Erratic Trackpad But Only in a Certain WiFi Spot?

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Level 1

5 points

Erratic Trackpad But Only in a Certain WiFi Spot?

My otherwise perfect 15" Unibody MBP has a trackpad problem, but only when I use it at my local community center, which has WiFi. Specifically, the cursor will skip all over the place and act very "jittery," to the point where I have to take out my wired mouse and use that to control the cursor. But even the mouse is more skittish than usual. I thought this might be related to certain apps I often use, like Peak LE 6, an audio editing app which can allow incoming network connections to control the app, but even when I turned that pref off, the cursor was still skittish. And still, what is it about this community center's WiFi that makes the MBP's cursor freak out? I know it is a Windows-based system, but that couldn't be a factor, could it? The other strange thing is, this problem persists at the center even if I turn Airport off on the MBP.

But I still suspect their WiFi because if I'm just opening the MBP and running the same apps everywhere (at home, at Starbucks, etc.), what else could cause this problem only at one location, other than WiFi?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dual 1.25 G4 (FW800), Single 1.25 G4 (MDD), MacBook Pro (unibody), Mac OS X (10.5.6), MOTU 2408 PCI audio interface

Posted on Jul 2, 2009 11:06 PM

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Answer 1

pkhata Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 23, 2009 2:25 AM in response to pkhata

Really, no MBP user has ever experienced weird erratic trackpad/mouse behavior (skittish, uncontrollable) in certain wi-fi locations? Or is it possible my MBP is being affected by some other kind of interference, such as a nearby cell phone tower, electrical (though I doubt it would be electrical) interference. And what does it mean when only the cursor seems to be affected? (once I get the app/file started, it seems to work as usual except for the cursor problem.)

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Answer 2

Jul 23, 2009 12:58 PM in response to pkhata

I am having all kinds of problems with my trackpad. The upper left 1/4th seems to be intermittent. When I move my finger across the pad, the cursor stops moving when I get to that area.

Perhaps your issue is related to environmental differences; specifically cool, dry (air conditioned) air where you use WiFi? My trackpad is unusable in my office; it's too dry. My hands dry out and the pad does not notice them. I need a more sensitive pad.

I am thinking of putting electrical tape on the bottom 1/3 to use that area as just a button. Otherwise, my thumb ends up there, and counts as a finger, causing weird things to happen.

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