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Macs in China - troubleshooting


TheWind

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Hey guys,

 

I have an American purchased Macbook-pro that I use in China. Under most circumstances it works fine, but I always have trouble maintaining a constant internet signal, even if I'm plugged into the ethernet cable. 

Note: I'm about 5 feet from the wifi

I live in a small city and the several people who have looked at it all just blame it on my computer and say it's because it is from America. 

Sometimes I can locate my wifi network and use it fine, other times I can't find my wifi network at all. The same applies for the ethernet, if it is plugged in, it will work most of the time. but often times, the signal will cut out every 10 minutes. very frustrating! I'm always able to find and access my network with my Chinese phone however. 

 Has anyone encountered something like this? Suggestions on what I could do?

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I don't seem to be Wifi interference(*) because another signals because you are very close to your router.

 

Has the same thing happen when you use your cell phone (at 5 feets) ?

 

 

(*) whether conditions as you mention latter really can

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Are you using 2.4GHz or 5GHz WiFi?  2.4GHz is very congested nowadays and you can sometimes see more than 20 WiFi signals in a busy place in a city.

 

You can try scanning for nearby WiFi signals and changing your router's channel to minimize interference.

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/197268/how-to-find-the-best-wi-fi-channel-for-your-router-on-any-operating-system/

 

5GHz is getting more and more congested too, but their signals have shorter range and there are more channels so you are less likely to run into interference problems.  However the shorter range applies also and it may not penetrate walls well.

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I would try a different computer under the same conditions.  If it's a problem with your Mac, reset the PRAM/SMC and if that does't solve it, reformat the drive - this will pretty much confirm it's a hardware issue if it still doesn't work after a format.  You might want to also join the Macrumors forum for better online support.  

 

Where are you located? 

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We've replaced routers before and the issues remain. I lose my wifi network and am unable to look for or find it (regardless if i have the info) but on particularly bright days, I can access it and it works fine (I don't know how long for)

I don't really just have PCs lying around at my disposal for testing unfortunately but I can connect to other networks fine with my mac. 

 

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We've replaced routers before and the issues remain. I lose my wifi network and am unable to look for or find it (regardless if i have the info) but on particularly bright days, I can access it and it works fine (I don't know how long for)

I don't really just have PCs lying around at my disposal for testing unfortunately but I can connect to other networks fine with my mac.

How about other networks in your building on those days you are having problems?
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I can see a long list of other networks (all have passwords) for wifi when I turn it on. All the other networks seem to run fine, most have full bars as far as connection goes.

 

My Network will just vanish from the same list, and I won't be able to search for it in which case I can't connect to it because it's not there. On the rare occasions it is there, it works fine.  

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I've had a problem with a router before that I can't get a reliable connection when I'm too CLOSE to it; I see a strong signal but somehow it wouldn't connect.  If I walk away from the router I can get a connection and it is fast and fairly reliable.  The problem went away after I upgraded the firmware of the router, which presumably contained upgraded firmware for the wi-fi module.

 

In your case though, you said you have problem even if you're plugged in using ethernet; this is strange as ethernet and wi-fi are usually different hardware modules, so that means you have 2 different problems.  Are you sure the router is okay and not, say, overheating and rebooting every 10 minutes?  When you say you tried a different router, is it of a different brand and model?  If you can, try plugging your ethernet directly to the WAN, without using a router and see if it works fine or not.

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I mentioned earlier in the thread that I've had several people look it over. All of whom used their phone and or laptop to also try the connection, and it worked fine for them. 

My router is sitting on top of TV, in what I frankly consider to be a cold room, so I personally don't think that it's overheating. When we got a new one however, I believe it was the same. can't say for certain

My router is a Mercury 300M --- Chinese made. 
 

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