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Poor AirPort throughput on MacBook Pros linked to Real Player 11
[Published Tuesday, June 10]
For some MacBook Pro users, even though the number of bars in the airport indicator shows the signal is at full strength, the internet connection is very slow and choppy. Since other computers on the same network appear to connect and run just fine, the problem appears to be with the software configuration of the affected computer. As one user, stmidnite, put it:
"Both my Mac Pro and Mac mini connect fine. It seems that my MBP just decides to rebel. Even with every device off, the MBP still has the same issue."
This user went so far as to reinstall his operating system; and, upon installing multiple third-party applications found that Real Player 11 was the cause of his and others' connection problems:
"It is Real Player. I completely forgot I had installed it over the weekend, and THAT is what killed my connection."
As was the case with the user "stmidnite", this incompatibility with real player seems to only affect MacBook Pro computers, and owners of other Macintosh models have reported successful and fully working airport connections with real player software.
While there are updated versions of Real Player available, if MacBook Pro users experience poor connections, they might try removing Real Player to see if that helps the situation. If users are still experiencing troubled internet connections despite removing Real Player, see our wireless troubleshooting tutorial.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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Is there any reasonable explanation why Real Player is thought to be responsible for the Airport issue?
OK, I don't buy it for one second. I think he will find out that the Broadcom chip in the new laptops HATES some routers. Performance is OK after reboot, but then quickly gets worse and worse. Eventually throughput is so bad, you might as well be on dial-up.
I've noticed this with a WRT-54G, others with PC laptops using the same chip have noticed the same.
In particular, I also have XP installed on the same laptop, and you can watch the connection speed to the router drop... 54...48...36..24...11... 1
Even if you force the wireless card to stay connected at 54 (only in windows) it will still suck, and you can only keep maybe 20% of the throughput of the earlier wireless cards.
None what so ever. Just a plain and simple coincidence as what does RealPleayer have to do with airport? Nada.
I had some strange airport connection errors when I had a Firewire disk plugged in to my macbook pro but that might have also been a coincidence.
//Rob
I had/have erratic connection when I connect and run an ext HDD on 'Time Machine.'
Without RealPlayer, how do you listen to all the .ram files out there? QuickTime can't play back many of them.
I double that. Some Real media can be only played on Real Player. QuickTime and other media players attempt to but most fail so we are still left with Real Player to open these Window Media maybe played on QuickTime via Flip4Mac.
Back to the original subject, I've just installed Real Player 11 I'll see what I happens and report back here.
I ran Real Player 11 viewing my friend's wedding rebroadcast on external server on my work's AirPort Extreme network and I didn't experience any serious lost of speed or throughput. I ran it for several hours and I used two web-based test to test the speed of the network: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ and http://www.dslreports.com/stest. I have an 6Mb/s up and down external network and using the web-based test using wired network I get about 6Mb/s up and down and using wireless network I get about 5Mb/s up and down. I also copied the Fedora 8 CD iso files which had a total of 6GB of data from my MacBookPro to a internal server and I got about 60Mb/s transfer speeds using Fugu to scp those files over. Remember I'm was viewing the my friend's wedding several times using Real Player 11 during these test.
- by gebgeb August 15, 2008 2:42 PM PDT
- I've got a brand new MacBookPro, installed RealPlayer, and airport keeps cutting out. When I start in Safeboot, I have no problem, so I've been (semi) methodically eliminating all the extras, and this does indeed seem to be the problem. Looking through console files, there seems to be something in Real that calls back to the mother ship, and that's when access to the network is cut.
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(10 Comments)Any fixes?? Alternatives?
Thanks,
Gretchen