iMac Wi-Fi problems, other devices fine

[Webcat86]

I’ve been having awful internet on my 2022 iMac - painfully slow, dropping out etc. I don’t think it’s a hardware issue because if I tether to my phones hotspot it stays connected great.

We have had various problems with our internet provider but they’ve attempted to fix them and the other devices are generally fine. When it’s connected properly the iMac works great too, it’s just really intermittent about it.

The curious part is, I have a MacBook Air beside the iMac and it’s online fine, working properly even when the iMac isn’t.

I logged into the router yesterday and it said the MBA is connected to the 5Ghz channel and the iMac is on the 2.4Ghz channel - the router is downstairs so presumably it feels there’s a more stable connection on the 2.4, but I’m not sure why they both wouldn’t be the same.

Has anyone experienced similar, and is this likely to be a hardware fault with the iMac?

 

[Juicy Box]

I have had issues with the 2.4 GHz band on many devices.

A few years back I decided to spend a crap load of money on an expensive mesh system to replace my aging sixth GEN airport extreme, only to find out that the issues I was having with the old APE was also still around with the expensive tri-band mesh system.

Actually, the old APE outperformed the expensive mesh system for some things, and some of the features that I thought would be good on the Mesh system ended up not working at all (auto band switching, seamless roaming).

On both systems, I discovered if I split the 5 GHz band and the 2.4 GHz band and just put everything I could on the 5 GHz band, this end up working out.

I ended up returning the expensive mesh system and just using the old airport extreme. I have since moved and purchased a total of six airport extremes and have kind of my own mesh system with 6th gen AirPort Extremes.

 

[Webcat86]

I have had issues with the 2.4 GHz band on many devices.

A few years back I decided to spend a crap load of money on an expensive mesh system to replace my aging sixth GEN airport extreme, only to find out that the issues I was having with the old APE was also still around with the expensive tri-band mesh system.

Actually, the old APE outperformed the expensive mesh system for some things, and some of the features that I thought would be good on the Mesh system ended up not working at all (auto band switching, seamless roaming).

On both systems, I discovered if I split the 5 GHz band and the 2.4 GHz band and just put everything I could on the 5 GHz band, this end up working out.

I ended up returning the expensive mesh system and just using the old airport extreme. I have since moved and purchased a total of six airport extremes and have kind of my own mesh system with 6th gen AirPort Extremes.

Interesting, thanks.

Annoyingly, our previous router let you choose between 2 and 5, so if you were having issues with one you could swap.

The new one doesn’t - it has both but the devices choose. I spoke to my provider this morning and they offered to split it, but it means connecting everything manually again. It’s not the biggest problem in the world but it is a pain, as it means doing the setup for the doorbell, camera, the robot vacuum will spend hours remapping the floor, etc. First world problems I know but they’ve given us a new router three times recently so I’m bored of doing it!

 

[Bodhitree]

I‘ve noticed the 2.4 GHz band is not as stable or performant as the 5 GHz band. I’ve configured my router to only connect on the 5 GHz band, and the mesh picks this up and does it as well.

 

[Webcat86]

I‘ve noticed the 2.4 GHz band is not as stable or performant as the 5 GHz band. I’ve configured my router to only connect on the 5 GHz band, and the mesh picks this up and does it as well.

Were you able to do that yourself? I don’t know why the iMac would choose 2.4 when the MBA literally beside it would choose 5

 

[Bodhitree]

I had an engineer do it… they were on-site anyway to fix a problem with the cable.

 

[Juicy Box]

It might be worth noting that I never figured out exactly what the problem with the 2.4GHz band was, from troubleshooting it appeared that it may have been that the 2.4GHz band was starting to get over saturated, but I have seen it work better with worse saturation.

I also think that there may have been something interfering with the 2.4GHz band in my neighborhood.

After splitting the bands, the few devices that were not 5GHz compatible ended up working fine on the 2.4GHz band. Not sure if it was because there was less on the band, or if the devices themselves did not need much bandwidth to operate (ecobee thermostat, smart light bulbs, Anova water immersion device, etc.).

Annoyingly, our previous router let you choose between 2 and 5, so if you were having issues with one you could swap.

Same with me when I tried out the Linksys Try-band Mesh System, it did not have a lot of customization settings, but I found out during the troubleshooting of it that there were "secret" advanced settings, the downside was that I had to set up the system from scratch with a factory reset to get those advanced settings.

I spoke to my provider this morning and they offered to split it, but it means connecting everything manually again.

Maybe just your router, you shouldn't have to reconnect all your devices, just keep your old network name and PW the same for the newly split 5GHz band, everything that has 5GHz connectivity should automatically reconnect once it is set up.

For the 2.4GHz band, I kept the same name as at the 5GHz band, just added a "2.4GHz" to the end of the network name to keep it separate.

Not sure if I explained that clearly.

 

[Webcat86]

It might be worth noting that I never figured out exactly what the problem with the 2.4GHz band was, from troubleshooting it appeared that it may have been that the 2.4GHz band was starting to get over saturated, but I have seen it work better with worse saturation.

I also think that there may have been something interfering with the 2.4GHz band in my neighborhood.

After splitting the bands, the few devices that were not 5GHz compatible ended up working fine on the 2.4GHz band. Not sure if it was because there was less on the band, or if the devices themselves did not need much bandwidth to operate (ecobee thermostat, smart light bulbs, Anova water immersion device, etc.).


Same with me when I tried out the Linksys Try-band Mesh System, it did not have a lot of customization settings, but I found out during the troubleshooting of it that there were "secret" advanced settings, the downside was that I had to set up the system from scratch with a factory reset to get those advanced settings.



Maybe just your router, you shouldn't have to reconnect all your devices, just keep your old network name and PW the same for the newly split 5GHz band, everything that has 5GHz connectivity should automatically reconnect once it is set up.

For the 2.4GHz band, I kept the same name as at the 5GHz band, just added a "2.4GHz" to the end of the network name to keep it separate.

Not sure if I explained that clearly.

That’s what they’d do, just add 5 or 2.4 at the end but they said we’d have to reconnect everything manually. Maybe you’re right though, if the rest is the same.

 

[Juicy Box]

That’s what they’d do, just add 5 or 2.4 at the end but they said we’d have to reconnect everything manually. Maybe you’re right though, if the rest is the same.

If you change the network name, then you will have to reconnect everything. Just keep it the same for the 5GHz band since most of your devices will be on that band, and change the name or add the "2.4" to the 2.4GHz band and reconnect anything that isn't 5GHz compatible. That is the easiest way to do it, imo.

 

[Webcat86]

If you change the network name, then you will have to reconnect everything. Just keep it the same for the 5GHz band since most of your devices will be on that band, and change the name or add the "2.4" to the 2.4GHz band and reconnect anything that isn't 5GHz compatible. That is the easiest way to do it, imo.

Oh interesting! I’d probably do it the other way - the 2.4ghz band has the annoying setups like Ring etc, whereas if I connect my iPhone to a network it automatically updates the other Apple devices

 

[tstafford]

Either way. Generally speaking it's preferred to name them the same so that the machines and routers handle choosing which network to use. 2.4 Ghz provides better range but slower speeds, 5 Ghz the opposite.

In this case, I like the idea of changing one of them so you can manually control it and isolate whether the iMac has a hardware issue - which I wouldn't rule out just yet.

 

[Juicy Box]

Either way. Generally speaking it's preferred to name them the same so that the machines and routers handle choosing which network to use. 2.4 Ghz provides better range but slower speeds, 5 Ghz the opposite.

Yeah, whatever suits your needs.

In my case, at the time of splitting the bands, I only had a few devices that are not 5GHz compatible, but between all mine, my wife's, my four kids, there are a few dozen of devices that are 5GHz.

So it was easier for me to update the wifi settings on the few devices that needed the 2.4GHz band versus typing in a very long and complex wifi password on the many 5GHz devices.

 

[GMShadow]

I had issues with my 2020 iMac that I didn't with other stuff - turned out a neighbor has a crappy ISP provided router that puts out just enough interference to cause issues in my house.

Wi-Fi Explorer is free on the Mac App Store, you can see which channels might be too crowded in your area for both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

 

[Webcat86]

I had issues with my 2020 iMac that I didn't with other stuff - turned out a neighbor has a crappy ISP provided router that puts out just enough interference to cause issues in my house.

Wi-Fi Explorer is free on the Mac App Store, you can see which channels might be too crowded in your area for both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

Is that the right name? The WiFi Explorer that comes up for me is £17.99

 

[GMShadow]

Is that the right name? The WiFi Explorer that comes up for me is £17.99

Odd, it noted it was free in some places - it's been forever since I grabbed it though.

There's a three day trial from the vendor: https://www.intuitibits.com/products/wifiexplorer/

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Another "Fishrrman simplistic reply™":
Is there any way to connect the iMac via Ethernet, and be done with it?

 

[tstafford]

OP:

Another "Fishrrman simplistic reply™":
Is there any way to connect the iMac via Ethernet, and be done with it?

Sad that in 2023 this is still so right.

Just built a house and had it wired with ethernet. It's so nice to have my Studio jacked in. I run wifi at the same time only so I can use UC.

 

[Webcat86]

OP:

Another "Fishrrman simplistic reply™":
Is there any way to connect the iMac via Ethernet, and be done with it?

I'm tempted to get an ethernet over power plug, but I'd feel like it's not truly solving the problem