Q: Dropping Wi FI Signal

A known (to Apple) problem with MBPs and DLink routers is a default network setting on the router.

On your DLink wireless router, go to:
Network Settings -> Always Broadcast (compatibility for some DHCP clients)
Uncheck this option.
Save Settings.

I have just been an observer of this thread looking for a fix. I have tried some "fixes" only to have some of them not work and some work for a few hours or a day.

To try to add to the dialog, I am having the WiFi dropping issues with three different laptops. One is a 13" Aluminum MacBook (org w/ 10.5, no problems until upgrade to 10.6), two are 15" MacBook Pros unibody came with 10.6 out of the boxes.

All three have the same problem. Dropping WiFi at my house, where I have a 2WIRE dsl modem/router, but at work they keep a connection all day on a Linksys WiFi access point.


Thank you all for the attempts, and the help along the way.

Have you checked to see whether there are any firmware updates available for your router?

Yes I have, it has the latest. But here is the make model, and version of firmware currently on it.

2WIRE 3800HGV-B Gateway
Software: 5.29.135.47

In response to NicholasKell's post.
I also have the 2WIRE 3800HGV-B Gateway with AT&T, and also encountered this WiFi dropout issue. There was a point that I can not even get connected. After I did the following as outlined in a CNET thread, the problem improved a lot and the dropout only occur infrequently to a bearable level. So you may want to try and see if it helps.
1. Turn off your router.
2. Zap the PRAM - Reboot your Mac and hold CommandOption+PR during restart until you hear another chime, let the Mac boot as usual.
3. Delete the ~/Library/Preferences and reboot
4. Turn on your router, and try to reconnect.

To check if there is any interference, you can go to "About this Mac", and "More Info", and click on "Airport", you will see all the transmitting router out there. And see if your 2Wire has reasonable signal strength. Mine showed around -73dB.

After doing this, I do notice several things.
1. My airport icon on the top of the screen shows full four bar. Before this, it only shows two.
2. I still experience some dropout, but probably twice a day. The dropout might be due to interference as I do see the channel get changed.

In all, I think this do relates to the software and how the OS uses the preference list. My situation was bad I noticed that the preference list was very long as I traveled a lot so there were many many entry of the SSID. So I would think there should still be some OS update to fix this.

Hope this works for you.

Thank you very much for the tip. However as of 8:00am this morning I am away from my house for a week, I will certainly give this a try when I return.

My com.apple.airport.preferences.plist file is only about 70 lines long, with two networks in it, twice each. I did delete this file last night (while maintaining a backup, of course) while I was writing my first post to this thread. After deleting the file, the dropout did not occur for the rest of the night, about 3 hours or so. So it also seems to me, like your fix may carry some merit.

It seems to me, like it drops out whenever the connection sits idle, like other users have said, I only really see it in the browser, I also see it when I use Aperture's places feature. If I am running a continuous download or an upload the Airport does not drop.

Thank you again for your help. I look forward to hearing if this helps anyone else before I can return to my humble abode to try it for my self. I am flying from Wisconsin to California, my flight hasn't even left yet, and now I am anxious to get back home, just to try this! I can't wait to have my Mac back.

I'm getting a feeling that this thread still covers many issues that might or might be related.
On my MBP the network freeze only happens when I use it, especially when there's high traffic. Again, the Aiport Connection Bars are all black, showing good connection, i just can't connect anymore, Bonjour disappears, etc..

California writes "On you Dlink wireless router go to Network settings". Can someone please tell me where you do this? I was going to buy a new updated router today to see if this solves the problem. I bought this macbook pro strictly for working away from my desk and imac so a the moment it is no use to me. Maybe I have to try the Genius bar again but they did not seem to help the first time!
Thanks anyone.

As I do not have a dLink router, I can not say for sure, but my best guess would be to go to: 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254

To change the default setting on your DLink router, connect your computer to it with an ethernet cable and navigate your browser to 192.168.0.1. Then select Network Settings and make the change I indicated. Save the result and wait for the router to re-initialize. (It will indicate progress by a seconds countdown.) You could do this wirelessly, but if you are having connection problems it's safer to do it over a hardwire connection.

TSYYYY wrote:
2. I still experience some dropout, but probably twice a day. The dropout might be due to interference as I do see the channel get changed.

I live in an appartment block and have a lot of WiFi interference. I always had a sluggish network connection. Then I found Kismac:
http://trac.kismac-ng.org/wiki/Downloads

This tool shows you all networks in the area, plus on which channels they are. Sort them based on signal strength, then choose a different channel than the others. And think about how channels 1, 6 and 11 are most distant from each other (or something, google for it).

You don't need an application to do this Mac OS does this for you. Press the option key and click on the wireless icon in the menus bar and you will see your signal strength and other stats and a list of all wifi signals it picks up. Scroll down the list to see their signal strengths and stats.

To be pedantic, that's not really true.

The AirPort icon will not show you routers in your area that are not broadcasting an SSID.

Kismac, as a Wi-Fi sniffer of questionable heritage (it is a Wi-Fi cracking tool as well as a sniffer) will presumably at least show closed routers as "unknowns" occupying channels you might not otherwise think are occupied.

Well I finally got a appt with mac Genius at my local apple store. Of course his answer was "2wires and macs aren't compatible"

He sold me http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ $99

For $99 I just want my problems to go away.

So Far so Good - browsing speed in noticeably faster

2Wire is not compatible? That's funny - I've been on 2Wire for 5 years!!!!!