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Something I've been wondering about. (MBP Wifi Range)

Sesshi

Sesshi

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jun 3, 2006
8,113
1
One Nation Under Gordon
I don't really use the MBP on wireless unless I'm elsewhere but I have noticed over the course of the last couple of months when I've used the HP, Sonys and Dells in the same places is that the MBP's wireless range is notably inferior to any of the other machines - especially the Dells and Sonys.

Is this the norm? Or is this yet another issue I have to have looked at with the machine?
 
I'm going to guess it's the alunimium casing of the MPB causing the problem.
 
I've read other posters having the same problems with their PB's. They pointed to the aluminium casing being the culprit.
Guess the same goes with the MBP.

I personally haven't had any problems with reception though. But I don't compare with other laptops and neither should you. Will only bring you down ;)
 
Before I bought my MBP, I was using a Toshiba with a Wireless b card along with my linksys router. It would drop connection all the time and the range was horrible. Since I have been using my MBP the wireless has been great, full signal everywhere in my house and hasn't dropped connection once.
 
My wireless coverage is excellent on my MacBook, I used to have a Dell laptop and it wasnt half as good, I can even get signal in the basement 3 floors down from the router! I expect it's the MBP's alluminiom casing.
 
My connection with a PB is a little iffy inside my house, but at university it's as good as everyone elses. It might be my router at home or something. But yeah, like others have said, the aluminum case seems to interfere with the signal.
 
My MBP's wireless connectivity is noticably better than my roommate's toshiba laptop. He gets dropped all the time, and gets terrible transfer speeds, yet I'm further from the router and never get disconnected.

What week is your MBP? Mine's a week 27.
 
I know that my 17" MBP's wifi range was not nearly as good as my MB's. I am able to pick up a lot more wifi access points, and with better strength. Even at home, my wireless router is upstairs. With my MBP I noticed that downstairs, sometimes the strength would decrease, down to just two bars, not with the MB though. My 15" PB had about the same range as the MBP, maybe there is something in the aluminum casing.
 
I have a neighbor with a Dell that can connect to my router from down the block. However, I can't connect in my own backyard. The MacBook Pro reception is crap.

I do have an iBook G4, too, and the reception on there is good (at least a lot better than the MBP). I have never tried it from as far as he (my neighbor) though, so I can't say if it is on par with the Dell.
 
It's probably some combination of the fact that there's an aluminum casing around the antenna and that the MBP uses the Atheros chipset (I believe) whereas "Centrino" computers use the far superior Intel wireless cards.
 
Yeah, the wireless range has been negatively afflicted in the pro-line portables since the Powerbooks went titanium. If you encase a wireless computer in metal, it's a natural issue.

I did want to point out that, when the MBPs were introduced, there was some minor murmors about the rubber tube on the all-metal hinge- this is a new feature of the MBP, and was quite mysterious. Turns out, a significant portion of the antenna is in the hinge, and so they've swapped out the all-metal hinge case for a rubber one in previous powerbook models to help increase the range.

Gotta say, tho, with my MBP, the range is still pretty short.
 
generik said:
You do not need strong wireless signal, your computer runs OSX! Isn't that good enough for you?
Click to expand...

No, but I was hoping the tinfoil around my testicles to prevent burnage from the MBP would act as a reflector to boost the signal to the MBP.


So are we agreed that it's a deficiency of the Macbook Pro and not a fixable fault as such? I just want to reduce my little list of faults down to what are design problems which Applecare can do nothing about and what are fixable problems then send it off hopefully to have all the outstanding issues fixed in a single visit.

This machine has given me plenty of grief already but it's like an old English sports car. While the MBP is an unreliable POS when looked at in a logical light, on many levels it's too darned likeable to get really angry at. All I want though is not to be inconvenienced on almost a daily level by some tic or build quality issue on this thing.
 
Hey,

Okay my mbp's wireless is also pretty darn crappy. Three days ago it got beat by a 5 yr old toshiba with a bent exterior wireless card. It was pretty darn embarrising(sp?) to say the least.

Anywho, i find that the reciption is noticably better in windows than in os x. Maybe there is a software aspect of this too? Because if it was only the aluminum casing it should affect both os's the same right?

My .02
 
Steve Jobless said:
under windows vista i get full bars on my MBP, whereas in OSX I only get one, maybe two.
Click to expand...

I have the opposite. Crap range on Windows, great range on Mac. Then again, I don't run those system updates for Windows, so...

I tend to just leave interference Robustness on as well.
 
my macbook pro has no wireless connectivity issues at all, always connects to any wireless network properly and with good speeds.
 
Does anyone have any idea actually how far in meters the range of a MacBook would be? I swear at my other house I can pick up around four networks and there is only a couple of houses in a range of 200 meters.
 
My macbook has never had any problems conecting wirelessly to any network. I am in college and my mb works were others dont. My roomate doesnt even get wireless on his computer in our room and i do. So mb seem to have a good range.
 
Steve Jobless said:
under windows vista i get full bars on my MBP, whereas in OSX I only get one, maybe two.
Click to expand...

I noticed the same. I can pickup/hold weak wireless networks much easier in Windows than in OS X.

"Interference Robustness" doesn't seem to actually accomplish anything.
 
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