Late 2013 Macbook Pro Retina 13'' Wifi Issues

I can confirm the pings are normal when pinging the router faster. I notice no difference when browsing the web compared to my other MacBooks. I figure it is due to some type of power saving implementation that the Broadcom chip uses.

I thought I'd go ahead and add my experience to the list as well. Perhaps it will be useful to some.

On Sunday, I set up my new 15" Retina MacBook Pro and found that I was having some issues with WiFi connectivity and was definitely experiencing the issue with the erratic ping times. My connectivity problems related to 802.11ac. I could connect with an 'ac' connection if I was right next to my new Time Capsule and could then walk out to a different room where I normally work and it would maintain the 'ac' connection. However, if the connection was interrupted, like when the MacBook went to sleep, it would only reconnect at 'n' speeds. The only way to reconnect at 'ac' speeds was to return to the Time Capsule and let it reconnect there and then return to my work area.

I called AppleCare and they had me change the channels on the Time Capsule to channel 9 for the 2.4 GHz connection and channel 152 for the 5 GHz connection. This solved the 'ac' connectivity issue, but I still had the crazy ping times. They transferred me to another hardware tech and he did some research and spoke with an upper level engineer and they recommended that I take the MacBook into the Genius Bar for a checkup.

Previously, when I first noticed the strange ping times, I thought that there must be something wrong with my network and that there must be a lot of collisions or the like occurring. I verified things on my iMac and a couple of other MacBook Pros and my Mac Mini Server and they all showed that everything was normal with 1 to 2 ms ping responses. All of my equipment has been updated to OS X 10.9 Mavericks, so I didn't suspect it as the culprit. I then reran tests on the new rMBPro and it was still all over the place running from slightly over 1 ms to over 2048 ms in response times! Yes, over two seconds on occasion! I ran some speed tests and throughput was running normally, did some large downloads and didn't have any trouble, so was at a loss to explain the ping times.

I went ahead and scheduled a trip to the Genius Bar on Tuesday afternoon and went in a little bit early for my appointment. After arriving, I found another rMBPro at the store and tested it and lo-and-behold, it exhibited the same crazy ping times. I then went to the Genius Bar and spoke with Jeff who confirmed that I was seeing something unusual with my system and then ran a full diagnostic to verify the hardware, which passed with flying colors. At lunch on Tuesday, I found this thread, so I knew that others were experiencing the same issue and also having confirmed that the store's machine was doing it also, I was much more comfortable in thinking that it is a problem with either software or firmware for the WiFi cards used in the system, so I had Jeff note the problems and then prepared to leave the store and wait for a fix from Apple.

Before leaving, I had some time to kill, so I decided to check a few other systems to see if they had the same ping time issue. I started at one end of the counter and checked an 11" MacBook Air and a 13" MacBook Air. They both did the very same thing! Then I moved on to the 13" MacBook Pros, one with Retina and one without. They both did exhibited the same problem. I'd already checked the 15" MacBook Pro, so I moved on to the 22" and 27" iMacs. Sure enough, they had the same wild ping times. So virtually every computer in the store was doing it.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that they all likely are using the same Broadcom WiFi chipset and there are some definite issues with the drivers under Mavericks. So, first of all the ping problem is widespread, but I'll bet that most people won't notice it as it doesn't seem to impact performance and not many venture into Terminal to check things. It's also readily reproducible, so it shouldn't be hard to track down the cause and develop a fix for it. It's just a matter of time. Whether this issue relates to the connectivity problems that others are experiencing, I can't really hazard a guess, but there could easily be a relationship between the two issues that will get corrected together.

Let's give Apple a bit more time to address this and then see what happens. As always, it's a very good idea to call AppleCare or go to http://apple.com/feedback and leave them a report of the problem. The more they hear about the issue, the more they will pay attention to it.

I hope this helps!

This will sound really strange but yesterday when I purchased the rMPB, I was having issues at office (Linksys) and at home (Airport Express).

Today, woke up and went to the office and was connected for all 8 hours without a single drop. Came back home and streamed a movie in iTunes and no issues at all!!

Freaky. But not complaining as it is working fine now.

Got my new rMBP 15" yesterday, and it seems to have the same issues as the one I returned ...

Hrm, I've same problem with my quite new MBPr 13. Hmm, is it a hardware issue or just software?

Kinda angry for paying so much for something that can't even keep the ping low.

Hi there, just to throw my experiences behind this as well. I purchased a new Late 2013 rMBP 15" 2.3/16GB/512 and I noticed when connected to my office wireless lan that the wireless was working but the performance was very slow. I also bought a TB > Gig Lan adapter and I noticed an massive speed difference, I went back to the wifi and I noticed further problems.

Whilst I got an IP address from my DHCP assigned access point, I could ping myself but not my default gateway. I also couldn't ping other network devices, yet anything else on the wifi worked. I tried the wireless at a few client sites and got intermittent results, sometimes it works others it doesn't. Massive dissapointment for £2300 (give or take).

I have done some ping tests and post a few results, these were taken from home wireless N network.

PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=2.396 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.356 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=24.109 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=4.176 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.363 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=2.425 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=4.655 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=1.510 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=2.125 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=8.170 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=29.939 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=25.826 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=15.987 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=1.403 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=27.315 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=4.203 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=3.339 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=5.675 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=3.965 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=64 time=6.318 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=64 time=1.365 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=64 time=7.239 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=64 time=9.895 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=64 time=16.199 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=64 time=7.898 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=64 time=6.329 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=64 time=1.350 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=64 time=12.248 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=64 time=2.784 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=64 time=10.799 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=64 time=18.839 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=64 time=15.164 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=64 time=6.331 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=64 time=31.285 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=64 time=28.049 ms

Request timeout for icmp_seq 35

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=64 time=22.079 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=64 time=12.444 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=64 time=1.321 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=64 time=14.383 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=64 time=2.551 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=41 ttl=64 time=7.931 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=42 ttl=64 time=14.202 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=43 ttl=64 time=27.478 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=44 ttl=64 time=2.651 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=45 ttl=64 time=9.677 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=46 ttl=64 time=1.452 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=47 ttl=64 time=5.039 ms

^C

--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---

48 packets transmitted, 47 packets received, 2.1% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.321/10.111/31.285/8.975 ms

Colin:~ colin

wow, thats not good. I can also get similar results from pinging different websites. I have tried different dns providers which makes no difference. I've had the laptop 7 days now and consider this a real inconvenience. I hope a fix comes soon. Dissapointed!

ekinfromankara,

Great find! A background "ping -i 0.1 ..." or "ping -i 0.2 ..." on my Late 2013 rMBP 13" completely fixes my latency and dropped packet issues and makes ssh sessions very responsive. I just wish there was a better way to defeat the (apparent) power saving feature.

MadBeaverDK,

What wireless router are you using ?

Zakarados,

What wireless router are you using ? What settings have you set on the router ? 11g mode ? 11bgn mode ?

I think I found a fix for my problem, where my late 2013 13" rMBP wouldn't connect to my Linksys WRT310N router via 802.11n.

I found this:

Wi-Fi: Unable to connect to an 802.11n Wi-Fi network

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3727

When I went into the Applications & Gaming --> QoS settings I found that WMM (Wi-fi Multimedia) support was disabled, despite the default being enabled. Upon enabling this my rMBP immediately connected via 802.11n. It seems this was solely preventing my Macbook and potentially other newer Apple devices (Retina Mini) from connecting to wireless N.

I saw this solution somewhere in another forum but didn't stumble upon my WMM settings until now.

Hope this helps at least a few of you!

I am using a TP-link router running 11bgn 20MHz only.

I got my replacement rMBP yesterday and no longer getting dropped packed and the pings are much lower than before. Happy camper now.

--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---

1000 packets transmitted, 1000 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.307/37.929/107.619/32.388 ms

I spoke too soon:

While I am now able to connect via 802.11n on my late 2013 rMBP, all of my other devices wifi speeds suffer when WMM is turned on, as in going from 20 MBPS without WMM to 1 MBPS with WMM enabled. Only the rMBP is not affected.

Here's a board where they discuss the unintended effects of WMM:

Fixed my slow iPad Wi-Fi issue, here is what I found...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2398063

I'm using a Netgear CG3000 from my ISP, who has locked it down with an outdated formware.

It's running 802.11 b/g/n, 40 Mhz, auto channel. I've tried cycling through all the channels manually, but untill now only 802.11g on the rMBP.

Just now I've tried enabling WMM in the router as per mshybut's post. Instantly the rMBP connected at 802.11n. Thanks dude.

Just to let you that I am another afflicted by wifi issues...have tried a number of the suggestions on the post to no avail...Apple has also been no help...perhaps time to ditch the new computer and go back to the old one which actually worked properly. I have requested a replacement from Apple but they simply want me to speak to yet another person...Apple products + Apple Care are not cheap...I simply want them to work.

Agreed. Take them in. The run around is why I only buy machines directly from an Apple Store with Apple Care. Good Luck.

I need to take mine in.