Wi-Fi Dropout....how widespread?

[P1xelpusher]

Problems Surfing / Loading Pages OSX10.6

The wireless on my i7 keeps dropping. If I go to a site, say AT&T and go to log in, it wont log in, just spins. If I open a new window/tab it will open a new site. I can't play WoW through wireless on my i7. I can log in but can't play. On istatpro it routinely shows my input/output at 0. Many sites take forever to load or wont load...

I saw this post & it reminds me a persistent problem I encountered after my ISP upgraded my exchange to I think ADSL2. It might be worth looking into this if you experience similar flaky surfing whilst you have a WiFi signal -its just when you mentioned having real problems loading pages, it could be a similar problem.
I was having alot of trouble surfing the web - constantly spinning beach balls - if I kept refreshing the page sometimes it would load. I tried different start up disks & computers - it seemed centred around 10.6 OS and newer machines - Older machines seem less problematic, I tried alot of browsers & they all seemed effected - until months later I tried Google Chrome & then suddenly the problem stopped - I was speaking to an Apple Tech guy at the time & he pointed out that Google chrome unlike other browsers uses its own DNS servers rather than your ISP DNS - mainly to speed up google services . I then changed my Network settings & manually entered 8.8.8.8 (googles DNS servers address) into my network settings & Bingo!problem solved
If you are experiencing this problem some browser will show in status bar something like failure to resolve address - (DNS lookup) or trying to resolve address etc. Try downloading google chrome & if it works without any hitches - enter 8.8.8.8 into your DNS settings & that should cure the problem.
In the 3 months it took to get to the bottom of this problem I spoke to many tech people esp ISP side & some of them mentioned they had come across other mac users with the same problems - but they were unaware exactly what the problem was as ironically the broadband line shows up on testing as fine - so they just scratch their heads. I hope this info helps out other mac users as I know it can be a real pain.

 

[arcite]

My macbook pro is about 2 months old. I have a cisco router and my connection is even better than my old toshiba. The signal makes it through four cement walls in my apartment.
I set mine on 11g (54Mbps). Encryption Mixed WPA/WPA2 PSK TKIP.

Frankly, I think most connection issues are caused by either the connection to the ISP or the router itself, not the Macbook.

Also, download iStumbler and check out what channels other wifi users are on in your vicinity. Changing to a stronger channel can work wonders. I can detect at least a dozen wifi networks from neighbours in different spots around my apartment. When I discovered that most were running off one of two channels, I just picked something in between and voila, connection vastly improved. It takes some trial and error to find the best channel, but it really does work. Other then that, restarting the router when the problem occurs usually works.

 

[stevemiller]

@arcite,

i can assure you its not simply a router/isp issue, as i'm sure many people who share this problem can attest that other devices will be able to retain a solid connection, just not the affected device.

i got the first gen unibody in november 2008. never had any wireless issues until i upgraded to snow leopard in september 2009. no other router or isp changes were made. after that my laptop would require the airport off/on cycling multiple times a day to stay connected on my apartment's linksys wrt54g. my iphone & older computer never experienced wifi dropouts. and wifi at work was fine on my laptop.

i went through all the suggestions that have been posted around about network locations, static ips, trashing network preferences, trying various channels with istumbler, etc. ...all with no success.

the situation persisted probably until midway through 2010, at which point the issue suddenly disappeared. again no router/isp changes. i don't recall it being a snow leopard update (because i was always hopeful at each update and always disappointed) but considering nothing else changed, thats most likely candidate.

that said, i have a friend who got a 2010 13" mbp and continues to have the same problem with his system, even after installing all updates.

seems to me that there are some definite QA issues with apple's wireless drivers. sure you can blame the router for not being "compatible enough", but if most other devices play nicely with it, i'm inclined to view the apple device as the one being finicky.

 

[Stvwndr219]

10.6.5 on early 2008 macbook pro - get it pretty frequently but seemingly random times.