Wireless issue -- worth taking to Genius Bar?

[Lambros]

Hey guys,

When I first purchased my MacBook Pro (15" -- mid/late 2010 purchase) I had issues with wireless. At first I would connect just fine, then after about 30 minutes it would disconnect, and I wouldn't be able to reconnect for the next 15 minutes. I did try turning off the wireless, deleting the network from the list and doing diagnostics. These, unfortunately, did not help. I thought it was my router (despite other computers on the network working fine), so went to purchase a new router. The salesman said the one I have is great, and the issues must be coming from the computer.

So, me being the buyer that I am, still thought the salesperson was wrong, and continued to believe my MacBook Pro had no issues. This problem continued from the purchase in Nov/Dec 2010 through to the current day, and happens without fault. Finally, at university I connected to the internet. I thought to myself, I'm at a different place, this should work just fine. What happened? After experiencing internet just fine, I spent 15 minutes of a lecture trying to get my internet working. Finally, it worked! Following this, I booked an appointment at the Genius Bar in an outburst of rage.

I would like your opinion because you guys see all these problems, but I personally haven't heard of something like this before. Should I be taking my laptop to the Genius Bar?

Thanks a lot everyone!

EDIT: I do have the newest software from Software Update.

 

[bigjobby]

Wouldn't take your MBP back just yet. You are certainly not the first to encounter this problem and there are already plenty of similar threads (if you can find them).

It might be helpful if you can post the make/model of your modem/router.

My router didn't play ball with my MBP (or vice-versa) very well. I won't get into much detail here but basically my MBP was, strangely enough, using an IP address that was already allocated by the DHCP server to another device which obviously caused an IP conflict. The fact that my MBP didn't report this really didn't help the troubleshooting. Fixed it by reserving an IP for the MBP and rebooting the MBP and router just for best practice.

 

[Lambros]

Wouldn't take your MBP back just yet. You are certainly not the first to encounter this problem and there are already plenty of similar threads (if you can find them).

It might be helpful if you can post the make/model of your modem/router.

My router didn't play ball with my MBP (or vice-versa) very well. I won't get into much detail here but basically my MBP was, strangely enough, using an IP address that was already allocated by the DHCP server to another device which obviously caused an IP conflict. The fact that my MBP didn't report this really didn't help the troubleshooting. Fixed it by reserving an IP for the MBP and rebooting the MBP and router just for best practice.

My router is a Belkin N1 Wireless router. I would think it was the router, but it cut off at university too (as I said) and something tells me this didn't happen to the whole university. Also, my computer at home disconnects while another doesn't, so this doesn't seem to make much logical sense unless the computer is faulty in one way or another.

 

[movieboy23]

I'd try to verify the problem at one more location before taking it into an Apple Store. Try using it at a coffee shop, bookstore or some other wireless location for at least 30 minutes. If the problem still rears its ugly head, then take the machine into the Apple Store. They may or may not diagnose it as a hardware problem. If it's not, you'll probably have to reinstall the OS and see if that helps.

Alternatively, you could try reinstalling the OS now in conjunction with trying the machine at a third location to determine if the problem is software-based. If it still persists, then you can take it into the Apple Store and tell them that you've tried everything and it's high likely that you're experiencing a hardware problem and have them switch out the logic board for you.

Good luck.

 

[Lambros]

I'd try to verify the problem at one more location before taking it into an Apple Store. Try using it at a coffee shop, bookstore or some other wireless location for at least 30 minutes. If the problem still rears its ugly head, then take the machine into the Apple Store. They may or may not diagnose it as a hardware problem. If it's not, you'll probably have to reinstall the OS and see if that helps.

Alternatively, you could try reinstalling the OS now in conjunction with trying the machine at a third location to determine if the problem is software-based. If it still persists, then you can take it into the Apple Store and tell them that you've tried everything and it's high likely that you're experiencing a hardware problem and have them switch out the logic board for you.

Good luck.

I'll see what I can do about trying elsewhere. As for the software, I did already reinstall the OS and this unfortunately did not fix the issue. The other issue is that these two places are where I use internet the most, and the fact that neither of these routers is a problem will pose quite a large problem assuming it is not a hardware issue within the computer.

Thank you for the help!

 

[bigjobby]

My router is a Belkin N1 Wireless router. I would think it was the router, but it cut off at university too (as I said) and something tells me this didn't happen to the whole university. Also, my computer at home disconnects while another doesn't, so this doesn't seem to make much logical sense unless the computer is faulty in one way or another.

I'd check the DHCP's IP table against your MBP's IP just to cover that base but as the previous poster rightly suggested by trying different locations. My wireless problems only occurred at home and nowhere else so I blamed my router and its relationship with my MBP. Not sure whether its a handshaking, encryption dropping or whatever problem between the two devices but its not an SNR problem and I've yet to find the root cause. Wired connections seems to be OK though.