MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

I second everything calebk has said, and take only small solace in the fact that I'm not alone in this silliness. I bought a Macbook Pro 2.2 (SR)to replace my wife's broken G3/900 - which, coincidentally, was rock solid until the Apple-acknowledged GPU defect took it out. Our primary problem under 10.4.11 and 10.5.1 was a flaky aiport connection: specifically, the connection would often be lost upon waking the laptop from sleep. Sometimes turning Airport on and off again would restore connectivity; other times, a full reboot would be required. I am fairly tech savvy and have been troubleshoot Macs for over a decade, but nothing I tried impacted the connectivity issue.

At present, after installing 10.5.2 and the Graphics Update for this machine, I much worse off than before the update. Airport drops at least a couple of times a day upon waking from sleep. We now also are having the "no display - must reboot" problem described above about 1/3 of the times we wake the laptop from sleep. We got the GPU reballed on the G3 iBook, I managed to get it reassembled and working again for work presentations, and my wife is begging me to take the accursed MacBook Pro from her and give her the iBook back. That, my friends, is pretty pathetic.

I've tried every single suggestion I've been able to locate, from PRAM resets to .plist removals to blah blah blah - nothing has helped. And Apple, I've lost my faith. My mother-in-law, also a die-hard Apple advocate, feels the same. We bought an Apple because they have always been reliable machines that worked as advertised. I can only speculate where along the line Apple lost its focus on quality, but my MacBook Pro has caused me more trouble in the last 4 months than any XP machine I've ever used. Never again.

I can't say for sure. It doesn't happen with the PowerBook G4 or the iMac. It doesn't happen with an Ethernet connection. It doesn't happen with the MBP running VMWare with Windows Vista. But it does happen on my 1st gen MBP with 10.5.2. I called AppleCare today and they didn't have any real info. I'm just in the process of reinstalling 10.5.0 to see if it still does it (it seemed to me to happen with 10.5.2). If it doesn't happen with 10.5.0, I'll try going to 10.5.1. If it still doesn't happen, then I'll know that it is the .2

And, if I see it in 10.5.0, I'll revert back to 10.4.x. It's a sad state to be in but I can't be running around looking for an Ethernet connection as I travel the world (it's either that or I go out and buy a Dell). ;-(

+1 on my mbp. Have tried the 'g' mode on my netgear router, no joy. Frequently causes stuterring and kernal panics when, despite being unmoved on my desk, the signal drops from 5 bars to nothing at all, lost connection. Generally have to reset to regain the connection. As others have said, I was under the misapprehension that macs "just work" when I moved from a Dell (which never suffered such problems. You'd have thought for a US$2500 bit of kit, when the hardware and software is made by the same company things like this really shouldn't happen. I'm surprised how many fanboys out there there are on the basis of this and other mac hardware disasters I've had, tbh!

Apple - please get this resolved soon, its got to be embarrassing that your top spec notebook can't hold a wireless connection for more than a few hours.

Which airport update?

I tried what you said except for the airport update - searched and it looked like there were at least 10 updates. I ask because this seems to be part of the problem - airports works before the update.

After doing this mine worked until it went to sleep. Woke up with full bars but no internet connect. Looks like I'll being setting my router back to G std only. I'll try this again if you can pinpoint the specific airport update you did.

Thanks

Apple just deleted my entire post.

Anyways, I am having the same problem. I have jack into ethernet sharing from my wife's Macbook that works flawlessly. Why is my 2x as expensive MBP not working while hers is fine?

I have tried everything, but hopefully they will just release a software update soon.

as i try to add a me too my connection yet again drops. 9 other users on my network all work fine and there is a mix of os windows tiger panther leopard etc. its just my macbook pro that has this problem ive spent time on the phone to my isp pretty much blaming them but now i am sure that its my expensive macbook pro thats the problem.

i used to work for apple in an apple store and i do know how to trouble shoot pretty well and i have called applecare hoping they might be able to go beyond my expertise but they were no help at all. its pretty poor on apples behalf that there is no fix or acknowledgement of this problem, as it clearly is a problem.

I guess for now the easiest and cheapest solution is getting an Airport Express and work near a power station with a cable to the AE...

Strangely I had no problem with 10.5.0, never installed 10.5.1 as I read that had many issues and now regretting going for 10.5.2 even though that fixes many other issues.
I guess the MBP and Leopard aren't just fitting together yet, sadly as it's been far too long now!

Hey, I know about your problem. I've been a Windows person for fifteen years and bought a MacBook Pro about eight hours ago and same problem. Been researching it for eight hours and got it to work. I don't know much, but you can try this and maybe it'll work. Plug your notebook into a cable ethernet connection (automatically connects and then go to network preferences (right by the battery indicator). Surf the web and just make sure you are actually connected via cable. If so, click ethernet in network preferences and then click advanced. You should see a bunch of taps, but click DNS and then you should see two sets of DNS servers. Write them down. Click okay and then disconnect cable (replug if you don't have an extra line). Clicka airport and then settings and then DNS servers. Add the two sets of numbers you just saw and then click apply. Enable your AirPort and now it should work. Hope this works. If it does, email me back at marquespena182@yahoo.com Hopefully this solves all the wifi problems.

Like all of you, I have the exact same issues connecting to my wireless home network. The issue is NOT the router, it is most certainly one of the software upgrades in the recent past (About a month ago I was able to connect wirelessly without any problems). I have been unable to connect to the internet, although the network is clearly visible. My roommates, who have PC's and a Macbook have no problems.

I'm extremely frustrated with Apple, seeing as though no solution has been implemented although its an outstanding issue. I have tried some of the suggestions you guys posted, but to no avail. Please let me know if this gets solved.

I keep checking for an update and it keeps telling me that I'm up-to-date but I can not establish a reliable a Wi-Fi connection (in fact, I'm using an office Dell laptop to make this posting). Based on all of the postings (and the huge number of views of those postings) there is a serious Wi-Fi connection problem with the MBP (I'm not sure if it is with all 10.5.X releases or just 10.5.2) but it appears to be real. I have stopped in at the "Genius Bar" at the local Apple Store and I have called AppleCare and neither of them could find anything in their knowledgebase on the issue - although the Genius did find a connectivitiy issue related 10.4.11.

I think it really sad that Apple is not acknowledging the problem and at least giving all MBP (suffering) owners a "feel good" statement that they are aware and that they are working on a resolution. At the end of the day, there will either be a fix or there will be a recall and in either case, Apple should be trying to position themselves on the high ground. At the present time, their strategy of ignoring the problem is only placing them in the lowest of low places. Arragonance might make them feel good but it never wins the end game.

As if to put a nail into the coffin, my MBP 2.2GHz (OS 10.5.2) will not even connect to my home's wireless network, reboot after reboot after reboot. Other networks are picked up just fine, EXCEPT MINE.

My home network is run via an Airport Express with the latest firmware update, and my Powerbook (from which I am posting this) has absolutely no problems getting onto this network. It has no security, as I am running it via a users list feature (not sure what it's named), so no more WPA/WPA2 excuse for not being able to find the network.

It is crucial that Apple get their stuff together and work on a fix here. Many MBP owners are suffering because of this. I am particularly bothered as I start work on Mar 17 and I need to have my MBP fully functional. I cannot have a bumbling, unreliable machine that only can play stuff on iTunes loudly and do Photoshop reasonably fast.

I ended up getting the D-Link DIR 615. ($50 at Circuit City)

The N band works with my MBP with OS X 10.4.11 with no problems. I don't take the laptop to wifi hot spots so I don't know how it works on other networks. Had to take my Belkin N NIMO back as it only worked in G mode.

Well, I'm not sure if this is where I should post this, since I have a MBP Duo2Core 2.16, running 10.4.11 and (knock on wood) have never had a problem with the wireless connection. I'm using an older WT54G Linksys router which is what prompted me to search here in the first place. I was thinking of upgrading to an "N" router. Right now I think I'm glad that I didn't change the router, or upgrade to Leopard!

Anyway, the original question I had was regarding using a new "N" router and I was told that if you still had any "G" signals on the router, it would automatically default to the "G" signal and your "N" signal would be de-rated. I was wondering if that were true, and now I'm wondering if that might have anything to do with some of these dropped connection problems?

I just went through this experience. I purchased a Mac book pro, in December and when i brought it home noticed that everyone was able to use the internet except me. I was constantly kicked off, and had to turn my air card off and reselect the network. I called apple care, and they were unable to determine what was the issue. They blamed it on everything my router ( apple airport extreme) VM fusion, my isp. I then got them to make me an appointment at the apple store for the next day, the genius could not replicate the issue but agreed to replace t air card. So got my computer back and went to test it again on there network ad was kicked off again and again for about 2 hrs. They told me they needed to send my computer in. I filled out paper work, they sent me a box and i sent them my laptop to fix.

I got my computer back with the same problem that was plaguing me. called again and they sent another box to try and fix the issue. I waited they replaced stuff and i got the machine back by the middle of the next week. i waited about a week and tried the machine out again. i was having the same issue and called apple care told them my case number and told them that this would be the 3rd time i sent my computer in. They decided to send me a brand new shinny computer. The issue has not presented itself on this new machine.

Got my MBP last week and I too am having wireless connectivity issues. I couldn't figure out what was going on but I at least have a work around solution. First, I have an Airport Extreme upstairs and a Time Capsule (extend wireless network mode) downstairs. Bottom line, when I awake my MBP from sleep, it just won't connect to the internet..even though in my network preferences everything looks good. It tells me it is connected to my wireless network, ip addy and everything yet Safari says I'm not connected to the internet. Bottom line, I shutdown my MBP (not restart), leave it off for a good minute, then start her backup and I'm good to go. Every time this works for me and this is the only thing that works. Now, I have an iMac that wakes up just fine and it connects wireless as well and I never have a problem with it or my PC. It is only the MBP that requires a shutdown and power up to establish a wireless connection. Weird. I'm just glad I figured out a work around as I was about to pull out my hair yesterday. Hope someone figures out a solution.

Message was edited by: 4Runner