Level 1

33 points

MacBook Pro M1 WiFi issue

Hello everyone.

I recently bought a new MacBook Pro M1, and I am struggling with the WiFi connection since it first boot. I am running 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 until its failure.

If I use a 5 GHz network, I can achieve a reasonable speed (about 50 Mbps), but it is totally unstable: the connection so often drops, especially when doing intense network tasks (i.e. video conferencing). The issue is even worse with 2.4 GHz networks.

Here the same speedtest with my iPhone

Here the net status

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, until trying this new Mac.

I already tried to set up the router as suggested by Apple, and also with other routers, I have similar problems.

Does anyone have any suggestions? (Moving closer to the router, or change it are not solutions: every other device here works, so also this M1 Mac does).

With my warmest regards,

Luca

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Mar 16, 2021 2:30 AM

Top-ranking reply

johnjliu

Level 1

12 points

Posted on Feb 12, 2022 8:03 AM

This may be a little long but hopefully worth it for those of you using USB C hubs.

I had the same issue with my new 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro (and posted about it previously). It was intermittent, though. Ethernet still worked like a charm. They were very nice at Apple support, but they could not figure out the source after a bunch of calls. Because it was within my 90-day return period at Costco, I returned it and bought another one, figuring it was a bad wifi antenna. Now, the same thing is happening with the new one, but mainly right after it comes out of sleep (which is different behavior). I "usually" can resolve it by toggling my wifi on/off or restarting the machine. (So, I'm feeling a little guilty right now, which you'll know why after reading below because I otherwise loved that machine ... and I have been a Windows guy for the longest while.)

This morning after waking my machine from sleep, the same thing happened. Coincidentally, I was shopping yesterday on Amazon for a USB C hub for my daughter's MacBook Air and read one review that complained about the hub interfering with wifi connectivity. On a hunch just now, I unplugged my own USB C hub, and voila, my Speedtest.net download speeds returned to normal (e.g., 350/380 Mbps). I plugged it back in, and everything gradually slows down (eventually dropping to 1 Mbps to 25 Mbps). I repeated this process multiple times just now with the same consistent response.

My current setup is a USB C hub plugged into the USB C port on the right side of my machine. Connected to that hub is a powered USB-A hub. (I tried just now stretching the cords to their full lengths to create some separation, with no change.) Between the two hubs, I have connected the following devices: HDMI monitor, wired Logitech keyboard, wired Logitech mouse, Logitech HD 1080p webcam, Envato Wave 3 microphone (which is very new), and a Wacom tablet (just connected the other day for first time). I am using the HDMI port on the right side of the machine (so I can have dual monitors). On the left side, I have an SSD connected via USB C (also recently connected), and the audio jack connected to external speakers.

Things are sorta better now on their own, which typically happens, but not great. On a side note, once the problem occurs, Safari has a much harder time bouncing back than Chrome does, at least this morning it does. However, I just tried unchecking "Limit IP Address Tracking" as suggested above, and Safari is doing better than it was - now 185 Mbps on average versus Chrome's average of 220 Mbps. Neither of these speeds is as good as my top speeds without the hub plugged in.

On another note, I have no bluetooth devices connected to my machine (or hub). I disabled bluetooth anyway, but it doesn't seem to improve things back to the 350/380 Mbps range.

I will continue to diagnose and see if I can pinpoint the actual device causing the problem (which is probably the USB C hub). I may order a bunch of different hubs, but if you want one with a lot of ports, they're all third-party. I shelled out $69 yesterday to buy Apple's own USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, on top of another third-party one for my daughter, but that's only because it's for her. I typically am too cheap when buying things for myself (my MacBook being the sole exception ... my previous Windows laptop was $500), but I may now consider doing the same for myself. If I learn anything new, I will report here.

Sorry this is so long.

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196 replies

Nov 26, 2021 12:05 AM in response to lgilardi

This has just started happening on my new Mac M1.

Dec 8, 2021 2:55 PM in response to johnjliu

what version of MacOS?

johnjliu

Level 1

12 points

Dec 8, 2021 3:03 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Good question. I should have mentioned this. macOS Monterey Version 12.0.

There is a 12.0.1 update that is available. I will install that tonight.

Chords

Level 1

8 points

Dec 15, 2021 8:20 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant, no. Thank you. Not when every other device holds a connection in the same situation.

Tee_Jay0

Level 1

8 points

Jan 3, 2022 11:55 PM in response to abhyudayaagarwal

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 Second all of this

Feb 14, 2022 8:16 AM in response to Newusersince1991

Yes exactly!

Feb 14, 2022 1:42 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I will contact them again and report back.

Mar 14, 2022 11:12 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I have a netgear Orbi system, one main router and 1 satellite. This is how they work.

And this setup worked perfectly until I got my M1 Mac.

Mar 25, 2022 10:32 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

I embarrass myself. Please ignore previous comment.

This is my reality:

Tehas31

Level 1

8 points

Apr 5, 2022 1:48 PM in response to lgilardi

Never had wifi or bluetooth connection problem on my old Macbook pro 2015 but then it happens on my new M1 Macbook pro. Does anyone know how to solve it?

Nov 8, 2021 4:56 AM in response to lgilardi

Just posting the same grievance that I am facing as well.... No tabs are opening in first try... Using wifi connected to 5G router and yet surprised to see the speed difference between my Desktop and M1 MacBook Pro 2020 net speeds....

Just really sad.... All these technological upgrades, yet unable to open Youtube in 4k in 2021 November. MacBook is giving speed of 7Mbps whereas Desktop is giving the desired speed of 142Mbps for a 150Mbps Wifi Plan.

Jun 19, 2021 8:50 AM in response to sbrown02

Readers often call support and ask "is this a known problem".

To answer that question, the person answering your call must understand what you are talking about (not always so easy, based on User's sketchy symptoms) and that person must literally have seen this issue before. Otherwise, it is impossible to "connect the dots" in any meaningful way.

Luckily, you are clever enough to post here as well, where a multitude of Users, some with deep understanding in some very narrow areas, volunteer to help other Users.

--------

The way to get relief for now, until a fix is available, it to reduce the channel-width on 5GHz band on your Router back to 40 MHz channel. The Wi-Fi 6 80 MHz and wider channels seems to be the source of the issue. (it is supposed to be backward-compatible, but it looks like they missed the mark).

The shortcoming will be that your fastest best connection will be limited to 802.11n Wi-Fi 5 450M bits/sec for now.

sbrown02

Level 1

24 points

Jul 25, 2021 3:02 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, that's an option for those willing to settle for slower internet speeds. My 2.4Ghz network is saturated with devices and overlapping networks (from neighbors) with 5Ghz where the speed is so for me that's an option of last resort. Apple just needs to fix whatever is causing the M1 devices to not stay connected to the 5Ghz 80 channel bandwidth network.

JMore71

Level 1

4 points

Aug 8, 2021 12:10 PM in response to lgilardi

I have been struggling with slow wifi since purchasing my M1 6 months ago. Nothing has helped until I tried this.

Click the wifi icon in toolbar
Select 'Network Preferences'
Click 'Advanced'
De-select 'Auto Join' for all networks except your primary wifi network
Click 'Ok'
Click 'Apply'

That's it, my wifi has clocked an average of 210 mbps on 4 different sites. It's only been an hour or so, but nothing else has ever worked for me. Fingers crossed this is the answer.

Cray57

Level 1

4 points

Oct 18, 2021 3:55 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant, you are obviously an expert. However this topic is still of concern and starting a new post doesn't seem to resolve the issue. All (or most) workarounds listed seem to point to setting the router differently. My daughter is having this issue at home and at school. I can alter the settings on our router but she can't alter the school's router settings. It's a university so it's not like talking to the high school IT admin to reduce the bandwidth of the channel. There are hundreds of routers there.

The genius bar just sent her home today after a weak failed attempt at reproducing the problem in the store. Don't you agree Apple should admit to this issue and train their Genius bar employees? Or are they training them to deflect the problem by sending them home without a fix or a discussion or clue? If we reschedule a Genius bar appointment is there a way to refer them to something? Do we refer them to this thread for instance? BTW I have released IOS apps so I'm not totally ignorant but feeling pretty frustrated by this.

M1 Macbook pro. Google Nest WiFi. Great signal. WiFi drops or slows routinely on M1 MBP. No issue on older Macbook pro or older iMac or phones.

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MacBook Pro M1 WiFi issue