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I have a problem which I've faced for about 3 years and it's driving me crazy!

My Wi-Fi is connected and has very good signal but after a few minutes (sometimes few hours, hard to say) I have no internet. YouTube starts spinning, any open sites just stop reacting, everything is offline even though Wi-Fi is still connected.

To fix it, I "turn off Wi-Fi" and turn it on again. And I repeat this 50 times per day.

enter image description here

I'm not even sure if this is a problem with the MacBook.

I currently have a 2017 MBP 13", basic model. I also have another 2017 MBP 13, 2015 MBP 15" and 2015 MBP 13".

I also have a PC which is connected via USB external Wi-Fi card (some cheap TPLINK) and I don't think it's that bad. It's also 2.4ghz

I have a few routers with included AP from my provider, I recently changed to Unify Lite and nothing helped. I have 2 separated Wi-Fi, 2.4ghz and 5hz (currently 40mhz band and I've tried different configs).

What I've noticed:

  • when I go to another room, also closer to the AP, it's stable
  • When I turn off Bluetooth, it seems to be better - but I don't get it since 5GHZ shouldn't conflict with 2.4GHZ Bluetooth. I have speakers, magic mouse and magic keyboard connected (v2)
  • In my office, I see this problem but not that often - also MM and MK connected via Bluetooth
  • My girl's MBP2015 15" and MBP2017 15" don't cause problems but she works from a different room.
  • Occasionally I do these tips with cleaning PRAM etc and it seems to work for few hours, but later it's the same.

Anyway, I know that the answer could be:

  • don't use Bluetooth anymore lol
  • change your room lol

I'm actually being driven crazy and I want to know WHY I have this problem so I can solve it.

What diagnostics should I run?

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6
  • When you lose Internet, check to see if you still have an IP
    – Allan
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:21
  • I have an IP. The screen attached shows it.
    – Łukasz Ostrowski
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:22
  • Your Internet is not that good. Your are at the border line of OSX trying to"switch" to next best one (RSSI 70). Rearrange the order of WiFi stations.
    – Ruskes
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:25
  • Is it possible to lock OS to just stop looking for another wifis? Worth to note is that on wifi 2.4Ghz it's stable, wtf?
    – Łukasz Ostrowski
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:35
  • for now just try to use different channel and look if the RSSI improves (goes lower), also what is the next WiFi signal strength (is it yours)
    – Ruskes
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Looking at your WiFi report, I would say it is not very good overall.

When RSSI reaches 72 the OSX WiFi will try to switch to next best (on your WiFI list).

Yours is at 70 which is not good at all.

Your Tx Rate is also very low (Slow)

Resulting MCS index is to low (2)

Here is an example of excellent WiFi.

enter image description here

Clean (remove) WiFi stations on your list.

Reorder the order of WiFi AP's on your list (drag up or down)

Further improvement to the RSSI can be achieved by switching the Chanel (to avoid overcrowding from other WiFi on same channel.)

You can run this in Terminal that will show last 24 hours of why the WiFi was disconnected.

log show --predicate '(processImagePath contains "kernel") && (eventMessage contains "AirPort: Link Down")' --style syslog --last 1d

Important to know. The AirPort will keep the WiFi information on for some time (making you believe it is connected) before correcting that.

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3
  • Thanks for the tips. I cleaned up saved networks and will watch the progress. Also thanks for the information about RSSI - I wasn't aware of that. On 2.4G I have near -50 and it looks stable. However it seems quite hard to achieve good result here - When I stand 1m near access point, I have something like -40.
    – Łukasz Ostrowski
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 17:57
  • RSSI in the range of 60 or less is good, while 70 or more is already bad. of course standing next to it gives great results, but you should have at least 60 when moving around. Also know the Range of the 5G is much lower then the range of the 2.4.
    – Ruskes
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 18:04
  • I checked your log and most of drops are cause by Reason 8 (Disassociated because station leaving).
    – Łukasz Ostrowski
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 18:21

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