Macbook Pro Wireless Signal Strength

I am confused. My wife and I both bought new Macbook Pros last week. She has the stock 15" 2.2ghz and I have the 2.4ghz with 160gb 7200 rpm drive.
On my machine, the only way I can get 4 bars of signal coverage is to be within 5 feet of our router. On her machine she gets 4 bars all over the house. Same for my ibook g4 800mhz "dinosaur". That one gets the full strength as well.
Did I get a lemon? It seems to work well even with 3 bars, but I travel for a living and I depend on wireless services in hotels to "live my digital life." Is this going to be a problem? Waiting for a night in a hotel, which should be any day now, but I'm kinda wondering if I should talk to apple about this....
anyone have a similar experience with only 3 bars? Also, does 3 bars mean anywhere from 75%-100%? Is there a way to find an exact percentage of signal strength? Thanks for any and all replies.
Rob

What is the type of router you use? Check with it's vendor support page, as mine needed an upgrade after 10.4 and the dreaded network upgrade.
Also, go to a free internet cafe (like Tully's) and see if you can duplicate this. That will narrow it down to your home router or the machine. My Vista machine also had problems with my wireless network until I updated my wireless card software for it. XP would run fine, 5 bars, Vista, 2 bars.
There have been a lot of odd issues with the updates to all these wireless cards, moving through a variety of new standards including problems with WPA and other security protocols. Given where I live, I simply disabled security on the network, assuming that there are not many people out here wanting to hack my network. In a city or suburb, I'd probably be using security though.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro wireless signal issue

I've been experiencing this issue for at least a month now and it is driving me up the wall. Occasionally, my wireless signal will drop and I'll either be unable to connect to websites, or when I do it takes a very long time. And the only cure I find for this is to go to the menu bar and 'Turn Airport Off', wait a sec, then 'Turn Airport On'. This is a pain and I'm sick of doing it.
The drop occurs intermittently, some times once a day, sometimes 10 times in as many minutes. Most of the time I can see the signal indicator in the menu bar drop from 4 bars to 3. Also, it isn't a matter of signal strength as I am sitting 10 feet from the router.
I know it's not an issue with my ISP (Verizon Fios) or their router, because wired hosts dont have this problem and the wireless Windows hosts in my house dont have the problem.
I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue, and if there is a fix. Thanks.

So is this an authoritative answer? I have seen exactly the same problem. My wife's MacBook Pro keeps losing its connection, but my iMac G4 and my Powerbook G4 work fine. We are all talking to the same Dlink DI-524 WAP, but only her MacBook Pro has this problem.
The workaround I have been using is to renew her dhcp lease every time she loses contact. This works, but it's a PIA as you say.
If I were to want to go back to 10.4.8, how on earth does one do that? Does Apple have any official opinion on this problem, or better yet, a fix?
Thansk
Jusitn Harlow

Macbook low wireless signal strength with Time Capsule

Hi,
I have a macbook (2,1) 1,83 Ghz connected to my brand new Time Capsule 1 TB in 802.11b/g/n compatible mode. I have also my iPhone hooked up to my Time Capsule through wireless network.
I have issues on the macbook with the wifi, sometimes it drops and sometimes it is really slow.
So I just checked on Time Capsule under the "Wireless Clients" tab in "Logs and statistics" to see the signal strength I get.
I put both iPhone and macbook next to the Time Capsule, here are the results of the signal strength:
I get a signal strength in dBm of :
-27 for the macbook !!
66 for the iphone !!
Here is a screenshot: http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3853/timcacapsulehm6.png
Please help, I think I have a problem either with macbook or Leopard 10.5.2 ??

The Time Capsule will provide more wireless signal coverage if you connect it permanently to the Virgin modem/router using a wired Ethernet connection. Ethernet cabling can be run up to 300 feet or 100 meters with virtually no loss, so you should be able to locate the Time Capsule where it will be needed.
Configure the Time Capsule to create a new network that uses the same wireless network name and password as the Virgin wireless network and you will have, in effect, one "big" network.

Macbook pro wireless signal acting very sporadic

Hi everyone!
My macbook pro recently starting acting strangely, after two years of no problems what so ever.
It seems that i can only get a very strong signal when i am in the same room as the router and even then the signal goes up and down constantly. It's very frustrating, especially when my iphone gets a very strong signal all the time.
I've tried zapping the PRAM and setting the router to g only. Although, I dont think it is the router. The problem occurs no matter where I go. If anyone has any ideas about what may be the cause and how to fix it, I would be greatly appreciative!
Thanks to all,
Rhemy

So is this an authoritative answer? I have seen exactly the same problem. My wife's MacBook Pro keeps losing its connection, but my iMac G4 and my Powerbook G4 work fine. We are all talking to the same Dlink DI-524 WAP, but only her MacBook Pro has this problem.
The workaround I have been using is to renew her dhcp lease every time she loses contact. This works, but it's a PIA as you say.
If I were to want to go back to 10.4.8, how on earth does one do that? Does Apple have any official opinion on this problem, or better yet, a fix?
Thansk
Jusitn Harlow

Macbook Pro wireless signal going in and out

I recently got comcast highspeed internet with the wireless network. Everything works fine when I'm using my MBP in the same room as the router. But when I go to my office which is only about 20ft away the signal struggles to stay strong. What's frustrating is that my G4 is in the same room and has no problem picking up and keeping a strong signal.
On top of that, when I connect my MBP to my 23" cinema display and close the MBP the airport card cuts off completely and can't even connect to, and sometimes doesn't even show the network in the list.
HELP!!!
PS: If this question belongs in a different section please feel free to let me know.

This happened to me when I updated to 10.4.10 but it seems from your profile you are still under 10.4.9.
Problem solved by reverting to the "IO80211Family.kext" of 10.4.9 in System/Library/Extensions as described in an other discussion on this forum
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=970070&start=0&tstart=0

Fed up of Macbook Pro wireless problems

I'm having lots of trouble with my Macbook Pro wireless and really don't know what to do with it.
My own router (3COM officeconnect) I cannot connect to at all no matter what I try - but I've given up hope on that anyways.
My current problem is that at a friends house with a Linksys 11g wifi router (forgot which one) I can connect to the wifi network (WEP128) but I cant browse the net! I can ping IP numbers directly, but I cannot ping names (such as www.google.com). I keep getting 'cannot resolve host'. strangely enough, after I reboot a number of times sometimes I CAN browse the net...
I'm currently at a hospital which is fully decked out with CISCO wifi access points (unsecured) everywhere, which my 5 year old HP can access no problems within seconds of booting up, my mobile phone can access without any configuration... but my state of the art macbook pro cannot. I have the same problem as the Linksys, I can connect to their network, I can ping IP addresses, but cant browse the web or ping names (and ive been rebooting and trying for about 8 hours now).
I took the MBP to an apple certified service place a whileback and they concluded the hardware was fine, cos I can connect to apple wifi points (which is all they care about). Ive never had any problems with wifi on windows, linux, PSP, symbian or Windows Mobile... but the MBP seems to be in a league of its own.
I'm hoping this is a configuration issue, but I dont know what I would need to configure, both the hp and mobile phone can connect without any configuration, so I would have expected the mbp to connect easily too. I havnt changed any settings on it.
It sounds like a DNS issue so I checked the DNS servers assigned to the mbp, and its the same as the whats on the hp(all assigned with DHCP). Just in case I tried putting in the DNS servers manually but still I get the same thing.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions it would be much appreciated!
(On another note, I just logged in and I was asked to create a new account for these forums! dunno what happened but now Ive started from scratch! i had loads of posts, subscribtions etc.! all gone!)
MBP C2D 3GB / MP 8core 8GB X1900 / Shuttle SN25P 3800+ 2GB GF7800GTX Mac OS X (10.4.10)

"My current problem is that at a friends house with a Linksys 11g wifi router (forgot which one) I can connect to the wifi network (WEP128) but I cant browse the net!"
This is the exact same problem I'm having. The ONLY time I was able to connect to the internet w/ my MBP was at a cafe w/ a linksys connection, the first day I had the MBP. But now I can't even connect there. Although internet connect SAYS I'm connected to linksys and shows a strong signal, and my network diagnostics show that I'm connected, I can't browse the internet. I bought this partly to do video editing in Final Cut Pro (why I needed an MBP rather than the less expensive macbook) and partly so that I could work between classes, which is absolutely necessary for me. But I haven't been able to connect on my college campus despite the fact that no one else is having problems w/ their PCs or their macbooks. Everywhere I go with this thing, I'm the only one having problems (and I should mention that I happen to be the only person using an MBP in each place I've tested it...). I'm not sure what to do. I can't configure any routers or anything because I'm connecting in public places (at home I use a highspeed DSL connection w/ a PC), and there are no problems w/ the routers anyways, since everyone w/ older laptops is connecting just fine.
So far this is what I've done to try to fix it:
-Went over everything with Apple tech support, who said that all of my configurations were correct and that it was a problem with the 10.4.10 update. So I...
-Reinstalled my operating system to go back to 10.4.9. Still the same problem. So I...
-Zapped the PRAM. Nothing.
-Did the Macbook Pro Update that came out yesterday. Nothing.
-Installed the latest security update. Nothing.
I should mention I've only had this laptop for about a week, haven't changed any settings (I'm new to Macs so I would be uncomfortable doing so, anyways), and haven't installed anything except for a trial version of the Mac FTP program Fetch (which was working fine the one time I was able to get connected). I guess I'm going to uninstall that and forfeit the rest of my trial period, but I really doubt that program is the problem.
Anyways, I'm really frustrated as well. I guess I'm going to try to download the program mentioned in this thread to clear my cache. I'll let you know if it works, by some miracle...

HT3500 how can i connect my macbook pro wirelessly to an hp printer with a asus rt 66acr router?

how can i connect my macbook pro wirelessly to an hp printer with a asus rt 66acr router?

Firstly, the HP printer must be connected to the ASUS' network. Then, simply connect your MBP to the network and your printer should be addable in Print & Fax in System Preferences.

HT5287 DVD and CD sharing will not let you play or share DVD movies and audio CD's. Does any one know of a way to get music from a CD on a MacBook Pro wirelessly to an iMac?

DVD and CD sharing will not let you play or share DVD movies and audio CD's. Does any one know of a way to get music from a CD on a MacBook Pro wirelessly to an iMac?

I cannot find the eMac install disk, and I haven't been able to get it to start up from my 10.3 CDRm (holding down option or c), though I read something somewhere about these not being able to start up from system folders earlier than those they shipped with. I've dealt with this sort of thing several times before, and it always seemed to work to simply use target disk mode.
It definitely won't start up fromt the 10.5 DVD-R, and I'm pretty sure I tried putting the MBP into TM to use its optical drive as well, but it didn't work. But it's worth trying again, and I appreciate your input greatly.

I want to connect my ps3 to my macbook pro wirelessly.

I want to connect my ps3 to my macbook pro wirelessly, my macbook pro is connected to the internet via ethernet.

OS X offers a feature known as Internet Sharing. With this feature enabled, the Mac Pro would perform as a "software" router. If the Mac Pro has built-in wireless (AirPort), you could then use this feature to share the Mac Pro's wired Internet connection via AirPort to the PS3.

Why does the wireless signal strength rise/fall on my Mac?

About two months ago, the wireless signal strength (from an Airport Express wireless router) on one of my Macs began to fluctuate. This machine is an adjacent bedroom from the router and has never experienced this problem until recently.
My other Mac sits two feet from the router and is fine.
I have moved the router a few feet in every direction with no change; have rebooted the Time Warner modem and router twice.
Every trick I know has failed to make a difference.
Any thoughts?
Mac in question: OS 10.6.8
OK Mac 10.9.2
Router is two years old.

Hi ....
.PatchedInternetDownload.png
Your Mac has been infected with the flashback trojan. The fix is relatively easy.
Installing this update Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8 will remove the flashback variants.
Restart your Mac after the update is installed.

Have MacPro wired to Verizon DSL; how do I add MacBook Pro wireless?

I have a MacPro connected with an Ethernet cable to a Westell WireSpeed modem that is plugged into the wall phone jack served by Verizon DSL. The MacPro does not have an Airport card. My wife wants to connect her MacBook Pro with built-in Airport Extreme 802.11n wirelessly to the internet.
I've never used a router before. Would an Airport Extreme Base Station let me operate the MacPro wired and the MacBook Pro wireless simultaneously? If not, how can I do it?
Message was edited by: spotster

Would an Airport Extreme Base Station let me operate the MacPro wired and the MacBook Pro wireless simultaneously?
Yes, the AirPort Extreme or any other vendor's wireless router with a built-in Ethernet switch will provide for both wired and wireless clients simultaneously.

Pix from the iPhone to the MacBook Pro wirelessly?

How do I get my pix from the iPhone to the MacBook Pro wirelessly? The iCloud ads give the impression that I can do that.
Thanx!

Thanx for the response!
The Mac is running OS X 10.7.5, and the iPhone is running iOS 6.1.3. iPhoto on the Mac is 9.4.3.
**** .... and appear in iPhoto on your Mac, when the camera is closed, .... ****
Does "closed" mean, power off?
**** Note: only photos taken after turning on photo stream are uploaded, not earlier photos. ****
Once I turn Photo Stream on, in iPhoto, does it stay on all the time? Do I cahe to click somewhere for te pix to upload from the iPhone to the Mac?
The "automatic" part isn't working.

HT3231 I am migrating about 450GB from my MacBook White to my MacBook Pro, wirelessly and it will take over three days, having spent 18 hours on the first 15%. Is it possible to interrupt this migation without damaging either source or target?

I am migrating about 450GB from my MacBook White to my MacBook Pro, wirelessly and it will take over three days, having spent 18 hours on the first 15%. Is it possible to interrupt this migation without damaging either source or target?
On reflection I should have used a wired connection or migrated at a later time but is it possible to interrupt the process now and rerun with a wired solution without damaging either laptop?

I have two iTunes libraries - about 172GB that I keep on my MacBook Pro and 500GB+ that I keep on an external drive. If you wanted to do something similar - keeping that precious internal space to a minimum - you can just create two libraries and hold down the option key when opening iTunes: this allows you to select which library you want to open.
Just a thought...
Clinton

Can I determine my wireless signal strength?

I'm using a Verizon router MI424WR. is there a way to tell the signal strength I'm getting? I'm using a wireless network adapter for my TiVo box in the other room. My signal is not always good but don' Know if the strength is poor because of my wireless network adapter or my router.

Your TiVO I would imagine can display at least a part of the picture as to how the Wireless signal strength is. If it doesn't, should you happen to have a Laptop, placing the laptop near the TiVo may give you an idea of the strength as well since that would more than likely report the strength.
========
The first to bring me 1Gbps Fiber for $30/m wins!

Connecting my Sony BD player to my MacBook Pro wireless network. It sees the network but it then asks for a WPA security key. Where do I find this key?

Connecting my Sony BD player to my MacBook Pro wireless network. It sees the network but it then asks for a WPA security key. Where do I find this key?

Hi Michael,
It sounds like your router's authentication is set to WPA and thus where the key is established. Does your MacBook Pro connect to a wireless router? If so, that's where you'd need to get the key from via a web-based control panel for the router or if it's an AEBS via AirPort Utility.

Macbook Pro Wireless Signal Strength

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for