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Possible bootcamp wifi driver bug w/ 2016 MBP

S

scotty588

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 2, 2007
471
61
Los Angeles, CA
Received my 15" MBP today and I've been setting everything up on it including my bootcamp partition with Windows 10. Fresh install, bootcamp drivers install popped up right when Windows 10 was finished installing.

I'm noticing constant disconnects over wifi to my Ubiquiti Access Point which is 802.11AC. Windows 10 shows it actually disconnecting for a few seconds then reconnecting but not on 802.11AC. It's connecting on 802.11n. Signal strength is very strong so I don't believe that's the issue. Happens even after reboots. This does not happen in MacOS, which is what leads me to believe this is a driver bug. Device manager shows it as a Broadcom 802.11AC network adapter.

As a test, I set up my old mid 2012 MBP as a hot spot. Sharing ethernet connection to wifi, connected through Windows 10. No issues. No drop outs. Interested if anyone else comes across this issue. Luckily I won't be spending much time in Win 10.
 
I wish I could answer this for you, but I can't get bootcamp installed at all. Obviously it's possible since you got yours running, but I'm running into a pretty weird error message. I get to the point where windows is beginning to install (shortly after entering a license key and agreeing to the EULA) and the following error pops up:

"Windows cannot locate the disk and partition specified in the unattend answer file's <ImageInstall> setting. Make sure the setting references a valid partition and restart the installation."

I've used the bootcamp setup assistant a dozen times on other macs without issue, so this has been pretty frustrating. Out of curiosity, what are the specs on your MBP, and what size is your win 10 partition? I've got a 1TB that I'm trying to split 400/600 for mac/win respectively.

EDIT: Well, I fixed my problem. Looks like having a thunderbolt drive connected during installation was screwing it up. I'll report back with wireless performance once it's up and running.
 
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No wifi problems here after 24 hours, so I think it may be an incompatibility with your router specifically, not a bootcamp driver issue. I'm also using an 802.11ac router (in a mesh network), just a different brand.
 
I am also having problems with wifi- I can't connect to the 5 Ghz network from my router, but I can connect to the 2.4 Ghz. However, every other device I have can connect to the both devices fine (including the same computer in MacOS). Even the 2.4 Ghz connection is spotty in Windows 10.

My driver is Broadcom 7.35.118.64 released 9/15/2016 - is that what it's supposed to be?

Thanks.
 
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grocklin said:
I am also having problems with wifi- I can't connect to the 5 Ghz network from my router, but I can connect to the 2.4 Ghz. However, every other device I have can connect to the both devices fine (including the same computer in MacOS). Even the 2.4 Ghz connection is spotty in Windows 10.

My driver is Broadcom 7.35.118.64 released 9/15/2016 - is that what it's supposed to be?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Exact same issue here.
 
So how are we going to get out of this mess? :p I just ran "Driver Booster" which says that the Broadcom 802.11ac adapter is "Up-to-date". But Wifi performance for me even on my 2.4 Ghz network has basically been unacceptable under Windows 10.
 
I'm using windows 10 to go and I installed the latest boot camp drivers, but I cannot connect to 5ghz, 2.4ghz on the same router works fine.
 
I can connect to 5 Ghz at work fine- it is only at home (Asus RT N56U) that I cannot connect to 5 ghz. I changed about a billion router settings and nothing seemed to fix it.
 
My 2016 15" works fine on 5 GHZ AC Network (AVM Fritzbox 6490) with not disconnects at all. I'm getting around 400 Mbit/s throughput when copying files.

Did you guys try another Encrytion method? I'm om TKIP but maybe try AES? Try to disable power Management on the Wifi Adapter?
 
GoodOne, this is from Windows 10 in Bootcamp, right?

Home wifi encryption was AES-CCMP. My 5ghz work network that works fine has no encryption. I was unable to change the encryption on the home wifi using the firmware I was using (latest version from Asus).
 
grocklin said:
GoodOne, this is from Windows 10 in Bootcamp, right?

Home wifi encryption was AES-CCMP. My 5ghz work network that works fine has no encryption. I was unable to change the encryption on the home wifi using the firmware I was using (latest version from Asus).
Click to expand...

Yep, that's Windows 10 Pro and my Wifi runs on AES-CCMP with 5 GHZ.

Do you guys have 2.4 and 5 GHZ Networks with the same SSID by any Chance? I've had issues with that Setup with my old MBP and I found that it's best to create dedicated Networks for 2.4 and 5 GHZ and connect devices manually to the appropriate Network.
 
GoodOne said:
Yep, that's Windows 10 Pro and my Wifi runs on AES-CCMP with 5 GHZ.

Do you guys have 2.4 and 5 GHZ Networks with the same SSID by any Chance? I've had issues with that Setup with my old MBP and I found that it's best to create dedicated Networks for 2.4 and 5 GHZ and connect devices manually to the appropriate Network.
Click to expand...

This is a boot camp only issue, 5ghz doesn't work, 2.4ghz does. Boot into Mac OS and 5ghz works as expected.
 
sn00p said:
This is a boot camp only issue, 5ghz doesn't work, 2.4ghz does. Boot into Mac OS and 5ghz works as expected.
Click to expand...

Sure, different OS, different Driver... it must be some compatibility issue between the Windows Driver for the wifi Adapter and certain Router configurations. It's certainly not a General issue with the Windows Driver because e.g. in my Environment it works perfectly. Therefore I would suggest trying to Play around with power Management and encryption Settings for the Wifi Adapter under Windows or on the Router side. Or you could wait if new Bootcamp Drivers fix it maybe, as it seems to affect a lot of Setups.
 
Let me add, thanks a lot GoodOne for contributing. Of course it's mainly people experiencing the issue that find these threads and post in the first place, but hearing from people who don't have the problem helps narrow down the causes.
 
hi. same issue with 15' macbook pro 2016, windows server 2016 and bootcamp. Router is TP-LINK TL-WDR4300. 2.4 GHz works. 5 Ghz didn't.
Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter driver ver: 7.35.118.64
Can see 5Ghz, but cannot connect.
[5 Ghz works fine in MacOS (450 mpbs, adequate real speeds, >240mbps)]

I tried almost all possible settings on router side.
Only 1 works:
Wireless Settings (5GHz) -> Channel Width: (Auto -> 20 Mhz)

Unfortunately, speed is significantly lower. Task manager shows 130 Mbps on single LAN file transfer (14.0 MB/sec copy speed). Obviously, its not a solution, but a good starting point.
 
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This is so extremely frustrating... I've tried playing around with the "Power Management" in Network Adapters and still have wifi drops eventhough it doesn't say I lose connection through the wifi symbols. My 2012 Air which ran Windows 10 didn't have any issues.
 
I have a verizon fios router at home, and after installing bootcamp, I've been noticing spotty and very slow wifi connections on Windows 10, even though I'm sitting right next to the router. If I boot back into MacOS, wifi speeds are normal.

I've uninstalled/reinstalled the broadcom drivers and also tried installing the Legacy drivers, with no avail unfortunately..
Anyone make any progress on this?
 
Have anyone tried reverting back to Windows 8.1 drivers? I tried looking for them but no luck.
 
Having the same issue. Just received my new laptop this week, installed Windows 10 Pro on it almost immediately to connect to work and the network is intermittent and slow.
 
bob0 said:
Having the same issue. Just received my new laptop this week, installed Windows 10 Pro on it almost immediately to connect to work and the network is intermittent and slow.
Click to expand...

Are you connecting to a Verizon Fios router?
 
5 GHz works for me, just doesn't seem to want to connect on certain bands when the router forces 80 Mhz mode.
 
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