Slow internet speed on my MacBook Pro

In no particular order…

Your Wi-Fi environment is horrid, between low signals and big noise.

-66 RSSI and -69 noise is deep in yikes.

What I’m seeing here is not the Mac or anything else, it’s the Wi-Fi environment.

How many of the displayed networks are yours, and how many are nearby networks of others?

You mention extenders, and those make a mess in a congested environment. Any chance of wired backhaul?

You’re never going to get much fiber connection performance using 802.11n. Especially not in 2.4 GHz.

But faster Wi-Fi is not going to be better in this environment. Quite probably worse.

I’d look for a Wi-Fi scanner. I use Wi-Fi Explorer app for that, but there are other options.

USB 3.x cables and devices can “scream” in 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (at short ranges) so remove all external devices, and test Wi-Fi performance again.

If this Wi-Fi router supports 5 GHz, switch to and use it.

Why do I have difficulty with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices when USB 3 devices are attached to my computer?

Some USB 3 devices can generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your computer. Here are some tips to avoid this issue:

• If your USB device has a cable long enough that you can move the device, place it away from your Mac—and make sure not to place it behind your Mac, or near the hinge of its display. The antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are located there, and USB 3 devices placed there might interfere with your wireless connections.

• If you're using adapters or dongles on a Mac computer with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, plug them into the front port on the left side of your Mac, or into the ports on the right side (if your computer has them). These ports are the farthest away from the antennas, making interference less likely.

• To avoid interference on the 2.4GHz band using Wi-Fi, try using the 5GHz band instead. You can change this on your wireless base station. Bluetooth always uses 2.4GHz, so this alternative isn't available for Bluetooth.

from:

About USB on Mac computers - Apple Support

Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference

Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference - Apple Support

Consider updating to the latest version of Ventura to eliminate issues that may have been seen and solved concerning how AirDrop may be impacting Wi-Fi top speed.

Wi-Fi speeds depend strongly on radio conditions in your 'Network Neighborhood". Hold down the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi icon in the menubar, and transcribe or screenshot the small report of conditions that appears there. Like this older one:

.

<< I've wondered if mesh systems would be a single network and less troublesome. >>

You can create your own single network by turning off "provide local IP address" in each of your subservient access point routers. Then all will be based on the numbers provided by your main Router, and nothing will ever be an orphan. if you like, you can name them the same name, but that is not a requirement.

There is no need, and in a crowded environment, little advantage to Mesh Routers that communicate with each other over-the-air.

If your network neighborhood is crowded, that takes bandwidth away when you need it most.

<< I prefer wired backhaul and access points >>

What MrHoffman is referencing here is pulling 4-pair Ethernet cables, either between computers or between access points, to improve speeds without adding congestion to the airwaves.

one unusual but sometimes effective work-around for those who can not run physical Ethernet cables is to run a power-line connection on the most important part of the route. I have such a link to my outbuilding, and it works reasonably well, but is wildly over-hyped by its makers:

https://www.devolo.co.uk/magic-2-wifi-next

Its Ethernet connection is clocked at Gigabit speeds, but realistic throughput can be closer to 100 M bits/sec. This version has a Router at the far end as well as two Ethernet ports end-to-end.

NB> you can only have one such SYTEM in place on your wiring, although it can have multiple drops.

at the the position where you captured that report, you raw signal level (RSSI) is abysmal.

About -50 is what you get right next to your Router, we have seen up to -36 reported.

at -65, your Mac will ROAM to any available other connection possible.

yours is worse than that.

NOISE:

I have never seen noise that high. Typically, it is in the rage of -85 or lower. There is something terribly wrong in your network neighborhood. are you in a dense apartment block?

You are connecting in the 2.4 GHz band, using 802.11n (Wi-Fi4). the 2.4 GHz band is far more interference prone, and subject to interferences from baby monitors and microwave ovens, among other things channel 1 is the usual default, so it is always busier than others.

5 GHz not going through walls is a good thing, as it means less interference.

2.4 GHz here is a wreck. (In the Wi-Fi Explorer plot shown above.)

Unless all that chatter is yours (or whatever Wi-Fi explorer shows for you), your only real option is 5 GHz.

Whoever is using ziggo is trashing the whole of that 2.4 Ghz band plot shown earlier, too. (That plot is why I use that tool, or the equivalent Ubiquiti tools for those folks that use that gear.)

I prefer wired backhaul and access points, failing that wireless backhaul (mesh) and access points. I’ll sometimes run a Wi-Fi router for a small configuration, but usually run a separate router and access points when better coverage is needed.

Hafcanadian wrote:

What is ziggo?

Look at the Wi-Fi Explorer plot that was included above.

ziggo-named networks are all over that 2.4 GHz plot.

The usefulness of that plot—for your network—is why I recommended that tool.

In addition to what is shown in the wiring diagram above, and to re-iterate an earlier comment of mine, all of the Wi-Fi devices here are best configured as access points, which gives you one SSID and one password and roaming among all of the access points.

Apple referred to Access Points (APs) as “bridging” in their old AirPort gear. What Ziply calls it?

Do not configure multiple IP routers. That tends to end badly if you’re not conversant in IP subnet routing. And it means no roaming.

I love Wi-Fi Explorer because it can show you in a really visceral way how crowded your spectrum might be:

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RSSI: -73 dBm

Noise calmed down to an acceptable level, leaving your raw signal (RSSI) still too weak to maintain a connection. I would expect that to disconnect OFTEN