Internet speed problems on 2018 Macbook Pro 13

[weezin]

This is a little convoluted, but I am at wits end here and would love some assistance.

My wife has a 2019 Macbook Pro 13". She uses the machine to teach classes over Zoom in our living room and has been having intermittent internet speed issues over the past couple of months that result in really choppy zoom sessions that make it almost impossible to teach her classes. We have VERY fast internet (900mbps up and down) and a three point mesh wifi system (more on that below).

Some days when she does a speed test, the speed is as expected. Other days, in the exact same spot, the speed crawls to 0.5mpbs up and down (or less). Placing a different Macbook (2012 Air) in the exact same spot at the same time leads to expected speeds. Testing our iPhones in the same spot leads to expected speeds. In addition, this is intermittent. At 10am her internet speed might be crawling, but 20 minutes later (in the same exact spot) it could be fine.

Wifi setup: we have our main Google Home router at the opposite end of the house from the living room, where my wife is trying to use the wifi. We have an additional Google Home router located halfway through the house connected via wifi, and an additional Google Home point located in the living room, also connected via wifi. No other devices have internet speed issues at all, except for her laptop.

Any ideas of things we can try? Might this be a Macbook hardware problem of some sort?

 

[chrfr]

This is a little convoluted, but I am at wits end here and would love some assistance.

My wife has a 2018 Macbook Pro 13". She uses the machine to teach classes over Zoom in our living room and has been having intermittent internet speed issues over the past couple of months that result in really choppy zoom sessions that make it almost impossible to teach her classes. We have VERY fast internet (900mbps up and down) and a three point mesh wifi system (more on that below).

Some days when she does a speed test, the speed is as expected. Other days, in the exact same spot, the speed crawls to 0.5mpbs up and down (or less). Placing a different Macbook (2012 Air) in the exact same spot at the same time leads to expected speeds. Testing our iPhones in the same spot leads to expected speeds. In addition, this is intermittent. At 10am her internet speed might be crawling, but 20 minutes later (in the same exact spot) it could be fine.

Wifi setup: we have our main Google Home router at the opposite end of the house from the living room, where my wife is trying to use the wifi. We have an additional Google Home router located halfway through the house connected via wifi, and an additional Google Home point located in the living room, also connected via wifi. No other devices have internet speed issues at all, except for her laptop.

Any ideas of things we can try? Might this be a Macbook hardware problem of some sort?

I posted this in a different thread, and it may be a specific bug that happens with my Unifi network equipment, but on Macs that have Monterey installed, wifi speed gets extremely slow if "Airplay Receiver" is enabled in the Sharing System Preference. This is especially bad with my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.

 

[weezin]

I posted this in a different thread, and it may be a specific bug that happens with my Unify network equipment, but on Macs that have Monterey installed, wifi speed gets extremely slow if "Airplay Receiver" is enabled in the Sharing System Preference. This is especially bad with my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.

Ah, great tip. I'll go check that out now!

Edit: She's actually on Big Sur presently so that's not an option.

 

[weezin]

Anyone else have any ideas? We're stuck!

 

[Fishrrman]

"Anyone else have any ideas?"

Have you considered a wired, ethernet connection?

 

[weezin]

"Anyone else have any ideas?"

Have you considered a wired, ethernet connection?

Yes, definitely, but that's somewhat of a last resort given how difficult it would be to get ethernet from one side of the house to the other. If we have to do it, we have to, but given that this seems like a device issue and not a wifi issue, I'm hesitant to go that route.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Anyone else have any ideas? We're stuck!

Go ahead and update to Monterey. Might get a fix somewhere along the way, as part of the OS update process.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"Yes, definitely, but that's somewhat of a last resort given how difficult it would be to get ethernet from one side of the house to the other."

Well, it's a MacBook Pro, right?
Why not just carry it over to the other side of the house?
(and no, I'm not trying to be sarcastic)

 

[jav6454]

Do you have any other WLAN routers? If so, try them to see if it's the router or not.

 

[weezin]

Go ahead and update to Monterey. Might get a fix somewhere along the way, as part of the OS update process.

Okay, we'll go ahead and do that. Hopefully it helps!

OP:
"Yes, definitely, but that's somewhat of a last resort given how difficult it would be to get ethernet from one side of the house to the other."

Well, it's a MacBook Pro, right?
Why not just carry it over to the other side of the house?
(and no, I'm not trying to be sarcastic)

Good question, but without going into it further, she has to teach in the living room

Do you have any other WLAN routers? If so, try them to see if it's the router or not.

I don't. I'm not sure how it could be the router given all our other devices work fine, but you never know I guess!

 

[jav6454]

I don't. I'm not sure how it could be the router given all our other devices work fine, but you never know I guess!

You'd be surprised. Try if possible, just to make sure anything external is not causing the slow downs. Also, check your router settings to see if the IP or MAC address of your Mac is not bandwidth limited.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote in #10 above:
"Good question, but without going into it further, she has to teach in the living room"

OK, here's another "Fishrrman el cheapo cobbled-together solution" (to be used if nothing else works):

Buy a cheap ethernet category 5e cable, 75 feet long.
When it's "time to teach", just lay the cable between the router and the living room. Just let it "hang loose on the floor".
Connect it to the MBP and run that way (assuming "wired" works better, when wireless does not).
When the teaching session is over, disconnect the cable, coil it up, and put it into the closet until next time.

 

[jav6454]

OP wrote in #10 above:
"Good question, but without going into it further, she has to teach in the living room"

OK, here's another "Fishrrman el cheapo cobbled-together solution" (to be used if nothing else works):

Buy a cheap ethernet category 5e cable, 75 feet long.
When it's "time to teach", just lay the cable between the router and the living room. Just let it "hang loose on the floor".
Connect it to the MBP and run that way (assuming "wired" works better, when wireless does not).
When the teaching session is over, disconnect the cable, coil it up, and put it into the closet until next time.

Agreed. It's rough trying to reach those speeds over Wi-Fi.

 

[weezin]

OP wrote in #10 above:
"Good question, but without going into it further, she has to teach in the living room"

OK, here's another "Fishrrman el cheapo cobbled-together solution" (to be used if nothing else works):

Buy a cheap ethernet category 5e cable, 75 feet long.
When it's "time to teach", just lay the cable between the router and the living room. Just let it "hang loose on the floor".
Connect it to the MBP and run that way (assuming "wired" works better, when wireless does not).
When the teaching session is over, disconnect the cable, coil it up, and put it into the closet until next time.

We talked about that yesterday and might do it. Would need to buy an ethernet adapter for the computer as well. Not ideal, but better than her not able to teach!

 

[Reggaenald]

OP:
"Yes, definitely, but that's somewhat of a last resort given how difficult it would be to get ethernet from one side of the house to the other."

Well, it's a MacBook Pro, right?
Why not just carry it over to the other side of the house?
(and no, I'm not trying to be sarcastic)

She’d probably have to move more than just her machine…

 

[TinyMito]

I posted this in a different thread, and it may be a specific bug that happens with my Unifi network equipment, but on Macs that have Monterey installed, wifi speed gets extremely slow if "Airplay Receiver" is enabled in the Sharing System Preference. This is especially bad with my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.

I'm on Monterey + Unifi network + Airplay Receiver enabled. This is my normal AC speed.

So this narrows down to only MBP 13 2018 model?

 

[weezin]

I'm on Monterey + Unifi network + Airplay Receiver enabled. This is my normal AC speed.

So this narrows down to only MBP 13 2018 model?

View attachment 2004982

Most of the time she gets speeds like that, but occasionally her speed with crawl. It's inconsistent and the minority of the time.