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EEzycade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2018
218
222
Mesa, Arizona
So I recently discovered that my Satechi usb-c dongle(it's usb 3.0 signal) is interfering with my wifi connection. I heard a rumor that this was an issue, and then realized it was happening to me. Now I can't use my dongle because it makes my internet super slow and cuts out often. I can't use my monitor, which I connect via HDMI on the dongle. What am I supposed to do. Sell my current monitor and then never use any usb 3.0 accessories ever again? I'm confused and angry at Apple for such a poor design. Help me out please. Does anyone know of any cheapish(I know I'll to pay more for a quality one) usb-c monitors. Arghh!
 

LogicalApex

macrumors 65816
Nov 13, 2015
1,308
2,036
PA, USA
I'd reach out to Satechi. They should have proper shielding on their dongle. I'm not sure why you're blaming Apple for a dongle they didn't manufacture...

Unless you have data suggesting that Apple failed to shield their TB3 ports correctly, but I haven't read complaints about this and the USB 3 WiFi & BlueTooth interference issue has been known for a very long time. I'd be surprised if they failed to shield.
 

EEzycade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2018
218
222
Mesa, Arizona
I'd reach out to Satechi. They should have proper shielding on their dongle. I'm not sure why you're blaming Apple for a dongle they didn't manufacture...

Unless you have data suggesting that Apple failed to shield their TB3 ports correctly, but I haven't read complaints about this and the USB 3 WiFi & BlueTooth interference issue has been known for a very long time. I'd be surprised if they failed to shield.
Huh? All I can say is there’s a big difference in WiFi speeds when the dongle is plugged in vs no dongle.
 

LogicalApex

macrumors 65816
Nov 13, 2015
1,308
2,036
PA, USA
Huh? All I can say is there’s a big difference in WiFi speeds when the dongle is plugged in vs no dongle.

Yes, the dongle needs to have shielding to prevent the dongle from emitting excessive interference on the 2.4Ghz spectrum.

If you want to isolate who is at fault you can always plug your USB 3 device directly into the MBP without the dongle and see if the problem goes away. I suspect it will since the problem isn't the MBP, but the Satechi dongle...
 

EEzycade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2018
218
222
Mesa, Arizona
If you want to isolate who is at fault you can always plug your USB 3 device directly into the MBP without the dongle and see if the problem goes away. I suspect it will since the problem isn't the MBP, but the Satechi dongle...
How strange... I have no usb 3.0 devices plugged in at all. Just hdmi out of the dongle. Just tested again to verify. 18 down and 6 up w no dongle. 4 down and 4 up w dongle connected to monitor via hdmi. Just a faulty dongle perhaps?
 

chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,546
7,070
So I recently discovered that my Satechi usb-c dongle(it's usb 3.0 signal) is interfering with my wifi connection.
Chances are good that you're using a 2.4GHz wifi network. If you can change to 5GHz, you're much less likely to have interference issues from USB devices.
 

EEzycade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2018
218
222
Mesa, Arizona
So I solved it. Tried another dongle belonging to my brother and it did not interfere with the WiFi. Guess Satechi just sent me a faulty unit.
 
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