Okay, of course, as I finally get around to posting this, editing it twice... I found the solution for my set-up, and it was in this other thread that somehow didn't come up in my search, but luckily was on page 2 I think of Access sub-forum:
"Issues with PacePlc+WIFI+OSX" (viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2079&start=10)
Background/Summary of that thread: Dane takes an interest, then a support rep starts working with the OP I think... a bunch of other people chime in reporting that their MacBook Whatevers, and Pace modems, and / or AIrport Express/Extreme (apple wifi) products are having a similar issue to mine (packet loss for some amount of time, then connection resumes). The ping commands look a little different than mine did sometimes. One of the techs suggests two things create a wifi diagnostics "report" (hold down option and click the airport icon in the menu bar) and then "monitor" the connection. Nothing interesting happened there for me. He also suggested:
changing the IPv6 settings!
For me this worked... I've tested it two ways now:
1) on 10.11 and 10.10, there IS NO "Off" as he describes in the thread in the GUI (user interface), you MUST use TERMINAL.app to turn it off, you can re-enable it in the GUI however. For help with this, see this page: http://osxdaily.com/2014/04/18/disable-ipv6-mac-os-x/
in short:
sub "Ethernet" for Wi-Fi if you're hard wired and having this issue, which fewer people seem to have.
I regularly have to reboot my 2014 MBPr15" for wifi weirdness, my persistent original issue aside, and the other day the other MBPr13" (2015) was having a bad issue, have system logs for it too. It looks like apple has been releasing some low quality drivers lately (10.10/10.11). Reboot. and if you like, I recommend, zapping the PRAM (hold down "command-option-p-r" keys immediately when asked to restart/ start up, you will hear the startup chime again (you want to hear it at least twice).
WARNING: the article from osxdaily (a pretty good site) warns that SOME features, including AIRDROP might fail. they even have a link with more info about this.
SO, MY solution, instead of changing each machine's settings, in MY CASE ( you may have a completely different set up! and likely do!) to avoid that (probably why apple disabled the "off" option in the GUI for IPv6... they now rely on it for newer OS features...):
Use Airport Utility to talk to my Apple AIrport Extreme Base Station (4th generation), and go to the "Internet" tab, the select the "internet Options" button at the bottom then Make sure "Configure IPv6" is set to "Link-Local Only" (for a full explanation of these IPv6 settings in the latest airport utility: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22778?vi ... cale=en_US)
This way, the computers shouldn't have anything broken (software wise) in them, AND the speed/packet loss issues should be eliminated!
Guess what! Now even the 2.4GHz band works full force, and even on the Pace modem too ! Yippie! Try explaining that... the pace says it's not even running IPv6 AT ALL, anywhere!
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
****************************
Hi guys, been living with some worsening wifi packet loss since around the new year. Have talked to sonic 3+ times about it on phone. Done countless hours of ping tests on command line and shuffled setup between Pace (Fusion 1x), ActionTec GT701D (with rolled-back firmware to eliminate issues on sonic’s lines, as the latest FW was for an AT&T fix), and Apple Airport Extreme 4th Gen. bridged (max is 802.11n 2.4/5GHz, no 802.11ac, it is also broadcasting b/g combat. on 2.4GHz). Typically get ping in the high 20’s on the cl. What’s interesting is that I’ve noticed it, since a couple months ago, climbs up to 200~ about then drops back down, or gets no response (packet loss).
1st we live in an apartment building (small) but with bigger ones on either side. Single family homes across the street. I don't think going door-to-door getting neighbors to switch off their wifi temporarily is feasible while I go run back and test. is there any hope? If you think so, read on to see what I've tried so far.
Here’s the scoop:
Speedof.me shows speeds from 800kbps (actiontec->AEBS 5ghz (802.11n), low end of speed)
to 9Mbps on the Pace->AEBS 5ghz (N), and latency up to 8 SECONDS! (8xxx ms)
sonic.com/speedtest shows a jagged bar graph like someone drawing up and down rapidly (from max 5-8Mbps, to ~<1Mbps).
speedof.me shows slow climbs in speed then drops to almost nothing
The best setup I have had is the ActionTec to AEBS 5Ghz N.
The worst is the Pace’s built-in 2.4GHz. AEBS 2.4 GHz is nominally different.
Pace->AEBS has higher throughput, but more packet loss, it syncs up at the max speed I’ve had here (living here ~<18m) ~15Mbps. The actionTec use to Sync up ( i think before new year; the FW wasn’t rolled back until ~ March, mb) at basically the same rate! Now it’s down to 9Mbps, I think since new year, and sonic told me last time I called it would only sync up at ADSL1, it refused to do ADSL2+, though I have set it manually to that previously! What’s weird is that after I talked to them this week and they did that little test, it seems to be even slightly worse…
My packet loss from Jan - ~April/May was ~0.5-0.1 % on ActionTec -> AEBS 5GHz,
and 1.x%-8.x% on all modem/wifi combos for 2.4GHz.
My Jitter was not substantial before, nor latency, at around 30ms each.
Now my jitter can go up to ~300ms.
Now my packet loss at best is even around 2%, AT BEST! And the speed is lowered on BOTH modems, 5 / 9 actionetec / pace respectively, whereas until ~April May it was 9/15. Now the wifi isn’t even connecting at the full rate of the modems.
I have changed the dsl splitter/filter several times, upgraded the phone cable from splitter to modem. no difference really. except... something weird... i think twice, changing the splitter/filter temporarily improved things, though didn't get rid of the issues, and going back to old splitters had no effect, and i've tried about 5 splitters/filters across several brands.
sonic did come out near install when the first connecction issue cropped up about a year ago, replaced a splice in the box in the laundry room (which I've looked at a dozen times since then, and it looks perfectly fine/untouched), AND replaced the phone jack wallplate with a stainless one it looks like.
I have tried modem->wall plate. This does not solve the issue.
Here’s the client list, standing, guests not included:
2 macbook pros, 1 current 1 2014, 2 iPhone 6’s, 1 iPad mini 1st gen, 1 Alibi IP Cam (new on the scene), 3 Trendnet Powerline Adapters (1 to an iogear print server, 1 to the IP cam, and 1 as the “base) (TP-Link 500 Nano & 600 Gigabit). Massive Surge protectors (my MBPr15”-2014 is used as a desktop with about 15 devices plugged into power adapters behind the 27” monitor, i.e. 3x USB hubs, 1x Audio Interface, 1 x speakers, 1x cordless DECT 6.0 phone (panasonic), 1x fan, 1x lamp, 2x HD enclosures/adapters, 1x scanner, 1x fan cool pad, etc. The magnetic field has got to be insane, AND up until a month ago or two ago, moving the laptops around the room (i.e. within a couple feet of the wifi) would make a difference. NO LONGer! Moving some of the devices and cords can make “some difference” sometimes, but not right now.
Random Notes: some devices connect on 2.4GHz sometimes I think, oh, my old iPod, not listed above, that is not usually using the wifi, since I just load with audio ahead of time and turn off wifi. But I don’t really use it too much, it’s mostly for guests.
I have tried a 5.8GHz cordless phone, and kept my 5GHz channels in the low end (36-48), as some people do INDEED report DECT phones (supposed to be 1.8-1.9~GHz ) DO interfere. I have had very strange behaviors with these phones at multiple locations and wouldn’t eliminate them from guilt, however, I have tested many times with both base station and handset unplugged (batts removed), powered off, and not on any tel line. I try the sonic corded handset regularly (cheap thing they gave me when I signed up for fusion at this location. None of this makes any difference. The DECT weirdness I have experienced at various locations happens almost always when the cordless handsets are near dying, losing enough power from their NiMHs to stay on.
The “event/s” that I can trace the most recent issues to that have now made it mostly unusable, since I have lost emails, and this is bad for professionalism (the emails other save a copy to my sent box, so i think they sent, or they are just gobbled up completely!!! this has happened i believe with both sonic and my own third party hosting accounts, I use Apple Mail on 10.10.5 mostly, or on my iOS 9 phone).:
There was a rainstorm, and the handset of the panasonic died later that evening. The police arrived stating a 911 hangup. I checked the dialing record of handset and base station, noticing that the handset had died so i charged it a bit before checking. No record. Called sonic the next morning, they said, yeah, issues on your line, no, no record of a 911 call from your fusion voice, but sometimes when a line disconnects that happens. ATT rolled out a few days later, cleaned up whatever poseidon had deposited in the box on the street. I have been very sick, and not doing much on the computers since shortly after that, and didn’t notice how bad the connection had gotten until this week, since I was used to a few pages not loading every once in a while before this event.
Wifi interference is the most obvious culprit, right?: when I use the airport command line tool to do a scan, I only get 1 or two networks anywhere near a good connection rating (signal strength in db). Sometimes tons of networks show up, sometimes only a few. Recently, since the “event” I noticed that sometimes there is a “0” in the signal strength column. I have never seen this before. My 2.4GHz usually shows -50db - -35db, while the 5GHz shows in the 50’s or 60’s. Moving the location of the AEBS doesn’t do much. But again, now, line of sight, 5 feet away, the newer mac doesn’t have any better signal than the one across the room~18ft? away!
I’m thinking of asking sonic, to come out and scan around to see if we can figure this out! but right now they are still saying the lines look 100% clean from their end, and I don’t disagree! I have always had 0.00% packet loss when wired! However this is impractical for some devices, including my laptop. The power line adapters for whatever reason now don’t even work with my machine, whereas before I would take a speed hit of a few Mbps. Or perhaps, they only worked with my old machine, and now my new MBPr with TB->etc adapter or a USB3.0->Gbit Eth don’t work with the adapter… or maybe the adapter is defective… anyway… I would rather have no packet loss at this point and connect at 5Mbps, but that turned out to be a no go last night! Ugh!
Lastly, I've picked up a USB 3.0 802.11ac dongle, it gets the same reception on my main antenna.
Any ideas? Aren’t I renting a modem with Wifi? Shouldn’t I expect it to work?
FYI, I’m an apple technician, but not a network specialist, so I know some stuff about computers, but I can’t even remember all the inexplicable connection events, so I have just given the highlights… i went through 2 Pace modems last year, 2015, that seemed to die when I disabled their wifi. This year, I changed out the 3rd one we were on, but that didn’t solve anything.
Hopefully me and whoever can pull together and solve this? I hope so, thank you to anyone who donates their time, I know about that a bit, and it is much appreciated over here.
"Issues with PacePlc+WIFI+OSX" (viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2079&start=10)
Background/Summary of that thread: Dane takes an interest, then a support rep starts working with the OP I think... a bunch of other people chime in reporting that their MacBook Whatevers, and Pace modems, and / or AIrport Express/Extreme (apple wifi) products are having a similar issue to mine (packet loss for some amount of time, then connection resumes). The ping commands look a little different than mine did sometimes. One of the techs suggests two things create a wifi diagnostics "report" (hold down option and click the airport icon in the menu bar) and then "monitor" the connection. Nothing interesting happened there for me. He also suggested:
changing the IPv6 settings!
For me this worked... I've tested it two ways now:
1) on 10.11 and 10.10, there IS NO "Off" as he describes in the thread in the GUI (user interface), you MUST use TERMINAL.app to turn it off, you can re-enable it in the GUI however. For help with this, see this page: http://osxdaily.com/2014/04/18/disable-ipv6-mac-os-x/
in short:
Code: Select all
networksetup -setv6off Wi-FiI regularly have to reboot my 2014 MBPr15" for wifi weirdness, my persistent original issue aside, and the other day the other MBPr13" (2015) was having a bad issue, have system logs for it too. It looks like apple has been releasing some low quality drivers lately (10.10/10.11). Reboot. and if you like, I recommend, zapping the PRAM (hold down "command-option-p-r" keys immediately when asked to restart/ start up, you will hear the startup chime again (you want to hear it at least twice).
WARNING: the article from osxdaily (a pretty good site) warns that SOME features, including AIRDROP might fail. they even have a link with more info about this.
SO, MY solution, instead of changing each machine's settings, in MY CASE ( you may have a completely different set up! and likely do!) to avoid that (probably why apple disabled the "off" option in the GUI for IPv6... they now rely on it for newer OS features...):
Use Airport Utility to talk to my Apple AIrport Extreme Base Station (4th generation), and go to the "Internet" tab, the select the "internet Options" button at the bottom then Make sure "Configure IPv6" is set to "Link-Local Only" (for a full explanation of these IPv6 settings in the latest airport utility: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22778?vi ... cale=en_US)
This way, the computers shouldn't have anything broken (software wise) in them, AND the speed/packet loss issues should be eliminated!
Guess what! Now even the 2.4GHz band works full force, and even on the Pace modem too ! Yippie! Try explaining that... the pace says it's not even running IPv6 AT ALL, anywhere!
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
****************************
Hi guys, been living with some worsening wifi packet loss since around the new year. Have talked to sonic 3+ times about it on phone. Done countless hours of ping tests on command line and shuffled setup between Pace (Fusion 1x), ActionTec GT701D (with rolled-back firmware to eliminate issues on sonic’s lines, as the latest FW was for an AT&T fix), and Apple Airport Extreme 4th Gen. bridged (max is 802.11n 2.4/5GHz, no 802.11ac, it is also broadcasting b/g combat. on 2.4GHz). Typically get ping in the high 20’s on the cl. What’s interesting is that I’ve noticed it, since a couple months ago, climbs up to 200~ about then drops back down, or gets no response (packet loss).
1st we live in an apartment building (small) but with bigger ones on either side. Single family homes across the street. I don't think going door-to-door getting neighbors to switch off their wifi temporarily is feasible while I go run back and test. is there any hope? If you think so, read on to see what I've tried so far.
Here’s the scoop:
Speedof.me shows speeds from 800kbps (actiontec->AEBS 5ghz (802.11n), low end of speed)
to 9Mbps on the Pace->AEBS 5ghz (N), and latency up to 8 SECONDS! (8xxx ms)
sonic.com/speedtest shows a jagged bar graph like someone drawing up and down rapidly (from max 5-8Mbps, to ~<1Mbps).
speedof.me shows slow climbs in speed then drops to almost nothing
The best setup I have had is the ActionTec to AEBS 5Ghz N.
The worst is the Pace’s built-in 2.4GHz. AEBS 2.4 GHz is nominally different.
Pace->AEBS has higher throughput, but more packet loss, it syncs up at the max speed I’ve had here (living here ~<18m) ~15Mbps. The actionTec use to Sync up ( i think before new year; the FW wasn’t rolled back until ~ March, mb) at basically the same rate! Now it’s down to 9Mbps, I think since new year, and sonic told me last time I called it would only sync up at ADSL1, it refused to do ADSL2+, though I have set it manually to that previously! What’s weird is that after I talked to them this week and they did that little test, it seems to be even slightly worse…
My packet loss from Jan - ~April/May was ~0.5-0.1 % on ActionTec -> AEBS 5GHz,
and 1.x%-8.x% on all modem/wifi combos for 2.4GHz.
My Jitter was not substantial before, nor latency, at around 30ms each.
Now my jitter can go up to ~300ms.
Now my packet loss at best is even around 2%, AT BEST! And the speed is lowered on BOTH modems, 5 / 9 actionetec / pace respectively, whereas until ~April May it was 9/15. Now the wifi isn’t even connecting at the full rate of the modems.
I have changed the dsl splitter/filter several times, upgraded the phone cable from splitter to modem. no difference really. except... something weird... i think twice, changing the splitter/filter temporarily improved things, though didn't get rid of the issues, and going back to old splitters had no effect, and i've tried about 5 splitters/filters across several brands.
sonic did come out near install when the first connecction issue cropped up about a year ago, replaced a splice in the box in the laundry room (which I've looked at a dozen times since then, and it looks perfectly fine/untouched), AND replaced the phone jack wallplate with a stainless one it looks like.
I have tried modem->wall plate. This does not solve the issue.
Here’s the client list, standing, guests not included:
2 macbook pros, 1 current 1 2014, 2 iPhone 6’s, 1 iPad mini 1st gen, 1 Alibi IP Cam (new on the scene), 3 Trendnet Powerline Adapters (1 to an iogear print server, 1 to the IP cam, and 1 as the “base) (TP-Link 500 Nano & 600 Gigabit). Massive Surge protectors (my MBPr15”-2014 is used as a desktop with about 15 devices plugged into power adapters behind the 27” monitor, i.e. 3x USB hubs, 1x Audio Interface, 1 x speakers, 1x cordless DECT 6.0 phone (panasonic), 1x fan, 1x lamp, 2x HD enclosures/adapters, 1x scanner, 1x fan cool pad, etc. The magnetic field has got to be insane, AND up until a month ago or two ago, moving the laptops around the room (i.e. within a couple feet of the wifi) would make a difference. NO LONGer! Moving some of the devices and cords can make “some difference” sometimes, but not right now.
Random Notes: some devices connect on 2.4GHz sometimes I think, oh, my old iPod, not listed above, that is not usually using the wifi, since I just load with audio ahead of time and turn off wifi. But I don’t really use it too much, it’s mostly for guests.
I have tried a 5.8GHz cordless phone, and kept my 5GHz channels in the low end (36-48), as some people do INDEED report DECT phones (supposed to be 1.8-1.9~GHz ) DO interfere. I have had very strange behaviors with these phones at multiple locations and wouldn’t eliminate them from guilt, however, I have tested many times with both base station and handset unplugged (batts removed), powered off, and not on any tel line. I try the sonic corded handset regularly (cheap thing they gave me when I signed up for fusion at this location. None of this makes any difference. The DECT weirdness I have experienced at various locations happens almost always when the cordless handsets are near dying, losing enough power from their NiMHs to stay on.
The “event/s” that I can trace the most recent issues to that have now made it mostly unusable, since I have lost emails, and this is bad for professionalism (the emails other save a copy to my sent box, so i think they sent, or they are just gobbled up completely!!! this has happened i believe with both sonic and my own third party hosting accounts, I use Apple Mail on 10.10.5 mostly, or on my iOS 9 phone).:
There was a rainstorm, and the handset of the panasonic died later that evening. The police arrived stating a 911 hangup. I checked the dialing record of handset and base station, noticing that the handset had died so i charged it a bit before checking. No record. Called sonic the next morning, they said, yeah, issues on your line, no, no record of a 911 call from your fusion voice, but sometimes when a line disconnects that happens. ATT rolled out a few days later, cleaned up whatever poseidon had deposited in the box on the street. I have been very sick, and not doing much on the computers since shortly after that, and didn’t notice how bad the connection had gotten until this week, since I was used to a few pages not loading every once in a while before this event.
Wifi interference is the most obvious culprit, right?: when I use the airport command line tool to do a scan, I only get 1 or two networks anywhere near a good connection rating (signal strength in db). Sometimes tons of networks show up, sometimes only a few. Recently, since the “event” I noticed that sometimes there is a “0” in the signal strength column. I have never seen this before. My 2.4GHz usually shows -50db - -35db, while the 5GHz shows in the 50’s or 60’s. Moving the location of the AEBS doesn’t do much. But again, now, line of sight, 5 feet away, the newer mac doesn’t have any better signal than the one across the room~18ft? away!
I’m thinking of asking sonic, to come out and scan around to see if we can figure this out! but right now they are still saying the lines look 100% clean from their end, and I don’t disagree! I have always had 0.00% packet loss when wired! However this is impractical for some devices, including my laptop. The power line adapters for whatever reason now don’t even work with my machine, whereas before I would take a speed hit of a few Mbps. Or perhaps, they only worked with my old machine, and now my new MBPr with TB->etc adapter or a USB3.0->Gbit Eth don’t work with the adapter… or maybe the adapter is defective… anyway… I would rather have no packet loss at this point and connect at 5Mbps, but that turned out to be a no go last night! Ugh!
Lastly, I've picked up a USB 3.0 802.11ac dongle, it gets the same reception on my main antenna.
Any ideas? Aren’t I renting a modem with Wifi? Shouldn’t I expect it to work?
FYI, I’m an apple technician, but not a network specialist, so I know some stuff about computers, but I can’t even remember all the inexplicable connection events, so I have just given the highlights… i went through 2 Pace modems last year, 2015, that seemed to die when I disabled their wifi. This year, I changed out the 3rd one we were on, but that didn’t solve anything.
Hopefully me and whoever can pull together and solve this? I hope so, thank you to anyone who donates their time, I know about that a bit, and it is much appreciated over here.
