Late 2008 Macbook Wifi Speed?

[drumvudu]

What is the maximum speed I can't expect to get with the stock wifi card in my machine in Mbps? I have a 40Mbps connection and can only get about 12Mbps on wifi but get 38Mbps wired. Is that normal?

 

[chscag]

I would say it's not normal. Your MacBook has an AirPort Extreme card (802.11a/b/g/n) which should result in higher speeds. What have you done to trouble shoot it?

 

[drumvudu]

I would say it's not normal. Your MacBook has an AirPort Extreme card (802.11a/b/g/n) which should result in higher speeds. What have you done to trouble shoot it?

Thank you for your reply. To be honest, all I have done at this point is check the speeds with wifi and wired both and logged the difference. What do you suggest?

 

[drumvudu]

Heres something else, I just checked the speed with my iPhone 6+ and I am also only getting 16mbps. So it appears that it's not my macbook, but the actual speed of the brand new router is 40Mbps wired and maybe 20 wifi

 

[chscag]

Yeah, that does sound like a router setting. Do you have a manual or a set of PDF instructions for the router? You might want to go into the internal menu of the router and check to see if everything is setup right. Check the protocol, encryption, channel, and so forth.

 

[RadDave]

What is the maximum speed I can't expect to get with the stock wifi card in my machine in Mbps? I have a 40Mbps connection and can only get about 12Mbps on wifi but get 38Mbps wired. Is that normal?

Heres something else, I just checked the speed with my iPhone 6+ and I am also only getting 16mbps. So it appears that it's not my macbook, but the actual speed of the brand new router is 40Mbps wired and maybe 20 wifi

Hello, you might want to provide some more information: 1) What brand/model router are you using; 2) Assume that you have a cable or DSL modem that is wired to your router; and 3) On Wi-Fi, your laptop & iPhone are presumably adjacent to the router - all correct?

Also check in the Wi-Fi section of System Information (goto 'About This Mac' on your laptop) - see my screen capture below on a MBPro - I have an Apple AP Extreme router, which setups up four networks (2 @ 2.4 GHz & 2 @ 5 GHz; main & guest) - currently running the 802.11n protocol (blue arrow) w/ the present transmit rate (in Mbps) as shown (red arrow). Let us know what is showing on your laptop in system information. Dave

P.S. if not already tried, you might want to power recycle your modem & router (i.e. pull the power plugs, wait, then re-power the modem first followed by the router - works for me sometimes).
.

 

[drumvudu]

Ok, here ya https://www.flickr.com/gp/pch-linux-systems/VF3Jhr

 

[RadDave]

Ok, here ya https://www.flickr.com/gp/pch-linux-systems/VF3Jhr

Sorry, I cannot read the small image and do not have a Flickr account - can you just provide the same information as shown w/ my arrows or upload a 'screen capture' (i.e. use CMD-SHIFT-4, select - will be saved to your desktop; use Preview to re-size the image to around 400-600 pixels in one dimension & upload in 'Manage Attachments'). Dave

 

[drumvudu]

Ok try this...

 

[RadDave]

Hello again - thanks for the 'screen shot' - your router is using the 802.11n protocol and its transmit rate is way above what your are detecting on your laptop & iPhone; security is the same as mine, i.e. WPA2 - I'm kind of 'stumped' @ the moment - you should be basically getting the same speed on wireless as you did wired!

I have Time-Warner cable coming into my house, my maximum incoming speed averages about 20 Mbps (stinks!), but the speed on my cabled iMac and my MBPro on Wi-Fi (i.e. next to the router) is the same. Try the 'power recycling' as mentioned in my P.S. previously - probably won't help, but who knows. Post back - hope that some our network 'gurus' will chime in - Dave

 

[lclev]

I will give this a shot and hope I can give you some ideas. First here is a link to an article that explains about wireless transmission rates:

What is the actual real-life speed of wireless networks ? :: SG FAQ

There are a lot of things that affect speed - especially wireless speed. Potential speed offered by the 802.11n protocol is a lot higher than what is really happening. There is so much interference that creates the slowdown because data doesn't get sent correctly so it has to be resent etc. Most of this is explained in the link I posted above.

Your wired speed is fine. You are actually getting great speed there so I will address only the wireless issue. I think your problem is interference. Things that could be affecting your speed:

- Placement of router - depending on what all the signal has to travel through will greatly affect speed. Sometimes moving the router a few feet will make a huge difference.

- Other electronics - They all create a field that your wireless signal has to negotiate. For example, if you have a wireless portable phone operating on 2.4Mhz that can affect your wireless speed and mess with your phone too. If this is a possibility, changing the channel the wireless 2.4 frequency is on can help although most phones will rotate channels.

Truthfully wireless speeds are promised to be fast but there is all kinds of interference that can knock it down a lot. There are apps that can allow you to scan for interference and overlapping issues but they are not free.

Lisa

 

[chas_m]

Is there anyone else using the Wi-Fi network?

Is there any chance someone using the Wi-Fi network is running a downloading program like BitTorrent?