New MacBook Pros, recent iMacs grappling with flaky wireless

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
An erratic yet ongoing problem has seen recent iMacs, and now Apple's late 2008 MacBook Pros, affected by frequent Wi-Fi dropouts with no clear solution.



Some owners of Apple's new unibody, 15-inch MacBook Pro are reporting in Apple's support forums (1, 2) that their connections to wireless access points often lose signal strength or drop their links altogether.



The problem echoes a similar one witnessed by owners of aluminum iMac owners since mid-year that has created similar difficulties.



What conditions are exactly necessary to trigger the problem are unknown. Connections to some access points work properly, while others create severe connection problems. Network and security settings don't appear to matter, nor do devices attached to the systems.



A collection of the MacBook Pro owners have partly diagnosed the problem and have discovered that the latency between their Macs and their Wi-Fi hotspots can fluctuate wildly, shifting from normal response times of under 10ms to as high as 39,290ms -- or more than 39 seconds between signals. These extreme variances result in the data packet loss that ultimately interrupts the signal.



Those who've been dealing with the problem since before the MacBook Pro release share a common trait, however, of having installed one of Apple's more recent updates. Some report the problems having began after installing Mac OS X 10.5.3 or 10.5.4 updates; others actually report problems with Apple's recent AirPort Extreme patches, which themselves were paradoxically meant to resolve connection woes.



This includes AirPort Extreme update 2008-004, which was released late last month. It replaced AirPort Extreme update 2008-003, which was released just days earlier but abruptly pulled by Apple for undisclosed reasons.



Of those who've spoken to Apple technicians to address the matter, at least some report recognition of a more widespread problem, though none have said how soon Apple may fix the intermittent wireless behavior. Users are regardless told they may have to wait awhile for more thorough software updates: the most recent AirPort Extreme patches update the firmware for the Wi-Fi chipset itself and so prevent an easy rollback if it's the patch itself that sets the glitch in motion.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 93
    I'm sure glad you posted this. I have a new iMac and have been pulling my hair out about how to fix it. I'm a Mac technician and it's completely stumped me.



    I suppose I'll keep it wired until there is some progress with Apple. Just glad to know I'm not alone on it.
  • Reply 2 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stukdog View Post


    I'm sure glad you posted this. I have a new iMac and have been pulling my hair out about how to fix it. I'm a Mac technician and it's completely stumped me.



    I suppose I'll keep it wired until there is some progress with Apple. Just glad to know I'm not alone on it.



    Hurray at last someone will talk about this. I have my suspicions this is due to the stupid aluminium cases these things come in. I have 2 previous model white iMacs which have none of the problems in identical locations relative to the Airport Extreme.



    I have had this since June and have spent countless hours talking to AppleCare about it and being constantly told to wipe my hard drive and reinstall.



    And that as we all know is the road to HELL!!!!
  • Reply 3 of 93
    cindercinder Posts: 381member
    I thought it was basically known as a leopard issue?



    my wireless reliability has definitely gone down over the time I've had my Macbook Pro (core 1 Duo, 6.12Ghz) and I always attributed it to 10.5.x because that's when it got real dodgy . . .
  • Reply 4 of 93
    I was experiencing this with my brand new late '08 Macbook too.



    I fixed the drop outs by changing my WiFi encryption from WPA2 using AES to WPA2 using TKIP. Seems the Macbook has an issue with AES as the encryption. Works perfectly with TKIP.



    (Router is a Linksys WRT-54GL running Tomato 1.21)



    UPDATE:

    Just to clarify, I'm a Sys admin and have several wireless computers at home. The Macbook is the first and ONLY one that drops out like this on my network. It definitely has a problem with using AES, which is a shame as AES has less overhead than TKIP.



    Apple, please fix!
  • Reply 5 of 93
    and I thought i was the only one with this problem.



    It is good news that this is not just me and hopefully there will be a solution. It has hit both my iMac and MBP (now RIP overheated)
  • Reply 6 of 93
    I have a new MacBook Pro and this has happen to me several times including last evening.
  • Reply 7 of 93
    Flaky wireless is nothing new - been a problem on my 2007 MacBook w/Tiger and as far as I know never fixed.
  • Reply 8 of 93
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gastroboy View Post


    Hurray at last someone will talk about this. I have my suspicions this is due to the stupid aluminium cases these things come in. I have 2 previous model white iMacs which have none of the problems in identical locations relative to the Airport Extreme.



    I have had this since June and have spent countless hours talking to AppleCare about it and being constantly told to wipe my hard drive and reinstall.



    And that as we all know is the road to HELL!!!!



    Long live the white iMac! by far the best iMac ever produced.

    I hate the racoon glossy iMac with its white mouse.
  • Reply 9 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by magnusver View Post


    Flaky wireless is nothing new - been a problem on my 2007 MacBook w/Tiger and as far as I know never fixed.



    Interesting was waiting for my turn at the local Apple Genius Bar and chatting to others there.



    So much for "It just works"! I was not alone in having a string of problems on separate Macs and having issues like this go unresolved for protracted periods.



    We put up with a lot on Macs based on the belief in the Good Mac myth.



    If this had been Dell they would have been on site long ago and confirmed that it wasn't just my setup. Apple refuses to offer support commensurate with its claim of better quality and greater reliability.



    I don't know what paying for Applecare has done for me. Apple wants you to always prove the problem before they will act, and always leave you under the threat of incurring charges for supposed software issues. Which this may be and of Apple's own creation.
  • Reply 10 of 93
    I was having these very same problems with the mid 2007 macbook pro (15")



    The problem arrived with 10.5.3 and went away with 10.5.5
  • Reply 11 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Long live the white iMac! by far the best iMac ever produced.

    I hate the racoon glossy iMac with its white mouse.



    We are as one on this. Does your mouse tracker ball screw up all the time like mine?



    Mine will only scroll in one direction, not the other, then stops scrolling altogether.



    After a while it scrolls again. Unreliable as hell.



    btw Even worse than the glossy iMacs are the new Macbooks. I saw them in the stores, the color is washed out and the glare on the screens is awful. What a piece of shite, AND they put the prices up here.
  • Reply 12 of 93
    I have the original iPhone, and WiFi is always coming and going when I try to access my AirPort base station in our home.
  • Reply 13 of 93
    I've noticed this very issue only just recently on my Mac Mini. I've also got an Intel iMac, but it is hard wired, so no issue there. I haven't seen anybody else mention having issues on the Mini. Anybody?
  • Reply 14 of 93
    My original Intel iMac has the same issue since updating to 10.5.4 and to the latest Airport extreme firmware.



    I hope this gets fixed soon. Its not too much of a bother because I don't have mission critical but I can imagine it would frustrate a lot of people
  • Reply 15 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KKemp33 View Post


    I've noticed this very issue only just recently on my Mac Mini. I've also got an Intel iMac, but it is hard wired, so no issue there. I haven't seen anybody else mention having issues on the Mini. Anybody?



    Yep. I just bought a Mac Mini & a Macbook Pro... (right before the recent update)... they both are completely whacked on wifi, which of course is the way I want to use them!



    One possible fix (so far it's worked.. knock on wood) is to a) install the recent patches, b) turn airport off c) delete the plist in library/preferences/systemconfig/blahblahairportblahblah.plist d) turn airport back on & reconfigure. So far I've been able to connect to Hulu.com & stream things without losing connection.



    Crossing fingers. This should really be an embarassment to Apple.



    [UPDATE] and... IT DID NOT WORK. Sheesh! Replacing the plist helps but doesn't fix it. So I'll have to run ethernet through strange walls.
  • Reply 16 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gastroboy View Post


    We are as one on this. Does your mouse tracker ball screw up all the time like mine?



    Mine will only scroll in one direction, not the other, then stops scrolling altogether.



    After a while it scrolls again. Unreliable as hell.



    btw Even worse than the glossy iMacs are the new Macbooks. I saw them in the stores, the color is washed out and the glare on the screens is awful. What a piece of shite, AND they put the prices up here.



    I had the problem with my mouse too. When I asked in the Apple discussions, 20 people condescendingly replied "Clean it with a wet napkin or towel" as if I was supposed to figure that one out on my own. Anyways, just wet a napkin or towel then flip your mouse over and run the trackball all over the wet napkin to remove dirt from the sensors (remember how dirt built up on the sensors in the old-style trackball mice?). Anyways, I still think it was stupid on Apple's behalf to make the ball inaccessible so you're stuck having to clean it every other week. Hope that helps you.
  • Reply 17 of 93
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MagicDrum View Post


    Yep. I just bought a Mac Mini & a Macbook Pro... (right before the recent update)... they both are completely whacked on wifi, which of course is the way I want to use them!



    One possible fix (so far it's worked.. knock on wood) is to a) install the recent patches, b) turn airport off c) delete the plist in library/preferences/systemconfig/blahblahairportblahblah.plist d) turn airport back on & reconfigure. So far I've been able to connect to Hulu.com & stream things without losing connection.



    Crossing fingers. This should really be an embarassment to Apple.



    Did you verify that your router's wireless channel isn't conflicting with another wireless router in the area?



    Did you make sure your router has the latest firmware update?
  • Reply 18 of 93
    Have any of you actually tried disabling AES?!



    Unfortunately Apple's routers do not have TKIP which is laughable and so a lot of you will be unable to do so. Apple's Airports are AES ONLY when using WPA/WPA2.



    If you want to fix this problem I'd recommend a DECENT router such as the Linksys WRT-54GL and install DD-WRT or Tomato firmware on it.

    $59.99, but once you install the firmware it is better than routers costing hundreds more.

    Set it up to use WPA2 with TKIP and problem fixed.

    Alternatively, wait for Apple to fix AES... could be a while...



    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124190
  • Reply 19 of 93
    ......that Apple really hasn't really had good wi-fi reception in just about all of their portables?



    You would have thought a company like Apple would be leading the way with Wi-Fi. After all these years they still haven't nailed it. Very disappointing.
  • Reply 20 of 93
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gastroboy View Post


    We are as one on this. Does your mouse tracker ball screw up all the time like mine?



    Mine will only scroll in one direction, not the other, then stops scrolling altogether.



    After a while it scrolls again. Unreliable as hell.



    I can't tell you how many times I've felt like smashing that friggin mouse up against a wall. It scrolls for sh*t. I've returned 2 and then gave up. I'm told the mouse that's white on the sides instead of gray doesn't have this problem- but who knows. It's totally unreliable.
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