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New Mac Mini M2 has constant issues with wifi. Its unusable. Ethernet works perfectly, but when using wifi the connection will consistently drop packets. Wifi works perfectly with older Mac mini M1, MacBook Pro, Intel Mac in the same small office. I have turned off all other devices and still have same issue. Did a factory reset and same issues.
Mac mini (2023 with M2)
Chiming in to say I'm still having the same issues. Thankfully I have access to ethernet in my spot in my home office, which is the ultimate band-aid fix. If I didn't, my computer would be unusable. Sadly, I've found it more convenient to just plug it in and let it ride with poor wifi but a strong hardwire connection.
Some other bandaid fixes that have worked for me:
I've also had some issues with my OWC Thunderbolt 4 Dock with transferring data from one drive to another (both being plugged into the dock). Not sure if this is an issue with the Power Delivery of the dock or its relationship to the computer, or something with Ventura or Silicon. All of these things feel like a symptom of the same issue, but I can't be sure.
Truly depressing that Apple has put out a product that is borderline unusable unless the consumer uses a specific setup. I can't believe this thread with almost 300 replies and tens of thousands of views has still been ignored by Apple. A huge betrayal of the company's power users. Shame on them.
Same findings, still not fixed on 13.3. I may create a new thread with what i've found, to get more traction. Only a few of us are still here. Most have unsubscribed, just linger, click on "me too", or only read the first post.
I'll leave this video up until it expires; I think 30days? Everyone should download it, open a case with Apple, and use it to push this issue. It shows in detail the resolution working. There is still no excuse for Apple to force the world to use 6/149 (UK 44). It's not feasible, and it breaks a bunch of self-healing routers.
[Link Edited by Moderator]
Interesting question. That's one thing I do not have in order to test. However, @OrionC1 was ingenius on using a WiFi repeater. That eliminates AWDL as the Mac thinks it's hard wired.
What you're curious on, may give similar results.
It works well and lowers the ping to a normal level with the repeater wired to the computer through an ethernet cable. But there is a small loss of upload and download speeds when it goes through the repeater.
Unfortunately, that made no difference in my case.
When connected to my 5GHz Wi-Fi the internet connection (although fast) drops as soon as I click AirDrop in the side panel of any Finder window, or access the Displays system settings pane, or wake a nearby iOS device.
When connected to my 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi, AirDrop and Displays system settings don't cause the connection to drop, but the internet speed is around half of what its capable of, and ping times fluctuate wildly.
I'm monitoring my internet connection/ping times using the free Pingr app from https://getpingr.app/ (no affiliation, it's just a useful tool).
I agree about not being forced to change the entire setup just to allow one mac mini to connect to wifi - everything else in the house just works, and we have a bunch of macbooks / ipads etc.
I tried all the solutions here and decided to return the mini. Thanks @Kcasner and @Julian Wright, I found your pointers really useful.
Will come back to it once Apple does some decent testing of basic functionality
I would advise against step 2 specifically. Although that works to clear preferences, it’s potentially dangerous to suggest everyone mess around with system files. And its not needed in this case.
AWDL has been determined to be the root cause. And this service is separate, so that has no impact. If you haven’t seen my earlier posts, check them out and give them a shot.
Let us know how it works out for you.
Julian, is this you? If not, you’re not alone…
Ran across this while gathering other sites regarding AWDL.
I tried ;/
Side note for others. I now have a list of 31 different threads and articles containing thousands of people with the same findings, from around the world. Having to disable AWDL or use 6/149 (44 UK). Everyone that did this, solved. Also found AWDL reverse engineering and tech docs.
Remember, Apple claims to be “unaware”. All of this will be very useful for what I plan on doing with it.
Tomorrow I’ll be looking into .ch, .ru, .jp, and .uk sites.
They are unaware of 14 pages of posts on their own discussion forum. And the first link that comes up on Google when you type in Mac Mini Wifi...
One has to admire their tenacity to avoid looking at a problem :)
From reading in different forums there are many with this same wifi instability issue including myself. My mac mini M2 pro is not my first mac.....but it may just be my last. This is a known problem and has not yet been fixed. I will be on the phone with apple support again tomorrow. If this problem is not rectified I will be seeking a full refund and they can have this expensive brick back.
Let me help you out. Calling support will get you no where.
Run to the Apple Store and return it while you can. You only have 14 days.
@Lucas - I’ve found 7 threads & 2,001 people on this site alone, so far.
I had the issue on my m2 pro Mac Mini and returned it as it was unworkable to connect to wifi.
After 13.2.1 was released and there was some positive feedback about the wifi issues so I ordered one again and indeed while still had some minor packet loss it was mostly ok.
I upgraded to 13.3 and it’s a compelte regression back to 13.2 wifi issues where you experience packet loss, high latency and sometimes it’s unable to conmect.
I’ve tried all workarounds proposed but nothing has worked for me so far, sometimes you reboot and the issue goes way but eventually reappears.
So my advice is to stay at 13.2.1 if that has been working well for you
I have used for 5 days until now, it still fine!
The 5 GHz WiFi keeps in normal speed (good connection, no speed drop/disconnect again).
Just unplug the power cable from Mac mini.
Then long press the power button, and plug the cable back.
It's done!
I think this is the most simple way to solve the wifi problem.
No disable AWDL need!
Thats hard wired (Ethernet), there’s no other way achieve 0.1-.2ms. Ethernet assigns a lower metric, changing the routing table. If you have both connected, it will default to Ethernet. AWDL (Apple Wireless Data Link) only affects WiFi.
Also, mesh halves your WiFi speed on satellite AP’s.
Here’s document from Meraki (Cisco). The section you’re looking for is “Impact of Meshing on Throughput“. This link may take you right to it however.
Consumer mesh systems purposely hide this. It would hurt sales.
Mac Mini M2 wifi issues
