Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

i had no idea this was such a big problem. the macbook i purchased for my girlfriend has this problem constantly. i thought it just might've been my router but seeing this now i know it isn't. is there a good wireless usb i can purchase that would fix this ?

Going to post this again - since I HAVE NOT LOST THE CONNECTION IN MANY MONTHS -- thanks to 2dutch:

Open Finder and navigate to this directory:

/Library/Preferences/System Configuration

Delete these files:

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

com.apple.network.identification.plist

com.apple.smb.server.plist

NetworkInterfaces.plist

preferences.plist

Restart machine.

---------

And in the meantime: 

Apple has a problem with MacBooks dropping WiFi and they are ignoring the problem. Thread on their forum for 5yrs, & no action

<Link Edited By Host>

This had been an ocassional issue for me.  The constant dropping of the wifi signal has become the norm instead of the exception.  It happens on the iPad and Macbook Pro and is only slightly better on the iPod.  This is beyond rediculous.  If misery loves company then this forum should be quite thrilled.  Hate to see I'm not alone with this issue.

Hmm I'm not sure that's likely to be the same issue (in fact I'm pretty sure there are multiple problems with similar symptoms in this whole thread) because my iPad never had a problem but the MacBook would drop all the one after being in suspend. The plist files solution didn't work for me but a new router did.

I have a black 2007 Macbook, a 2012 Macbook pro 15" and  spaking new 13" Macbook pro work computer, and ONLY the 2012 Macbook Pro is having WiFI issues.... think clearly there needs to be a recall by Apple, Inc. on the defective prodcut I have purshased...

I'm almost reluctant to write this. I'm afraid of putting the whammy on a fix that worked.

On 1/7, BananaMacintosh wrote a nice post detailing how he fixed his wireless issue by replacing the airport cable. Unlike some of the other problems mentioned here, my machine behaved the same as his in that the "fan" icon would show a full strength connection when wireless dropped. Shutting off wireless would show no connection, as it should, but there was no way to reenable it without a reboot.

I had already purchased a USB dongle which worked really well, but the situation just bothered me. I wanted the machine to behave as it should. A replacement cable on ebay was $14, so I figured I'd give it a try. It's 5 full days now and it hasn't dropped once. In my case at least, this fixed the problem.

It's obvious this isn't the fix for everyone's problem. A number of other things sometimes work and sometimes don't for other people, so there's more than one issue going on here. If you have the strange "fan" behavior though, this may be the answer.

Thanks BananaMacintosh.

Hi BobRz,

I am very glad to hear that it looks like the guide was successfull for you. Out of curiousity, I have opened up the Macbook pro to investigate how the ribbon cable might be getting damaged (Figure 1, circle 1). On the insode of the bottom cover (Figure 1, circle 2 and Figure 2 circle 2), I found that there was a very visible inpression left by the cable connector on the black plastic film. Due to the strong inpression, and the location of it, I suspect that the bottom over was placing excess pressure on the connector when the laptop received knocks to the underside. I have added a bit more details to my guide here: http://warrantyvoidifremoved.blogspot.ie/2014/01/repairing-intermittent-wifiwire less-on.html

This is to Apple:

I have tried to post several times in the last 2 days, and you have removed my posts and then informed me by email.  Clearly someone at Apple knows about these profound and long-standing wifi connection problems, as the host is screening and removing my comments.

Yet you have not responded to the problems described in this 6-year-old thread.  Why is that?

Many thanks -

Hi kris_mac:

I have a MacBook Pro 13" Retina screen display laptop with OSX 10.9 installed and am having wifi problem where the connection randomly drops.

How do I find the system configuration fold on my laptop. In my finder folder I don't have folder titled library?

Thanks

Bmac,

Your theory makes sense. Resting the laptop on well... your lap would put some pressure in that area where just having it rest on the little feet would not. I wonder if that's also the cause of a lot of the SATA cable failures.

Update: Wifi is now working on both devices.

iPad:  Turned on Airplane mode and shut down.  Restarted and turned off Airplane mode.  Shut down again.  After restarting I entered the network password and it connected immediately.

MacBook Pro:  Took the laptop into the same room with the Netgear router.  Pushed the WPS button on the router and the connection was restored.  Walked a few feet and the connection appeared to be lost again.  Walked back toward the router and the connection was restored.  Stayed while some software updated (not related to wifi).   Made it to the living room and the connection stayed strong.  Shut down and about an hour later rebooted and still have a signal.

Hey Lauren,

I've been keeping a record of your supposedly "subversive" posts.  Every time this thread is updated, I get notified.  I can't say that I'm particularly surprised that Apple is censoring you.  Disgusted, yes...but hardly surprised.

For all the problems I was having with Linksys, DLink, and then finally even Apple's own routers, my issues seem to have quieted themselves down since using the POS modem/router combo supplied by my ISP (thank goodness I have a tremendously tiny house with thin walls!).  I've only had the cursed wifi issues once in the last four months.  I think it also helps that I've been using wifi maybe 5% of the time...the rest I'm hardwired in.  It's like the airport card is jealous or something...heh.

For the record, I don't even for a second believe this issue is related to the router.  While I'm thrilled that BananaMacintosh's hardware solution worked for him, it doesn't explain why wifi suddenly operates properly when running Windows on the same box.

1) Apple released (and continues to do so) a faulty product.  It's too bad, but that happens.  No technology is perfect.  That's fine.

2) Apple shames itself by refusing to do anything about it...in 2007.

3) Apple continues to shame itself by refusing to even acknowledge the scope of the issue.

4) Apple disgraces itself even further by going so far as to censor it's customers.  What Laurenmay1 was saying wasn't even slanderous in the slightest.  I see nothing wrong with holding a company accountable to its customers.  Apparently Apple sees things differently.

Let's see if this post even sticks around.

I have a new Haswell Retina MBP 13", and it looses "internet", but still shows a full strength signal.

Needless to say, nothing wrong anywhere in the house or other devices, including my old original MacBook Air.

Whilst I run cisco for all my switches and routers, I use Apple Airport Extremes for all wireless. I have four in total covering the house and various bands. I just added a new 802.11ac model just to made sure it was getting a good signal, and its still occuring.

The bandaid fix is simple, turn network on and off and its perfect. I'm not sure if its a power saving issue, but its stopping my time machine backups.

Daniel.

I've tried virtually every suggested "fix" listed on this thread with no success.

Yesterday (01/24/2014) I unchecked the Energy Saver > Put hard disks to sleep when possible checkbox (on both the Battery and Power Adaptor screens), and I have not experienced one drop in the Wi-Fi connection since.

I have two MacBook Pros (13-inch, early 2011) sitting side-by-side (work and personal), and both would drop the Wi-Fi connection 2-6 times a day. When I say drop, the Wi-Fi icon in my menu bar always showed connected, but I'd have to 'Turn Wi-Fi Off', then turn it back on again to resolve the issue.

As most folks have shared on this thread, none of the other devices connected to my AirPort Extreme have ever had a problem with the Wi-Fi network. I also ruled out any issue with my AirPort Extreme/Wi-Fi network when my work MBP exhibited the same behavior when connected to the Wi-Fi network at my work office.

Ron,

Thanks for your verbose description and what worked for you. I have the same issue, and am trying your suggested solution on my 2012 15" Macbook Pro (my 2013 13" Macbook Pro never has this issue and the setting were as your solution was) We'lll see..

Many thanks.