Internet connection issues

Question

Level 1

9 points

Internet connection issues

My internet is very unreliable when I am using Windows with Boot Camp. Usually it doesn't work when I first open my browser, sometimes it says it is connected but it has no internet access, and sometimes it just disconnects out of nowhere. This also means that it is hard for me to get to the login page for public networks where I have to log in, and downloads and updates randomly stop. I do not have any of these problems when using OS X.

One temporary fix I found is disconnecting and reconnecting to my network, but it later stops working again. It also sometimes starts working again if I wait for a while, but it is still a problem.

I already tried the Internet Connections troubleshooting option but it says everything is fine. I also tried the Network Adapter option, and it said it fixed something the first time I used it, but it did not help.

Computer: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)

Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Operating System: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6, Windows 7 on boot camp

Posted on Nov 6, 2016 7:48 AM

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Answer 1

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 19, 2017 6:40 AM in response to Loner T

Also, I might have accidentally changed the "bandwidth capability" option in the advanced tab of the network adapter properties window because those settings sometimes change when you scroll. Can you please tell me the default setting for this?

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 11, 2017 9:29 AM in response to appleuser295

If you have battery issues, from the OSX side, can you check System Report -> Power and check Battery health? Battery issues can cause power issues for cards on the Mac.

You may also want to run macOS Sierra: Use Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test to check if it finds any issues.

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Answer 3

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 11, 2017 8:45 AM in response to Loner T

I have no idea what half of that is, and my computer doesn't have an Ethernet port.

Sorry for the delay in posting, it's because I don't use my computer as much as I used to, and I use Boot Camp even less, so I forget.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 11, 2017 9:12 AM in response to appleuser295

If OSX works properly from this Mac, but Windows does not, the second Mac/PC will help you capture packets to/from the non-working Mac/Windows to see why the packets do not make it to the gateway or do not leave the gateway.

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 11, 2017 10:35 AM in response to appleuser295

The best method to check if the battery issues are causing problems for Wireless connections is to check the Windows Event Viewer for any events related to the wireless card. Windows usually runs a bit hotter on a Mac and power management settings can be different.

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Answer 6

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 12, 2017 8:20 AM in response to Loner T

I couldn't find System Report, but here's what it says in System Information:

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 4129

Fully Charged: Yes

Charging: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4219

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 387

Condition: Service Battery

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 0

Voltage (mV): 12179

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 12, 2017 10:16 AM in response to appleuser295

appleuser295 wrote:

I'll do that when I use windows; where exactly do I look and how do I know if an event is related to the wireless card?

You are looking for any power events or wireless card events. You should be able to filter events for the Wireless card.

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Answer 8

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 14, 2017 10:19 AM in response to Loner T

It says there is an update available for Windows 10 boot camp in that thread, but I checked apple software update and it only had iCloud and iTunes. Is there any way to get this update for Windows 7?

Other than that, I won't get a wifi dongle because a carrier plan would be a waste of money. I'm always near a hotspot when I need to use the Internet, and I don't use my computer that often.

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Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Feb 1, 2017 1:14 PM in response to appleuser295

appleuser295 wrote:

Did you find a solution? Is anyone else having this problem on Windows 7?

I have a mid-2012 13-in non-Retina which works fine on W7/W8.1/W10.

If Apple releases something to fix this, will it be available through Apple Software Update?

Yes.

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Answer 10

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 30, 2017 8:57 AM in response to Loner T

Thank you, rolling back worked. I'm typing this from the windows side right now, actually. Do you have any suggestions concerning my previous problem, and how can I know if future driver updates work?

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Answer 11

ToPur

Level 1

4 points

Jul 30, 2017 9:41 AM in response to appleuser295

I just worked this out today to play PUBG on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, mid 2015)

It's a driver problem, but it seems like you can't do anything about it, but to change your routers Wi-Fi to use 20 MHz bandwidth instead of 40 MHz, we all know the macs hardware is capable to choose between those two, but nobody practically takes responsibility about the sh*tty driver on Boot Camped Windows. Not the hardware manufacturer nor Apple or Microsoft.

My router had 20/40 setting so I locked it at 20 MHz and it magically worked.

How I came to this conclusion:

I had the same issue that many of you seem to have so I resorted to using my iPhone SE as a hotspot and noticed internet connection was stable that way, so I figured out it had to have something to do with the router which I knew was working perfectly well.

I deduced that the iPhone is using some older kind of technology on that matter, I remembered the 20/40 setting from week ago when I configured my router, did some google searches and actually found a discussion about the same issue which proved I was right and decided to give it a try. And here we are.

System specs:

Boot Camp, Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit, version 1607 (aka. anniversary update), build 14393.1480

Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter

Driver: Broadcom, 10/6/2015, v. 7.35.118.49

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Answer 12

ToPur

Level 1

4 points

Jul 30, 2017 9:53 AM in response to appleuser295

Seems that people get these connection problems after using the Wi-Fi connection normally for a day or so.

Please read my answer from above and report back later if the driver roll back was/is only a temporary solution.

I was able to play PUBG yesterday, but today I couldn't even open a web page on any browser until now.

Hope this fix works for y'all 😎

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Answer 13

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Sep 19, 2017 7:56 AM in response to appleuser295

You can set

20/40 Coexistence - Enabled (or True)

40 Mhz Intolerant - Disabled (or False)

The Band Preference looks correct. Bluetooth Collaboration should be Auto or Enabled.

Also see Advanced Wireless Adapter Driver Settings .

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Answer 14

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 27, 2017 7:49 AM in response to Loner T

So, I turned 20/40 Coexistence to Enabled (it was Auto before), and I disabled the Bluetooth adapter, as was suggested on another thread. After that, I don't know what did it, but the Wi-Fi connection became much more stable.

However, today, when I booted up using Windows, I got a notification that said something was wrong with the driver/adapter, and the Wi-Fi didn't work at all. I looked at the adapter properties and it said something about not being able to verify a digital signature. I uninstalled the adapter and drivers, and used Boot Camp Repair. In the middle of the repair (while the window was still on the screen, with the progress bar), I got the same, or a similar notification again, and it still didn't work after I restarted. I then tried repairing without first uninstalling the adapter and driver, and it still didn't work.

I had this type of problem before, but at that time, I had a restore point I could restore from (I don't even know why the restore point disappeared, I didn't delete it). At this point, I think I will just uninstall Windows from my Mac and get a PC for when I have to use Windows, because it just has too many problems.

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Answer 15

appleuser295 Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 1, 2017 3:56 AM in response to Loner T

So, is there anything I can do about the driver not being signed? I downloaded the support files a few weeks ago and kept them on a flash drive for those repairs, so would redownloading them to get newer copies and then repairing help?

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