Problem with WiFi of a new MacBook Pro

I too have a brand new 15" 2.4 MBP with curious Airport issues: when I first purchased the machine I was using 802.11g wireless network delivered through a Linksys WRT54G router (v2) running on stock firmware and had no issues - no packet loss, internet slowdown, or kernel panics.

In the last week I changed over to a new Buffalo 54g MIMO router (WHR-HP-G54)with latest firmware (1.40) and promptly noticed dramatic slowdown in internet connectivity, especially when surfing web in Safari or any Mac OS application (running 10.4.10 with latest updates). Web pages are very slow to load, often taking minutes before completely finishing.

I have now "proven" beyond a reasonable doubt this is a software/driver issue between the Airport chips on the MBP and certain routers:
a) First, the Buffalo router works better for my Windows XP laptop than the Linksys did (better signal, better throughput)
b) Second, taking my new MBP and booting natively into Vista Ultimate I get great signal, great throughput with the Buffalo (again, better than the Linksys)
c) Third, here is the real kicker: I took down the Buffalo and reinstalled the Linksys and again I can get good to excellent connectivity even under Mac OS.

So - it CLEARLY is not a hardware problem, as the Buffalo router works great under 2 different chipsets under either native XP or Vista drivers; AND the MBP Airport chipset works fine with the Buffalo router under Vista drivers.

Also - the MBP Airport works fine under Mac OS with the Linksys router (under 802.11g standards since I have b turned off at the router). So the issue is clearly Mac OS drivers and a specific router manufacturer (in this case, Buffalo).

We need to make sure Apple is aware of this - given the kernel panic threads I assume they are, but they need to create a more robust set of drivers with wider functionality

MacBook Pro SR 2.4 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Actually this problem is more than likely due to Buffalo's doing something wacky with their routers that doesn't follow the existing specs.

More vendors than I care to detail "tune" their products to whatever Windows does regardless of whether it conforms to existing specs or not, giving anyone who questions them the "Hey, it works great on Windows!" brush-off. (Hint: interoperability is why specs exist.)

I noticed that the WHR-HP-G54 is one of the few Buffalo products that does not appear on the Wi-Fi Alliance's list of certified products, but that's not necessarily indicative of anything.

Regardless, you should open an issue with AppleCare relating your experiences, making sure to include the exact firwmare and OS revisions of your Mac and the exact firmware and hardware revisions of the router you're using. That should help someone at Apple to decipher whether it may be a driver issue or whether someone in Buffalo's firmware department needs to make a change.

I just received my d-link USB network adapter today and it works perfectly with my current router on my MacBook Pro. Now I can use OS X and internet at the same time without issue. It's a pretty good solution until Apple fixes their broken airport driver. It's the best $15 I ever spent.



MacBook Pro, MacBook, G3 iBook, dual g5 +many older macs and PCs Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I have problems with a D-Link 614+ which is on that list and I am using the latest firmware too. The only computers I have that have problems with that router are my MacBook and MacBook Pro under OS X. Running Win-Doze there is no problem at all. There is also no problems with my iBook.

MacBook Pro, MacBook, G3 iBook, dual g5 +many older macs and PCs Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I'll throw my .02 in here as well.

I also have issues with my MBP 2.33GZ.

I run my older PowerBook G4, 1st Generation MacBook and a Windows Laptop side by side with my MBP and in pinging the default interface to the wireless router (Netgear MR314) only the MBP has issues. The ping interval jumps from 3ms to hundreds of ms.

So clearly there is an obvious issue with the MBP.

One might argue that it is the router (it does have the latest sw)...it is a 802.11b.

I've also did the test with a Linksys - pretty much same results.

IMHO it seems that the MBP has an issue being backward compatible with 802.11b

I also find it interesting using iStumbler on all of the laptops that the MBP ALWAYS, ALWAYS shows a noise level of 9% for any SSID it is picking up.

Also the MacBook is picking up probably 5-7 more wireless SSID than the MBP...so that seems to me that the antenna on the MBP isn't very good either.

I'd be happy to provide additional info or do testing.

I just wanted to provide my real world results.

Thanks for the time and everyones input.

Hey everybody. I have had this same issue since moving to 10.4.10. When running off battery, my internet is sluggish at best. I from this page:

http://taisteal.atomiclemur.com/2007/06/how-tiger-10410-killed-my-wireless-and-h ow-i-fixed-it/

And just completed the steps. I am going to let my MBP finish charging and then run it and battery for awhile and surf to see how it reacts.

You guys might try this while you are waiting for the mothership to come up with a solution...

My problem has nothing to do with that because I had that problem way before 10.4.10. Also, I have that problem whether I run off the battery or not.





MacBook Pro, MacBook, G3 iBook, dual g5 +many older macs and PCs Mac OS X (10.4.9)

That sounds like some interesting results. I have mentioned this before but my MacBook Pro runs fine under Win-doze running under bootcamp. No network issues at all, so whatever problems there are it has more to do with the OS X driver than anything else.

Now that I have my D-Link usb adapter I can connect to "any" router under OS X which is very cool.

MacBook Pro, MacBook, G3 iBook, dual g5 +many older macs and PCs Mac OS X (10.4.9)

The fact that you don't have issues running Windows does not mean the Apple driver's at fault; as I said some vendors tune their products to match what works best for Windows despite what the relevant 802.11 specs may say about how things should work.

Also, as has was the case with PowerBooks and iBooks, the MacBook will always receive a better WiFi signal than the MBP will because the MBP has a metal outer shell where the MB's is plastic, and the metal will always block some of the signal.

Finally, don't put too much stock in iStumbler's "noise" statistic as it may not be using a documented interface; I know for a fact past versions reported some wildly wacky numbers at times for both signal and noise.

Please can I also ask for help from this thread as it is the same theme and so I thought it better than asking a separate question.
My new macbook pro santa rosa 17ins arrived last night and will not pick up my wireless network at all. I have a netgear router and a new airport extreme base station (801.n etc). I have added the airport base station software to my computer and updated software to OS X.4.10. My 15 ins macbook pro (2.33GHz CD2) sitting next to it picks up my wireless network no problem.
When I attach an ethernet cable from the airport base station to the new macbook pro it works no problem and I am on the internet. The base station is also then recognised in the apple base station set up in utilities.
When I try to connect through sysytem preferences/network and add the name of the wireless network it then asks for a password but each time tells me I have put in the wrong one. I do not have WEP protection and the network is not password protected as I live in the middle of nowhere. I have tried the only password I have ever used for the base station and it says it is wrong. When I put this password into base station utilities however it was accepted and let me configure the base station so something is wrong with the set up.

I presume it is not a hardware fault with the airport card- it is described in "About my mac" system profiler.

Is this a case of Mac OS X.4.10 causing a problem? Or is it parallels causing it? I had windows XP working on my old macbook pro and I migrated the software across to my new one last night. YOur help would be much appreciated!

The fact that I am not having problems with either Win-doze (under bootcamp on the macbook pro) or with G3/G4 ibooks actually does say it's the intel OS X driver. I'm not having a reception problem - I'm in the same house in the next room. The signal strength is strong. It's the same when in the same room. It's obviously the driver. It can't be anything else.



MacBook Pro, MacBook, G3 iBook, dual g5 +many older macs and PCs Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Just to add- in my case there is no airport signal detected at all with my new macbook pro

I just received my d-link USB network adapter today
and it works perfectly with my current router on my
MacBook Pro. Now I can use OS X and internet at the
same time without issue. It's a pretty good solution
until Apple fixes their broken airport driver. It's
the best $15 I ever spent.

what model number is it and where did you get it? sounds like a good buy and solution.

oops, never mind, just saw you posted it above. thanks for the tip. i'm going to be getting one as a backup.

jim

Hi @ all,

I am new Mac user with brand new MacBookPro 2.4GHz, 15" and I have the same problems with Wifi.
I am using the airport wlan with my N-router Netgear WNR854T.
When enabling the n mode on the router the airport card connects with 130Mbit but the transfer rate is nearly zero. Not usable at all.
With all other computer equipment in my home network I can connect with >240Mbit and the transfer rates are amazing good. Only with my MBP it will not work. Changing channel or security mode (none, WEP, WPA, WPA2) has no effect. Only if I put the router mode to g-mode (max 54Mbit) the integrated airport adaptor will work stable with transfer rates around 1,5 MByte/s.

If I run Win-Vista from BootCamp the internal airport adaptor is working fine in n-mode with my router and the transfer rates are acceptable (up to 13 MByte/s).

I placed a hotline call to Apple, but they don't show much interest to solve this problem. They adviced me to contact the routers manufacturer.

I placed a hotline call to Netgear too, and they have been very helpful but couldn't solve the problem because it seems to be definitely a problem of the airport driver under OS X.

I am VERY disappointed about this behaviour of Apple and I would like to throw this peace of .... out of my window. I spend over 2000 Euro for this MacBook and cannot use it for n-mode wifi.
I wonder that in the Mac world the problems are always the problems of other devices, never of the Apple product 😟
I've never seen such an arrogant behaviour with other manufacturers!

Why it is so difficult to acknowledge that this is a driver problem in OS X, or why it works fine with the same hardware running Win-Vista?
Other devices like Wifi-PocketPC, Wifi-Printer from HP, don't have any problems with the Netgear router, so why this should be a Netgear problem??

I agree that Apple should not forget that they have other products causing problems than iPhone!!

If this is they way Apple treats his customers who has problems with the Apple product this will be the only and last Apple device I'll spend money for 😟

Regards
mbpfrank




MBP 2.4GHz, 15" Mac OS X (10.4.10)

MBP 2.4GHz, 15" Mac OS X (10.4.10) Router Netgear WNR854T

Same issue here - it was working fine for ages, then *something happened* on my computer, and now the WiFi only chooses to work when it wants to.

Few things i've noticed though:
* it only seems to be an issue when its not plugged up to the power
* by clicking on the airport menubar icon, then re-selecting the network I want to use 90% of the time fixes the issue
* once you have a active connection you're fine, its just a matter of getting one in the first place

Most of my mates at work are having the same issue.
We're all running the latest OS X on 17" MBP's