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Wi-Fi speed drop on MacBook with lid closed using LCD Monitor

post #1 of 5
3/4/09 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Here is a good mystery! Since Christmas day my wife's MacBook has happily run lid closed connected to the LCD Monitor. This has been a delightful set up as the dock auto swaps to the large screen and the MacBook stays stone cold. The MacBook uses an Airport Extreme .11n / 5 GHz.

About two or three weeks ago she noticed a lot of network drop outs and i spent almost a day trouble shooting to no avail. The problem got worse to the point today the MacBook failed to even see the AE. It managed to see it after several retries but failed to get past WEP2 which it asked for even though Keychain has that password.

To cut a long story short I discovered if the MacBook ran lid open and I manually set the dock to the LCD with Monitor Prefs, the AE was seen immediately and full speed was restored. Closing the lid once connection was established and connection was maintained but speed dropped to the KB/s range from the 12 Mb/s range (We have FiOS 20Mb/s)..

So for now at least she is back in action only now with the lid open. So why did it work for almost two months and not now? I can only see two possibilities, a hardware fault has developed or an update has messed with something.

Any others seen this?
Been using Apples since 1978 and Macs since 1984
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Been using Apples since 1978 and Macs since 1984
Long on AAPL so biased. Strong advocate for separation of technology and politics on AI.
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post #2 of 5
3/10/09 at 10:52am
did you run the new firmware updates?

are there other 5ghz devices in the area?

in an apartment? did someone setup a new N router?

try istumbler & see what else is broadcasting.
15" MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz Unibody | MacBook 2.4 Ghz Unibody | AirPort Extreme - Gigabit | "Sawtooth" PowerMac G4 in B&W (G3) case, 1.2Ghz, 1TB Mirrored RAID
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15" MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz Unibody | MacBook 2.4 Ghz Unibody | AirPort Extreme - Gigabit | "Sawtooth" PowerMac G4 in B&W (G3) case, 1.2Ghz, 1TB Mirrored RAID
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post #3 of 5
3/10/09 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmac1036 View Post

did you run the new firmware updates?

are there other 5ghz devices in the area?

in an apartment? did someone setup a new N router?

try istumbler & see what else is broadcasting.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. All is now well

My question was posted before last updates of either firmware or utility. All was cured after updates (actually it was the firmware that cured it). The previous OS update obviously caused this since it all started from that point in time when we looked back.

Fascinating problem to observe though and bloody hard to pin point as the lid closed worked, it just had a low speed and drop out - my wife assumed it was Verizon's FiOS having issues. Who would have thought there would be a difference between running the new 24" LCD as the only monitor (lid on MacBook closed) and as a secondary monitor (lid open) where wireless is concerned? I never noticed as I have my MacPro on ethernet and my laptop is on a secondary .11g network with iPhones in home.
Been using Apples since 1978 and Macs since 1984
Long on AAPL so biased. Strong advocate for separation of technology and politics on AI.
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Been using Apples since 1978 and Macs since 1984
Long on AAPL so biased. Strong advocate for separation of technology and politics on AI.
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post #4 of 5
3/10/09 at 2:35pm
is this the new aluminum model? i think the antennas are behind the glass, so if you close the lid, you cover them up... but the machine needs to be able to run closed lid mode, they are pushing this now with the 24" screen!

unless they also have an antenna in the new LED screen, but not sure on that, just a guess.
15" MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz Unibody | MacBook 2.4 Ghz Unibody | AirPort Extreme - Gigabit | "Sawtooth" PowerMac G4 in B&W (G3) case, 1.2Ghz, 1TB Mirrored RAID
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15" MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz Unibody | MacBook 2.4 Ghz Unibody | AirPort Extreme - Gigabit | "Sawtooth" PowerMac G4 in B&W (G3) case, 1.2Ghz, 1TB Mirrored RAID
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post #5 of 5
9/13/09 at 11:24pm
Can I use an LCD monitor with DVI for a TV if I have a cable box with HD tuner? I have comcast service with a Motorola 6412 HD DVR/Tuner and am considering purchasing an LCD monitor with DVI and I want to know if the monitor can function as a TV even thogh it doesn't have a tuner. What are the tradeoffs. It seems like the Monitors are a lot cheaper than comparable screen size LCD HDTV's.
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