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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.
Ken Shimabukuro,
I would like to supplement information. Since my monitor needs to connect to different devices (MacBook Pro, Mac mini M2), the video I provid was done using an HDMI (Mac mini M2) to DVI (monitor) cable connection (Case 1) . The ping statistics as below.
Case 1: HDMI (Mac mini M2) to DVI (monitor)
a) not touching on the HDMI cable:
--- google.com ping statistics ---
302 packets transmitted, 148 packets received, 51.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 8.180/728.515/5391.447/646.823 ms
b) holding on the HDMI cable:
--- google.com ping statistics ---
301 packets transmitted, 287 packets received, 4.7% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 5.371/75.366/870.181/142.597 ms
Case 2 :I also test HDMI (Mac mini M2) to HDMI (monitor) cable
a) Not touching on the HDMI cable:
--- google.com ping statistics ---
303 packets transmitted, 296 packets received, 2.3% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 6.996/483.700/1826.096/325.074 ms
b) holding on the HDMI cable:
--- google.com ping statistics ---
302 packets transmitted, 302 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 5.899/14.769/380.828/23.663 ms
For your reference.
Wow, AbuYang, that's major packet loss for HDMI (Mac mini M2) to DVI (monitor). 51%?!?!? So not only are ping times extremely longer, but more than half of the ping packets are lost? That would create a Wi-Fi data slow down I'd think.
I noticed when you touch the HDMI cable jacket your thumb contacts the top of the Mac mini, am I correct? I think you might be grounding the HDMI cable to the metal case of the Mac mini. I'm wondering if attaching a metal electrical conductive wire, aluminum foil, etc, from the HDMI cable plug's jacket to the case of your Mac mini might reduce interference as well as your finger. Then you wouldn't need to touch/hold the HDMI cable's jacket.
Can you try that to see if grounding the HDMI cable's jacket to the metal case of your Mac mini with something electrically conductive works as well as your finger? Maybe wrap metal around the HDMI cable's jacket then tape the other end to the metal top case of the Mac mini.
Wow, AbuYang, that's major packet loss for HDMI (Mac mini M2) to DVI (monitor). 51%?!?!? So not only are ping times extremely longer, but more than half of the ping packets are lost? That would create a Wi-Fi data slow down I'd think.
I noticed when you touch the HDMI cable jacket your thumb contacts the top of the Mac mini, am I correct? I think you might be grounding the HDMI cable to the metal case of the Mac mini. I'm wondering if attaching a metal electrical conductive wire, aluminum foil, etc, from the HDMI cable plug's jacket to the case of your Mac mini might reduce interference as well as your finger. Then you wouldn't need to touch/hold the HDMI cable's jacket. Do you have something electrically conductive that you could wrap around the HDMI cable' plug jacket then attach to the metal case of the Mac mini? Maybe type the other end to the metal case of the Mac mini.
btw, you should be getting 0.0% packet loss. packet loss will reduce speed more than a high ping time.
Can you try that to see if grounding the HDMI cable's jacket to the metal case of your Mac mini with something electrically conductive works as well as your finger? Maybe wrap metal around the HDMI cable's jacket then tape the other end to the metal top case of the Mac mini.
If you touch and hold the display cable plug's jacket that's plugged into your Mac mini and with another finger on the same hand touch the metal exterior of your Mac mini do the dropped packets decrease, K2Kevin?
typo corrected:
Wow, AbuYang, that's major packet loss for HDMI (Mac mini M2) to DVI (monitor). 51%?!?!? So not only are ping times extremely longer, but more than half of the ping packets are lost? That would create a Wi-Fi data slow down I'd think.
I noticed when you touch the HDMI cable jacket your thumb contacts the top of the Mac mini, am I correct? I think you might be grounding the HDMI cable to the metal case of the Mac mini. I'm wondering if attaching a metal electrical conductive wire, aluminum foil, etc, from the HDMI cable plug's jacket to the case of your Mac mini might reduce interference as well as your finger. Then you wouldn't need to touch/hold the HDMI cable's jacket. Do you have something electrically conductive that you could wrap around the HDMI cable' plug jacket then attach to the metal case of the Mac mini? Maybe *TAPE* the other end to the metal case of the Mac mini.
btw, you should be getting 0.0% packet loss. packet loss will reduce speed more than a high ping time.
Can you try that to see if grounding the HDMI cable's jacket to the metal case of your Mac mini with something electrically conductive works as well as your finger? Maybe wrap metal around the HDMI cable's jacket then tape the other end to the metal top case of the Mac mini.
I'm still having issues. When HDMI is plugged in, I get about 20mbps down, with packet loss, and eventual cut-off of wi-fi. With HDMI unplugged 5 seconds later, I get 100+mbps down with no loss. Wi-fi access point is 6 feet from computer.
EDIT: M2 Pro, running 13.4
___Will___, does touching the HDMI cable's plug as it attaches to your Mac mini reduce or eliminate packet loss and increase download speed as it does for user AbuYang?
Copy of AbuYang's video:
He found that packet loss also decreased to zero doing so doing so.
I'm curious about what further testing of Cable-2 and Cable-3 using Method B will show. It'd be nice to be able to use the Mac mini's HDMI port for a display so the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports could be used for other purposes other than a display. I wonder why using an HDMI to DVI cable is so bad even while grounding the HDMI plug to the Mac mini. What are results of grounding HDMI to DVI using your hand, same as paperclip grounding?
I wonder if there is any way to alert Apple hardware technicians of this forum thread.
> I wonder if there is any way to alert Apple hardware technicians of this forum thread.
They are already aware. A few of us have had phone calls from Apple Support engineers from Austin, Texas, who have remote connected to our Macs, had issues demonstrated to them, and they've collected megabytes of diagnostic files.
I wonder if CalDigit's CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock might have the same issue as their Element Hub, FASTA-6GU3, FASTA-6GU3 Pro, TS1, TS2, TS3, TS3 Lite, TS3 Plus, TS4, USB-C Dock, USB-C Pro Dock as mentioned here: https://www.caldigit.com/wireless-keyboard-mouse-not-working-properly/
Since CalDigit Docks are listed as causing wireless interference could you attach that CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock to your Mac mini using a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) extension cable to get it as far away from your Mac mini as possible? Something like this extension cable or similar:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L1475T3/
Then run a ping test again to google.com and report the packet loss.
It looks like the Thunderbolt 3 cable out of back of the CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock is maybe 6 inches long at the most. That would place any electromagnetic frequency interference emitted by it really close to the Mac mini’s Wi-Fi antenna.
Radio 1 is 2412 MHz, Radio 2 is 2417 MHz. Maybe your CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock is emitting 2412 MHz interference? CalDigit does mention that their docks emit 2.4GHz interference, maybe it's of the 2.412GHz variety.
AbuYang, upon further reading I've learned that HDMI cables are known to emit radio frequency interference around 2.4GHz. One company tested 30 common HDMI cables and found that only 11% of them were properly shielded and met electromagnetic compatibility requirements. The frequency HDMI cables emit can interfere with some or many Wi-Fi channels.
Given that the Wi-Fi channels are:
1: 2412 MHz, 2401-2423 MHz
2: 2417 MHz, 2406-2428 MHz
3: 2422 MHz, 2411-2433 MHz
4: 2427 MHz, 2416-2438 MHz
5: 2432 MHz, 2421-2443 MHz
6: 2437 MHz, 2426-2448 MHz
7: 2442 MHz, 2431-2453 MHz
8: 2447 MHz, 2436-2458 MHz
9: 2452 MHz, 2441-2463 MHz
10: 2457 MHz, 2446-2468 MHz
11: 2462 MHz, 2451-2473 MHz
12: 2467 MHz, 2456-2478 MHz
13: 2472 MHz, 2461-2483 MHz
14: 2484 MHz, 2473-2495 MHz
There is no wonder why poorly shielded HDMI ports and/or cables are causing Wi-Fi interference.
Out of curiosity, AbuYang, what type of Wi-Fi network are you connected to? A 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi network?
(comment: 11% was in their report, I don’t know how you get get 11% of 30 cables. That’d be 3.3 cables.)
It is annoying that people, instead of returning the device with the problem, a problem that a 100 devices I’ve had before never had, are trying everything to fix it instead of sending clear message to Apple that this is unacceptable. I’m glad I returned mine, but disappointed how some keep tweaking a broken a machine here instead of sending it back.
I’ve just got mine back after having the logic board and antenna plate replaced . Haven’t been able to check yet if there are any changes to hardware versions. I’ve also had the wifi monitoring diagnostics running since Monday. I’ll know before the end of the week if the issue still persists .
Mac Mini M2 wifi issues
