This post was published 13 years 5 months 14 days ago. A number of changes have been made to the site since then, so please contact me if anything is broken or seems wrong.Some users who upgraded their Mac OS X Tiger to Leopard (including users of all three upgrade options [upgrade, archive and install, wipe and install]) are reporting that their Wi-Fi connections degrade through use. One example given details the following chain of events: the connection starts at speed 54, then it falls through 11, 3, 1, and finally it drops out. Other users have suggested things ranging from installing a post-Leopard update that fixes some unidentified issues relating to IEEE 802.11 networks, deleting a configuration file, and toggling IPv6 support.
It is interesting that Apple’s latest operating system upgrade has incompatibilities, just like Windows Vista did (and still does). If Apple can get this problem fixed before Microsoft fixes the compatibility issues in Vista, they might gain some credibility in the world of OSes. I look forward to another story detailing the fix Apple comes up with for this problem.
This is a MAJOR problem for many users. I have three MacBook Pro machines affected by this problem. I have a trouble report into Apple about it. The technician asked me to format the hard drive on one machine and re-install Leopard. I did a clean installation and… THE PROBLEM IS STILL THERE.
What’s even stranger it seems to be limited to Apple’s own core applications like Safari and Mail. FireFox works OK.
A year later and the wireless connection issues continue unabated. I have a two week old Mac Book Pro and its wireless capability is abysmal. I use my three year old Powerbook with Tiger instead.
If you’re considering buying a Mac Book Pro, don’t do it! Don’t do it until Apple solves this well documented and long lived problem.