[Stout]

I've had this new 17" MBP for 10 days now, and have started noticing that my airport isn't working well. It's not just that it isn't working well really, it's that it's completely unacceptable. It seems to work alright if my MBP is plugged in, but if I'm going off of the battery, it's dreadful. I have an Airport router, so any thoughts that it may be a network incompatibility don't apply. Also, I have two other macs in my house that use the network wirelessly, and their connections are flawless.

When I'm unplugged, I can browse the internet for a few minutes, and then pages refuse to load. Most of the time my airport still maintains 3 or 4 bars, but the internet doesn't work at all. In order to regain any connection, I have to go up to the menu bar, turn the airport off, turn it back on, and then reconnect to my network, which sometimes takes several times. I can then use the internet for 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, sometimes as short as 10 seconds, but alas it goes through the same deal again.

I talked with an AppleCare rep today, after waiting on the phone for nearly an hour, who had me change a few settings on my airport router, and then remove my battery and push the power button for 5 seconds. Neither of which seemed like viable solutions. The frequency of my connection drops may have lessened some, but it's still very unpredictable, so I think, if anything, any positive performance is a coincidence rather than an actual fix.

I just wanted to know if you had heard of this before, or if you have this problem. Know of any fixes? I really hope to get this resolved soon, with or without Apple. After all, with any portable, portability IS a huge deal, and being tethered to the wall all the time is a bit of a problem. Thanks for reading.

[Kadarin]

While the problem is occurring, open a Terminal window and type "ifconfig" (without quotes), and check to see if interface en1 has the correct ip address. The problem may not be with the wireless itself, but rather with a networking issue like an ip conflict. Also "the internet doesn't work at all" is rather vague. Is it simply that DNS isn't working and domain names can't resolve, or are you not able to ping your default gateway?

[vtboyarc]

does mbp wirless airport extreme usually have problems compared to mb?

[klb5090]

i have been experiencing this exact thing on my new MPB 2.2. While on battery/power adapter my airport works perfect most of the time but every couple minutes or so it won't load any pages and after a disconnect and reconnect it works great again. i never EVER drop below 4bars seeing that my router is only a few feet away. So STOUT your not alone and i'm also looking for a fix

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by vtboyarc 

does mbp wirless airport extreme usually have problems compared to mb?

No.

It is possible that the newer MBPs have different power management firmware, which might possibly be reducing WiFi power while on battery. But I think I'm stretching the idea to say that this is a "problem."

[Stout]

Well there's definitely a "problem." I'm not just being picky, the performance when on battery is definitely unacceptable.

Kadarin, I appreciate your response, and will use the ipconfig command the next time this problem arises, but as far as your other requests, I really don't know how to check and see if it's that the DNS isn't resolving or if I can't ping my default gateway. I'd be grateful for some instructions. Man I feel like a noob. Thanks again.

[HarriganC]

I have the same problem it seems to be related to airport update 2007-004. While surfing at times, my internet connection for some reason stops responding. My ip address is still assigned, and still connected to the router. If I switch wireless networks, or turn airport off then on it re-establishes the connection without a hitch. There are lots of threads about this on apple discussions, but really no resolution. It was happening so frequently for me that I am wired in for now (pathetic). My machine is 2.16 c2d... hopefully it is resolved soon.

CH

[klb5090]

well lets hope for a resolution because going "wired" on my brank new MBP is not exactly what i was planning on.

[ghporter]

For those of you having problems, particularly klb5090, what sort of signal quality were you getting when you experienced the drop outs? Any idea what sort of access point you were connecting with? There are some older Cisco access points that are pretty poor about allowing connections with certain low signal levels, but there is firmware to correct this-if the administrator bothers to install it. I've never had a connection problem with my Core Duo 2.0GHz MBP. Never. I can't help but think that there's either something about the A/B/G/N AirPort card, or the firmware that runs it, that is the cause of these issues, and that should mean that an AirPort update should fix it.

[Stout]

ghporter, as far as my network goes, I have an Airport Express router hooked up to a cable modem. It looks like the problem is a bit more widespread than just the few of us though, there are several topics at discussions.apple.com about this problem, the biggest of which being:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Airport Update 2007-004 made airport ...

[HarriganC]

I am using a D-link DI634M mimo, I have 3-4 bars throughout the house and when it the internet drops out.

I am feeling it is certainly an airport firmware issue, are these altered by the airport updates, or are those just OS patches?

CH

[klb5090]

i've been using my d-link router for about 6months and my old ibook g4 had zero problems. When i loose the connection i have 4bars at the least, i'm only 15 feet from the router at any point. I'm sure the router i'm using (not at home so can't give a model) is "g" not "n" like the new pro but i didn't think it should affect it that much.

[Big Mac]

WAIT!!!! I had this exact same problem with my Dell laptop, and I'm pretty sure you'll find it's the router and not the computer that's the problem. I think this happens when too many WIFI or other wireless devices occupy the same channel because while I was having this problem I downloaded a Windows WIFI diagnostic app and was shown that three or four other routers in the area were set to the channel mine was set to. Even though my D-link was set on automatic channel selection mode and therefore was supposed to pick the best channel, it was apparently on the default channel. I changed it and have not had that problem since.

[ghporter]

"Automatic" channel selection is a poorly thought out function. I ALWAYS use a manually selected channel, and I've never had a problem. Hmmmmmm.

This now looks more like a networking problem than a MBP problem, but I'm not moving it just yet. I'd like to see some feedback, particularly from the three of you that posted your setups. Choose a specific channel-at the ends (like 1 or 11) rather than the middle of the range; by default EVERY wireless router and access point comes from the factory set on either channel 6 or 7. This could very well be the fix.

[HarriganC]

My initial thoughts were my router and surrounding as well, however, as of now I can safely say it is a MBP airport issue. I have turned off automatic channel selection, done site surveys and picked channels furthest away from other networks as I am aware of the overlap that occurs, and used other machines in the same locations as my own to verify... FRUSTRATING!

[Stout]

I would stake my life on the fact that this is an issue with either the software or hardware in the MBP, rather than a networking issue. I've changed just about every setting I could on my Apple Airport Express base station, selecting different channels, using different addressing, and the problem still persists. (I've used channels Automatic, 1, 6, and 11, and nothing changed the issue.)

I've been sitting here in my living room using my computer for about ten minutes, and my internet has failed 4 times during this time. I have an iMac G3, and iMac G5, and an old Dell laptop that have no problem connecting to, and holding a connection, my network. This makes me think, as I said, that it's not a network issue. Oh, look at that, my airport just lost the connection again.

I've done some reading and found that some owners have had success by removing the AirPort Extreme Update 2007-004 and re-installing AirPort Extreme Update 2007-002. The process looks pretty complicated, but I'm drawing for straws here, and am going to try it after this post. I'll let you all know how it turned out.

[klb5090]

i never thought i would be running upstairs to use the dell desktop this is a sad day. My problem is defentially consistent and no other computer (including the dell and ibook G4) are having any trouble.

[NKT]

Same issue here with a 15" 2.4ghz MBP. I've had to repeatedly press the "Renew DHCP Lease" button every time the airport cuts out to get a connection again. I hope apple comes up with a fix quickly.

[ghporter]

Crap. That quite thoroughly blows that theory-at least for those of you who have tested it.

[dmcnickle]

My sister has an Intel MacBook Pro that she bought in January. About a month ago she started having trouble connecting to the internet when she was on battery power. It was fine when plugged in. When she was in Denver she made an appt at an Apple Store and a genius there told her the problems were with the 2007-004 update. He did a few things to it and said if that didn't help she would have to go back down to the 10.4.9 version until they released the .11 update. He acknowledged that it was a problem with the 10.4.10 update.

[Kadarin]

Originally Posted by Stout 

Well there's definitely a "problem." I'm not just being picky, the performance when on battery is definitely unacceptable.

Kadarin, I appreciate your response, and will use the ipconfig command the next time this problem arises, but as far as your other requests, I really don't know how to check and see if it's that the DNS isn't resolving or if I can't ping my default gateway. I'd be grateful for some instructions. Man I feel like a noob. Thanks again.

It's "ifconfig" in unix, not "ipconfig".

When the problem occurs, open the Terminal utility, and type "ping www.yahoo.com" (without the quotes). If you get an error, try typing "ping 4.2.2.2" (this is an external dns server). The results will tell you if you're just experiencing dns issues, or if the problem is more fundamental.