Problems with WiFi on older Mac

[Ambrosia7177]

Currently I am away from home for work, and have been having issues with the hotel's wi-fi.

Specifically, the wi-fi seems to go down a lot ever since the cable company came out and "upgraded" things.

On Monday, my Internet went down like 10 tmes that day?!

When it goes down I often see an exclaimation mark through the wifi icone and text that says "No Internet Found" or something like that.

What is strange is that this problem seems to mostly happen with my older macBook pro (running Mountain Lion) versus my newer Retina running Sierra or my work Windows laptop.

Can older hardware or an older Mac OS be more prone to connectivity issues with Wi-Fi?

Before the hotel upgraded service, I never had any issues, so it's hard to believe that this is my computer's fault, but who knows...

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Have the modems in macs changed much over the last 5-7 years?

I would think your Macs modem is a commodity component where much new innovation hasn't occurred. It's weird that this problems seems to happen much more with my 2012 MBP versus my 2015 Retina or my Dell Windows laptop.

 

[eRondeau]

I'd be more inclined to suspect a weak/fading signal in your hotel room than any problem with your laptop. Also just a general reminder to always be very cautious when using hotel wifi (or any public wifi). Especially if they have a non-encrypted connection with a password to get by their own login screen. If your connection isn't secure, don't use it. Not long ago I used a hotel's wifi on a business trip to Toronto and a week later somebody in Toronto tried to take-over my iCloud account. They clearly intercepted my password and two-factor authentication is the only thing that saved me.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

I'd be more inclined to suspect a weak/fading signal in your hotel room than any problem with your laptop.

But why does that impact my 2012 MBP more than say my Retina MBP or my Windows work laptop?

Also just a general reminder to always be very cautious when using hotel wifi (or any public wifi). Especially if they have a non-encrypted connection with a password to get by their own login screen. If your connection isn't secure, don't use it. Not long ago I used a hotel's wifi on a business trip to Toronto and a week later somebody in Toronto tried to take-over my iCloud account. They clearly intercepted my password and two-factor authentication is the only thing that saved me.

Thanks for the reminder, but I use a VPN for protection.