2018 Mac Mini bluetooth and Wi-Fi interference

Happened to me too but I was using ethernet and not wifi

So, you've had two 2018 Mini's now? Or do you mean you replaced an old one with a new one?

Update: nope that didn't fix it. Still having the issue.

Yes i changed for an Ugreen cable also. Quality is quite good.

SO... has anyone had continued success with ANYTHING? FOUR months later, and problem persists. So disgusted at this.

surely there are cables out there with suitable shielding and grounding?

I have had the problem too. I moved my wifi printer 10 feet away. That seemed to help for track pad 2 for continuing connect and reconnect. It does it now every few day. I hard shut down mini with power down button. Then it's ok. But AirPod disconnect so many times. I use wired with mini jack that came with my iPad headphone. I have a HP 25es Display. VGA cable on it connected to a apple USC dongle. Dongle also has ports for another USC and USB. I had external hd in the dongle. Plug it into the onboard USB of mini 2018. It is certainly a mess of wire. I wanted the latest in technology. I got the 256 HD, 8 GB Ram. Wished I spend more on an internal HD. So I got a 2 TB external (not SSD). And older 5 year old 1 TB for my time capsule.

I read somewhere in the Apple threads 2.4 hz extreme I have will interfere. I have ordered a 5 hz - but not here yet. I did buy a iMac with 1TB fusion 21 inch. And though might return it within the 14 days and get the mini 2018. Now I am 15 days (1 day beyond the return date) So I will stick with mini and HOPE there is a resolve. I wonder will a software update is going to work. Or do all get stuck with a lemon. I love Apple.... but just sayin' this is issue. Glad others are putting out what they have experienced. We assume Apple is coming up with a "fix".

I was able to reproduce the identical issue with other apple computers. Therefore, there is no "fix" that apple can do.

The issue is interference. This issue would probably be with all computers, both apple and non-apple.

I upgraded my router so that I start from a faster transfer rate. A rate of 10% of the wifi ac band theoretical maximum is still pretty fast.

However, there are some things that you can do to mitigate the interference issue when you plug a cable into your computer, especially the cable from the monitor. Monitors produce the most interference. A ferrite core came with my television. I did not use it. However, now I see why I should have.

To reduce the interference, place a ferrite cores around the two ends of the AC power cord to the monitor. Then, also, place ferrite cores on both ends of the cable going from your monitor to your computer. They clamp on to cables very easily. This should dramatically decrease the interference and increase the wifi speeds.

Ferrite cores are dirt cheap, costing about $10 for 20 of them on amazon. Also, they used to be on most computer cables 15-20 years ago. I don't know why the industry stopped using them. I guess they felt that newer electronics are not as susceptible to interference. However, apparently, wi-fi is very susceptible.

...thanks for advice. Was about to return unit to Apple. Like many others on this thread, upgraded from 2012 model (wish I hadn't) and had issues with wifi/bluetooth since new. Just turned off my 'usb hub' power (connected to x4 ext drives) and Wifi connected. Going to try longer cable and hope increasing the distance will enable ongoing connectivity. What a pain...

I'm having the same problem (except I upgraded from a 2011 Mac Min). Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I just tried turning off Wifi, since I'm connected with an Ethernet cable. I'll have to take a look at my cables, and ferrite cores, too.

With my new Mac mini I had the same Magic Mouse problem. Everything was fine until I attached an HDD with a USB cable. It was very jumpy as thought the Bluetooth was too far from the CPU. The problem turned out to be the USB 3.0 cable. The cable was to an external backup HDD via eSata. It had nothing to do with proximity to the HDD, rather the cable itself. When I swapped the cable out for an older USB 2.0 cable it worked fine again. Same proximity, same eSata dongle, same HDD. Also, the Bluetooth keyboard and Touch Pad were fine, only the mouse was affected. The Mac mini is in a rack about 15 feet from the bluetooth mouse, touch pad and keyboard. All is well again, but it is curious that the USB 3.0 port with a USB 3.0 cable caused a mouse issue.

So I am have a similar issue but I upgraded from an 11 to an 18 and just swapped the Mac Mini out. It recognizes my logitec BT mouse but won't recognize the Apple Magic Keyboard (original) so I can't even set the thing up because I have no keyboard. I have all BT items turned off around me. I am using WiFi but I don't really have an option for an ethernet cable here right now. I can go get a USB one to probably get through, but then I'm concerned this is going to be an ongoing issue? Is this something that be fixed via software/firmware update or do I just take it back. This really sucks as I NEED a new computer ASAP! I have been waiting 2-3 months to get this thing, bring it home and it's broken out of the box, I have never experienced anything like this with Apple in all my years... I'm shocked and really ******.

My problem then, is, that everything worked fine on the mac mini 2014. The ONLY new thing was the Mac Mini 2018. There were no new cords and NO USB-C or USB 3 cords in use when this happens.

But I'm willing to try the tin foil trick. And, I'll post an update in a few days if it works or not.

The 2014 Mac mini did not have USB-C ports and thus could not possibly have had the 2.4GHz interference problem mentioned above.

If no USB-C or 3 ports are in use on your 2018 Mac mini then there could be a fault with your Mac mini.

It's also possible that interference is being carried by the HDMI lead which I assume you are using to connect your monitor.

(My LG monitor which I use via USB-C came with unusually thick USB-C and HDMI leads which suggests they have good shielding and that HDMI leads might be an issue too).

Another possibility is that there was some existing interference occurring on the 2.4GHz band (when you had your 2014 Mac mini) which did not noticeably impact keyboard or mouse use but for some reason now affects your new Mac mini.

Good luck with the foil.

Initially, I had 2.4 and 5 available. Reduced dropouts as Mini used 5ghz channel. Issue arose for kids/visitors/work hardware where internal settings defaulted to 2.4ghz - then issues again. Turned 2.4ghz off. If older device, well, there is always 4g. So far, haven't come across that issue.