802.11g in C2D MacBook Pros

[maverick808]

On the Apple Discussion forums it's been well reported that all C2D iMacs suffer wireless problems and have extremely low transfer rates (lower than even 802.11b). I have a C2D iMac and I use a wire but I tested the wireless on my 802.11g network to investigate and mine too suffers these problems. A CD MacBook Pro connecting right beside the iMac runs at full 802.11g speed, so it must be the iMac.

As the new C2D MBPs have the same chipset, and the same wireless card, as the C2D iMac, it seems very likely they will suffer from terrible wireless speeds too. I don't mind the problem too much on my iMac since it's always wired but I have a C2D MBP arriving on the 6th and I'd obviously hate if it has the same problem as it will be used wirelessy nearly all the time.

Can someone who has already received their new MBP and has an 802.11g network please test? If the MBP suffers the problem you'll likely end up with a transfer speed of around 500KB/s (which is half a meg a second). If it works properly 802.11g should be delivering at least 2000KB/s.

 

[nevir]

Nah, the chipsets are different (iMac is Broadcom, MBP is D-Link)

'Course this doesn't mean that the MBP's could have problems of their own with wifi.

Edit: I'm not quite right:

The Wireless card in the MBP is actually an Atheros. D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, etc don't make the chipsets, they just incorporate them into their designs. The reason the card showed up as a D-Link was because someone installed a D-Link driver in Windows (you can pretty much use a driver from any manufacturer, as long as the driver is for the appropriate chipset).

The chipsets are different though, at least.

 

[maverick808]

Nah, the chipsets are different (iMac is Broadcom, MBP is D-Link)

'Course this doesn't mean that the MBP's could have problems of their own with wifi.

That's good news, but it would still be nice if someone could test to be sure.

 

[MalcolmJID]

I thought the C2D MBP's were going to be 802.11n. Is this turned out to be not true? It'd definately be a different component then.

 

[nevir]

I thought the C2D MBP's were going to be 802.11n. Is this turned out to be not true? It'd definately be a different component then.

They're draft 802.11n as well, from every report I've read thus far.

Same issue as the iMac though - the OS X drivers don't support n yet. We'll probably have to wait until Apple releases a 802.11n router (and/or iTV)

 

[maverick808]

I thought the C2D MBP's were going to be 802.11n. Is this turned out to be not true? It'd definately be a different component then.

Both the C2D iMac and MBPs have draft 802.11n cards, but the 802.11n capabilities are not enabled in either yet. Most people expect that when Apple releases the iTV it will need 802.11n to work wirelessly and at that point Apple will release a firmware update that will enable 802.11n on the iMacs and MBPs.

 

[PygmySurfer]

Nah, the chipsets are different (iMac is Broadcom, MBP is D-Link)

'Course this doesn't mean that the MBP's could have problems of their own with wifi.

The Wireless card in the MBP is actually an Atheros. D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, etc don't make the chipsets, they just incorporate them into their designs. The reason the card showed up as a D-Link was because someone installed a D-Link driver in Windows (you can pretty much use a driver from any manufacturer, as long as the driver is for the appropriate chipset).

The chipsets are different though, at least.

 

[MalcolmJID]

Both the C2D iMac and MBPs have draft 802.11n cards, but the 802.11n capabilities are not enabled in either yet. Most people expect that when Apple releases the iTV it will need 802.11n to work wirelessly and at that point Apple will release a firmware update that will enable 802.11n on the iMacs and MBPs.

Ah ok, thanks guys!

I'm still interested to here if the new MBPs have a similar wireless problem.

 

[nevir]

The Wireless card in the MBP is actually an Atheros. D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, etc don't make the chipsets, they just incorporate them into their designs. The reason the card showed up as a D-Link was because someone installed a D-Link driver in Windows (you can pretty much use a driver from any manufacturer, as long as the driver is for the appropriate chipset).

The chipsets are different though, at least.

Ah, ok! Good to know. I'm updating my initial post to reflect this.

 

[ChickenSwartz]

OK so if you were going to buy a wireless router to use with your new MBP what would it be?

Constraints:
Not Linksys (just had bad experience with WRT54G)
Not speedbooster (don't really need it)
Range: 30-40 feet through a few interior walls
Cheaper is better

 

[Bill Gates]

The Wireless card in the MBP is actually an Atheros. D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, etc don't make the chipsets, they just incorporate them into their designs. The reason the card showed up as a D-Link was because someone installed a D-Link driver in Windows (you can pretty much use a driver from any manufacturer, as long as the driver is for the appropriate chipset).

The chipsets are different though, at least.

Indeed. There aren't that many draft-n products on the market using that particular Atheros chipset (AR5008). The D-Link driver is fully compatible.

 

[Bill Gates]

OK so if you were going to buy a wireless router to use with your new MBP what would it be?

Constraints:
Not Linksys (just had bad experience with WRT54G)
Not speedbooster (don't really need it)
Range: 30-40 feet through a few interior walls
Cheaper is better

The WRT54G sets the standard for 802.11g networking. What experience did you have?

 

[ChickenSwartz]

The WRT54G sets the standard for 802.11g networking. What experience did you have?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/245811/

This is the thread that someone who had the same problem started. I come in a few replys down. When this happened to me, a few people responded that the same thing had happened to them.