Unibody MacBook Owners Having WiFi Drama?

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/06/new_macbook_pros_recent_imacs_grappling_with_flaky_wireless.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article...y_wireless.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Some owners of Apple's new unibody, 15-inch MacBook Pro are reporting in Apple's support forums (<a href="http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764358&amp;tstart=0">1</a>, <a href="http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1768647&amp;tstart=0">2</a>) that their connections to wireless access points often lose signal strength or drop their links altogether.&nbsp; The problem echoes a similar one witnessed by owners of aluminum iMac owners since mid-year that has created similar difficulties.&nbsp; What conditions are exactly necessary to trigger the problem are unknown. Connections to some access points work properly, while others create severe connection problems. Network and security settings don't appear to matter, nor do devices attached to the systems.&nbsp; A collection of the MacBook Pro owners have partly diagnosed the problem and have discovered that the latency between their Macs and their Wi-Fi hotspots can fluctuate wildly, shifting from normal response times of under 10ms to as high as 39,290ms -- or more than 39 seconds between signals. These extreme variances result in the data packet loss that ultimately interrupts the signal."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1226061608.usr18053.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>As I said in the comments on my review of my MacBook Pro, I haven't had this issue, but apparently a lot of people are.&nbsp; It's long been hinted by disgruntled users that the aluminum case is equivalent to a Faraday cage, from which no radio signal can escape in tact.&nbsp; I have no reason to believe it isn't happening, I just haven't experienced it yet.&nbsp; It's definitely something to be aware of when you're choosing your next Apple product, especially considering that all of them seem to be moving toward aluminum as the material of choice.&nbsp; Then again, there is the MacBook White...</p>

[Phronetix]

No issues here. And there wasn't any four years ago with my original 17 inch aluminum Powerbook.

Is this an issue with signal strength. Meaning, once the strength goes below a threshold, the issues are more apparent?

Dennis

[ucfgrad93]

I haven't had any issues with my almost 1 year old MacBook Pro. I think it gets pretty good wifi reception. However, that could have changed with the new styles.

[Macguy59]

Nada with my unibody MacBook though I've only had it on my home network and a Starbucks. Speaking of which, through some slight of hand you can use the iPhone's 2 hours of free Wi-Fi time with your Mac laptop. Changing the identifier in Safari to iPhone and a slick little app that spoofs the MAC address of your iPhone does the trick.

[Vincent Ferrari]

I had a feeling that would work. Thanks for the inspiration :-)

Truth is, I get 2 free hours a day with my Starbucks card anyway but that's a good tip...

[imapfsr]

I have noticed that sometimes I have to click twice on a link or tab to make it work. Not all the time though.

[Nick012]

I've had terrible trouble with WiFi on my black macbook (May 2007). I think its something that a lot of mac portables have had issues with. I went through a stretch in my old appartment where I couldn't hold a signal for more than 10 minutes and it took over two hours and multiple restarts to get back on. The Apple 'geniuses' that looked it over couldn't find any problems. I did notice that the battery was only down to 90% when I got it back so I don't think their testing was very thorough.

[Jaybot]

I don't think it's the aluminum casing, but maybe the other way around. :)

I had a similar problem mentioned above (kinda) when switching from my aluminum powerbook (awesome wifi signal, bet I've ever had) to the most recent black plastic mac book (decent signal, but nowhere near as strong as the old powerbook).

[k.satirli]

I got one of the new unibody MBPs and it is working just fine, excellent reception wherever I go, from a cheap, standard WiFi router from across the street.

No disconnection issues, no slowness or anything ... and I'm quite happy with that :)

[Moj]

I find that with the wifi in the next room I have trouble getting reception, but if I lift the back of the computer about 3 inches, it gets good reception, so I suspect the antenna gets its signal from an antenna hidden by the plastic hinge cover in the back. I've tried rotating various directions sometimes without improvement, but the vertical tilt seems to make a big difference.