Q: New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

Right click on wifi icon on TOP RIGHT between bluetooh and audio icons,

when ping gets high just right click on wifi icon and ping backs to normal

very strange

im my fathers house whit other router nothing happens...

apple please

apple has a 14 day return policy she could exchange it for a new one.

that issue isnt going to be answered any sooner so dont keep waiting.

MBA is useless without proper wi-fi connectivity.

dont spend more cash on resolving your already existing problem.

spextix -

I would suggest you can do one of three things:

1)  Upgrade the router to something more recent.  See my previous posts on various current-generation routers that work seamlessly with the original .22 wireless driver for the 2013 MacBook Air, based on thorough testing I ran.

2)  Wait for the impending 10.8.5 maintenance release, which will include the nex-gen of the wireless driver, and see how that impacts connectivity and performance.

3)  Return the laptop.

As someone who works in the networking industry, I would recommend option #1, for the added benefits I stated in previous posts on this thread.  As for option #2, we'll have to see how the final code of the new driver performs with various routers. In terms of option #3 (going with another mfg), keep in mind that wireless LANs as a technology still has a ways to evolve, and I have yet to see a mobile device that is on par with wired LANs in terms of "it just works" by plugging it in.

The only option I wouldn't really recommend that I didn't list, is installing the .35 wireless driver via the 2013 MBA 1.0 Software Update, given the test results of others and myself with that code.

very good point, router upgraded looks fine now.

Are these values ok ??

PING 192.168.1.16 (192.168.1.16): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.071 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.152 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.154 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.162 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.161 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.105 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.152 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.156 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=0.156 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.16: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=0.095 ms

--- 192.168.1.16 ping statistics ---

10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.071/0.136/0.162/0.031 ms

PING star.c10r.facebook.com (31.13.64.97): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=0 ttl=79 time=189.214 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=1 ttl=79 time=264.014 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=2 ttl=79 time=190.373 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=3 ttl=79 time=374.818 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=4 ttl=79 time=295.145 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=5 ttl=79 time=199.754 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=6 ttl=79 time=341.317 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=7 ttl=79 time=256.642 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=8 ttl=79 time=202.827 ms

64 bytes from 31.13.64.97: icmp_seq=9 ttl=79 time=202.765 ms

--- star.c10r.facebook.com ping statistics ---

10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 189.214/251.687/374.818/63.561 ms

PING vip01-bom01.inscname.net (180.149.241.221): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=0 ttl=54 time=59.496 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=1 ttl=54 time=75.115 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=2 ttl=54 time=100.405 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=3 ttl=54 time=143.820 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=4 ttl=54 time=180.721 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=5 ttl=54 time=75.860 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=6 ttl=54 time=99.759 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=7 ttl=54 time=193.009 ms

64 bytes from 180.149.241.221: icmp_seq=8 ttl=54 time=133.163 ms

--- vip01-bom01.inscname.net ping statistics ---

10 packets transmitted, 9 packets received, 10.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 59.496/117.928/193.009/44.891 ms

Is my macbook ok ??? or do i have something to worry about ?

Hi headcase,

Thank you for your reply.

I'm also a heavy user. It's just that I see a pattern. Her old Dell XPS 13 inch cost 1200 euros and had a graphical card issue which affected almost everyone with that model. She suffered after 3 years, Dell ignoring everything. Out of warranty, means a 400 euro a year laptop. Same goes for my old Lenovo T61p. 1300 euros, ill-designed graphical card. It still works, but it seems to be a running timebomb. I'm still very happy with my mid-2010 15 inch MBP, so I adviced her to go to Mac, and now this....

I would agree that #1 is a good choice, only she is on travel for a couple of months. It seems a bit overkill to travel around with a kilo of router to compensate for a flawed superlight laptop. Morevover, her landlords have to give her permissions for this.

I totally agree that in general you shouldn't expect Wifi to behave the same as Lan. However, what really bugs me is that her 2009 iphone 3gs, which is by now too old to update (wont run IOS 7) runs Wifi at the exact same spot flawlessly. We even tried Google video chat on the MBA that has the option of degrading the video to pre millenial standards. Just no luck. She had to download office 5 times from the MS server. It's really too frustrating.

So, if I follow your reasoning, it is a backward compatability issue where wireless g suffers and n / ac doesn't. Unfortunately there are a LOT of g routers around. You may install your own router in your temp home, but you just can't travel around with your own router to coffeshops...

I'll have her go online at the university. That should be a whole lot better I assume so I can def see that her router is actually capable of performing under the right circumstances.

She has nothing to lose by trying the .35 driver. The connection is bad already. There are a few that found the .35 driver to fix their problems.

Hey guys, I've got a new model MBA13 and am starting to have the a network problem.  96 pages is just too much of a thread for me to digest, so if ya'll don't mind I'm just gonna post my problem and will someone tell if if I've got the dreaded network problem:

1. MBA has been working fine since I bought it a few months ago. It mostly lives closed on a stand, with external monitor, wifi kb, & BT mouse (ie. as a desktop). 
2. I've having my office repainted today so I unplugged everything and changed rooms.  When I put it all back together, the MBA wont join the network.
3. As a former IT Mgmt/Engineer/Support person (15 yrs), I'm pretty sure I followed all the proper troubleshooting steps.  Here is what I came up with:
4. After the move, the MBA connects to the network just fine when its open and all peripherals attached. (In fact, connected now)
5. After the move, the MBA will NOT connect if its closed and all peripherals attached. Log shows the following:
6. <airportd[480]> _doAutoJoin: Already associated to “SSID”. Bailing on auto-join.

Does this mean anything to anyone?  Suggestions?

Thx

spextix -

I wasn't implying that this new AC radio from Broadcom on the 2013 MBA has issues with *all* legacy G generation routers, per se... in fact, I have had no issues with my 2013 MBA in connecting to various hotspots and other routers while traveling. 

Rather, what I was saying was that if you were having issues with *that* specifc older-generation router in your home, its certainly a viable option to upgrade the router itself, which would not only likely eliminate any issues with the MBA running the .22 driver, but also likely give you added benefits of more recent technology, such as:

- beefier CPU on the router for improved LAN/WAN routing performance

- 5GHz band for less RF interferance from other APs and other equipment operating on the 2.4GHz band

- future-proofing with IPv6 addressing for when your ISP starts using IPv6 instead of tapped-out IPv4

- a strengthened SPI firewall to protect your network from intrustions from hackers

- leveraging much higher wireless throughput on AC vs. G, which is one of the main features of the new MBA

raducan.mihai -

True she can try the .35 driver - albeit I think its pretty clear that that is a solution of last resort, given the latency issues it introduces for every connection.

My 2 cents.

@ headcase:

On page 95, user P.Phillips says :

"Running MBA Haswell 1.3, 8 GB , 256 SSD with patch 1.0. Getting ping test min 1.476, avg 2.269, max 5.082 and stdev 0.097.

Running latest iMac 2.5 quad core, 8 GB, 1 TD HD with all patches. Getting ping test min 2.746, avg 5.266, Max 8.153 and atdev 1.448.

Both units to same router and same room and distance.

Pierre"

If he's right, he's running .35 driver with no latency.

iAkarsh -

For starters, look back 3-5 pages on this thread, and confirm what version of wireless driver you have installed on your Mac currently.  If you are running the .35 driver (which I suspect you are) from having installed the 2013 MBA 1.0 Software Update, and if you are not complaining about any lags in web pages loading or issues with latency-sensitive apps like VoIP (e.g. Skype), then I would recommend just keep using your MBA for now, until Apple releases the next rev of the wireless driver.

raducan.mihai -

Hmm... would be the first time I've seen anyone on this thread or elsewhere on the Net say they have ping times under 3ms and no dropped packets with the .35 driver.  For now, seems more like an anomoly to me, as ideally you would test that MBA against more than one router.

tlovejr -

Likely more troubleshooting steps would need to be done to identitfy the culprit.  Go back 3-5 pages on this thread, and let us know what version of driver you're currently using on the MBA. 

Also, what model router are you currently using?  And are you in place that has numerous wireless networks running?

Hi headcase,

Thank you. I overinterpreted you here. And you're right. At starbucks it was allright and this was also a G router. Still, you'll understand that her temp home is just too temp to buy and install routers, apart form that she isn't that technical, her landlord might not allow it and the thing might get stolen because it's in a shared room. Not ideal.

Still, I looked aroud (these things are cheaper in the US than over here so it's actually a good idea to have her buy one anyway so I can finally upgrade my good ol linksys). I saw you mentioned the 6300, but I like the asus better I think just because it seems smaller and looks more 'oldskool' (so hopefully less vulnarable to stealing)

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-wireless-networking-devices/

Still feel this is crazy. If her old phone did not work so great I wouldn't feel this way.

thank you again!