Ashtwee
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: Why does my Macbook Pro Retina have trouble staying connected to the wifi?

Recently, whenever I'm using the internet on my 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, the wifi continually loses connection. I've tried to see if it was my router, but there were no problems there and my macbook is the only device in my house that randomly looses connection or can't hold a stable connection no matter where I am in my house. I've updated my computer to the latest OS and tried cleaning it and limiting the number of programs kept open. However, even if I try shutting down or restarting my mac, the problem persists.

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Jul 11, 2016 1:44 PM

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Q: Why does my Macbook Pro Retina have trouble staying connected to the wifi?

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 11, 2016 4:11 PM in response to Ashtwee
    Level 9 (60,719 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 11, 2016 4:11 PM in response to Ashtwee

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

    Option-Wi-Fi .png

    what do you get for PHY Mode and channel?

    What is RSSI, signal, or signal-to-noise?

    What is Transmit Rate?

     

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

     

    .

  • by Ashtwee,

    Ashtwee Ashtwee Jul 12, 2016 4:51 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 12, 2016 4:51 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    My PHY Mode is 802.11n, the channel is 6 (2.4 GHz, 20 MHz)

    The RSSI is -78 dBM and the Noise is -96 dBM.
    I don't see a 'Transmit Rate', but there's a 'Tx Rate' which ranges from 35 Mbps to 68 Mbps, but I remember before, it used to always be around 35 Mbps or lower. I think that's supposed to be with the router and not my computer, but I think only my computer is experiencing problems with that.

    There are 6 other networks, but most of the time there are 3-4 other networks.

    Another thing I notice is that when I'm on the 'Network Diagnostics' window, I'll always be green for 'Wi-Fi', but 'ISP' and 'Wi-Fi Settings' are usually the first to go red before I lose connection, but they'll come back on after a few moments, and then off again.Screen Shot 2016-07-12 at 7.47.08 PM.png

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 12, 2016 4:57 PM in response to Ashtwee
    Level 9 (60,719 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 12, 2016 4:57 PM in response to Ashtwee

    You are using Channel 6 in the very busy and interference-prone 2.4GHz band. Using 802.11n in that band causes your data to sprawl from channel 4 through and including channel 8. If you have 6 other networks nearby, you will not get much through.

     

    A7 96-78 => -18, your signal-to-noise is too low. You are either too far away from your Router, or you have a disconnected antenna inside your computer. If you move to within 10 feet of your Router, and the signal level does not get closer to zero than -50, you have a broken or disconnected antenna.

     

    As expected, because of your truly awful signal level, your transmit rate is abysmal. A rate of hundreds of Megabits/sec is possible if you did not have all those other problems. It is not surprising that you are having trouble connecting.

  • by Ashtwee,

    Ashtwee Ashtwee Jul 14, 2016 6:16 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 14, 2016 6:16 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    It doesn't matter how close I to my router, my computer randomly disconnects, sometimes more often than others. This is also just a recent issue. So, what do I do if I have a disconnected antenna?