Wifi connection bad since upgrade to 10.4.10

Same problems here. Tried a HD wipe with reinstall of Leopard. Wireless refused to connect at the setup screen. It has to be a hardware issue.

Have there been any more updates on this issue yet?

My MacBook wifi was really terrific until I upgraded to Panther. Now I get weak signals and dropped signals all the time - so much so that it becomes worthless.

This really seems like a software problem - all other non-Panther macs and other devices work well in the same (unchanged) network environments.

The only change was an upgrade to 10.5.4 then 10.5.5. Same problem in both systems...

No more bragging to windows folks about how easy it is to connect to wifi!

I found a fix. I have been tortured by the intermittent connections and dropouts.
I must have tried about a hundred things. Deleting pref files, changing network settings and service orders. Nothing. Then. I downloaded this little program called "the little snitch"; restarted; and the thing is humming along. Let me know what happens if you try it.

Why do you think that program made a difference? Any special settings?

I'm still exasperated by this problem. I've already thrown enough money at the problem changing out my wireless router with a TC, adding an Airport Express as a wireless bridge, relocating my wireless phones, etc, etc....in addition to months of tinkering endless configuration changes. I know I have been experiencing multiple problems and often exchange one problem set for another. However, the primary problem still exists. I resort to disabling and re-enabling my iMac wireless every few minutes. In my case, my MacBookPro and a couple Windows machines typically do not have a problem. Therefore, I think I've solved most of the wireless or interference problems.

I would really like to know why the Little Snitch program helps before I break down and buy that thing too. I recently started to run a web App that provides realtime stock price updates. The curious thing is that these updates keep on coming yet I cannot open another browser window and reach Yahoo, Google, Comcast, or most any other website. It's as if DNS relay stops or the OS or Routers run out of NAT resources. This is driving me crazy.

Anyone else solve this? A year ago I did not have any such problems!

I've got a Macbook and recently got an iMac. My Macbook works fine with wifi but the signal on the iMac was very intermittent - if I placed the iMac and Macbook next to each other, opened a video on Youtube, the video would load much faster on the Macbook than the iMac.

I've just got back from the very helpful guys at a genius bar and they suggested I delete Real Player from my iMac. They said they're pretty certain it's software related and deleting Real Player has worked for people in the past. Strangely enough the guy I spoke with said it only affected iMac's. I have deleted Real Player and so far everything is running smoothly on the iMac. I've only been using the internet for the past 20 minutes since deleting Real Player but so far there have been no signal drops. This may not be a solution for everyone but it might work for some of you.

Enough is enough!!! I've suffered with this for months and it's screwed me more than once when I needed to be solidly online. I admire and appreciate the many fix suggestions but none of them work especially long term.

Apple has had more than enough time to 1) acknowledge this problem and 2) FIX IT!!!

At the very least if they can't figure out how to fix their own OS then we should have an easy option to reverse the update that caused all the suffering!

FIX THIS ALREADY APPLE!!!

I have just had a one-hour support call with Apple yesterday (fortunately still covered by my extended AppleCare warranty), because I had finally had enough of it. Running Mac OS X 10.4.11, my WiFi connection would drop randomly: A couple of seconds the AirPort signal would be at full strength, then it would drop (grey AirPort symbol in the menu bar) for a few seconds, then come back, then drop again etc.

The lady who took my call made the statement we all know too well, that Apple did not consider this issue "a known bug", and then proceeded to walk me through a couple of steps of trying to resolve the issue, including a PRAM reset, all of which were unsuccessful. My WiFi connection continued to be flaky.

Interestingly, during the call it transpired that, in fact, there was a, or rather several, known issue(s) with one of the AirPort security updates which apparently caused all kinds of trouble for some people. One of these issues was a known bug that they had fixed with the latest security update, and some of the remaining issues they wanted to get fixed with an upcoming update of the security update ... So yes, there are issues, yes, Apple knows about them, and yes, they still seem to fail to properly acknowledge them.

The last step that the support lady suggested I'd try, before taking the MacBook to an Apple service provider to have the hardware checked, was to reinstall the operating system, preserving my settings. (This is done by inserting the Mac OS X Install Disc 1, rebooting the system and pressing the C key while the computer starts up. You can then select the language, and, after accepting the license terms, can select the target volume. Once you have done that, an "Options..." button shows up, and if you click on that, you should see that "Archive and Install" is selected and that "Preserve settings" is checked.)

So that is what I did, and I am now back to running Mac OS X 10.4.8 and my WiFi connection is PERFECT. I have not done an update to 10.4.11 yet, but if I do, the support lady advised me to exclude the Airport Extreme update. I'm not sure whether this will suffice or whether the 330 MB update to 10.4.11 will send me back to Flaky WiFi Land, but be aware that if your WiFi connection is unreliable, a downgrade to an earlier Tiger version (like 10.4.8) might solve at least that particular issue. Or you hope and wait for the next AirPort Extreme update. I think it was supposed to come out in February.

I too have suffered with this problem for months on my wife's MacBook (white). I also recently bought a new MacBook (unibody) thinking the problem would be fixed by now. I was wrong. Both laptops were having the same issue: get on the internet wirelessly, the machine would sleep, when it awoke the connection was lost and I would have to go through Network Diagnostics to reconnect.

I spent an hour on the phone with Apple support yesterday and finally got to a level 2 networking specialist. He identified and fixed the problem....on both MacBooks!!

Turns out I was having a problem with a RealAudio listener program. Apparently, this program makes a lot of calls to the RealPlayer server looking for updates, etc. To check and see if you have this program (or any other potential program that could be causing a similar issue), follow these steps:

- Go to System Preferences
- Click on Accounts
- Make sure the Admin or primary account is selected on the lefthand side
- Click on Login Items
- Carefully scan the items listed
- If you have the RealPlayer listener or any other program which might be making multiple calls to the internet, simply highlight and click the minus button
- After removing the offensive items, remove the MacBook battery, hold down the power button for 5 seconds
- Put back the battery and boot up

I have had no issues whatsoever since applying this fix. I hope this helps/works for some of you.

Thanks for the tip jheadley.

Tried it and, surprise!, it didn't work. I cannot believe that Apple is pretending this issue doesn't exist. My laptop has been relegated to being a desktop because of this issue and, yet, nothing from Apple. Has Apple truly hit the wall and given up?

Another macbook user with wifi issues.

I have the first macbook core duo.
I was using a linksys router. I started having intermittent problems with my wifi connection. I then bought a time capsule believing that it may be a problem with the router. I used to dual boot with boot camp for winxp. (never had wifi issues on the windows side). I formatted my drive and put on the original tiger that it came with. Still to no avail. I took it to a genius and it worked fine for him. I think mine works if i'm in the same room with my router, however dies completely in another room in mac os.

I couldn't agree more. Enough is enough. I've been having these issues for months now, I have tried every single suggestion I found on the web and nothing works. I think Apple should respect their customers and provide a solution for this defect. But at least I learned my lesson. No more Apple products for me.

I have tried absolutely every possible suggested fix I could find and this problem still persists. Is there an easy way to "uninstall" the update that caused this?

I don't want to go to the genius bar - I know more than those folks and nothing frustrates me more than their attitude and being talked down to (see below). I'd prefer to fix this myself or better yet if Apple admitted this problem exists and if they offer a fix! Come on Apple - we're desperate! I'm a student and I have online courses that are nearly impossible for me to work on because of this problem.

I've been tempted to upgrade to 10.5.X BUT I almost suspect that's why this problem has been viewed with a blind eye by Apple - because that is one solution the "Genius Bar" offered when I finally caved and took it in. The kid told me that maybe I should follow his advice because I (quote) obviously don't know how to use my computer!!! Pfft!

Does anyone have any constructive solutions for this problem or maybe even a way to get Apple to listen and respond? I AM DESPERATE!!!

Going to 10.5 will not help you. I've been experiencing the same issues and after recently getting our MacBook back from having the WiFi card replaced we are still having the same problems.

Starting to lose faith here, Apple.