Recently I decided to upgrade my network setup and bought one of the most powerful routers currently available. My MacBook is connected via Wi-Fi 6 on the 5 GHz band using channel 44 so that AWDL doesn’t introduce additional latency to the Wi-Fi module.
The strange part is that when I connect my iPad running Metagrid to my MacBook running Metaserver over the local network, the latency starts at around 9 ms for the first 10–20 seconds, but then gradually increases to 200 ms. I haven’t been able to solve this problem. I completely disabled AWDL on the MacBook and even connected the MacBook to the network via Ethernet, but the latency still continued to increase.
I also noticed that when Metagrid connects to Metaserver over Wi-Fi, disconnecting Metagrid on the iPad no longer causes Metaserver to heavily load the CPU, and the MacBook no longer overheats. This excessive CPU usage only occurred when the iPad was connected to the MacBook via a cable. So now it’s possible to test further and determine why the CPU starts overheating and why Metaserver begins consuming so much processing power.
Thank you for the detailed report and for testing both Wi-Fi and Ethernet configurations.
The current MetaGrid Pro and MetaServer connectivity code has now been reviewed. Several areas have been identified where network traffic can accumulate and progressively affect latency, as well as where unfinished USB work may continue after an iPad disconnects.
MetaGrid Pro 1.7.4 will contain improvements addressing the connectivity and latency issues identified during this investigation. The accompanying MetaServer update will also include related USB connection improvements.
Once the updated builds are available, it would be very helpful if you could repeat the same tests and let us know whether the latency remains stable and whether the excessive CPU usage after a USB disconnection has been resolved.
MetaGrid Pro 1.7.4 and MetaServer Mac 6.1.4 are now publicly available with coordinated connectivity improvements relevant to this report.
The production stack includes bounded network and USB queues, a dedicated heartbeat fast path, one-at-a-time latency measurement and stale USB-generation invalidation. These changes are intended to prevent sustained traffic from progressively delaying heartbeat responses or leaving old USB work active.
Please update both MetaGrid Pro and MetaServer and repeat the original tests:
- Connect through Wi-Fi and observe whether the displayed latency still rises progressively.
- Disconnect, connect through USB and check whether MetaServer CPU usage increases after the iPad disconnects.
If either symptom remains, please capture MetaGrid Pro and MetaServer support packages before restarting either application. Please include the connection type, approximate test duration, starting and final latency, and the observed MetaServer CPU usage.
This topic will remain open until the production Wi-Fi and USB tests are confirmed.