MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

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Level 1

6 points

MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

Hi folks,

Well, I read a ton of posts regarding MacBook Pro wireless networking issues before buying a wireless router last month, and now it's "me too."

Our iBook has no problems whatsoever with dropped connections, but the MBP loses access every few minutes or so. I usually follow a sequence of "Turn AirPort Off"/"Turn Airport On" to cycle the connection, and sometimes this works. It's an almost constant problem. This is a standard configuration MBP.

The router happens to be a D-Link DIR-615, but I've seen enough posts about problems with the Airport Express and MacBook Pros to know it's not the router that's the problem--it's the MacBook Pro (I notice a few similar posts even on the first page of this forum).

Dear Apple: what are you doing about this issue?

Has anyone else somehow resolved this problem? If there was only a couple of posts about this issue, then it might be written off as problems with a specific router, or specific users. But when there's a ton of messages all complaining about the same problem, then it's more likely a significant defect that needs to be fixed by the manufacturer, and won't be fixed by standard troubleshooting procedures of the mundane kind (Tech Support Theater: "Is your router turned on?").

Dear Apple: where are you?

MBP, Mac OS X (10.4.11), non

Posted on Jan 20, 2008 8:45 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

133,165 points

Jan 10, 2017 9:12 PM in response to anju10

anju10

The original thread was started 8 years ago. It now has over 2058 replies and takes up 138 forum pages.

There is no way you will get any help by saying "me too" to a post this long. No one wants to read this thread.

Start your own post, and include MUCH more information about exactly what computer, what MacOS, and how and when you encountered your problems.

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Answer 2

Jan 11, 2017 8:07 AM in response to goobus

..and you think they'd fix it 😉

OR maybe this is a most often a User Problem, and not an Apple problem at all.

Or maybe caused by overloaded airwaves around the Users' location. Or a certifiable antique for a Router. Or a Router too far away from the computer. Or solid masonry construction which is blocking the Wi-Fi signal. Or a Router that is mis-configured, or is using bogus DNS numbers, or using the wrong country-code. Or a computer that is mis-configured. Or a Hardware failure in one particular computer.

But determining that takes a careful analysis of the User environment, something experienced Readers are not willing to do in a 138-page thread.

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Answer 3

ManiHall

Level 1

4 points

Jul 28, 2017 10:43 PM in response to ffredburger

Having the same problem and I've had 2 MacBook Air's now. For the cost of this product, it's not too much to expect that you won't have to constantly go to your System Preferences and use the Diagnostic tool to regain access to the web. And yes, it happens every few minutes.

My question is this: Is it time for a class action lawsuit? When you throw down nearly a grand or more, your laptop should behave according to the price.

Or you know, Mac could either patch the problem or reimburse everyone who bought one. This is just criminal.

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Answer 4

Jan 20, 2008 2:01 PM in response to ffredburger

Hi There,

I had the same issue as you, only I had a D-Link DGL-4500. It was initially set with the "Mixed 802.11g and 802.11n" mode, and I had the same problem as you and most others.

This is an AirPort issue with the MacBook Pro and the 802.11n wireless technology. Try setting your router to "802.11g Only" mode, and see if that works. It worked for me. As long as 802.11n is not broadcasting from the router, you should be able to get a stable and fast connection.

I know it defeats the purpose of an 802.11n router, but it's a temporary fix until Apple releases an update or something.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 5

Jan 21, 2008 5:31 AM in response to ffredburger

Hi there

I've been trying to fix this problem for months now.

It has to be something to do with the MBP as my girlfriend's win xp laptop connects to our wireless network and maintains its connection quite happily. This is an embarrassment to Apple's premium notebook.

Like many others, my connection drops although the wireless signal icon remains full. The MBP thinks it's still connected but will not load any web pages. I have to turn airport on and off to rectify this (until it happens again after about 10 minutes or so of inactivity).

I recently upgraded to Leopard, hoping that would fix this issue. NOPE. When I was tunning Tiger I tried a fix that I found on these forums which involved replacing a .kext file. This didn't work for me.

I only recently phoned apple support. They told me to remove the HD:Library/Preferences/SystemPreferences folder, which effectively reset my network settings. I thought this had fixed the issue, but later that day it happened again.

If you are having this problem my advice would be don't bother wasting your money phoning apple support. You'll just have to wait and keep your fingers crossed for a solution.

If anybody knows of a real solution to this problem, please let me know!

Mikey

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Answer 6

ffredburger Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 21, 2008 6:26 AM in response to ffredburger

pmaccarone and mikeyrocks: thank you for responding.

pm: I've been putting off switching to g-only, but just did this morning and will report back on my results.

mr: Our little iBook works just fine; as in your case it's the MBP that's unhappy. I probably won't be upgrading to Leopard anytime soon.

The DIR-615 is my first wireless router (I'm an intentionally late-adopter to avoid problems such as the one we're discussing) and other than the MBP problem, I'm happy with the product and the comprehensive, browser-based configuration software. For $50 I think it was a good deal.

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Answer 7

jimix

Level 1

8 points

Jan 21, 2008 8:27 PM in response to ffredburger

I am having similar network problems with my Macbook Pro. I'm pretty sure it is (gasp) a bug in Leopard because when I boot into Vista I haven't noticed this problem. Sometimes I can regain connectivity by turning airport on and off a few times. Other times it takes one or more restarts to start working again. This is a new problem. Seems like it started after Apple fixed the problem with the keyboard not working intermittently.

I'm connecting (most of the time) to an 802.11g only WPA home network.

This is my first Apple and every time I start to think I may stick with Apple, another bug crops up that prevents me from using my $2000 machine. Arrgh...

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Answer 8

Jan 21, 2008 8:56 PM in response to ffredburger

I use a netgear DG834N wireless modem router
Only been using my MPB for a week now but have not had one moment of wireless connectivity problem.

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Answer 9

lain san

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2008 2:26 AM in response to ffredburger

Using a WPN824 (Netgear RangeMax Wireless Router) and keep having problems with my wireless connection as well. I cannot find the root cause though as it happens sometimes, and sometimes does not. There is no special process or tool i run. It's just like dropping connection OR getting extremely slow (high latency - did anyone experience this as well?) just during and in the midst of normal operation. The Router is running in 54Mbit compatibility mode by the way just to avoid problems with proprietary speed settings.

To work around this i tend to switch to cable connection via the same router which works perfect then. I'm switching back to my wirless every other reboot or when i move the laptop .. until the WiFi connection gets bad again. Bad thing is at my second location there is no possibility to switch to cable so i have to cope with low latency WiFi every now or trying to fix it with some of the methods mentioned before (Airport Off/On, Reboot..)

Message was edited by: lain san

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Answer 10

Jan 23, 2008 11:47 AM in response to lain san

I'm having the same problem. The problem is intermittent however frequent enough that each time I use my MBP it happens at least once. I've been searching various forums with little to no luck in solving the problem.

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Answer 11

Jan 25, 2008 10:56 AM in response to ffredburger

I have the exact same problem with my month-old macbook pro.
it's my first apple, and I'm really sad that whenever I need reliable internet access I need my parent's win xp laptop.
Is there any solutions yet?

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Answer 12

Jan 25, 2008 11:44 AM in response to ffredburger

I've called Mac support, because- like all of you- I too have issues with my wireless connectivity cutting out. I've noticed that as long as my system doesn't idle or go into sleep mode, the wireless connection seems alright. But if I walk away from my computer for 10 minutes or more- I generally have to re-start my computer. So, on to my support call...

THE GOOD NEWS: Apple already knows about this issue and their engineers are working on a solution.

THE BAD NEWS: Apple already knows about this issue and there is nothing you can do about it until their engineers figure out a solution.

I'm at my wit's end with this problem (the 1st birthday of my MacBook Pro is fast approaching), if they don't get it fixed within the next month, then I think it's well-withing my rights as a consumer to ask for a new computer with a wireless card that will work with the OS installed (by the way, I installed Leopard and constantly make sure I'm current with my updates- that didn't resolve the problem).

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Answer 13

Jan 25, 2008 12:07 PM in response to ramenfreak

Just want to throw my hat (MBP) in the ring too. Have had my 2.2Ghz MBP since they were released and am having the exact same problems described here. I also have an iBook G4 800Mhz which NEVER drops or loses its' connection. Considering the iBook Airport is so good I tried Sharing the internet connection wirelessly from my iBook to my MBP (without router) and sadly continued to have the same dropout issues. As a control test I also tried this with my iBook and Mum and Dad's Mini and a friends iBook and all shared their internet directly - via wireless - to my iBook without a hitch... But my MBP continued to drop the connection (regardless of which machine it was wirelessly connected to) around the 9-10min mark. It's a most frustrating problem. For those whom are interested I tried sharing the internet connection with and without a password protected wireless connection. Didn't make a difference.

Oh, and this is all on top of the first letter often missing when I type. Blargh...

Scotty

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Answer 14

cerby

Level 1

0 points

Jan 25, 2008 8:33 PM in response to ffredburger

I'll throw one more "Me-to" into the mix, with a caveat - I sort of found a way around the problem.

I had a G4 powerbook, and an Aug' 07 MBP running Tiger, and a Buffalo blahblah 802.11G running DD-wrt v23sp2, using WPA personal, and for more than 2 years, it worked flawlessly. No wireless issues w/ the metal case of the PB or the MBP.

Then I upgraded to leopard, 10.5.0, then updated to 10.5.1. Now I frequently wake the MBP up from sleep, and it won't find my home wireless...tho it will find lots of other wireless networks...just not mine. Argh.

I've tried watching the "packets on the wire" so to speak. tcpdumping and using ethereal to watch wireless packet traffic - sure enough, the wireless is WORKING, but just not finding my wireless connection.

Maybe it has something to do with using WPA, vs a wide open network...I'm not willing to run an open access point, so I get to deal with the weirdness.

The solution that works for me 95% of the time:

1) Shut down all programs trying to do network stuff (Adium, firefox, mail, et al).

2) turn off wireless.

3) open up network pref pane. go to Airport -> Advanced

4) Delete my home network. Hit Ok. Hit apply.

5) Re-add the exact same network, same WPA password, tell it to remember. Hit Ok. Hit apply.

6) Turn on wireless again.

And my network appears almost all of the time. About 5% of the time, it doesn't work.

Hope this helps folks limp along until Apple comes along with a fix.

Good luck!

-dave

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Answer 15

chotcha

Level 1

0 points

Jan 26, 2008 5:05 AM in response to cerby

yup I too have been having this issue, my powerbook G4 experiencing no problems but my MacBook Pro's wifi playing up. I run a NETGEAR DG834 with AirPort Extreme (802.11g) base station.

It wasn't happening frequently enough to drive me totally insane until this week (i currently use my MacBook Pro primarily as a home music studio and my powerbook for email/internet/other work so i didn't actually need to be on the internet with my MacBook Pro very often anyway) . When I ran software update and installed the new itunes/front row/quicktime updates then restarted, it wouldn't connect to my home network at all! The network showed up in the list and kept asking for the password again (although its in my keychain already!), and despite entering the correct password it kept failing to connect. I don't know if this problem is actually connected to those updates, but I definitely wasn't having an issue like this before upgrading.

However, thanks to cerby, I have managed to connect and post here - hurrah. Deleting the network like you said and switching the airport back on brought back the connection instantly. Cheers!

Please apple hurry with a proper fix!

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