Internet connection keeps dropping with MacBook Pro OS 10.11.3

Do you by chance, have your MB Pro performing a large upload or download in the background? This can make it appear that wifi is down for all devices (actually its just really slow with lots of latency leading to time outs). Photos is notorious for this. With the MB Pro connected to wifi, go to Photos > Preferences > iCloud and just below iCloud Photo Library at the top, do you see a message that activity is occurring?

Hold down the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi Icon on the MenuBar. You get a display similar to this one:

What do you see for PHY mode and channel?

RSSI or signal strength?

Transmit Rate?

and very important, how many networks do you see?

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I glad you found it. If you let the "Google" upload all, it will eventually stop using all bandwidth for the upload. Then again consume full bandwidth if you add a large number of pics in the future, but the duration would be shorter.

There are also tricks to limit the amount of bandwidth Google can use even though there was no throttle control in Google Drive itself the last time I checked. There should be for all such programs that can take days to upload. Here is a link to an ASC solution to keep some portion of the pipe open for downloads while a large upload is in progress through a program like Google Drive or Photos without the necessary throttle. An alternative to that is pausing the upload during "normal" hours and letting it run during network downtime (like while all are asleep). I encourage backups where ever possible so hope you will try one of these methods. There are also some apps you can buy to do either or both of these techniques easier (so they clam).

5GHz does not speed up your internet connection. It could speed up your link between internet router and your computer but probably won't help. You should post a new question on ASC for details to keep the threads clean if you want a deep dive on your connection speed and router.

my macbook pro keeps switching in and out mail ports whenever I've used a server away from home. How do I make machine recognize my home server Airport Extreme and the 110 and 587 that it should return to? e3

Take extra care to specify a new named "Location" that has meaning to you, like "Home" or Greg's Office"

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202480

Hello Mettababe,

Adding a 5gz channel may help in some cases it comes at the cost of a lower wi-fi range. You might see the difference with a 100mbs+ connection.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.

Thanks ~ Bryce