Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Macbook Pro WiFi long ping time

Hello. I've got an issue that's come up on this discussion category before with the late 2016 MBP w/touchbar (model MBP 13,3): long WiFi pings. Another user posted a short/long oscillating ping time to his WiFi router. I'm having the same problem, and the previous thread was closed before a solution was reached.

Recap of the problem... You'll see 50 pings from my MBP to my Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router, followed by 50 from my iPhone 7.

Macbook Pro:

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.985 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=183.609 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=301.731 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=764.977 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=532.749 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=423.662 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=109.228 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=647.522 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=0.957 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=1.473 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=1.925 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=2.346 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=2.694 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=2.498 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=162.144 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=291.535 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=139.565 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=114.130 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=193.848 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=64 time=356.472 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=64 time=15.614 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=64 time=377.467 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=64 time=323.144 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=64 time=11.042 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=64 time=53.428 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=64 time=90.603 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=64 time=2.809 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=64 time=2.028 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=64 time=19.199 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=64 time=2.303 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=64 time=2.118 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=64 time=142.155 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=64 time=267.978 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=64 time=730.390 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=64 time=496.511 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=35 ttl=64 time=377.961 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=64 time=0.967 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=64 time=397.723 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=64 time=166.925 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=64 time=1.047 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=64 time=1.977 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=41 ttl=64 time=2.157 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=42 ttl=64 time=2.821 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=43 ttl=64 time=1.022 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=44 ttl=64 time=1.047 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=45 ttl=64 time=107.489 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=46 ttl=64 time=359.644 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=47 ttl=64 time=128.508 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=48 ttl=64 time=173.255 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=49 ttl=64 time=354.999 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=50 ttl=64 time=47.964 ms

You can see the back and forth. Some pings over 1/2 a second, some pings under 1 millisecond... really inconsistent performance... and you can see the fruits of that especially when I'm coping files on my LAN.

and now 50 pings from my iPhone 7, connected to the same WiFi router:

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=37.430 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=11.955 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=6.737 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=8.101 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=14.486 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=13.315 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=15.315 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=14.153 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=16.863 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=16.113 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=2.665 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=13.714 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=4.598 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=7.731 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=17.913 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=16.114 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=17.863 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=16.181 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=17.803 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=64 time=17.603 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=64 time=18.353 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=64 time=4.654 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=64 time=6.708 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=64 time=18.336 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=64 time=17.424 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=64 time=7.046 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=64 time=17.466 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=64 time=7.403 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=64 time=17.738 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=64 time=6.952 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=64 time=18.160 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=64 time=19.429 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=64 time=7.184 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=64 time=4.413 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=64 time=18.027 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=35 ttl=64 time=19.121 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=64 time=18.408 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=64 time=19.173 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=64 time=18.664 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=64 time=19.574 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=64 time=7.911 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=41 ttl=64 time=7.958 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=42 ttl=64 time=5.647 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=43 ttl=64 time=8.011 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=44 ttl=64 time=7.967 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=45 ttl=64 time=7.963 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=46 ttl=64 time=7.913 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=47 ttl=64 time=7.980 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=48 ttl=64 time=7.992 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=49 ttl=64 time=7.961 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.11.1: icmp_seq=50 ttl=64 time=7.959 ms

As you can see, the performance of the MBP beats iPhone 7 at shortest ping time, but iPhone 7 *destroys* my MBP in terms of consistency. The previous post suggested that the user take his MBP to the Apple Store and ask that they physically open the machine to check if the antennas were broken, or their wires damaged or some other hardware issue.

I've also tested using a hardwire connection. Obviously, this solution offers the best performance, with pings almost always under 1 millisecond. So it's seems the problem is the WiFi on the MBP.

I'm thumping this problem again to see if anyone else has experienced it and solved it.

Thanks, y'all!

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Feb 22, 2018 12:00 PM

Similar questions

28 replies

Feb 24, 2018 3:13 PM in response to DeltaHF

Those are good points. It sounds like you have "done your homework" on this issue. You need not run etrecheck if you don't feel it is necessary.

What Apple will likely want to see (to NOT dismiss this as "you did this to yourself" kind of problem) is that it occurs in standard MacOS, with nothing added. They are likely to insist on an Erase and Install so that you can demonstrate your MacOS is truly clean of third-party add-ons and has not been clobbered by anything you were running previously.

So be prepared, and make sure you have a Trusted Backup, so that erasing your drive and re-Installing will not cause you any issues.

If you have access to any of: Developer Tech support, National Tech support (for huge customers), or Educational Tech support; you can make rapid progress in submitting your Bug reports directly through those organizations. Otherwise, a Genius bar appointment, or an online chat, or a phone support -- but ask for a specialist, the first responders are not likely likely to be able to deal with a problem of this complexity.

Then be prepared to dig in your heels and not be taken lightly, but INSIST that your problem is NOT solved, and on having them escalate this problem up the chain toward Engineering. You will get resistance from them, because it makes more work for the person you are dealing with.

Feb 25, 2018 8:45 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I don't see any smoking guns here...

EtreCheck version: 4.0.4 (4A150)

Report generated: 2018-02-25 20:39:30

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 3:18

Performance: Good

Problem: Computer is too slow

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.

Gatekeeper disabled - Gatekeeper security protection is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

System Integrity Protection disabled - System Integrity Protection is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Unsigned files - There is unsigned software installed. It appears to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro13,3

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-6820HQ) CPU: 4-core

16 RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB LPDDR3 2133 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB LPDDR3 2133 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 69

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 530 - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 3360 x 2100

AMD Radeon Pro 455 - VRAM: 2048 MB

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE SSD SM0512L 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Internal PCI-Express 8.0 GT/s x4 NVM Express

disk0s1 - EFI [EFI] 315 MB

disk0s2 [Core Storage Container] 420.05 GB

disk1 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 419.70 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD [Recovery] 650 MB

disk0s4 - P******p (Journaled HFS+) 79.13 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s4 - P******p 79.13 GB (11.53 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P******p

disk1 - Macintosh HD 419.70 GB (105.99 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /

Network:

Interface en7: USB 10/100/1000 LAN

Interface en9: USB 10/100/1000 LAN 2

Interface lpss-serial1: LPSS Serial Adapter (1)

Interface lpss-serial2: LPSS Serial Adapter (2)

Interface en6: iBridge

One IPv6 address

Interface en0: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

Interface en8: iPhone

Interface en5: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 1.04 GB available

System Software:

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1212)

Time since boot: About 14 days

System Load: 2.10 (1 min ago) 2.56 (5 min ago) 2.36 (15 min ago)

Security:

System	Status
Gatekeeper	Anywhere
System Integrity Protection	disabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist

Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/steamclean

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist

Executable: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/vboxwebsrv

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.virtualbox.startup.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/LaunchDaemons/VirtualBoxStartup.sh restart

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Kernel Extensions:

/Applications/InsomniaX.app

[Not Loaded] Insomnia_r11.kext (2.1.7 - SDK 10.9)

/Applications/Tunnelblick.app

[Not Loaded] tap.kext (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4921))

[Not Loaded] tun.kext (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4921))

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[Loaded] VBoxDrv.kext (5.1.26)

[Loaded] VBoxNetAdp.kext (5.1.26)

[Loaded] VBoxNetFlt.kext (5.1.26)

[Loaded] VBoxUSB.kext (5.1.26)

/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice/Extensions

[Loaded] org.pqrs.driver.Karabiner.VirtualHIDDevice.v041100.kext (4.11.0 - SDK 10.13)

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] EnergyDriver.kext (2.0 - SDK 10.12)

[Not Loaded] RDUSB0009Dev.kext (1.0.0 - SDK 10.9)

/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] EyeTVAfaTechHidBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVCinergy450AudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVCinergyXSAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVEmpiaAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVVoyagerAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	8 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	159 Apple tasks
[Running]	118 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded]	39 Apple tasks
[Loaded]	151 Apple tasks
[Running]	127 Apple tasks
[Other]	2 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded]	org.pqrs.karabiner.karabiner_console_user_server.plist (Fumihiko Takayama - installed 2017-12-29)
[Not Loaded]	com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist (RealVNC Limited - installed 2017-08-03)
[Running]	com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist (RealVNC Limited - installed 2017-08-03)
[Loaded]	org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2016-10-26)
[Loaded]	com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-17)
[Running]	com.avid.ApplicationManager.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-09-25)

Launch Daemons:

[Running]	com.realvnc.vncserver.plist (RealVNC Limited - installed 2017-08-03)
[Loaded]	com.avid.bsd.shoetoolv120.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-08-29)
[Loaded]	com.bombich.ccchelper.plist (Bombich Software, Inc. - installed 2017-11-17)
[Not Loaded]	org.virtualbox.startup.plist (? 700b9385 - installed 2017-08-23)
[Running]	com.paceap.eden.licensed.plist (PACE Anti-Piracy, Inc. - installed 2017-06-09)
[Loaded]	com.avid.bsd.shoe.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-08-30)
[Loaded]	com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-12-14)
[Loaded]	org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2016-10-26)
[Running]	com.avid.transport.client.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-05-23)
[Running]	org.pqrs.karabiner.karabiner_grabber.plist (Fumihiko Takayama - installed 2017-12-29)
[Running]	com.avid.hub.service.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-05-23)
[Loaded]	com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-17)
[Loaded]	com.renewedvision.InstallHelper.plist (Renewed Vision LLC - installed 2017-12-17)
[Loaded]	com.feingeist.shimo.helper.plist (Fabian Jaeger - installed 2017-09-30)
[Loaded]	com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist (Rogue Amoeba Software, LLC - installed 2017-08-14)
[Loaded]	net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist (Jonathan Bullard - installed 2017-12-08)

User Launch Agents:

[Loaded]	com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-09-14)
[Loaded]	com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (? 0 - installed 2017-12-20)
[Not Loaded]	org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (? 0 - installed 2017-07-27)
[Loaded]	com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist (? 0 - installed )
[Loaded]	net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin.plist (Jonathan Bullard - installed 2017-12-07)

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2018-01-25)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (Dropbox, Inc.

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Karabiner-Elements Application (Fumihiko Takayama

(/Applications/Karabiner-Elements.app)

Jumpcut Application

(/Applications/Jumpcut.app)

EyeTV Helper Application (SHENZHEN GENIATECH INC.,LTD

(/Library/Application Support/EyeTV/EyeTV Helper.app)

Internet Plug-ins:

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.137 (installed 2018-01-23)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-01-31)

Flash Player: 28.0.0.137 (installed 2018-01-23)

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2017-10-18)

User Internet Plug-ins:

Aspera Web 3.7.4.147728: 3.7.4 (installed 2017-09-05)

WebEx64: 1.1.0 (installed 2018-01-24)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2017-12-14)

Time Machine:

Time Machine Not Configured!

Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count)	Source	% of CPU
QtWebEngineProcess (5)	Avid Technology Inc	24
WindowServer	Apple	8
kernel_task	Apple	6
Google Chrome Helper (17)	Google, Inc.	6
mds	Apple	5

Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count)	Source	RAM usage
kernel_task	Apple	1.58 GB
Google Chrome Helper (17)	Google, Inc.	1.34 GB
QtWebEngineProcess (5)	Avid Technology Inc	356 MB
mdworker (10)	Apple	301 MB
Google Chrome	Google, Inc.	296 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:

Process	Source	Input	Output
mDNSResponder	Apple	8 MB	3 MB
biometrickitd	Apple	6 MB	594 KB
Dropbox	Dropbox, Inc.	2 MB	2 MB
netbiosd	Apple	613 KB	215 KB
apsd	Apple	74 KB	68 KB

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Process (count)	Source	Energy usage (0-100)
QtWebEngineProcess (5)	Avid Technology Inc	15
WindowServer	Apple	3
Google Chrome Helper (17)	Google, Inc.	3
Google Chrome	Google, Inc.	1
airportd	Apple	1

Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM	7.62 GB
Free RAM	4.82 GB
Used RAM	8.38 GB
Cached files	2.80 GB
Swap Used	1.17 GB

Clean up:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist

/Applications/Skype.app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/com.skype.skype.shareage nt.bundle/Contents/MacOS/com.skype.skype.shareagent

Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-02-23 02:32:13 fud Crash

objc_msgSend selector name: respondsToSelector:

End of report

DeltaHF

Level 1

14 points

Feb 26, 2018 1:25 PM in response to Ian Whitworth

Have you tried connecting to different routers, Ian?

As I mentioned in my own post on the issue, I'm having the same results with four different routers and access points. I even connected to my own iPhone X's WiFi hotspot and tried pinging the iPhone's local address... the problem still existed.

I will be visiting a local university tomorrow; I'm going to take my MacBook and will see if it plays nicely with their WiFi network...

Feb 26, 2018 1:30 PM in response to DeltaHF

The only 2 access points I've tried so far have been my main Netgear Nighthawk router and hotspot to my iPhone. I've been comparing my Macbook Pro 13,3 (late 2016, touchbar) and my wife's Macbook Pro 8,1 (mid 2011). The 13,3 has ping problems with very inconsistent response times. The 8,1 doesn't have this issue and is very consistent with the response times. The router doesn't seem to matter.

Also, my iPhone 7 and my wife's 6s both have consistent ping response to our router, as does our older Android tablet and my daughter's Chromebook.

Next step for me is to take this newer MBP 13,3 to the Apple Store & prove it to them on their own network somehow.

DeltaHF

Level 1

14 points

Feb 26, 2018 7:27 PM in response to Ian Whitworth

Please share your experience at the Apple Store. It looks like I'm going to have to try that as well.

I visited a local university today and was in a brand-new building on campus with a strong, modern wifi network. Pinging their router saw the same inconsistent behavior, and it even dropped a packet. My iPhone X was, as usual, much more stable.

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=2.218 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.285 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.271 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=11.591 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=57.292 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=22.803 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=255 time=1.780 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=255 time=20.809 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=255 time=1.395 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=255 time=42.321 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=255 time=3.065 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=255 time=1.400 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=255 time=8.027 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=255 time=6.494 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=255 time=1.439 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=255 time=19.494 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=255 time=1.920 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=255 time=40.870 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=255 time=107.016 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=255 time=1.366 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=255 time=6.652 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=255 time=3.910 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=255 time=4.808 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=255 time=2.573 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=255 time=1.474 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=255 time=1.852 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=255 time=1.382 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=255 time=1.790 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=255 time=1.638 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=255 time=14.273 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=255 time=1.578 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=255 time=9.739 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=255 time=31.021 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=255 time=3.745 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=255 time=2.809 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=35 ttl=255 time=2.922 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=255 time=1.759 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=255 time=2.300 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=255 time=1.912 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=255 time=45.644 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=255 time=92.520 ms

Request timeout for icmp_seq 41

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=42 ttl=255 time=1.228 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=43 ttl=255 time=2.440 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=44 ttl=255 time=1.882 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=45 ttl=255 time=1.841 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=46 ttl=255 time=1.658 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=47 ttl=255 time=11.251 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=48 ttl=255 time=1.299 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=49 ttl=255 time=1.397 ms

64 bytes from 10.46.0.1: icmp_seq=50 ttl=255 time=21.670 ms

Feb 28, 2018 8:05 AM in response to DeltaHF

Be careful not to run any Wi-Fi scanner apps (e.g. WiFi Explorer) while running your ping tests. Doing so will result in high latency for short periods of time, as shown in your post.

Do you have any other apps (e.g. menu bar apps) monitoring your network connection in the background?

Feb 28, 2018 8:58 AM in response to agranados

That's a good question... but no. I do have a few menu tricks, but none of them have to do with networking. Closest thing is VNC Server, but I'm assuming that remains dormant until it's asked for a connection.

I've tried to run my ping tests as clean as possible - even made a new user & tried safe mode. I'd actually be interested in whether or not I can run them from single-user mode. I don't know how to cast the right bash spells to cast to fire up the WiFi under single-user.

DeltaHF

Level 1

14 points

Feb 28, 2018 2:04 PM in response to Ian Whitworth

Great detective work, Ian! Thank you to everyone for your help here.

Although I have never used Avid software, through a process of elimination I determined that Transmit (the file transfer app) was the main culprit for me. Even though it wasn't doing anything — not connected to any servers, no obvious network activity, etc. — it was somehow affecting the latency of my connection.

The connection is much, much more stable now. Although I do still see the occasional spike of 100-200ms every minute or so, that's probably to be expected in a building with such a congested wireless spectrum. There may also be other apps at fault which I haven't discovered yet.

I'm going to report the issue to Transmit's developers, but of course this leads to another question: why does the problem only manifest itself via wireless? Unless both Avid and Panic (Transmit's developers) have code which reaches deep into the OS network stack below the Transport layer, their behavior should be interface-agnostic. Unless, of course, there is some kind of bug in the MacOS networking API.

Ian, you should report the issue to Avid. I will comment in this thread if I hear back from Transmit's developers. If anyone else has the Transmit software and could verify this bug, that would be great as well.

Feb 28, 2018 5:41 PM in response to DeltaHF

A 2nd tier Apple tech helped me diagnose this. I had tried making a different user profile, but AAM was installed to run at the system level - would have affect all users. It wasn't until I booted into "safe mode" that we discovered the WiFi actually worked fine. That led us to login items and kernel extensions, and we eventually exposed AAM as the culprit.

Seems the issue is known to Avid users. I heard back from one Facebook friend running AAM that he doesn't have a problem, but his Avid workstation uses a wired connection primarily. So it really seems to be a WiFi problem exclusively (which is indeed puzzling). I never thought such a simple piece of software could be such a WiFi piggie in the background.

Hope this thread helps someone else, and good luck with the Transmit developers.

Cheers, y'all!

Feb 24, 2018 8:23 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

sorry - I have messed up which network we are studying and whose pictures are whose. So some of my comments above make no sense.

Feb 28, 2018 8:15 AM in response to Ian Whitworth

Do you have any apps (i.e. menu bar apps) monitoring your network connection in the background?

Feb 28, 2018 10:21 AM in response to Ian Whitworth

this guy, from your etrecheck report?

Launch Agents:

[...]

[Running] com.avid.ApplicationManager.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-09-25)

Feb 28, 2018 10:24 AM in response to DeltaHF

DeltaHF-

are you also running this?

Launch Agents:

[...]

[Running] com.avid.ApplicationManager.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-09-25)

Macbook Pro WiFi long ping time

[...]
[Running]	com.avid.ApplicationManager.plist (Avid Technology Inc - installed 2017-09-25)