WIFI disconnects when I move to another room

Question

WIFI disconnects when I move to another room

The WIFI suddenly disconnects when I move to another room whereas other wifi connected devices work fine in all rooms. Took MacBook Pro into Apple store and it was shipped out for diagnostic repair. They replaced logic board, network card and battery. Took computer home and problem still remains. This problem happened out of the blue just 1 week ago. The only room the connection works is downstairs from the router so it's not a proximity issue. Any ideas at all? Thank you.

Posted on May 3, 2016 7:35 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

127,195 points

May 3, 2016 7:55 PM in response to CORALREEFER64

Hold down the option key while you click the WiFi icon in the menuBar.

You get a display something like this one:

what do you get for PHY Mode and Channel?

what do you get for RSSI or signal strength?

what do you get for Transmit rate?

and very important, how many other networks do you see?

.

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Answer 2

May 3, 2016 8:07 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

In the room where I do have the WIFI connection:

PHY Mode = 802.11

Channel = 11 (2.4 GHz, 20 MHz)

RSSI: -82 dBM

Tx Rate: shifts between 5 Mbps and 7 Mbps

No other networks seen.... just my own.

I'll move to the room where I don't have the connection and report back on those numbers. THANK YOU!

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Answer 3

May 3, 2016 8:12 PM in response to CORALREEFER64

Duh - of course I can't get any info when I move into the room where I don't get WIFI because there's no connection - no connection, no info when I hit <option> and then the WIFI signal.

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Answer 4

May 4, 2016 7:59 AM in response to CORALREEFER64

The little letter after 802.11 is usually important as well -- all use some flavor of 802.11, but there is a difference between b, g, and n.

Channel 11 is in the very crowded and interference-prone 2.4GHz band. If your Router could give you a better signal in the 5GHz band (if it has a 5GHz band) that almost always yields better speeds.

An RSSI of -82, less a typical noise of -85, gives only -3dB of signal, which is unacceptably awful. Very good is 25 dB.

You should be able to get at least 11 Mbits/sec, and typically more like 50 Mbits/sec even on a simple connection. Your antenna may be disconnected.

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To test, move within 10 feet and a clear line of sight of your Router. RSSI should improve to -50 or better. If it does not, your antenna is not working or your Router's antenna is to working. (but based on your saying there devices are working fine, it is most likely your Mac that has the problem.)

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Answer 5

May 4, 2016 2:47 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for all your help! The router is pretty standard, I guess, from ATT as they are our WiFi provider. As we just picked up the laptop from Apple yesterday and still had the same problem, we took it back in today and they're sending out yet again this time for possible screen replacement. Hopefully that will do the trick. Nearly 5 yrs without incident. They estimate a few days for shipping, etc. so should have it back Saturday or Monday and I can report back on it's progress. Fingers crossed! Thanks again!~

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Answer 6

May 4, 2016 2:49 PM in response to CORALREEFER64

they're sending out yet again this time for possible screen replacement.

The antenna is in a frame around the screen, on a special cable that goes through the hinge area.

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Answer 7

May 8, 2016 4:48 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Follow-up - Picked up the laptop today from Apple and sure enough - they replaced the screen and BINGO! The laptop now works in the rooms where it wasn't working before. Thank you for your help - if nothing else for the input into what how crappy the numbers were when it wasn't working correctly. Now it's like a brand new laptop. Everything is working so much better. Thanks again for sharing your expertise, although I hope I won't have to ask again! Have a great week~ 🙂

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