Q: Slow wifi on MacBook Pro when connected to Thunderbolt Display
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Oct 17, 2013 4:33 PMby tbirdvet,Not sure why all of a sudden you have this issue but try this: Go into preferences while your MBP is connected to the TBD, go to network. Click on the star at the bottom of the left column and select service order. Arrange to have WIFI at the top. Click apply and see if that makes a difference. Another issue may be blue tooth interference. Are you using a bluetooth mouse or keyboard with your MBP?
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Oct 18, 2013 12:24 AMby nicosen,Hey thank you for replying. I was playing with the wifi connections in my room with the MacBook for a bit, and thought that it was actually the MacBook that had a problem. With time i realised that it was actually the placement of the MacBook in the room that affected its wifi connection.
This may sound strange (and very irritating in my opinion) but it seems like the Mac can only receive full wifi speed (9mb) when sitting in the middle of the room/closer to the door. We have a house and the router is placed downstairs. My housemate has the same MacBook Pro as mine, but as his room is just on top of the one containing the router he has no problem connecting.
I conluded that the problem was the MacBook's airport, although my friend's macbook when tested in my room had similar results - what do you think might cause this? I thought interference with walls/boiler etc could be the issue, but then again, my Windows Pc gets full speed wifi everywhere in the room...
I tried connecting the Thunderbolt display to the MacBook in the room where wifi is good, and didn't face any issues, so the Thunderbolt display is fine!
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Nov 14, 2013 4:18 PMby Adam Lampert,I am having an identical issue when using my 2010 iMac as an external display with my 2013 MBP. I have run very controlled tests and have concluded that there is a serious issue; my wifi basically slows to a halt when I use the iMac as an external display.
When I use the MBP in the exact same position in the room, without using the iMac as an external display, everything is perfect. As soon as I use the iMac in Target Display Mode, my wifi slows to a crawl or just stops entirely. Does anyone have a solution for this?
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Nov 15, 2013 6:46 AMby Muhammad J. Kamal,My new 2013 MacBook Pro 13" retina had same WiFi issue. Please go to this Website and follow the instructions to change your router's settings. http://www.s0hel.com/blog/401/fixed-slow-wifi-issue-with-new-macbook-pro/
Yesterday I changed my router's settings and now I don't see any WiFi issues.
I hope this works for you.
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Jan 17, 2014 7:36 AMby Reitffunk,Same issue here. It occurs also with non apple monitors. I think the thunderbolt-port itself is the mistake...
Windows-Laptop has 60mbits at same position with same monitor. MacBook Air, late 2013 comes only to 10 - 20 mbits...
Bluetooth mouse is additonal slowing the wifi..
Never thought, that I would have such problems with a mac.. not acceptable..
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Jan 18, 2014 12:44 AMby mduncan-av,Apple's wifi hardware is senstive to everything. Experienced the same problem, many times this comes down to router hardware compatibility. I have never seen these types of issues with any other wifi device other than appls. They are sensitive to AES encryption, if you see an option on your router under WPA settings, make sure to only use TKIP. In my case, there is some out of spec compatibility problem with ubiquiti gear (unifi), the people on the forums over there are screaming about it. I was getting .5mbit upload thus blowing time machine backups, swapped to a cheapo router and I'm back up to 200mbit. It's all hit or miss with this apple stuff if you do anything deeper than open a browser.
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Mar 5, 2014 1:58 AMby elev3n,I am also experiencing very similar issues. For the past few weeks I have been suffering from really poor wifi performance on a Macbook Pro 13" Retina (Late 2012).
I have gone as far as purchasing a new router, changing router channels, encryption, switching back to 802.11g etc and nothing has really helped.
I downloaded a free app called NetSpot to help diagnose the problem. Today I had it open whilst plugging in my external monitor and I noticed a huge difference in signal to noise. The screenshot below shows that difference and I can re-produce it over and over again.
The external screen is plugged in via Thunderbolt. Interestingly only one of my thunderbolt ports seems to work with the screen (not sure if that is how it should be).
I can also see almost double the number of wifi networks with the screen unplugged and the internet performance is much better.
So my conclusion so far is that an external screen via thunderbolt is causing some serious performance issues. I am going to test the HDMI port later today and see if that helps the situation.
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Mar 5, 2014 3:32 AMby elev3n,I have tested it over HDMI now too and things look a little better. It still does have a slight impact on the wireless performance but its minor compared to thunderbolt.
Quite baffled as to why an external screen would impact the wireless chips so much. Perhaps too much of a power draw?
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Mar 5, 2014 5:06 AMby Reitffunk,Nearly the same for me. I just get used to it, because in the most time the 10mbit of my 100(!) are ok to surf. Windows-Laptop gets to 60mbit in Wifi WITH ExternalScreen and Bluetooth.
Nevertheless this is 100% an Apple-Issue and they have to fix it as soon as possible. Problem I see, is that the most people will not notice the slow down of the network, because anyways they have not faster connection than 10mbit. But for my 100mbit connection I can feel the impact much more... thats so embarassing for Apple.
