Wombat_Divine
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Help with puzzling wifi range problem on Macbook Pro

Hi There,

 

I am experiencing wifi range problems with my MacBook Pro (10.9.4).


Our wireless modem (Arris DG860) is located in the office, in the center of our home. The wifi bars register full on my Macbook and the internet works well in office.


When I move my Macbook to the lounge room, 6 steps away, my internet stops working despite wifi bars remaining full. We also have an Apple TV in the lounge room (I have airplay disconnected on Macbook). 15% of the time, I can somehow get the internet to work in the lounge room (sometimes just by disconnecting airplay),then it mysteriously stops- with wifi bars remaining full.


85% of time, the internet doesn't work at all in lounge room (still full wifi bars). Other rooms of the house that are similar distances away from modem experience the same problem. We did not experience this problem with our old Macbook pro (purchased in '09). With our old Mac we had same internet connection, modem and Apple TV.


The only place our current Macbook receives good internet connection is in the office.


We also have an iPad and two iPhone 4S'


Any suggestions anyone? TIA

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Jul 21, 2014 12:57 PM

Close
Wombat_Divine

Q: Help with puzzling wifi range problem on Macbook Pro

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Gnarlodious,Helpful

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Jul 21, 2014 8:29 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 4 (3,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2014 8:29 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    My new MBP seems to be extremely finicky about the S/N ratio of the WiFi signal. I had to set the transmit power to 25% to bring the noise floor down and suddenly it works good. That one adjustment brounght my noise down from 20 to 13. Maybe open the app at

    /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Wireless\ Diagnostics.app

    use menu to open “Utilities” window and select “Performance” tab to track your S/N.

     

    You will probably see less range but better quality signal. I don’t know if the Comcast router has a power level adjustment but worth a try. This is really a resut of such increasingly congested airwaves, as our bubble of range shrinks every year.

  • by Wombat_Divine,

    Wombat_Divine Wombat_Divine Jul 25, 2014 2:27 PM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 25, 2014 2:27 PM in response to Gnarlodious

    Thank you for your help. I managed to get to the Performance tab to track the S/N, using the instructions you gave, but still have no idea how to reset the transmit power to try your idea.

     

    I've been googling how to change it on my Mac with the Arris.  I'll muck about with it.

     

    Cheers.

  • by sanjampet,

    sanjampet sanjampet Jul 25, 2014 2:39 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 5 (7,881 points)
    Jul 25, 2014 2:39 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    It could be a channel assignment issue, or other problems, I will include a number of links that may help.

    AirPort Utility 6.x: Items that can interfere with a Wi-Fi network

    Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity

     

    Mac OS X 10.6: If you can’t connect to the Internet

    OS X Mountain Lion: Resolve IP address conflicts

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Jul 25, 2014 3:25 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 4 (3,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 25, 2014 3:25 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    I have to say that my Comcast WiFi internet is pretty bad even under the best of circumstances. Video stalls, slow pages, audio buffering. And I am about 30 feet from the router. Please note that Comcast does not guarantee any speed over wireless, only through an ethernet cable. Which is pretty frustrating since my new Macbook doesn’t even have an ethernet port.

     

    Since it seems the modem-router’s WiFi radio overmodulates, I guess the only solution is to buy a dedicated router and plug it into ethernet on the modem, thus bypassing the Comcast router. If I had known the situation would be this bad, I would have bought separate devices from the start.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 25, 2014 3:50 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 9 (61,390 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 25, 2014 3:50 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    A lot of helpful information can be gleaned by holding Option and clicking in the WiFi Icon on the menuBar, like this:

     

    Option-WiFi.png

    .

     

    What do you get for Phy mode, channel, RSSI, Transmit Rate?

    How many other Networks do you see?

     

    .

  • by sanjampet,

    sanjampet sanjampet Jul 25, 2014 4:17 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 5 (7,881 points)
    Jul 25, 2014 4:17 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    Make sure that you are at least 5 channels away from any others

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Jul 25, 2014 4:44 PM in response to sanjampet
    Level 4 (3,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 25, 2014 4:44 PM in response to sanjampet

    Most people who live in neighborhoods or apartments are not blessed with so few WiFi transmitters to contend with. There are no clear channels for most people, even assuming the user knows how to optimize their router, which most people don’t.

     

    I would also explain that I am FCC licensed amateur radio operator K5ZN extra class. I know how radios work and how electromagnetic waves behave. Every diagnostic and symptom tells me there is some incompatibility between my MBPs radio and specifically the Comcast modem-router. In another discussion I gave some technical information about the problem which I spent several day diagnosing while using two different Comcast "Docsis 3" routers.


    I have not seen this WiFi problem when using Airport or other standard routers like Linksys or Netgear. The OP didn’t say what router they are using. My suspicions tell me that Apple is moving in the direction of a very sensitive power-saving radio while ISPs are trying to blast the neighborhoods with powerful WiFi. The result is that my poor Macbook can’t get a good signal.


  • by Wombat_Divine,

    Wombat_Divine Wombat_Divine Oct 21, 2014 7:01 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2014 7:01 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Hi, I can't see the icon??

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 21, 2014 7:45 PM in response to Wombat_Divine
    Level 9 (61,390 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 21, 2014 7:45 PM in response to Wombat_Divine

    WiFi:  On

    Turn Wi-Fi Off

    ———————————

    √ Bennet-AlderAssociates

    PHY Mode: 802.11n

    BSSID:

    Channel: 149 (5 GHz)

    Security: None

    RSSI: -62

    Transmit Rate: 300

    MCS Index: 15

    ———————————————

    Join Other Network

    Create Network

    Open Network Preferences

    Open Wireless Diagnostics