katzlbt

Q: WiFi unusable with 300Mbps MBProRetina

I got brand new MacBook Pro Retina and noticed VERY bad Reception when connecting to an firmware updated TL-WA901N AccessPoint 30m away.

I had bad 5-20% ping to AP packet loss while my old MBPro worked fine at the same spot.

I have no neighbour networks around my home within 500m (country location).

 

I tried everything until I reduced Channel Width to 20MHz from 40MHz and reduced Speed from 300Mbps to 130 Mbps at the AP/Router.

Now Speed is back to 100% ADSL, browsing is fast and all problems are solved.

 

Any ideas what can be going on here?!? Bug? Feature?

 

Modifying the router settings is not something plain users can do to fix things.

I could not find a Setting on the Mac-Side to fix reception.

It cost me several working hours and a week of bad connections to fix?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 7, 2012 1:41 PM

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Q: WiFi unusable with 300Mbps MBProRetina

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  • by John Scott1,

    John Scott1 John Scott1 Nov 7, 2012 3:53 PM in response to katzlbt
    Level 2 (314 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:53 PM in response to katzlbt

    Have you check with router maker about firmware updates? 2.4 ghz shares that spectrum with a lot of stuff. From Microwave ovens to cordless phones. Its advantage is range but it maximum throughput almost never reaches advertised speeds. Believe it or not a lot of laptops cannot provide 300mbps throughput. Many default to 150mbps max. With a ASDL line that should be plenty for headroom for your internet. Packet loss can be due to interfierence. I would try different channels and like I said. Seek out any firmware updates.

  • by katzlbt,

    katzlbt katzlbt Nov 8, 2012 12:53 AM in response to John Scott1
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Nov 8, 2012 12:53 AM in response to John Scott1

    I assume the new Macbook hardware can support wide channel (40Mhz) 802.11n WiFi which makes things MUCH worse, and it cannot be disabled on the MacBook side. This will probably cause lots of support troubles for Apple where unhappy customers return their Macbooks because WiFi does not work! I was about to walk back to the store myself for a check of the hardware. Opening webpages took sometimes up to 2 minutes!

     

    Does anyone know how to disable wideband WiFi 802.11n on the MacBook?

    So I can get better reception with foreign networks when I am on the road?

     

    As I said in my post, I upgraded the firmware to 2012.

    I can exclude any interference issues, there is just nothing around in my setting that could interfere.