Virgin Media Community

[mstrummer]

Hi all

I'm at a loss as to why my Wi-Fi connection is so bad with my MacBook.

Until recently I had a 2012 MacBook Pro, but a few months ago starting experiencing problems with the Wi-Fi – it would say it was connected but not load pages, then would connect but really slowly and other times would work.

I assumed the problems were due to the machine being old and bought a new MacBook Air this weekend – but I'm experiencing exactly the same issues, plus some new ones. Just in the past day I've had each of these problems:

1. The message 'Wi-Fi has the self assigned IP address 169.254.60.121 and will not be able to connect to the internet.'

2. The message 'Wi-Fi does not have an IP address and cannot connect to the internet'

3. Very slow speeds when connected – less than 1mbps, despite the fact I'm paying for the M350 service.

The problems are intermittent – it's fine in the room where the router is, when it automatically connects to 5GHz – but not as soon as I leave the room (even to just one room away). At that point it jumps to the 2.4GHz connection and then the problems start. 

My wired connections are all fine – TV streaming, gaming etc all super-fast.

I realise that 2.4GHz will be slower than 5GHz – but surely not that much slower. And I shouldn't be getting these messages about it not having an IP address or the failure to connect at all.

I know that I could force the MacBook to only connect to 5GHz – but then that means I can only use it in one room, which is a bit pointless.

Any suggestions? I've spent a lot of money on a new laptop and pay a lot of money for fast broadband, so it shouldn't be too much to expect them to both work, should it? 

Thanks for any help.

[gary_dexter]

Do a 60 second pinhole reset on the hub 

[mstrummer]

Thanks for that – I should really have tried that first!

That sort of semi-worked. The 5GHz connection seems slightly stronger than before, in that I can connect to it from just inside the next room, where before it was only doing so on 2.4GHz. But it only works near the door – as soon as I move a bit further away, I lose the connection entirely and it's no longer connecting to 2.4GHz at all.

[jbrennand]

i have a 2012 Pro and 2015 Air - and now awaiting the new M1 Air delivery 🙂

Both still work flawlessly on either band. But I have my VM Hub in modem mode with my Airport Extreme doing all the heavy lifting on the wifi.

You haven't actually said - what model of Hub do you have? If a Hub3 have you tried separating the 2.4/5 GHz bands by renaming their SSID's and disabling "channel optimisation" - so that you can choose which band to connect to on the Air?

[mstrummer]

Yeah, it's a hub 3. I did try separating the bands but that only left me with a very slow 2.4GHz connection in most of the house. Seems pointless to pay for M350 if I only get the benefit in one or two rooms. 

I think a new router and mesh system is the way I'll go. It's yet more money, but as someone on this forum pointed out in another thread, it's not realistic to expect top performance from a free bit of kit. Looking at TP-Link M9 now, hopefully that will mean I don't need to worry about it again for a few years... 

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

The M9 is an excellent tri-band Mesh system. If you do go for it set it up this way...
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Disconnect all cables from your new router (or Mesh first unit) and unplug it. Put the VM Hub into modem mode (see VM website for “how to” details) and wait for the base light to turn magenta/purple (on a Hub3 - but not on a Hub4!). Once it’s in modem mode, the VM hub must then be powered off. Then, set up your own router/Mesh with the WAN port set to be in DHCP mode, it may be pre-set that way anyway. Make sure it’s fully initialised (leave 5 min) and then put in the WAN cable to the VM hub. Now power up the VM hub and you should get a connection. Use the recommended App to connect other Mesh units to the first one. This order only needs to be done the first time you connect the router to the VM hub.

[mstrummer]

Thanks for the advice all. I set up the Deco M9 this weekend and now have very fast Wi-Fi everywhere inside.

It's slightly slower than before - I'm not getting 350mbps other than by the router - but I'm consistently getting 150-250 in rooms where before I had only 5-10mbps.

It was all very easy to set up too. Definitely worth the outlay if anyone else is thinking of a mesh setup.