Bootcamp WiFi Issue - Macbook Pro 15' 2017 15

Question

Level 1

12 points

Bootcamp WiFi Issue - Macbook Pro 15' 2017 15

My macbook pro has significant problem with bootcamp Windows 10 ( Anniversary Edition ).

I am struggling with some wifi networks (some works decent - e. g. iphone hotspot but in most cases the connection is intermitent and noticeably slower than in os x on the same macbook).

I think the problem is somewhere on the windows side - probably compatibility issue?

The above issue does not exist under os x, which seems to work perfect on the same problematic wifi, also other computers with windows work fine, even my older mbpr 2013.

Since I have two mac, can use Wireless Diagnostics Sniffer tool but need some instructions as I am newbie in terms of these.

Please, I need a solution!

Thanks

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017), Windows 10

Posted on Oct 15, 2017 12:33 PM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 15, 2017 2:57 PM in response to MarcinW15

Did you recently apply Apple patches on the Windows side?

Use Apple Software Update to fix Wi-Fi issues in Boot Camp - Apple Support

About the security content of Wi-Fi Update for Boot Camp 6.1 - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 21, 2017 6:25 AM in response to MarcinW15

There was an Apple Software Update - Use Apple Software Update to fix Wi-Fi issues in Boot Camp - Apple Support - but this one corrected a 802.11n problem, but caused issues with 802.11ac.

Try running Apple Software Update and check if there is one available. Before you apply the update, create a Windows System Restore point, in case you need to roll back and test.

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 16, 2017 12:11 PM in response to MarcinW15

Good to hear that 5G is better now.

On the 2.4G side, since there are only 11 channels, and some of them overlap,

is the channel selection set to automatic?
does the 2.4G channel of the AP show up in the macOS Wireless Diagnostics -> Scan as an optimal channel?

As a test, try 2, 6 and 11 each and see where you get the best performance. BT and other 2.4G interferences can also cause problems.

You do not need to run another sniffer test, unless the 2.4G performance cannot be diagnosed further. On the macOS side, also look at the Performance chart.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 16, 2017 12:27 PM in response to MarcinW15

Your 5G supports 802.11ac. You should get a much better rate. On version of .64 of the driver there issues with 802.11n, but 11ac worked. .68 seemed to favor 802.11n. On the macOS side, can you check (using Alt+WiFi icon) what radio are you connecting to?

The 2.4G shows you are connecting to 802.11g at 36 Mbps. I assume the MAC address of your Mac ends in 24:04.

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Answer 5

MarcinW15 Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 16, 2017 11:51 AM in response to Loner T

Yes my MAC ends in 24:04.

I have changed my router settings in the meantime, so now it is forced to use 802.11n - 20MHz for 2,4GHz and 802.11n/ac - 20/40MHz for 5GHz. After that, my 5GHz network started to use 'ac' standard instead of much slower 'a' standard and it's performance under windows is as good as in os x (I can reach full speed of 120Mbps). However 2,4GHz network, which now should only use 'n' standard instead of 'b' or 'g' is still much slower under Windows in compare to os x or my other macbook. I have also changed SSID names for UPC2.4GHz93526C2 and UPC5GHz93526C2 so now I am able to choose in os x between these two.

I can make a sniffer report once again for 2,4G as it now using only 20MHz and 'n' so you could check what is the cause of this slower connection?

From below photos you can still observe a huge gape in performance between my two macbooks running under Windows on 2.4GHz network.

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 21, 2017 7:10 AM in response to MarcinW15

I think you have already applied the update. There is a similar discussion - "Can't Connect to this Network" on Windows 10 Partition - which has an older version of the driver originally released with BC package.

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 15, 2017 2:00 PM in response to MarcinW15

You can stop it as soon as it says cannot connect.

If you can load it DropBox, I can take look. Post SSID which you are trying to connect to.

in Re: Bootcamp Issue WiFi - Macbook Pro 2017 15" .

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Answer 8

MarcinW15 Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 15, 2017 2:48 PM in response to Loner T

To better show the issue I did two speed tests one by one. First one with higher download speed was made on macbook pro 2013 and the secound one with lower speed on macbook pro 2017. I have repeated these tests for a couple of times but the results remain unchanged.

(Both mac were connected to same network - this is 5GHz wifi, but problem exist on both 2,4 and 5GHz).

SSID UPC93526C2

I should also be able to post sniffer tool resoults soon.

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Answer 9

MarcinW15 Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 15, 2017 3:40 PM in response to Loner T

Yes, I have 7.35.118.73 driver version, which according to device manager was released on 12.07.2017. Apple Software Update do not show any newer drivers avaiable.

I also did sniffer reports for 5GHz and 2,4GHz networks. According to Wireless Diagnostic Scan Tool my 5GHz network using 80 MHz Width, but Sniffer can only choose between 40 and 20 MHz so I am not sure if report is accurate in this case.

5GHz report 40MHz channel 56:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1ztQ4kena1_czVIdFA1Q1puaHNNUEFzeEhxNWdPSTJMWXR j/view?usp=sharing

2,4 GHz report 20MHz channel 6:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1ztQ4kena1_b1ltQi1ITVZtUTA/view?usp=sharing

SSID is the same for both 2,4 and 5 wifi.

I have uploaded these to Google Drive as I do not have dropbox account.

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Answer 10

MarcinW15 Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 21, 2017 4:53 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the channel selection is set to auto on the router end. It also seems to choose the same channel for 2.4GHz as the one recomended by Scan tool. I have tried other channels with no significant gains in speed. However other devices with 'n' standard wireless adapter can achieve much higher results than my broadcom with ac (in terms of 2.4GHz) so this is probably not channel related thing.

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Answer 11

MarcinW15 Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 21, 2017 7:04 AM in response to Loner T

It looks like Apple software update does not see any newer driver than the one already installed from 12-July-2017.

When Apple released this update and what is the version number of it?

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