User profile for user: Zlippy
Zlippy Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Macbook Pro does not roam to stronger signal

Hi folks,


I've read a few posts here and there about the Macbook Pro and it's lack of proper WiFi roaming. But I didn't see any solved answers, so I thought I'd post again to see if anyone has any updated information.


I live in a three-level condo with a concrete floor between the 1st and 2nd levels and have put an Airport Express on each floor. I have them configured in Bridge mode (I have a separate DHCP server and router for the network) with the same SSID names and security (WPA2-PSK) configurations. All Airport Express units broadcast on 2.4ghz with one SSID name and on 5.0ghz with another SSID name.


I've found that if I move from one floor to another, the Macbook Pro will hang on to the weaker signal even if it's much, much weaker (i.e., useless). I have to cycle the WiFi off and on in order to get it to find the stronger signal.


Case in point - I moved from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor and the MBP was trying to maintain its connection with the 2nd floor Airport Express through the concrete floor. My RSSI was -87 and the noise was at -91, the MBP had tried to reduce the signal speed all the way down to 7mbps. I let it sit in that state for 5 minutes waiting for it to switch on its own, but it never did. Soon as I cycled the WiFi off and on, it connected to the stronger 1st floor signal right away.


Has anyone found a way to get the MBP to switch to the stronger WiFi signal sooner?


Thanks.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), Airport express

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 5:36 PM

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9 replies
User profile for user: BobHarris
BobHarris
User level: Level 9
56,819 points

Nov 17, 2015 11:21 AM in response to leroydouglas

leroydouglas wrote:


Certainly not my area of expertise.

Is this a simultaneous dual band Airport Extreme(s) I would question the bridge mode and the two separate networks.


Simply Extend the network with automatic 2.4, 5.0GHz

Network>Router mode DHCP and NAT


AirPort base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n) - Apple Support

No, his configuration is fine. extending the wireless network means you are using your radios to relay, and with multiple floors he would be doing a lot of relaying.


Zlippy's configuration allows him to send from the WiFi access point via ethernet to the router. This configuration is what is used in large buildings where multiple WiFi access points are needed to give good coverage.


I would tend to think chattphotos is on to something.


But to make sure you have a reasonable signal after reducing power, I would use Wireless Diagnostics -> Wi-Fi Scan to measure signal strength at key locations where you really need to maintain a good connection. Spotlight -> Wireless Diagnostic -> Window -> Utilities -> Wi-Fi Scan (it might also be slightly different from what I have; Apple has been messing with the Wireless Diagnostic's GUI).

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User profile for user: leroydouglas
leroydouglas
Community+ 2025
User level: Level 10
198,990 points

Nov 17, 2015 11:33 AM in response to BobHarris

BobHarris wrote:


leroydouglas wrote:


Certainly not my area of expertise.

Is this a simultaneous dual band Airport Extreme(s) I would question the bridge mode and the two separate networks.


Simply Extend the network with automatic 2.4, 5.0GHz

Network>Router mode DHCP and NAT


AirPort base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n) - Apple Support

No, his configuration is fine. extending the wireless network means you are using your radios to relay, and with multiple floors he would be doing a lot of relaying.


Zlippy's configuration allows him to send from the WiFi access point via ethernet to the router. This configuration is what is used in large buildings where multiple WiFi access points are needed to give good coverage.


I would tend to think chattphotos is on to something.


But to make sure you have a reasonable signal after reducing power, I would use Wireless Diagnostics -> Wi-Fi Scan to measure signal strength at key locations where you really need to maintain a good connection. Spotlight -> Wireless Diagnostic -> Window -> Utilities -> Wi-Fi Scan (it might also be slightly different from what I have; Apple has been messing with the Wireless Diagnostic's GUI).


Thanks BobHarrisfor your insight !


spotlight did not pull up wireless diagnostics for me, however option click on the wireless icon in the menu bar reveals it:

User uploaded file

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User profile for user: Zlippy
Zlippy Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Nov 20, 2015 7:00 AM in response to chattphotos

chattphotos: I configured the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels into separated SSID's on purpose. I live in a condo complex, and there are a ton of 2.4Ghz access points everywhere but only one other 5Ghz access points that I can see. However, even though the 2.4Ghz channels are congested and have tons of overlapping interference and lower effective bandwidth, the signal strength is usually one or two decibels higher than the 5Ghz strength. With both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on the same SSID name, the MacBook always picks the more congested but slightly higher signal strength 2.4Ghz channels and does not choose the less crowded, overall faster but slightly lower signal strength 5Ghz channels.


As for the suggestion to lower the transmit power, that's interesting because I think basically what you're saying is that the MacBook needs the signal strength to be effectively zero before it switches. Lowering the signal strength is another way of ensuring that the signals disappears completely when I move the laptop to a different floor. I'll give that a try -- it may fix the problem although I still think this is something that Apple should resolve with their wireless code.


I appreciate all the responses!

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User profile for user: Zlippy
Zlippy Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Nov 20, 2015 7:07 AM in response to BobHarris

BobHarris:

Yes, my configuration in terms of bridge mode should be fine. All access points are connected to my switch via ethernet, so relaying from one access point to another with wireless would be much slower + hugely wasting of bandwidth. Also, due to my 1st level being separated from the 2nd and 3rd by 8 inches of concrete, they likely wouldn't connect at all.


I ran the wireless diagnostics and it came back just fine. The tar.gz file has a lot of info in it which is interesting to see, but there were no real suggestions on how to change the threshold at which a wireless network signal becomes unacceptable compared to a much, much higher signal of a different AP.


Appreciate the comments and info!

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User profile for user: Zlippy
Zlippy Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Nov 20, 2015 7:24 AM in response to Zlippy

I did a bit more Googling and I think I found the answer.


I found this page http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/66919/how-to-enable-faster-wifi-roaming -with-mac-os-x-airport-base-stations which discusses the legacy airport command line utility. Using the airport utility, I set joinMode=Strongest and restarted my WiFi interface.


As soon as I went downstairs, my MBP switched over to use the stronger, 1st floor network. My other networks were reporting a S/N ratio of 7, but the 1st floor network has S/N at 37.


Going back upstairs, I watched it switch again back to using the 2nd floor AP.


Yay!


Thanks again for everyone's input.

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Macbook Pro does not roam to stronger signal

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