mettababe

Q: Internet connection keeps dropping with MacBook Pro OS 10.11.3

The wifi works great in our house on all our devices until I turn on my MacBook Pro. Then the wifi still says it's connected on all my devices but nothing will load on any device. I have to restart our modem and router. Then it will work for a couple minutes and go out again. A little background- I recently bought a used MacBook Pro (2012) from eBay (to replace the 2011 MacBook Pro my 1 yr old dumped water on). It had been wiped clean and had El Capitan 10.11.3 installed. I began loading my programs and files onto the computer and everything worked great for about a week and then I started having this issue. I've called the internet provider 10+ times and they even sent someone out to look at our connection. They keep telling me it should work now the the problem hasn't gotten any better. Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Apr 2, 2016 11:01 PM

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Q: Internet connection keeps dropping with MacBook Pro OS 10.11.3

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  • by UGADog,Apple recommended

    UGADog UGADog Apr 2, 2016 11:08 PM in response to mettababe
    Level 4 (1,902 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 11:08 PM in response to mettababe

    Do you by chance, have your MB Pro performing a large upload or download in the background?  This can make it appear that wifi is down for all devices (actually its just really slow with lots of latency leading to time outs).  Photos is notorious for this.  With the MB Pro connected to wifi, go to Photos > Preferences > iCloud and just below iCloud Photo Library at the top, do you see a message that activity is occurring?

  • by mettababe,

    mettababe mettababe Apr 3, 2016 8:31 AM in response to UGADog
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 3, 2016 8:31 AM in response to UGADog

    I think the problem started when I started using Piasa to try to upload videos to Picasa Web albums. Every time I got on  my computer I would retry the upload and the Internet would go out. But I've closed out of Picasa and have stopped trying to do the upload and the Internet still goes out. I don't even use photos.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Apr 3, 2016 8:53 AM in response to mettababe
    Level 9 (60,667 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 8:53 AM in response to mettababe

    Hold down the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi Icon on the MenuBar. You get a display similar to this one:

    Option-Wi-Fi .png

     

    What do you see for PHY mode and channel?

    RSSI or signal strength?

    Transmit Rate?

     

    and very important, how many networks do you see?

     

    .

  • by mettababe,Apple recommended

    mettababe mettababe Apr 3, 2016 11:26 PM in response to UGADog
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 3, 2016 11:26 PM in response to UGADog

    I did remember that I had Google backup photos installed on my computer running in the background.  I deleted it and am trying to stream, upload, and download at the same time and haven't had a problem.  I also learned that my router doesn't support 5GHz.  If I buy a dual band router will my internet run faster?

  • by UGADog,

    UGADog UGADog Apr 4, 2016 12:13 AM in response to mettababe
    Level 4 (1,902 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 4, 2016 12:13 AM in response to mettababe

    I glad you found it.  If you let the "Google" upload all, it will eventually stop using all bandwidth for the upload. Then again consume full bandwidth if you add a large number of pics in the future, but the duration would be shorter.


    There are also tricks to limit the amount of bandwidth Google can use even though there was no throttle control in Google Drive itself the last time I checked. There should be for all such programs that can take days to upload.  Here is a link to an ASC solution to keep some portion of the pipe open for downloads while a large upload is in progress through a program like Google Drive or Photos without the necessary throttle.  An alternative to that is pausing the upload during "normal" hours and letting it run during network downtime (like while all are asleep).  I encourage backups where ever possible so hope you will try one of these methods.  There are also some apps you can buy to do either or both of these techniques easier (so they clam). 

     

    5GHz does not speed up your internet connection.  It could speed up your link between internet router and your computer but probably won't help. You should post a new question on ASC for details to keep the threads clean if you want a deep dive on your connection speed and router.

  • by edwardfromdarien,

    edwardfromdarien edwardfromdarien Aug 31, 2016 10:01 AM in response to mettababe
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 31, 2016 10:01 AM in response to mettababe

    my macbook pro keeps switching in and out mail ports whenever I've used a server away from home. How do I make machine recognize my home server Airport Extreme and the 110 and 587 that it should return to? e3

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Aug 31, 2016 10:15 AM in response to edwardfromdarien
    Level 9 (60,667 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 31, 2016 10:15 AM in response to edwardfromdarien

    Take extra care to specify a new named "Location" that has meaning to you, like "Home" or Greg's Office"

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202480


  • by brycewilson,

    brycewilson brycewilson Sep 6, 2016 9:43 PM in response to UGADog
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 6, 2016 9:43 PM in response to UGADog

    Hello Mettababe,

         Adding a 5gz channel may help in some cases it comes at the cost of a lower wi-fi range. You might see the difference with a 100mbs+ connection.

    If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.

    Thanks ~ Bryce