Wireless ... oh ... my Wireless ...

[Cantunis]

Hello ,

Got my new shiny 2.8 CTO MBP along with a LED cinema display 24" just some days ago . Really stunning colors on both the laptop and on the cinema display .

However wireless connection is not as good as someone would expect for a 2500 euro laptop . After going from 4 routers in 6 years ( DG834G , DG834PN , Dg834N , D-Link DSL-2740B ) I now find my MBP is unable to connect to my wireless router ( even with the lightsaber-style 9db antennas I placed on it ) when the laptop is at my room .

However a Dell Vostro laptop connects without problems all around the house

Also Xbox which uses the microsoft wifi adapter ( which feels very cheap ) connect flawlessly !

However at my Uni which uses 802.11X it works stable as a beat ( connecting takes loooong due to loads of user data to check on the uni's DB ) but once you are disconnected , its time to enjoy a kick-ass 100mb up / 100 mb down connection ( who had this at home ... )

I am now forced to run a 30m bridged ethernet cable ( which is about 40 euro more ) through my house ( and the cable is BLACK ) , as I am not going to spend another 200 euro on an AEBS to connect on 5ghz band , when im not sure it will work .

Some advice please , I am very pleased with the machine as everything runs very smooth and fast even being a laptop , but going back to wired on 2009 is like going back to stone age .

And thats all guys , any advice or comment will be appreciated ,

Regards,

 

[Repo]

Personally, I like hard lines. They're fast, reliable, and 100% hack-proof (considering a private home LAN). However, I do (sometimes) use wireless on my current laptop (not Mac) and don't seem to have any trouble. I have used Mac laptops on WiFi, and also had no trouble. I have heard some people complain of bad wireless connections before, on their new MBPs. Check the compatibility of your wireless router with your MBP. If they should be compatible, give Apple a call and see what they can do.

 

[7even]

Is your current router N-enabled? I had a pretty unstable connection here until I turned off the N band on my router. Now it's stable as a rock.

 

[cathyy]

Aluminium acts as a shield against Wi-Fi/Radio waves, and hence the reception is weaker than other Wi-Fi capable machines. It's a common flaw among all Macbook Pros/Powerbooks/Unibody Macbooks.

There's not much you can do other than,

1) Moving your router
2) Buying an external Wi-Fi card
3) Move your MBP closer

Yea I know, it sucks. I'm at my friends place doing a project at the moment, and I'm the only one in the study room while the rest of my friends are working in my friends room, because my MBP is unable to pick up the signal from there.

 

[sn00pie]

Aluminium acts as a shield against Wi-Fi/Radio waves, and hence the reception is weaker than other Wi-Fi capable machines. It's a common flaw among all Macbook Pros/Powerbooks/Unibody Macbooks.

There's not much you can do other than,

1) Moving your router
2) Buying an external Wi-Fi card
3) Move your MBP closer

Yea I know, it sucks. I'm at my friends place doing a project at the moment, and I'm the only one in the study room while the rest of my friends are working in my friends room, because my MBP is unable to pick up the signal from there.

Ouch. I had no idea that the problem was that extensive. *Hugs plastic MB*

 

[Cantunis]

Aluminium acts as a shield against Wi-Fi/Radio waves, and hence the reception is weaker than other Wi-Fi capable machines. It's a common flaw among all Macbook Pros/Powerbooks/Unibody Macbooks.

There's not much you can do other than,

1) Moving your router
2) Buying an external Wi-Fi card
3) Move your MBP closer

Yea I know, it sucks. I'm at my friends place doing a project at the moment, and I'm the only one in the study room while the rest of my friends are working in my friends room, because my MBP is unable to pick up the signal from there.

Router is a DSL-2740B Model Router , 802.11 draft 2.0 compliant . Spent nice bucks on it . Also it has 3 9dbi antennas . And what surprises me is even the crappy Xbox adapter connects flawlessly , not the MacBook "Pro" .

If I turn of 802.11N and leave it just at 802.11g , connection is more stable , but still getting drops every 30 minutes , not acceptable

Why can't they place the antennas under this fancy Apple logo ( which is made of plastic ? )

I don't know , I think its time to run a long ethernet cable . At least the ethernet card on the MBP works with WireShark , so I can pinpoint issues with my router , and experiment on it

Got this cable http://www.shopbot.co.nz/pp-belkin-price-122339.html to run along the house ( it has been here for 1 year , to be used when wireless doesnt work on Windows Vista laptops ) . Bad side is the huge holes that need to be done on walls !

 

[richard.mac]

the WIFI antenna is placed in the plastic/rubber hinge.

 

[DoFoT9]

hhmm somehow i dont think the problem lies with your new MBP. the problem lies with the Router and compatibility between protocols (yes it sounds wierd but i reckon the problem lies with that).

 

[Cantunis]

hhmm somehow i dont think the problem lies with your new MBP. the problem lies with the Router and compatibility between protocols (yes it sounds wierd but i reckon the problem lies with that).

well ... running the router in 802.11g only mode doesnt solve the problem , so I dont think the problem is on the router . Everything else works fine , even the psp with its old 802.11b !

 

[EricAmsterdam]

wifi problems also here

I think it is the new MacBook Pro Unibody.
Same problems here.
And I use the Apple Time Capsule.
Apple should be compatable with Apple, don't you think.
In the Apple Retailler in Amsterdam where I bought all the stuff, they said to me this is because of the aluminium body.

So now my old Windows laptop has a brillant wifi connection with the Apple Time Capsule. And my brand new Apple Macbook Pro only a very weak and instable wifi-connection..

Any tips....(AppleCare could not help me....)

 

[Cantunis]

I think it is the new MacBook Pro Unibody.
Same problems here.
And I use the Apple Time Capsule.
Apple should be compatable with Apple, don't you think.
In the Apple Retailler in Amsterdam where I bought all the stuff, they said to me this is because of the aluminium body.

So now my old Windows laptop has a brillant wifi connection with the Apple Time Capsule. And my brand new Apple Macbook Pro only a very weak and instable wifi-connection..

Any tips....(AppleCare could not help me....)

I think its time for us to run an ethernet wire , unless you got 500$ to spend on a bussiness-grade access point that runs at 5ghz like the ones at the Uni , which deliver a fast and steady connection .

 

[DoFoT9]

well ... running the router in 802.11g only mode doesnt solve the problem , so I dont think the problem is on the router . Everything else works fine , even the psp with its old 802.11b !

yes everything else may be fine, but something isnt right with the router that is compatible with the MBP.. i dont know maybe you are broadcasting in TKIP instead of something else... etcetc.

i would reset the router to default settings and start again

I think it is the new MacBook Pro Unibody.
Same problems here.
And I use the Apple Time Capsule.
Apple should be compatable with Apple, don't you think.
In the Apple Retailler in Amsterdam where I bought all the stuff, they said to me this is because of the aluminium body.

So now my old Windows laptop has a brillant wifi connection with the Apple Time Capsule. And my brand new Apple Macbook Pro only a very weak and instable wifi-connection..

Any tips....(AppleCare could not help me....)

of course the MBP is compatible with the Time Capsule! they were made from the same company, i (and millions of others) have never had any problems with them. try a software update or something, or maybe reset your settings to default and try them all again.

 

[Cantunis]

yes everything else may be fine, but something isnt right with the router that is compatible with the MBP.. i dont know maybe you are broadcasting in TKIP instead of something else... etcetc.

i would reset the router to default settings and start again



of course the MBP is compatible with the Time Capsule! they were made from the same company, i (and millions of others) have never had any problems with them. try a software update or something, or maybe reset your settings to default and try them all again.

Already reset to factory defaults , switched to 802.11g only , went back to WPA and nothing .. plain nothing .

In some hours i managed to run the ethernet cable . And now connection is rock solid . No packet loss , ridiculous ping .. And it doesnt look very aesthetic if you know where to run the cable

And thats all folks !

 

[daneoni]

Already reset to factory defaults , switched to 802.11g only , went back to WPA and nothing .. plain nothing .

In some hours i managed to run the ethernet cable . And now connection is rock solid . No packet loss , ridiculous ping .. And it doesnt look very aesthetic if you know where to run the cable

And thats all folks !

Maybe you have a defective card that needs replacing?

 

[Cantunis]

Maybe you have a defective card that needs replacing?

not at all , I can connect perfectly at the Uni and at several hotspots , the problem is just here , on my house

By the way , I stay at Uni for 6 hours . No drop outs , 108mbps throughput

I don't know , but the MBP reception is weaker than most laptops . Thats the point

 

[daneoni]

not at all , I can connect perfectly at the Uni and at several hotspots , the problem is just here , on my house

By the way , I stay at Uni for 6 hours . No drop outs , 108mbps throughput

I don't know , but the MBP reception is weaker than most laptops . Thats the point

Then its something wrong with the router. There has to be something you can tweak in the settings to make it work with the Mac. I remember i had a Dlink router and everyone else at home (PC users) could connect normally but my PowerBook wouldn't load web pages quickly and would absolutely crawl and freeze until i changed a setting in the router. I forget what the actual setting is but after that it worked flawlessly

Another option would be to get an Airport Extreme

 

[Cantunis]

Then its something wrong with the router. There has to be something you can tweak in the settings to make it work with the Mac. I remember i had a Dlink router and everyone else at home (PC users) could connect normally but my PowerBook wouldn't load web pages quickly and would absolutely crawl and freeze until i changed a setting in the router. I forget what the actual setting is but after that it worked flawlessly

Another option would be to get an Airport Extreme

Already ran a wire to my room ... but serously , i played with my router for long and couldnt get it to work

 

[azdunerat]

I have a reg macbook unibody and I can use it just fine throughout my entire house. Matter of fact I took it to my neighbors house three houses down and was able to connect, it wasnt a great connection but it was there. I am curious whether the aluminium statement is true.

 

[Cantunis]

I have a reg macbook unibody and I can use it just fine throughout my entire house. Matter of fact I took it to my neighbors house three houses down and was able to connect, it wasnt a great connection but it was there. I am curious whether the aluminium statement is true.

Take a normal plastic laptop to your neighbours house and look at the signal strenght . Then compare with the MBP .

For me it sounds fair Aluminum weaks signals . Its even on your router manual ( Dont place the router near any metal surface ) so it def isnt there to make the manual bigger !