wi-fi problem mbp....help!

avalon68

Hello all, I've been having some wifi problems with my 2010 mbp over the last few weeks. I assumed it was just the broadband provider....but now I think its my computer. Basically, it keeps disconnecting itself. I brought home my work pc laptop this weekend, and it isnt having any problems staying connected - hence I think its my mac. When both connected, if I run a speed check - the pc has a lower ping and faster download speed than the mac, when sitting next to each other (3Mbps for PC V 0.8 for the mac). This is a recent problem - does anyone have any suggestions as its driving me crazy.

ZENER

Have you installed any Antivirus on the Mac ? Did you install MacKeeper ? Have you a VPN configured ? These can cause issues.

In the meantime try connecting via Cat5 cable and see if the situation differs.

Ken

5uspect

Also check the link speed, maybe it's getting bumped down to something slower than 802.11n. (Open Network Utility, go to the info tab and pick Wifi from the drop down)
The transfer stats there should also be helpful.

Additionally if you hold option and click on the wifi icon in the menu bar it'll give you a few more vital stats on your wifi connectivity.

Most modern routers should be 802.11n at least and you should be seeing 300mbps on a Mac of that age.

To remove the router from the equation create a network on the Mac and connect to it with your Work machine and see how the transfer speeds work there.

avalon68

ZENER wrote: »

Have you installed any Antivirus on the Mac ? Did you install MacKeeper ? Have you a VPN configured ? These can cause issues.

In the meantime try connecting via Cat5 cable and see if the situation differs.

Ken

Hi Ken - I dont have any anti-virus software on it, and not using a VPN. I also have never used MacKeeper. I plugged directly into the router and got a speed of 17Mbps....so much much higher than I ever get on wifi. Though it seems to fluctuate pretty wildly - it can be as low as 0.5, then jump up to 7 or 8 sometimes, all within a few minutes.

Gordon

Have you tried plugging directly into router via Ethernet?

avalon68

5uspect wrote: »

Also check the link speed, maybe it's getting bumped down to something slower than 802.11n. (Open Network Utility, go to the info tab and pick Wifi from the drop down)
The transfer stats there should also be helpful.

Additionally if you hold option and click on the wifi icon in the menu bar it'll give you a few more vital stats on your wifi connectivity.

Most modern routers should be 802.11n at least and you should be seeing 300mbps on a Mac of that age.

To remove the router from the equation create a network on the Mac and connect to it with your Work machine and see how the transfer speeds work there.

Ive had a look in the network utility - it says the link speed is 144 Mbits/s. No errors in the transfer side. As I type this the download speed is at 2.7Mbps.....which while not exactly fast is fine for my purposes....if I could get it to stay at that!

I tried to create a network - but my mbp immediately connected itself to that and cut off from the internet.....Im not very good with stuff like that - but neither my mbp or work computer was online when that happened - not sure how I would check transfer speeds?

avalon68

Gordon wrote: »

Have you tried plugging directly into router via Ethernet?

Are ethernet and Cat5 cables different? I plugged directly into the router with the cable that came with the router - cat5 is printed on it, but I would have called it an ethernet cable.... It did increase the download speed up to 17Mbps, and didnt seem to disconnect while plugged in (though the router is in a really inconvenient location - so I didnt stand and watch for too long - every time i checked it was still connected though. Just seems to be a problem with the wi-fi side of things. Its a sky hub router in case that makes any difference at all.

Nemeses

Sky hub are a pretty cr@p WiFi router to be honest.

Can you test your mac on a different WiFi network just to see? Or try tethering from your phone to the Mac..

5uspect

avalon68 wrote: »

Ive had a look in the network utility - it says the link speed is 144 Mbits/s. No errors in the transfer side. As I type this the download speed is at 2.7Mbps.....which while not exactly fast is fine for my purposes....if I could get it to stay at that!

I tried to create a network - but my mbp immediately connected itself to that and cut off from the internet.....Im not very good with stuff like that - but neither my mbp or work computer was online when that happened - not sure how I would check transfer speeds?

144 Mbps is 18MBps. This is the theoretical max you should see over wifi. My 2010 mbp supports wireless n up to 300Mbps and could barely muster 144 to a UPC box. But I was getting about 50Mbps actual throughput of my 120Mbps line. I recently bought an Airport Time Capsule which gives me the full 120Mbps bandwidth. Local transfers saturate the link speed. So for now I'm thinking your sky modem is at fault.

Ideally you need to eliminate the sky box from the equation. This means creating a network on the Mac or another machine. There is no internet involved in this process, just a local file transfer.

This site shows how:
http://www.goodiware.com/gr-man-tr-wifi-create.html#Mac_ShowDetails
See the links at the bottom.

A simpler alternative is to just bring your Mac to a friends house or Starbucks.