Mac: MacBook Pro loses wifi after few hours

[Video Beagle]

Computer: Macbook Pro 2.2 GHZ running 10.11.16

 

I recently changed routers, going from an N router to an AC Router. While the MBP can't do AC, it connects via N and has had a good speed boost.

 

HOWERVER, after a few hours, the wifi partially stops working. I say partially, because the upload connection isn't affected, only download...it drops from 100Mbps to below 1Mbps. I stay connected to the internet and can still SLOWLY go to web pages etc, but tat's it.

 

IF I disconnect the wifi, and then try to reconnect, I get a "can't connect" error. Same if the computer goes to sleep, and I try hours later. BUT, if I reboot, everything is fixed instantly.

 

(top is speed test after reboot, bottom is before)

 

Connections to other computers on my home network are affected, so it's not about the internet.

Other devices on my network using wifi (iPhone, iPad) do not have this problem and are fine when the MBP is having it's issue.

 

Given the above, I assume it's something software related, but I don't even know how to start looking for a solution.

 

Any help?

[Video Beagle]

Additional: Wile it was in the "not working" phase, I plugged it into my ethernet....wouldn't acknowledge that I had done so. No connection.
Restart fixed that as well as the wifi as usual.

 

It seems to trigger after tree ours of active use (as opposed to 3 hours on but idle, or 3 hours after start up by the clock) but my testing has been inconclusive to prove that yet.

 

[Video Beagle]

Well, 3 hours is out, as I've now had episode of bad phase after just 2 and just 1 hour...

 

my current working theory is it has something to do with the amount I DL..or even just transfer in that time, but not sure on that.

 

After being jerked around by an "expert" on the apple forum who's advice is enable TRIM on my ssd, and buy more RAM, I'm gonna ping @GabenJr and @DrMacintosh and hope they find my tale of woe worthy of notice.

[RockyRZ]

My 2017 Macbook Pro had a similar issue (before I sold it). Would be unable to load pages until I turned WiFi on and off. It even happens on my iPad 2018. 

 

It's irritating. 

[Video Beagle]

Just now, RockyRZ said:

My 2017 Macbook Pro had a similar issue (before I sold it). Would be unable to load pages until I turned WiFi on and off. It even happens on my iPad 2018. 

 

It's irritating. 

curiously, in bad phase, web pages still load (at least ones without heavy size items to transfer)....that's one of the reasons It's been difficult to tell wen I enter bad phase, because if I'm just reading Facebook, I won't really notice it.

[DrMacintosh]

What model of MacBook Pro is this specifically? I might be able to track down the issue if I could have a model number. Also 10.11.16 is VERY out of date. 
 

Also, what type of network interference do you have in your home? USB dongles are notorious for emitting high levels of 2.4GHz interference. Microwaves and other WiFi networks from neighbors can cause problems. But this doesn’t sound like that is your problem. 
 

I would say that because this problem is causing issues with your wired connection and your wireless connection, that my first instinct is to say that the WiFi and network card is shot. If it is, it might be replaceable. (If your Mac doesn’t support AC WiFi it probably has a removable AirPort Card) Though I don’t know why the AirPort card being bad would effect Ethernet at all, even if it’s being adapted over USB. 

[Video Beagle]

8 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

What model of MacBook Pro is this specifically? I might be able to track down the issue if I could have a model number. Also 10.11.16 is VERY out of date. 

 

  Model Name: MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1

  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

  Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 2

 

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.2-15-santa-rosa-specs.html

 

10.11.16 is the highest this supports. 

 

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The only change in my home from before this started and after is the new router. That nothing else has this issue, and that reboot fixes it, it's not a problem with the router, rather, this computer with the router.

 

It's also possible that, as before this new router,  the speed to this laptop over wifi wasn't as much, I didn't do as much downloading (video, etc) on this machine...so maybe the problem existed before and I just never triggered it, if my working theory of the trigger is correct.

 

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That it works fine after a reboot...no time difference in the reboot, whether I let it rest vs immediately, and that uplink traffic continues to work, I don't think it's hardware.... 

 

It acts like it just gets tired...or like a bucket (or cache) gets filled up, and isn't being emptied til I restart. 

 

But I have no idea what that "bucket" might be.

 

------------------

(Ultimately, I'll likely just do a fresh OS install on this which I suspect will fix things, but I'd like to figure out this problem)

 

It's a 12 year old computer (though some of the innards are younger) so not really investing money into it (the next ram upgrade is $40.... but if you got a 4gig sDram for it gathering dust somewhere ...  )

 

Thanks for checking into this.. I wanted to avoid tagging you, but with the run around on support.apple.com annoying me, and macrumors forum being empty, I'm grasping straws.

[Graham Carter]

There are always gonna be problems which as you state are only resolved or potentially resolved by an OS re-install.  

Whilst I agree that its satisfying to track down the "smoking gun" in these kind of scenarios, one has to weigh up whether knowing what the issue is /  was, outweighs the frustration you initially described!

 

 

Also, I don't see any mention of troubleshooting attempts?!  By that I mean looking into Network preferences / profiles

Have you removed and re-added your macOS wifi profile?  Perhaps set your Mac to use a fixed IP address, or add an external DNS such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8

[Video Beagle]

There hasn't been much troubleshooting, because of the problems in identifying the problem and defining it.

 

I have found that bad phase doesn't seem to trigger if I'm on ethernet.  So, wen it happens, ethernet gets knocked out by wifi, it doesn't seem to be part of "filling the bucket".

 

The next step will be hooking up my old router and using the N Wifi, seeing if that triggers it.

 

(I'm not sure what you mean by removing/readding the profile, mind you.)

[Video Beagle]

Well, running for many hours downloading huge amounts at the same time on the N router, and the Bad Phase hasn't triggered. So, I'll do tests to make sure it's still hapening with the AC, then proceed.

[HrutkayMods]

With the age of the system I would guess that the Wi-Fi module might be going bad, they are really cheap online and easy to replace might be worth it to replace it just make sure you replace it with an Apple compatible Wi-Fi chip 

[Video Beagle]

2 hours ago, HrutkayMods said:

With the age of the system I would guess that the Wi-Fi module might be going bad, they are really cheap online and easy to replace might be worth it to replace it just make sure you replace it with an Apple compatible Wi-Fi chip 

thanks for the tip.

 

Further testing, as much as I can do, seems to be it only happens with the AC router, though the macbook talks to it in "N", so not sure how that makes any sense...

 

friend has a usb->wifi adapter I'm gonna borrow and see what there is to see.

[HrutkayMods]

Good luck bud