Bluetooth slows down WiFi on MacBook Pro (mid 2014, 10.10.4)

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Bluetooth slows down WiFi on MacBook Pro (mid 2014, 10.10.4)

Bluetooth seems to be interfering somehow with WiFi connection on my new 13-inch rMBP 2014 with OS X 10.10.4 installed. With Bluetooth disabled, connection speed goes up to 50MB/s, but with Magic Mouse connected it can hardly reach 5MB/s with constant lags and slowdowns. My router can be only configured to use 2.4GHz frequency, but it seems like it's not the case -- my friend's rMBP with Mavericks in the same room being put in the same place and paired with the same mouse works just fine.

I've googled this issue a lot, and none of the workarounds seem to work. I've tried resetting SMC, deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file, reconfiguring service order in network settings window, disabling Bluetooth PAN, but all in vain. It really seems like a software bug.

Is there really no way to fix this?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 4, 2015 8:39 AM

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Answer 1

Brett L

Community Specialist

Aug 6, 2015 7:31 AM in response to 8coon

Howdy 8coon,

My understanding of your issue is that you get much slower Wi-Fi speeds when you are using bluetooth devices, roughly 5 mbps vs 50 mbps, is that correct?

Bluetooth devices can interfere with Wi-Fi, and in particular with the 2.4GHz band. This article provides some suggestions on how to reduce that interference - Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Potential sources of wireless interference. Start with the section titled How to reduce effects of interference from other wireless devices.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Best to you.

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Answer 2

8coon Author

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Aug 6, 2015 11:08 AM in response to Brett L

Thank you for your reply. Yes, your understanding is correct and I've temporary solved this issue by using a USB Bluetooth dongle. Seems like it manages somehow not to interfere with WiFi at all, so I assume my issue to be of specific Apple hardware/driver nature.

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