4 or some other update fixes it. And I'm going to check out Apple Support forums and send feedback. I just thought I'd check here first. It is unfortunate to hear other people are seeing this! I have a feeling it may be related to the metal case. But Apple should have engineered their way around this, I'd think. Moreover I don't get why it performs ok (not great) then all of a sudden drops out for a min and then is back again. Makes video and big downloads mess up.
 
I'm getting WiFi dropouts on my i7 15" as well. Not frequent, maybe once per day. This is on three entirely different routers: a Cradlepoint 500 (tethered to a MyFi), the MyFi itself and my home network which uses a 2Wire gateway provided by AT&T Uverse. In all cases, my other computers in the same room (A Win XP laptop, a Win 7 laptop and a 2007 MBP) stay connected when my i7 MBP drops.

I can re-establish connectivity almost immediately if I just turn airport off and back on. No idea why it happens.
 
I'm getting WiFi dropouts on my i7 15" as well. Not frequent, maybe once per day. This is on three entirely different routers: a Cradlepoint 500 (tethered to a MyFi), the MyFi itself and my home network which uses a 2Wire gateway provided by AT&T Uverse. In all cases, my other computers in the same room (A Win XP laptop, a Win 7 laptop and a 2007 MBP) stay connected when my i7 MBP drops.

I can re-establish connectivity almost immediately if I just turn airport off and back on. No idea why it happens.

At the risk of making horrible over-generalized statements:

Everyone I know who has U-Verse lives in a condo/apartment building (a "multi-dwelling unit") - myself included.

Lots of their neighbors have U-Verse. Those neighbors basically all use the 2Wire RG's wireless network capabilities. I do.

The automatic channel detection algorithm in the 2Wire is turd. It never picks the channel with least interference.

Mine was on auto and I used to suffer dropouts all the time (across PCs and Macs).

I would suggest downloading AirRadar, seeing what other networks might be interfering with your connectivity and then setting your channel on the RG appropriately.

This worked for me for a while until a swarm of my neighbors moved from Comcast to UVerse and the 802.11b/g frequencies are now so polluted by interference, I had to step up to the 5ghz 802.11n spectrum.

Now all is well, but before that, my connection would constantly drop and pinging the RG would result in times of 1ms - 3000ms.
 
At the risk of making horrible over-generalized statements:

Everyone I know who has U-Verse lives in a condo/apartment building (a "multi-dwelling unit") - myself included.

Lots of their neighbors have U-Verse. Those neighbors basically all use the 2Wire RG's wireless network capabilities. I do.

The automatic channel detection algorithm in the 2Wire is turd. It never picks the channel with least interference.

Mine was on auto and I used to suffer dropouts all the time (across PCs and Macs).

I would suggest downloading AirRadar, seeing what other networks might be interfering with your connectivity and then setting your channel on the RG appropriately.

This worked for me for a while until a swarm of my neighbors moved from Comcast to UVerse and the 802.11b/g frequencies are now so polluted by interference, I had to step up to the 5ghz 802.11n spectrum.

Now all is well, but before that, my connection would constantly drop and pinging the RG would result in times of 1ms - 3000ms.

Thanks for all of that, but you obviously didn't read most of what I wrote: I've got 3 other laptops in the same office, on the same network, and while they all maintain solid connectivity via the Uverse router, the new MBP does not.

Furthermore, this has been tested across two other routers connected to broadband WiFi (Verizon) that have nothing to do with Uverse...I actually turned off the 2Wire gateway for those tests. My new MBP just drops signal every once in awhile. The WiFi signal is constant as my other computers continue to chug just fine interrupted. But the MBP will lose it, disconnect all NAS drives, etc. It only happens on this one computer.

I live in a house on 8 acres. Nobody's WiFi is interfering with my signal. I'm sure transient waves from the microwave, my kids walkie-talkie, flourescent bulbs or the doorbell EMF field can interfere, but I can't get anyone elses WiFi in my home office but my own.

All that said...I've had zero issues with Uverse WiFi signal. I've read of others having issues with it but I haven't. I got lucky I guess.
 
If they use the Intel 5100 AGN it's not surprising and quite common, however, I am not sure that it does...hence why I asked above.
 
I want to use the new MBP as a portable device so it should connect without problems to any Wifi network. My current laptop does it 100% perfect without drop outs.

Does the new MBP really have Wifi issues? I'm on the road alot so the Wifi must work 100% without problems.
 
maybe its because i have a n-draft netgear router but i think my internet connection is faster than ever. it hasnt dropped at all!
 
I want to use the new MBP as a portable device so it should connect without problems to any Wifi network. My current laptop does it 100% perfect without drop outs.

Does the new MBP really have Wifi issues? I'm on the road alot so the Wifi must work 100% without problems.

When mine is working, it works very well. No hitches, hiccups or stalls. Its just that once a day, at some point during the day, WiFi will drop. All I have to do is turn airport off and back on and it comes right back. I shouldn't have to do THAT, but I don't want to give you the impression that WiFi never/seldom works. Its up 99.95% of my day. Its just that other .05% that is annoying.
 
You bought a mac... and you expected the wifi to work? :D

(yes it's that common. does that answer your question? Apple has, in the past, told me to reset my pram (hold down cmd+option+P+R and reboot))
 
My 15" i5 actually seems to be doing better than my previous 2.33GHz MacBook Pro (late 2006 model). Where my old MBP had trouble picking up Wifi from a linksys router at the other end of the house, the connection with this one is rock solid. Works fine with the access points at work as well.
 
No problem with my 2010 13" mbp. Wifi reception is much better than my late 2006 macbook.
 
17" i5 / Linksys Wireless Router with Tomato Firmware on a cable modem here. (I know, not the same scenario you have but just giving data)

Surrounding neighborhood has about 6 other networks that pop up on wireless.

Last night:
1. Browsed class material for several hours
2. Watched several episodes through Hulu
3. Detected, connected, and printed through wireless printer

Zero issues whatsoever.
 
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