MacBook Pro 2016 - WiFi unstable/unusable

This applies to the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models, which have USB-C ports.

Why do I have difficulty with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices when USB 3 devices are attached to my computer?

Some USB 3 devices can generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your computer. Here are some tips to avoid this issue:

• If your USB device has a cable long enough that you can move the device, place it away from your Mac—and make sure not to place it behind your Mac, or near the hinge of its display. The antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are located there, and USB 3 devices placed there might interfere with your wireless connections.
• If you're using adapters or dongles on a Mac computer with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, plug them into the front port on the left side of your Mac, or into the ports on the right side (if your computer has them). These ports are the farthest away from the antennas, making interference less likely.
• To avoid interference on the 2.4GHz band using Wi-Fi, try using the 5GHz band instead. You can change this on your wireless base station. Bluetooth always uses 2.4GHz, so this alternative isn't available for Bluetooth.

from:

Using USB devices with your Mac - Apple Support

also, any of these items may be involved:

• Power Adapter cable recall

Apple USB-C Charge Cable Replacement Program - Apple Support

• firmware update for the Apple Multi-Port display adapters (specifically to reduce interference).

About the USB-C Multiport Adapter Update 1.0 - Apple Support

• LG-display recall -- to address Wi-Fi interference so severe, it knocks the Router off the air if too near the Router.

https://9to5mac.com/2017/02/03/lg-fixes-wifi-interference-problems-with-ultrafin e-usb-c-5k-display-new-units-unaffected/

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Back off a few feet to let the antenna signal from the Router stabilize. Then hold down the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar. That gives you access to Wi-Fi diagnostics, which can make a few recommendations about your setup.

Then use the information provided in the report that is shown there (like this older one):

what do you get for PHY mode and channel?

what do you get for RSSI, signal, or signal to noise? at what distance from Router?

what do you get for Transmit rate?

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

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On the first, you are using 802.11ac on channel 149.

90 less 58 gives -32dB excellent signal-to-noise. appropriate signal level (-58) for 15 feet away. ¿clear line of sight?

Top baseband speed for an 80MHz channel is 390, you have backed off that top speed by two clicks, but I think you are using three antennas to achieve 878 Transmit speed at slightly less than best modulation technique. This is a little surprising, because your conditions should be perfect at 15 feet and a high channel in the 5GHz band.

How many other networks are showing?

You can use Wi-Fi diagnostics to get to a screen with additional Utilities on it:

choose SCAN, and you will get a display that shows competing networks, and what their primary channels are.

But keep in mind that an 80MHz channel will spill up and down onto adjacent channel is a big way. This chart from the inexpensive Utility WiFi explorer (with 3-day free trial) show the width of the channels as well:

I think the two shown here as fighting over channel 36 are both 40MHz channels. An 80 would spread even wider.

you can drag graphics onto Preview to enlarge.

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Your second, you are using 802.11n on channel 1.

101 less 56 gives -45dB amazing signal-to-noise. appropriate signal level (-45) for 15 feet away. ¿clear line of sight?

Top baseband speed for an 20MHz channel is 65, you appear to be running at top speed, but I think you are using two antennas to achieve 130 Transmit speed at best modulation technique.

This connection should not be having a problem. If it is, it would be caused by interference from other Routers on the same channel.

How many other networks are showing?

Ping test can show you that there is a problem, but it provides no insights as to what the problem might be. If you open Wi-Fi diagnostics and let it run for a minute or two, it will give you chance to select "monitor" using this box. Just click ( continue) and leave it open in the background, and go about your business, and it may provide notice of anything unusual happening:

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If you are using additional repeaters (Routers in bridge mode), these generally should be wired with Ethernet cabling. If you are relying on over-the-air forwarding, you generate so much Router-to-Router traffic that it can strongly inhibit your ability to get regular data through. The top diagrams are the correct way to set this up for an office -- using the bottom "Wirelessly Extended" diagram is a stopgap for use in low-traffic areas when there is no other alternative.

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I also have exactly the same issue. massive packet loss on Wifi.
It appears to be after the Mac has been to sleep. Quite often a reboot fixes the issue. I work in Network Administration and connect to 10+ different wifi networks everyday and the problem is throughout all wifi networks. including 2.4 and 5Ghz. Its not dependent on noise or signal strength. Awaiting a fix.

I could see that happening on your 2.4GHz connection if you had a lot of other Routers nearby. There are only three usable channels there, unless you set your Router to "auto" channel selection.

You have not responded to how many other networks you see from your computer.

On the 5GHz connection, other Routers' signal tend to be less strong over distance, so they would fall off more rapidly. But despite what appears to be very good conditions, your computer is NOT running at the faster possible speeds.

Other Networks are around you, fighting for the channels you are using could give you exactly the symptoms you describe -- works great one minute (when your neighbors are quiet) and drops the connection the next minute when they decide to download or upload something big and your data collides.

Routers that you name uniquely will compete rather than cooperate. If you give each Router and Repeater the same network-name and password, they will cooperate and allow your Macs to automatically choose the strongest connection, even if you move around (a "Roaming Network"). And if you name the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz with the same network-name as well, it will allow your Macs to hop bands to get a better connection.

Best channel selection in that case is "Auto" as it will sniff the airwaves at Startup and choose the least busy channel.

Routers send out a "poll" (request for any station that has a message to respond now).

dgrescho-

Awaiting a fix.

There is no fix forthcoming, because Apple does not believe there is a systemic problem, and you have not shown them your sample of poorly-performing MacBooks so that they can treat this as a "sample defect" and fix it for you.

If you are in the US, your appointment at the genius bar of an Apple-owned store is free, in warranty or out.

If you can reproduce the problem on demand, a technician of any competency can swap parts until it is fixed.

I'm trying to reproduce this problem, because it's the only way to get this fixed by Apple.

So far I have been unable to. To break down how to reproduce it:

A. Measuring the problem

- Having a continous ping in a terminal is a good way to measure high ping times or packet loss.

B. Does the problem reoccur?

- Yes. It happens frequently throughout the day. How often?

C. Situation

- Location. Hardware configuration. Software. OS installed. Applications running. Easiest to make this as clean as possible, to reduce the influencing factors. Best would be a clean install of Mac OS X without any extra installed apps running on it.

D. Steps to reproduce

- I haven't figured this one out yet.

For me it looks like this:

- After a few minutes of 'idle' time, the first website I want to browse to stalls on resolving the host or creating the connection to the website. (Safari, Chrome, Firefox all have the problem).

- During this 5 second of freezing time, the terminal shows high ping times and packet loss

- If I have any bluetooth devices connected, during this 5 second freezing time these devices often get disconnected as well

- The difficulty is: after the 5 second freezing time the website connection is fast. Browsing any subsequent pages is super fast. Browsing to a website on another domain is also fast (regardless if it is a resolved or unresolved DNS domain name).

Trying to reproduce it immediately after it occurred doesn't work for this problem.

So, my next step in trying to reproduce:

- How long does the idle time need to be to reproduce this?

1. Does it ALWAYS happen when immediately browsing another site? No. Subsequent pages or sites are fast.

2. Does it ALWAYS happen after 30 seconds? ...

3. Does it ALWAYS happen after 1 minute? ...

4. Does it ALWAYS happen after 2 minutes? ...

5. Does it ALWAYShappen after 5 minutes? ...

6. Does it ALWAYS happen after 10 minutes? ...

7. Does it ALWAYS happen after 20 minutes? ...

8. Does it ALWAYS happen after 30 minutes? ...

9. Does it ALWAYS happen after 60 minutes? ...

Hoping breaking this down will help us reproduce it.

Installed MacOS High Sierra yesterday.

WiFi is super smooth now. No packetloss anymore. No high ping spikes of 5-10 seconds. No bluetooth devices disconnecting. Keyboard and trackback stay connected perfectly. Same for bluetooth headphones and bluetooth Wacom Intuos Pro.

Will give it a few more days but so far very promising. Feels like I finally received the fast MacBook Pro 2016 I ordered earlier this year.

I highly recommend updating to High Sierra to see if it works for you as well.