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KDLM

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 2, 2018
87
54
San Diego
Last night, I figured out that my router (a Panoramic combination router/modem from my cable company) has been interfering with my 2017 MBP (as well as two 2018 MBPs). Specifically, it was causing random dismounting of drives and a memory card.

I recently bought and returned two 2018 MacBook Pro laptops (each with i7, 2TB, Vega 20). I was experiencing random shutdowns and Bridge OS/kernel panics with both. I ended up going with a new, old-stock 2017 MBP to avoid the Bridge OS/kernel panics related to the T2 chip (which is not in the 2017 MBP).

I had bought an Envoy Pro EX bus-powered ThunderBolt 3 SSD for use with my MBP. It kept randomly dismounting. At the time, I thought this was related to the T2 error. Then I got an Apple brand USB C SD card reader (it's a small dongle/pigtail thing that plugs into the TB3 port on the side of the MBP). When I tried to use it to read SD cards, they kept dismounting and remounting randomly. That was exactly what the Envoy Pro EX was doing.

I had heard some things about router interference (particularly with the early versions of the LG 27" 5K TB3 display). So I decided to try moving my router farther away from my MBP. It was only about 20" away. I moved it about four feet away, and the dismounting has stopped entirely.

My 2018 MBPs were definitely experiencing the T2/Bridge OS issues as well as the random dismounts. My 2017 MBP has not experienced any T2 issues, but has experienced the dismounts. Moving the router farther away resolved the dismounts. I just wanted to post this in case it helps anyone else. I didn't know close proximity of a router could cause an issue.

Here's an article I found. It discusses router interference with various devices (the comments at the end of the article are interesting).

https://www.edn.com/electronics-blo...tronics-interference--LG-displays-and-routers
 
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