M1 Macbook Air (M1 MBA) 802.11ax/WiFi 6 is slow

Keep in mind that 802.11ax / Wifi6 had a particular focus on performing "well" in noisy environments, supporting much higher density in a given space due to the use of more narrow channels, and higher client density on a given access point, which is why it's being pushed in enterprise deployments. Apple likes it for that reason, because they're all about "experience" where lack of errors, disconnects, etc. take precedence over raw throughput that many people won't notice. The same issues that often made 2.4ghz undesirable still cause problems with wifi6 because now the computer can use both frequencies simultaneously, where the 2.4ghz side can still become a problem that affects overall throughput and latency by way of the same wasted time with lost packets and retransmits.

For personal use in a noisy environment, especially apartments / condos, but even single family homes depending on device counts and similar noise generators, you may find disabling the 2.4ghz side, or going back to 802.11ac, produces a better throughput and experience if you are needing it. I use a lot of transfers to/from local network storage so I saw an appreciable difference in forced 5ghz, which stays pretty reliably connected at 1300mbps, even though I'm getting less than the protocol is capable of in a lab.

Hello Jerone,

Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are unable to connect reliably to Wi-Fi 6. We can understand why you'd reach out for a solution.

Here is a resource that can help.

Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

Did anyone found a solution or understood the issue? Also I have the same problem, using a new MacBook Pro M1, OSx 11.2.3 (20D91). The WiFi connection is totally unstable and unreliable, even if it shows a good connection status. My iPhone has extremely better performance, and also my old 2012 Mac had it till its failure.

Look at this insane speedtest... It even can't complete the upload test, freezing.

Here the same speedtest with my iPhone

Here the net status

Using the 5 GHz net it works better in term of speed, but it is totally unstable, more and more unstable as the stress level increases: I can't use video-conferencing (e.g. Zoom, Teams, ...) software, because the connection always drops (sometimes the Mac disconnects, some other times it just have not enough network quality).

I am about 7 meters away from the router, if I move closer it works better, but I am very disappointed: I always worked from my desk, without any kind of issue, till trying this new Mac.

With my warmest regards,

Luca

When connected to this wireless network, what are the following values for: Security, RSSI, Noise, Tx Rate, PHY Mode, MCS Index, & NSS that you would get by holding down the option key before selecting the Wi-Fi icon on the macOS menu bar?

Thanks for providing those values. What stands out is the MCS Index value of 3 which explains the low Tx Rate ... especially if your notebook is near the WAP. For 802.11ax, the MCS Index range (worst-to-best) is: 0-11. At 11, you would see Tx Rate at around 1800 Mbps with 80 MHz-wide channels & with 3 spatial streams (the NSS value).

FWIW. Although I have a 2020 M1 MBA to test with, I don't have an 802.11ax WAP so I cannot verify if I have these issues with mine as well.

I'm having the same problem exactly as you stated in the post. I did the same test side to side with a six years old MBA (early 2014) that I have and still runs better than my days old MBA 2020 M1. The old one is a 1.4 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 running Catalina and still out performs the new one by a lot. For example, one of the worst problems in the new one is that I can't stream a class and try to just do a Google search while in the old one I can stream the class and simultaneously do a google search and play a YouTube video in the back. Not that I continuously want to do all that. I just tried it after the streaming in the M1 MBA just stoped when I tried to open Safari to do a search for the said class. I guess I'm returning the M1 MBA until a better version is developed.

what OS level are you at, your profile says 11.0, i would update the Mac OS to the latest that v11 offers, i think its 11.2.1

my router offers ax, but i set it for mixed mode as the "ax only" mode doesnt work for my other devices (11" ipad pro). i am getting routine 235mb on wifi from my spectrum 200mb service.

I'm having the same problem exactly as you stated in the post. I did the same test side to side with a ten years old MBP (early 2011) that I have and still runs better than my days old MBA 20201 M1. The old one is running High Sierra and still out performs the new one by a lot. For example, one of the worst problems in the new one is that I can't stream a class and try to just do a Google search while in the old one I can stream the class and simultaneously do a google search and play a YouTube video in the back. Not that I continuously want to do all that. I just tried it after the streaming in the M1 MBA just stoped when I tried to open Safari to do a search for the said class. I guess I'm returning the M1 MBA until a better version is developed. So my WiFi experience with the MBA 2021 M1 is being very bad.

I am having the same issue. Apple support failed to solve the problem on the phone (in a 3 hours call). I erased all data and reinstalled the system to its factory status, without using my time machine back up. Nothing. My 2015 MacBook Air has a faster Wi-Fi performance than my 2020 M1. I feel cheated. I want a refund.

The MBA wireless is frustrating more than other devices. Sometimes it seems it is getting electrical noise through devices/cables on the USB C ports & my new USB C monitor helped with some of that.

I'm testing my MBA with an Orbi mesh network this week and it is working pretty well but this could be the difference in the noise environment as much as the difference in the network hardware.

Also I called Apple, and after a 2-hour call did not solve the issue. They suggested me moving closer to my router. That's not a solution, since every other device works properly. Since I do not want to waste more time on it, so I bought a new access point and I put it near to my desk, but this should not be the solution: if any other system works without issue, also the new Mac should.

Something that may help you: using the wireless diagnose utility, especially the performance grapher, I noticed that the Mac collects a lot of noise (both from my USB-C adapter and - it is totally absurd - by my Magic Mouse) when using 2.4G networks. If I turn of the mouse, I can browse on the 2.4G net :/

This solved it for me! I've got a dual band router for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Disabling one in the settings didn't do anything. Creating 2 separate detectable networks for the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz did!