Late 2013 Macbook Pro Retina 13'' Wifi Issues

What a lovely thread.

Consider the network cable, by the power cable, where it's been for the last 5 years in my apartment, sitting there, saying: well, you could, you know, have bought a laptop that has a port for me, and none of these problems would hit you when you're actually busy.

First order of business is an network cable adapter, maybe even the thunderbolt one from Apple.

So I have a 2013 Macbook Pro Rentina with 10.9.2, which has that 6.30.223.154.63 broadcom driver, and a (Cisco) Linksys EA3500 router with firmware 1.1.39.145204 (a 2012 vintage, a good year for selling subdivisions).

I am on the 5Ghz channel 36, mostly, and I am getting RSSI -52 at the 450 rate (which I'm guessing is mbits).

The two main problems I still see a dropped block of packets now and again which is just enough to disrupt my use of vpn... which otherwise I wouldn't notice. And yes I usually have bluetooth on, though I've seen it with it off too. And second, the annoying issue, is when waking up I am told I don't have a connection (in my browser) while the network claims to be connected to the right SSID. This either takes a good 5-8 minutes to resolve "itself" or I have to turn the airport off and on for the... hello everybody, we've all woken up and we're ready to go now, are you coming along built-in wifi? effect.

I don't plan to replace the router... I don't plan to walk around with a dongle... so this is how I make do, turning it off and on. I do plan to see when an update will actually address the issues. I can understand that perhaps it is the EA3500 at fault (though no other computing device I use has the same issues).

As an aside I'd like everyone to read up on why doing actual (albeit network) file operations is not a good way to test network speed, and familiarize themselves with some simple tools that'll make you feel better about it:

http://khmel.org/?p=228 [man nc, man dd, dev/null dev/zero]

4rk-

You are already using the less-crowded 5GHz band, and your speeds have gone far beyong the maximum 54 Mbits/sec possible staying in the 2.5GHz band and sticking with 802.11g.

One of the most suggested "cures" for networking problems sounds like a "fool's errand" -- to cycle the power on your Router. This can actually be very helpful because your Router will typically re-evaluate and find the "best" Channel when it powers up, and may move away from a Channel that has become busy to one that is less busy.

BlueTooth creates interference only in the 2.4GHz range, where it is channel-hopping like crazy, rather than directly competing.

when waking up I am told I don't have a connection (in my browser) while the network claims to be connected to the right SSID.

There are two possibilities here:

A) You may have a Domain Name Server (DNS) problem

Non-responsive DNS server or invalid DNS configuration can cause long delay before webpages load

B) Adjusting these two settings can help network re-connection:

1) Remove unwanted networks from the list of "known" networks under

System preferences > WiFi/Airport > (Advanced) > | Airport/WiFi pane ...

--------

2) System preferences > WiFi/Airport ...

... check [√] Ask to join new networks

"Known networks will be joined automatically.

If no known networks are available, you will

be asked before joining a new network."

.

Gigabit Ethernet is nearly a requirement for using a File Server or NAS. It should allow for "near Hard Drive" speeds. But a Gigabit Ethernet Switch may seem exotic because it is not on the front display at Best Buy.

Gigabit Ethernet Switches are available at the Apple Online store in 5-port, 8, 16, and 24-port models.

i disagree. The MBPr is advertised with "Gigabit WiFi", and it actually has a superb WiFi chip in it, which gives me a brilliant connection, very low ping and real-life transfer rates of 45 MB/s - under WINDOWS.

The only problem is mac os and its drivers. Under Mac OS the WiFi is good for Internet stuff but really nothing else. I end up using Windows more and more just because of this misery. And then i switch back again because of the bad Bluetooth drivers in apples bootcamp drivers, but thats another threat..

I have found the answer people.

The motherboard needs to be replaced.

Proof: this current thread.

More proof: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4132109?answerId=19522340022#19522340022

I have the problem above as well as the internet disconnections.

My iPhone 5C (with the thunderbolt cable) repeatedly and rapidly connects and disconnects from my MBPr when connected via cable. The cable functions normally on all other computers.

Evidence from my last repair (network card replacement) suggests that my motherboard is at fault.

Also, the thread from the link above contains definite proof that the motherboard is at fault.

Get your motherboards replaced.

That is the the solution, not the question.

Hopefully, this helps.

Was there any particular symptom or situation or diagnostic that tipped the scales for you toward motherboard replacement? Any Litmus test?

Ok, I guess I forgot to mention it. So at first the guy at the Apple was like "its the motherboard." But when they sent it in to get it repaired, only the network card was replaced. I'm having the problem with the 5C disconnecting and connecting rapidly on my MBPr, and I know its no the cable because it works with my other computers. On the thread I posted above about the iPhone disconnects, the people there got their motherboard replaced and their problems vanished.

So, I have two overwhelmingly supporting pieces of evidence which points to motherboard problems.

Just want to add myself to the list of those having issues with wifi dropping out. I've not combed this thread for the answer as of yet. Mine is a late 2013 15" rMBP with 16GB memory, running OS X 10.9.2.

bkang97-

so the direct answer to my question is you did not find a "litmus test", but there was a "preponderance of evidence" that the motherboard needed to be switched to fix your problem.

Just another post basically to have a whinge that I am still having this problem of WiFi drops with my 13" rMBP. It's so annoying to have this problem with hardware that is so expensive.

The solution continues to be to manually turn off then on the WiFi from the menubar.

This happens when Bluetooth is switched off as well, so it is not an interference issue.

It's just so annoying, and I wish Apple would update their driver to fix this blatant problem.

I am currently travelling and also still have the same WiFi problems on 2.4 GHz Networks, especially the 802.11n ones. At home, i went through 2 5GHz Routers and finally found one that works well enough for Internet stuff, SMB networking performance is still very bad.

On Bootcamp Win8.1 no WiFi problems and excellent SMB peformance.

Its been 6 months now and there is no fix from apple...

It's perhaps worth pointing out that Apple have opened the OSX beta program up to the public: OS X Beta Seed Program

I'm running the latest seed, and although my expensive Retina MB Pro is still the poorest wifi device I use (and I don't expect that ever to change), I'm getting the most stable connection I've with it thus far.

Obviously it would be foolish to go this route if you don't have a good backup system in place. But one possibly useful advantage of using the beta updates channel is that it installs a new 'feedback assistant' to help with sending bug reports to Apple. If enough people used that, it just might bring the reality of the MB's wifi shortcomings to Apple's attention.

I just updated to the beta 10.9.3 and had to wait to connect to Wifi for over 1 min. This issue is not killer for me but it is annoying. I've sent my first feedback to Apple. I encourage everyone to do the same. Maybe this way they will resolve the issue. 😐

Turning off bluetooth helps... And going back to 10.8 helps even more if you have a time machine backup or disks to do it with. I ended up downloading a copy of 10.8 it to a flash drive (since my MBP doesn't have a dvd drive) This is not a hardware issue, it's shoddy Mavericks..

Hi I just want to join the list and share my findings.

The symptom is the same. When the late 2013 13 rMBP wakes from sleep, it stays connected on the wifi But there is no internet connection. command ifconfig shows it is active and ip is assigned. Ping the router and all time out. Turn wifi off and on resolves the issue.

Findings:

1) without turning off/on the wifi, in network preferences->tcp/ip dhcp renew ip, never works, the log in the router says DISCOVER the request and OFFERed the ip, but nothing else.

2) Without turning off/on the wifi, tried to connect another wifi. It connected but very slow connection. Once turned wifi off/on evetything worked perfectly.

Questions:

1). Anyone has this problem with a fresh installation of mavericks? I am wondering if this is from the restoring from a d backup. I did not have this problem with maverick on my 2009 MacBook though.

2) at this point, does it make sense to go to apple store at all? I mean the best result is they replace it with a refurbished one. But it seems to be a known issue with all of them. Mine is only 2 month old and I'd rather not have the refurbished one with the same problem.

Thanks!