Frustrated by slow WiFi? It may be AirDrop on your Mac. There's an app you can download as a partial fix, or if you're on a Mac older than mid-2012, you can disable AirDrop. Quick fix details below and longer, background info after that.
Here's my before and after speedtest.
Try it yourself.
Option 1: Download WiFriedX
Mario Ciabarra is co-founder and CEO of Quantum Metric, and the creator of WiFriedX, a partial fix for Yosemite WiFi issues. In his Medium article, “WiFriedX: An In-depth look at Yosemite WiFi issues due to AWDL & AirDrop“, I found a partial solution to my WiFi problems.
You can download his WiFriedX, which lets you toggle on and off Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL). There are additional settings related to AirDrop to modify and lessons you can impart to co-workers. The article includes his research and what lead him to create this small app. The basics are that there are a number of issues with Yosemite, AWDL and AirDrop.
Option 2: Disable AirDrop
Running Yosemite on an “older Mac”, one before mid-2012? WiFriedX won't work for you but disabling AirDrop could still improve your WiFi.
Apple Support forums will tell you that it's not possible to disable AirDrop. Be brave! You can do so via Terminal.
Open Terminal and put in the appropriate command below. Then restart. If AirDrop no longer appears in the Finder window, it's disabled.
To turn off AirDrop:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser DisableAirDrop -bool YES
To turn on AirDrop:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser DisableAirDrop -bool NO
Video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKe4H_4uHbM
Background Info
What is AirDrop?
AirDrop is a method of transferring files wirelessly from one device to another device. If you are having WiFi issues, check all your devices, including iPads and iPhones. Use of AirDrop might be inadvertently affecting your WiFi performance. If you don't need it, use it, or know what it is, it's ok to turn it off. Be brave. On your computer, disable AirDrop via the Terminal instructions above. On iOS devices, change the setting to No One vs Everyone or Contacts Only.
Other Yosemite WiFi Issues
Mario Ciabarra's Medium article above also explains other Yosemite WiFi Issues, including
- AWDL interference and channel hopping (WiFriedX provides band-aid)
- Too many scans after network associate (WiFriedX helps a little)
- AppleTV, Bonjour Sleep Proxy, and AWDL (Uncheck “Wake For Wi-Fi”)
- Enterprise Authentication
What Is Jitter?
You'll see when you run a speedtest that there is the Download and Upload Speed but also Latency (the amount of time it takes for a block of information, or packet, to travel across a network from Point A to Point B) and Jitter (the amount of time between packets arriving, or Packet Delay Variation). If the gap between one packet arriving is 20 milliseconds and the next is 60 milliseconds, then the gap between is the jitter. You are noticing Jitter when your game or YouTube video lags or pauses to buffer. http://www.speedtest.net/articles/what-is-jitter/
The Jitter rate in my speedtests is usually 5-10 milliseconds, but sometimes it's 80-100 so I guess I have one part of the problem solved and am on to the next.
Hope this tip helped.
