Bluesteel310

Q: 2012 Retina Macbook Pro WiFi problem

I have a 2012 Macbook Pro with Retina display that's been upgraded to Mountain Lion.  It is having WiFi connection issues.

 

Specifically,

 

1.  Upon startup it will not find the network.  I have to turn off the wifi and turn it back on to have it find the network.  Annoying.  It used to happen only intermittently; now it happens every start up.  It's getting worse.

 

2.  It will randomly every few hours drop the wifi connection, requiring me to turn off the wifi and turn it back on.

 

I've tried the one fix people on here suggested: deleting the wifi network profile I use and putting it back in.

 

Didn't make a difference.

 

Has anyone found a better fix?

 

I'm disappointed that Apple released this version of OS with such a glaring problem.  A laptop without a reliable wifi connection is a complete waste of money.

Ipad, iPhone OS 3.1.3

Posted on Aug 4, 2012 10:38 AM

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Q: 2012 Retina Macbook Pro WiFi problem

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  • by Austin.Sanderson,

    Austin.Sanderson Austin.Sanderson Jan 27, 2013 5:22 PM in response to Sergeque
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 27, 2013 5:22 PM in response to Sergeque

    Yes. Again, bluetooth disable does NOT solve the issue that some people are having. I have seen WiFi dropping occur on a 5GHz network, so bluetooth interference is NOT the problem in that case. I'm looking for details on what changes to WiFi 10.8.3 will have. It's on the 8th beta test now. Like others, I doubt the issue is being addressed since it has been so long; however, I do hope that Apple proves me wrong.

     

    As soon as this update comes out, I will test it on a system and come back to post. If it does not resolve the issue, I will try downgrading to Snow Leopard drivers as recommended in the thread shown below. I had to go back through my deleted e-mails to find the post because it had a solution in it that seemed realistic. I have copied it below in italics. With any luck, this one will not get deleted.

     

    Here's the thread for Mountain Lion:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4136718?start=225&tstart=0

     

    Downgrade to snow leopard driver version.
      
    This will fix your drops:

    Unzip, then unzip the Kext Utility, then drop the kext on the Utility app. Supply your password, reboot and then hopefully all is well with your Wi-Fi connection.

     


    http://cl.ly/44180G1R3G0h

  • by GodforSaken,

    GodforSaken GodforSaken Jan 28, 2013 2:11 AM in response to Bluesteel310
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 2:11 AM in response to Bluesteel310

    I have the MBP-r and my wifi drops every time i put my macbook to sleep,restart,startup. it does not auto connect to my wifi, i have to manually connect it every single time which is really frustrating!!!

     

    We want a fix ASAP APPLE!!

  • by papasmurf^2,

    papasmurf^2 papasmurf^2 Jan 28, 2013 3:03 AM in response to GodforSaken
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 3:03 AM in response to GodforSaken

    Lets hope that 10.8.3 has Significant improvements to WIFI, as the release notes keep on PROMISING

     

    Are there any developers out there that conform this has fixed the Issues ... Its so so so frustrating.

  • by vivicorsi,

    vivicorsi vivicorsi Jan 29, 2013 9:05 AM in response to Bluesteel310
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2013 9:05 AM in response to Bluesteel310

    when is this finally getting fixed?? it is impossible to work like this..sometimes it keeps dropping every minute,its really horrible, if this doesnt get fixed i will return the product.  never had this problem with my old macbook pro on same wifi. is this a hardwear issue? are there macbook retinas who dont have this problem??

  • by papasmurf^2,

    papasmurf^2 papasmurf^2 Jan 30, 2013 2:19 AM in response to Austin.Sanderson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2013 2:19 AM in response to Austin.Sanderson

    If this method works with Snow Leapord Drivers and is stable, at least there is some hope it will be a driver update not a hardware problem.

     

    I have a feeling it will be fixed in 10.8.3, seems they have made a point in last few betas that there is significant Wifi fixes ....

  • by mithuworld,

    mithuworld mithuworld Feb 2, 2013 11:42 AM in response to Bluesteel310
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2013 11:42 AM in response to Bluesteel310

    ok i bought retina macbook pro 2 days ago when i open this **** the wifi was ******* slow like it dont even load this is ******* me off am returning this piece of **** today im so ****** that i paid $1750 to buy a good laptop not trash even my old windows laptop run faster then this ****

  • by Chris Ifatoye Theberge,

    Chris Ifatoye Theberge Chris Ifatoye Theberge Feb 2, 2013 12:34 PM in response to mithuworld
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2013 12:34 PM in response to mithuworld

    -- unfortunatley the threads for this singular issue are spread out across the forums so there's no ONE thread with hundreds of replies that will push it towards the top of Apple's to do list.  If you look around you will see dozens of posts of brand new MBP's and AIR's all with the this wifi disconnect problem. 

     

    I am going to take my best educated guess that it is an issue that crept in with the latest versions of OSX - my three 1 - 2 year old macs (2011 mbp, 2012 mbair, 2011 imac all worked fine until i upraded to latest OS ...  now they all require wifi reboots every few minutes.  If i use a 4g USB modem I have no such problem.   So I am just going to wait around until they give us an update --- but from the looks of it,  it will still be a while.

  • by mithuworld,

    mithuworld mithuworld Feb 2, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Chris Ifatoye Theberge
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Chris Ifatoye Theberge

    should i return my macbook pro and get a new one ?

  • by MD_Cowboy,

    MD_Cowboy MD_Cowboy Feb 3, 2013 9:10 AM in response to Oli4C
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2013 9:10 AM in response to Oli4C

    This MBP-r Wifi problem is really unacceptable.  I have the current highest end 15" (17, 2.7ghz, 16gb, OSx 10.8.2.) and something as basic as WiFi doesn't work right? 

     

    And it simply does not work, look at these ping results (address redacted):

     

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=0 ttl=41 time=452.850 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=1 ttl=41 time=373.399 ms

    Request timeout for icmp_seq 2

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=2 ttl=41 time=1007.344 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=3 ttl=41 time=210.774 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=4 ttl=41 time=224.040 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=5 ttl=41 time=204.463 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=6 ttl=41 time=284.125 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=7 ttl=41 time=512.013 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=8 ttl=41 time=432.687 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=9 ttl=41 time=353.127 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=10 ttl=41 time=273.610 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=11 ttl=41 time=501.385 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=12 ttl=41 time=422.513 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=13 ttl=41 time=218.867 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=14 ttl=41 time=263.703 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=15 ttl=41 time=491.992 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=16 ttl=41 time=412.618 ms

    64 bytes from 129.12x.x.9: icmp_seq=17 ttl=41 time=208.634 ms

     

    These are all over the place - regardless of where I ping, my distance from AirPortEx AP,  Bluetooth on/off, etc.  I also regularly see 2-5% packet loss over Wifi on the retina MBP. This is easy to replicate any day, anywhere on any network.  

     

    Network performance like this kills long distance or higher quality videoconferences (essential to lots of people's work these days) - I cannot even use Facetime without dropouts when over Wifi. 

     

    And this absolutely is isolated to the MacBook Pro retina Wifi. At home I have a good test bed of a dozen other devices (iphones, ipads, Macs and cheap Windows Laptops) and none exhibit this poor Wifi quality - even tested on the same network to the same destination. If I switch to a wired connection on the MBP-r via a thunderboldt-GigE adapter the problem goes away and I get solid, jitter free, and zero packet loss connections.   Also this is NOT my local network. I have used my MBP-r on multiple corporate and large research university networks and I see the same problem with its Wifi (and these are places with world-class network architecture, bandwidth and QOS).   No, this problem is in the Apple MBP-r's:

     

    - Firmware (likely - and at least there is hope Apple can fix it) 

    - Mac OSx 10.8.2 (doubtful, but many fingers are crossed)

    - Wifi Radio/Chipset/Antenna (likely and bad news for Apple - if true it is recall or Class Action time).

     

    Like all of you I paid over $3500 for this otherwise impressive device - only to find it has a major flaw!!!  One that impacts the fundamental usability, performance and value of the product.

     

    Apple you need to fix this one soon - this is very bad for business and reputation. Right now just about any of your competitors in the netbook/ultrabook space could beat your premium priced flagship product in a real world performance test using, um... Wifi !  

     

    It will be embarrassing if a competitor makes a commercial demonstrating this (and sadly its pretty easy to demo).

  • by papasmurf^2,

    papasmurf^2 papasmurf^2 Feb 3, 2013 9:17 AM in response to MD_Cowboy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2013 9:17 AM in response to MD_Cowboy

    Let's hope 10.8.3 fixes this , I have the same probs as you. I have stablizes to some extent it's usable but not perfect with a 5ghz bridge. But far from perfect.

     

    Supposed to have significant wifi fixes be it OS or firmware.

     

    So my question does someone from the developers network can put a sneaky comment on here please that apple can't track that indeed 10.8.3 fixes his major bug or do we return the laptops to apple for money back.

  • by MD_Cowboy,

    MD_Cowboy MD_Cowboy Feb 3, 2013 11:06 AM in response to papasmurf^2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2013 11:06 AM in response to papasmurf^2

    The MBP retina is an otherwise excellent machine, but if the 10.8.3 release does not fix this WiFi problem I am going to take mine in and demand my money back because the product is defective.   I purchased the machine to work, my work requires stable WiFi - at least equal to industry norms.  This product currently can not provide that basic functionality.  It will take me 10-20 hours to rebuild my sofware envronment on another machine - and I love my retina screen - so I hate to do this. 

     

    For the record I just tried 5ghz band only and it does not reslove the problem for me.  The most telling comparison is to ping 100 times on wifi (use any band/channel), then plug in to GigE adaptor, shut off Wifi, and ping same site 100 times.  Even if you thottle the MBP's wired GigE to 100Mb (theoretically less than the speed of 802.11n Wifi) it will still deliver solid results like this:

    (Wired results)

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=13 ttl=46 time=173.888 ms

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=14 ttl=46 time=173.824 ms

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=15 ttl=46 time=173.848 ms

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=16 ttl=46 time=173.884 ms

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=17 ttl=46 time=173.892 ms

    64 bytes from 129.x.x.9: icmp_seq=18 ttl=46 time=173.894 ms

     

    As you can see the wired jitter (variation in the milliseconds in latency between packets) is within a fraction of a millisecond - very much expected quality on a good network (the above network test is US univeristy to a univeristy in another country).

     

    You'd expect Wifi to add a little bit of jitter, but on the MBP-r when you turn on the Wifi  your jitter will be hundreds to thousands of times what you will get on the same machine/same test wired.  If you have the thunderbolt ethernet adaptor try this yourself and please post your results.  In addition there is regular packet loss once on the Wifi - im finding about one in 20-50 packets is dropped in a typical long distance test vs. zero on wired. 

     

    Real world, If you are using you MBP-r for just downloading and web browsing the effect is that you are getting a slower somewhat jerky connection - so some people will not notice or care.  But if you do anything synchronous - like, a call, game or videoconference then your MBP-r's network will be underperforming a $250 netbook (or a 6 year old, mid-range imac). 

  • by papasmurf^2,

    papasmurf^2 papasmurf^2 Feb 4, 2013 2:26 AM in response to papasmurf^2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2013 2:26 AM in response to papasmurf^2

    so Again : Which no one has answered regarding 10.8.3 ...

     

    So my question: Does someone from the developers network can put a sneaky comment on here please that apple that indeed 10.8.3 fixes this major bug or do we return the laptops to apple for our money back.


  • by securit,

    securit securit Feb 14, 2013 1:52 AM in response to papasmurf^2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2013 1:52 AM in response to papasmurf^2

    have the same problems and will also return my macbook pro if this problem is not fixed very soon...

     

    its time to show companies like apple that the customers are not willing to pay a huge amount of money for semifinished products and take the role of the  "beta-tester" for them!

  • by papasmurf^2,

    papasmurf^2 papasmurf^2 Feb 14, 2013 2:20 AM in response to papasmurf^2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2013 2:20 AM in response to papasmurf^2

    Someone for the love of god, throw us a bone here please ...

     

    so Again :

     

    So my question: Does someone from the developers network can put a sneaky comment on here please that apple that indeed 10.8.3 fixes this major bug or do we return the laptops to apple for our money back.

     


  • by UKNZ,

    UKNZ UKNZ Feb 19, 2013 12:52 AM in response to papasmurf^2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 12:52 AM in response to papasmurf^2

    I agree...it is unacceptable.

     

    I placed a support call with Apple NZ and they called me at the scheduled time. He said he couldnt hear me and would hang up and call me straight back...never heard from them again.

     

    If they were to check my logon they would see I am one of the biggest Apple fans and users and they are quickly destroying my confidence...Just ordered my (first in 5 years) Laptop...I know not as good but at least I know it will work.

     

    Sad day.

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