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New Mac Mini Wireless Internet - Slow, Disconnects frequently

Hi all,
I've been doing some research and have read related posts about this, but I thought I'd share my specific situation to see if I could have any light shed on it.

As a long-time happy Mac Mini user, I was excited when I picked up one of the new 2009 mac mini models and ditched my old G4 mini.

My wireless connection on the old mini was never very fast, and I was extremely pleased when I first started up the computer and my internet FLEW! I thought, 'Finally!! I have fast internet!'

It was as fast as it had ever been, just as if it were plugged directly into an ethernet cable.

Well, that lasted only a couple of days. For several months since then, I have frequently been having connection issues. It is consistently slower than it ever was during those first several days, and at times, it is continuously disconnecting and reconnecting.

Needless to say all of this is very frustrating. My connection is to a D-link wireless router with a standard WEP key.
I haven't changed any settings since the internet was blazing fast those first couple of days, and I'm using my Macbook wired to ethernet at the moment, and it is perfectly fine.

Thanks for any insight or to anyone for pointing me in the right direction on this.

Mac Mini (2009), Macbook 1.83 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on May 12, 2009 7:43 AM

Reply
56 replies

May 12, 2009 8:22 AM in response to Nathan Edwards1

How far is the Mini from your router? Do you have the same issues if the Mini is temporarily moved next to the router?

Have you tried one of the raw speed tests at dslreports.com ?

Any immediate neighbors with wifi devices?

Any other wireless devices in your household that might be interfering?

What protocol are you using with your router: N, G, B -- or some combination?

If your router is N-capable, keep in mind that any G or B devices talking to the router could cause it to switch to G or B speeds for all devices.

Jun 1, 2009 7:23 PM in response to Nathan Edwards1

In case you have not had any luck with the other suggestions. I read in another forum that the mini has a stronger signal coming from the top (i.e. the apple logo) and they had success by tilting the mini towards the router.

I know, it sounds crazy, but after reading that post i thought it might be similar for me as my router is located 1 story below and 30 ft away. After some fiddling moving the router 2 ft closer to the mini and 6 inches away from the cable modem, and rotating the mini 90 degrees has left me with a solid connection (no drops in 5 days, constant 4 bars in Airport Menu, and 5 bars in Win Vista via bootcamp).

Jun 2, 2009 8:30 PM in response to Nathan Edwards1

Very close to the same thing happened to me:
-- I also stepped up from a G4 (iMac) to a 2009 Mini.
-- I also saw a big improvement in my wireless connection.
-- I also saw a big drop in speed, reliability, etc. (Software Update seems to hang, etc.).
-- I am also very frustrated.

Slight differences:
-- Drop in speed happened between the first and second time I booted up -- just a few hours!
-- I'm on an Airport Extreme network (old domed UFO-style base station)... WEP key, etc.
-- My iMac is still a-ok... just a few feet from the Mini, so I don't see how it could be a location-related problem.

Have tried usual tricks (rebooting computer and router, etc) and a couple of things found on similar threads. Not a bit of difference yet.

So advanced thanks for any forthcoming help from me, too...

Jun 4, 2009 1:20 PM in response to Nathan Edwards1

Same issue here... I will try switching to another channel as suggested below. It seems like a large percentage of mac users have wireless internet disconnect problems and I have not found a solid fix for this yet.

GASP! Is there finally something that PCs do better than Macs? Which is simply staying connected to a wireless internet connection?

They say buy a mac cause they don't crash like PCs... BUT, the internet sure does crash a lot 🙂.

Message was edited by: Billy Wilcosky

Jun 7, 2009 3:01 PM in response to Billy Wilcosky

Actually, I have as many if not more problems with my Vista wireless machines. The fact that wireless N is still in draft stage and constantly in flux along with the intro of IP6 can't help any.
Anyhow, some tips are manually setting the wireless network you connect to. Sticking to wireless G if you don't need N speeds and of course updating your wireless router firmware, etc.

Jun 9, 2009 2:49 PM in response to rickcollins08

Still very flakey for me -- I tethered to my iMac for a few days with an ethernet cable (enabling the "share internet..." system preference) and had no troubles at all. Very fast, in fact, with the iMac getting exactly the same signal as the Mini should be getting (or is getting but isn't doing anything with).

Then after some more system updates, including the recent Airport one, I gave the Mini another try solo. Better than before, but still more hit and miss than anything.

Sometimes shows full signal and still can't do better than a few KB/second. Sometimes no signal at all for what seems like no reason at all. Sure there's cordless phones and cell phones and microwaves and such in the area, but they never cause the iMac or iBook any trouble.

Jun 9, 2009 8:23 PM in response to Nathan Edwards1

Hi y'all,

I bought my mini late in 2008. Very very slow connection speed from the beginning. A friend ran traceroute for me and saw that my local area network was dropping packets for some reason.

Macbook Pros and Macbooks in the same spot have very fast connections. It doesn't look like a wireless problem.

I called Comcast, my service provider, and the first tier support technician walked me through resetting my LAN. The connection speed improved drastically and was very very fast.

6 months later, the speed dropped to its original agonizingly slow rate. Resetting the modem, router, etc did not work the second time.

A lot of us seem to have this problem. I wish we could get a response from Apple. Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions.

Jun 23, 2009 5:32 PM in response to dodgeson

similar thing happens to me, and my mini is from June 6th 2009, so im pretty upset...
in my mini I can connect the internet via wifi and at the begining the cnnection is pretty good, then a few minutes after it slows down and finally disconects and sometimes it cant even conect again.
The curious thing is that if i change the channel of the connection it works very fast again but later same thing happens.
Reseting both router and computer doesnt make any change
still any answer from apple?
(sorry for my english, im from spain)

Jun 24, 2009 10:48 PM in response to Nathan Edwards1

Just a thought....

I recently purchased the Linksys WRT400N router because I was having connection issues. This new router allows for Dual Band routing. Meaning, It acts like (2) routers in one. I have my Xbox 360 and (3) other PC's running on the 20 Mhz band and then I have my Mac Mini running on the 20-40Mhz band. The reason I did this is because of the b/g/n issues of routing. Since I changed the router and set it up this way I have had no issues and my internet screams like a Gigabyte network. Just thought i would let you all know what i did to resolve my issues. I hope this helps!

New Mac Mini Wireless Internet - Slow, Disconnects frequently

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