Bluetooth Interfering with Wi-Fi?

Question

Level 1

5 points

Bluetooth Interfering with Wi-Fi?

Hello,

When I installed Yosemite onto my MBP, I was experiencing unbearably slow wi-fi speeds. At a certain point it would drop altogether. Then I noticed that I was attempting to listen to music on my bluetooth speaker the whole time. As soon as disconnected from bluetooth (Turned Off Bluetooth), my Wi-Fi connection would miraculously work again, allowing me to browse the internet and receive messages. When I turned bluetooth back on and paired my wireless speaker, the wi-fi connection would drop again. I did this a couple of times to make sure it wasn't a coincidence.

My Bluetooth signal is clearly interfering with my Wi-Fi connection–it was not doing this before the Yosemite update, so it probably isn't a hardware issue? Do I report this to Apple? Call customer support? Or is there some kind of fix I can work on myself? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 16, 2014 9:35 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 20, 2017 7:49 PM in response to mysticdan

I was experiencing the issue on Yosemite years ago. Turned off bluetooth and all was well. Somehow my bluetooth turned itself back on when I realized a few days ago that it was trying to connect to a mouse thats connected to an Imac I also have in the room.

Forgot about the bluetooth issue but my 2.4 wifi connection was experiencing issues while my 5 was fine. Sure enough, turned off bluetooth and all is well again. I'm now on El Captain 10.11.6. Haven't upgraded yet due to it being a work computer and we haven't got the go ahead yet. BTW, they have bluetooth headphones now for the Iphone 7. Super awesome!

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Answer 2

wifiguru

Level 2

240 points

Oct 16, 2014 11:52 PM in response to mysticdan

What's your router make/model and which Bluetooth speaker are you using ? If you have a dual band router, you could try connecting to the 5 GHz network and that should also help if bluetooth is really the cause of your issue.

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Answer 3

e.berna

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2014 3:08 AM in response to mysticdan

I'm having the exact same problem with the bluetooth module enabled. The Wifi work well only when the bluetooth is off.

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Answer 4

Oct 17, 2014 8:00 AM in response to e.berna

I've disabled Bluetooth but the wifi (only 5 GHz) has issues.

😟

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Answer 5

thislex

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2014 10:10 AM in response to daveinabin

I'm having the same issue when I upgraded to Yosemite.

With my Apple bluetooth keyboard turned on, wifi connectivity is non-existent.

But with bluetooth turned OFF, wifi works flawlessly.

I have since reverted back to Mavericks which works flawlessly.

I guess I'll just have to wait until they resolve this before upgrading. 😟

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Answer 6

mysticdan Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 17, 2014 11:33 AM in response to wifiguru

I have this DSL modem router. I was connecting to a Jawbone Big Jambox. I may be wrong but I don't think it's a dual-band router. I do have a new AirPort Extreme laying around–though I'm not entirely sure how well it works with this cruddy DSL modem router (just moved apartments and this is the internet connection is comes with; no option to switch either).

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Answer 7

Oct 17, 2014 12:24 PM in response to mysticdan

Good find!

Turning off Bluetooth fixed it for me on my Macbook Pro.

This is not really a good workaround though since I have a Magic Trackpad and an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard

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Answer 8

Red Robin

Level 3

578 points

Oct 17, 2014 12:28 PM in response to mysticdan

Apple are expected to release an update to iOS 8 on Monday - This may solve this and other issues.

Please let us know if it does.

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

685,191 points

Oct 17, 2014 12:40 PM in response to mysticdan

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

Troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues in OS X

Wireless Connection Problems - Fix

Wireless Connection Problems - Fix (2)

Wireless Connection Problems - Fix (3)

Wireless Connection Problems - Fix (4)

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Answer 10

mysticdan Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 17, 2014 11:06 PM in response to Eric Root

Will do. Thank you for the links.

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Answer 11

uva14

Level 1

8 points

Oct 18, 2014 3:58 AM in response to mysticdan

I had the same problems. Slow and unstable wifi connection on 2.4 Ghz, switching to 5 Ghz improved things a lot. After disabling Bluetooth the connection on 2.4 Ghz is fine again. Definitely an interference between Bluetooth an Wifi.

Macbook Pro retina Mid 2012

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Answer 12

Oct 18, 2014 9:29 AM in response to uva14

Same problem and solution for me on multiple Mac OS X Yosemite machines (2012 MBA, 2012 rMBP, 2013 rMBP). I can only get a spotty 5Ghz Wifi w/ Bluetooth enabled - no 2.4Ghz wifi connection at all. When I disable Bluetooth and reboot, I get super-fast WIFI on both 5 and 2.4Ghz channels.

BTW, I'm using ALL Apple Wifi Routers/access points (within a year old) in my home.

Bummer...

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Answer 13

Eric Root

Level 10

685,191 points

Oct 18, 2014 9:54 AM in response to mysticdan

You are welcome.

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Answer 14

thislex

Level 1

0 points

Oct 18, 2014 7:49 PM in response to mysticdan

So I just got off the phone with an Apple customer service rep and I was telling them about the issue. He had me reset my wifi (unplug and wait 30 sec). My wifi and bluetooth device now works flawlessly.

I'll keep you guys updated if anything else changes, but as of right now, it's fine.

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Answer 15

Widber

Level 1

4 points

Oct 21, 2014 5:56 AM in response to thislex

Hi thisle, what did you mean under "He had me reset my wifi (unplug and wait 30 sec)"?

Did you unplug your router?

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