MBP 15" 2012 with bad, bad wifi

Hi all. My MBP suddenly developed this curious problem whereby it can't access the internet as well as it should. It keeps timing out on websites, saying that the DNS lookup failed or just plain saying it can't find the website I'm trying to go to. This does not just affect Chrome, it affects Safari and any app that can access the internet. However, my other devices (2 Windows laptops, 1 Android tablet, a few Android phones) all can access the internet fine. The only device that has this problem is my MBP. It occurs quite frequently such that I've given up using the internet on it. Is this a known problem? My DNS is set to Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), but I doubt it affects anything since it is also enforced on my router (TP Link WR1043ND). This only started happening 2 or 3 days ago. Please help

EDIT: I would also like to add that I called my local Apple support who helped me to set Wifi to the top of the list in Network Preferences and wiped login info for the router, but it didn't fix anything.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

 

First thing to do would be to reset the PRAM and SMC and try again. If that doesn't work, take your system to a coffee shop or some place that has free WiFi and test there. If it works outside your house, you have a problem with your modem or router. If it's still acting up, then back up your files and reinstall OS X from scratch. It's a pain, but something might have become corrupted somewhere. If that doesn't work, then make an appointment at an Apple store, if you have one near you. Hopefully, the problem is bad enough where you can clearly demonstrate it to a Genius, and you'll get a fix. If you don't have a store near you, call Apple again, clearly explain all the troubleshooting steps you did, and the result is you should get a box to mail it to them for repair.

Good luck.

 

I reset the PRAM, but now it shows a progress bar which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, then the progress bar becomes the spinning icon - not the beachball, the one made of dashes formed in a circle. It's been like that for the past 30 minutes. Is this normal?

EDIT: Well, this is bad. I forced a shutdown (held power button) and restarted it, and it just went back to the same progress bar and same loop/hang... think it's time to call AppleCare

EDIT 2: Actually, seems to be OSX that is having the progress bar and not the bios/openfirmware/uefi/whatever. Recovery works, going to see if I can't fix my install.

EDIT 3: After a few hours, reinstalled OSX and Time Machine put everything back in place. Problem seems to be fixed too

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

 

After yesterday, this issue surfaces less often, but it still happens. Looks like it's really time for AppleCare

 

I think I've isolated the problem to OSX, since Windows on Boot Camp accesses the internet perfectly fine. Strange though, since I didn't mess with any system settings. Should I reinstall OSX cleanly (ie. no Time Machine restore) and try to see if it fixes the problem?

EDIT: Actually, no, I think it's my router. Pinging 8.8.8.8 with my home wifi gets about 98% timeouts, whereas pinging 8.8.8.8 with my phone's wireless hotspot gets negligible timeouts. Wonder what's made my router anti-Mac. It's a TP-Link WR1043ND.

 

format your router and try to put into 5ghz band

 

I restored an old version of mDNSResponder, as well as flushed the DNS cache. Seems to be better now, although I still get the occasional slowdowns. Highly doubt it's the router now. Probably going to get an SSD after my exams, gives me a reason to start on a clean slate and banish this problem for good (hopefully)