2020 M1 MacBook Pro Wi-Fi drops, poor signal, aerial damage?

Start with If your Mac isn't connecting to the internet over Wi-Fi - Apple Support, but you are most likely going to need Wireless Diagnostics. That Support document explains how to use it. It collects copious amounts of data but the most useful result for end users is its Summary page at the end. Any entries other than Review Wi-Fi Best Practices requires investigation.

Your WiFi signal / noise / rate data appear to be ok to me.

Don't use cases on a Mac. They cause damage. Take it off and leave it off. If you eventually conclude your Mac requires service they will refuse to accept it with a case installed because the act of removing it can either cause damage or reveal it, and they don't want that responsibility.

Is it possible I could have damaged the aerial? I have had the Mac for a few years now.

Doubtful.

DoogyDawg wrote:

2020 M1 Macbook pro, still running Sequoia.

I'm wondering if I have Wi-Fi aerial damage and would like any thoughts.

My wifi keeps dropping out every 15 minutes or so, micro drop-outs. (the speed is constant when connected)

I have a sky router, it has just been exchanged for a new one through me pestering them, just in case it was that which was causing it.

I am around 7 meters from my router and I can lose it, and I only have to walk into the kitchen, around another 10 meters, and it's abysmal, whereas it was full strength before.

I could even go into our back garden before and still get the internet.

It started around 8 months ago.

Maybe you have a new neighbors or some such, so more neighbor hood interference(?)

Try a different channel... Your screen shot crop missed that line.

M1 Macs do not support 6 GHz Wi-Fi, they are limited to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands

5GHz is faster but does not go as far

2.4 GHz is slower but will travel further

If you think you have a hardware problem try the diagnostic—see if it kicks out an error code:

User Diagnostics to test your Mac for hardware issues

Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

I am on a Hotspot with no WI-FI sure seems comparable to your post

—Shut down an hard restart all devices, modem, router, mac and compare your results...

—If it is a carrier issues this would be out of your control

contact them and have them re-provision your service or investigate further your issue

NSS is essentally number of antennas that are working, and both of yours are working. MCS index 7 is as fast as you can go with two antennas, using an 80 MHz channel with 802.11ac rules, 867 M bits/sec.

your signal strength RSSI is great.

your noise level is NOT so great, suggesting that there is something interfering with all or part of your channel. Possibly a neighbor changed their channel 8 months ago and it overlaps with yours.

The usual way we can optimize channel usage with ONE Router and No added access points is to set the Router to "automatic" channel selection. Then when the Router powers up, it listens momentarily to what is already on the air, and adjusts to the least-busy channel.

It is not an accident that every debugging procedure starts with "cycle the power to your Router."

The next level we can use is to use the SCAN tool in Wireless Diagnostics to look around at what is visible over the air around the Mac. This has the advantage of showing what is seen at the Mac, which may be slightly different than what is seen at the Router(s).

this is what it looks like. Click on channel heading to sort by channel number:

(drag and drop on Preview to see larger, or make your own)

Click on the channel column to sort by channel. This tells you the nominal channel in use, but every channel also spreads up and down the channel numbers, depending in its channel width. For example, channel 36 at 80 MHz wide spreads to engulf everything up to channel 48. You may need to look up the spectrum spread with some tables, available online. Or post back here and readers can look those up for you.