Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

I changed mine from WPA to WPA2 and the connection seems to be more stable now. I haven't lost it for 8 hours now. Recently purchased the MBP, except for this issue its been great.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I cannot use WPA2 at the office; I tried, but a few users pcs' have old network adapters that don't support wpa2 encryption. I'd rather have problems myself than a bunch of users without wireless access.

BTW... do the other people who reported similar problems use Parallels Desktop? I do and thought the two connections it creates may be an issue... but don't want to uninstall it, since I use it daily. Has anyone tested losing Parallels?

My problems occur whether I'm using Parallels or not... but it is still installed.

I don't think Parallels has anything to do with what's going on here. It's clearly an apple/mac/mbp issue. Lucky us! I tried the WPA2 suggestion and it worked for about 1 hour before disconnects began again. I'm so please, ha.

I've kept trying solutions, but nothing has helped. I still lose Internet connectivity a couple times every hour (or more). However I found two good troubleshooting guides to these pervasive problems.

None worked for me, but may work for others. Only thing that still works for me is to turn Airport off and on when it happens.

Here are the two guides. Hope they are useful to others:
http://www.macmaps.com/WIFI1048.html
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2005093011343164

My problem is described by macfixit as "No Internet Access (router can be connected to from client systems, but Internet access fails)"...

Message was edited by: nando1977

IT SEEMS PARALLELS DESKTOP WAS TO BLAME.

I have had a good morning today. Despite Donna's advice I tried disabling the two connections that Parallels creates (Parallels NAT and Parallels Guest) and my wireless problems seem to be solved. No dropouts in over 3 hours, which is a wonderful improvement.

I'll try to completely uninstall Parallels and reinstall the newest version latest today (not easy, since Parallels doesn't provide an unistaller). I'll report back tomorrow and let you know if things have worked out. It they did, my issue was related to something Parallels does to my network connections. The suspect right now is "Parallels NAT"... probably doing the whole network address translation wrong.

I completely uninstalled Parallels two days ago via these instructions: http://kb.parallels.com/en/4709. I deleted the two connections it creates in Network preferences. Finally I ran all maintanance scripts via MainMenu (clear caches, flush dns, repair permissions, etc.).

I managed to stay connected for about 4 hours with no problems and an issue I was having with the IP HP4100n printer seems to be solved.

That was yesterday. After four hours I started losing connectivity again. Today it was back to ****: disconnects from the Internet every few minutes that I could only solve by turning Airport off and on... with an added problem. When I got the office I had to reboot to get an IP! That didn't happen the rest of the day, though.

So, IT WAS NOT PARALLELS, DonnaPenn was right!

There is still no solution for the issue.

I have only 'skimmed this thread' so am unsure of fixes that have been suggested. I have however seen reference to WPA security comments and felt I should post. Below is copy and paste from my reply in another thread regarding connectivity problems:'

+My connection has not dropped since I changed a wireless security setting. My setup:+

+Model Name: MacBook Pro+
+Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1+
+Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo+
+Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz+
+Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x87)+
+Wireless Card Locale: USA+
+Wireless Card Firmware Version: 1.4.8.0+

+My router is a DSL ActionTec GT701-WG supplied by Qwest and has latest firmware+

+I use WPA security and while trying to use various USB wireless adapters to circumvent my connection issues I discovered they (the USB adapters) really prefer a 13 character PSK - not 12 and not 14 - 13 ONLY. Since changing my PSK to a 13 character key I have had no AirportExtreme drops.+

HTH

Thanks a lot for sharing your solution. I tried it with my internal airport card and it didn't help. I still lose connectivity to the Internet (while still connected to the LAN) 5-50 times a day.

I really wish someone from Apple addressed this issue, acknowledged it, replied to this thread... some sign of caring. Is everyone else still having the problem and waiting on a solution from Apple?

I went through months of absolute **** figuring out this issue. After tons of trial and error, this was fixed for me when I made some adjustments on both my router (Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 running DD-WRT) and the Network/Bluetooth system prefs panes on the laptop:

In system prefs:
Bluetooth pane:
-Turn off your computer's Bluetooth. Disable it. Completely.

Network pane:
-Turn off IPv6. This does nothing for your unless you are in China where IP6 is now standard.
-Create locations for each physical location you use wifi, and stick to them. MacOS seems to get confused when you introduce it to too many wifi networks on one location setting.
-Use OpenDNS for your DNS. Hey, it can't hurt.

I think disabling IP6 and Bluetooth are the most important of the steps listed so far.

Now, on to the important stuff: On your router:
-*SET YOUR PREAMBLE TO "LONG"* (this seems to make a huge difference)
-Turn on Frame Burst
-Avoid Mixed B/G mode, if possible. Stick to just G-only, unless you have another computer on your network that can't do 802.11g.
-Turn off Afterburner, if there is an option to do so (possible exception for Linksys WRT54G/GL routers)
-Obviously, try some different channels. 11 works best for me, since my neighbor's microwave seems to interfere with everything else.

These are the settings that have fixed my problems. I've not had the mysterious drops and disconnects in months. I think the "long" preamble is the biggest key here, router-side. Most of the other points have been discussed before.

Message was edited by: stewie3128

After perusing a few more of the posts in this massive thread, it looks like picking B-only or G-only is a large component to this, probably as important as "long" preamble or turning off Bluetooth. B or G only probably helps to keep the signal clear for the poor, easily confused AirPort.

Stewie,

Looking at your suggestions and cannot find a 'Preamble' setting in my router. I have an Actiontec GT701-WG.

Could 'Preamble' be called something else in other routers?

Thanks

buz,

The closest thing I found was this page http://download.modem-help.co.uk/mfcs-Q/QWest/ActionTec-GT701-WG/gt701-wg-qw04-3 -60-2-0-6-3-recovery.zip.php?showFile=gt701-wg%20qw04-3.60.2.0.6.3_recovery%2Fim age%2Fconfig.xml

Which shows that there really is a "preamble" setting inside the router/modem's config file, but they may not have integrated it in to the user interface.

These lousy AirPorts cannot retrieve short preamble frames, so I think it's important to figure out how to change this setting, somehow.

Well... here's my report (of failure):

On the MBP:
Bluetooth: inactive in system preferences. Off in Bluetooth preferences.
IPv6: off
New location for different places: check.
OpenDNS: check (when using OpenDNS, I cannot access LAN or Internet. Using the DHCP-assigned DNS y can browse LAN but not Internet).

On the Access Point (D-Link DWL-3200AP):
Preamble: Long only
Frame burts: no such option
Mode: G only
Afterburner: no such option
Channels: tried a lot of different ones. Different APs around campus use different channels.

I still have the same problem. This fix didn't work for me, but thanks for posting, Stewie.

After posting my success reply {above} regarding the length of the PSK, I mucked around some more and developed failure again.

I am back to success with a steady AP connection. I am convinced at this point the keys to my success are the following and the order of execution is absolutely paramount.

Computer / AirPort Card Information:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x87)
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 1.4.8.0
Current Wireless Network: 86081wahanna (Listing is no matter - it is broadcasted anyway)
Wireless Channel: 11 (After considerable reading on the internet I'm further convinced channels 1
and 11 are likely to be the best choices)

My router is a DSL ActionTech GT701-WG supplied by Qwest and has latest firmware

*Proper config of Airport in Network Prefs:*

First I deleted all airport related prefs in /Library/Preferences/System Configuration/ there are 3:

This is not your user Library. This is: MBP>Library>Preferences>SysConfig etc

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
com.apple.network.identification.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist

Then I reconfigured Airport using Automatic Location then select Advanced button.

Airport: I reset my preferred network as configured in the router. Remember Network is selected.
TCP/IP: I prefer Manually setting this preference. It's up to you either Manually or Using DHCP but get it right.
DNS: I use Open DNS (208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222)
*Turn Airport OFF*

Next Logged in to my router and ensured my settings;

Channel: 1 or 11. (See Airport Card info above)
*b / g Mode:* For me using mixed b and g works, g only does not work. YMMV
*DHCP Settings:* I listed my preferred Open DNS settings as well so they match (router and Airport).
Security: WPA: try using a 13 character PSK
ESSID Broadcasting: Enabled

**************************************** NOW ***************************************

Airport is still OFF.
Shut down all computers accessing the router
Reboot the router. (Unplug the router. Wait 2 minutes. Plug the router in. Wait till it is completely rebooted)
Reboot your MBP
Turn Airport on (and say a prayer)

With my latest 'failure' Airport was disconnecting every minute or 2 or 3. This is the procedure I used for my earlier 'success'. It has taken me the better part of a couple hours to put this reply together and Airport has not blinked in that time. Steady full signal.

Beyond having all your settings correct I beleive the next most important aspect to my success is the portion below * NOW *.

I hope this helps (HTH). If still nothing works then I'd suggest finding another Airport card. I have also read that ensuring the card and antenna are seated properly is a common problem. Sounds like the antenna has a 2 click seating process.

Good luck.

Edit: Formatting and typos.

Message was edited by: buz

Well... Today I've been connected for three straight hours with no reconnect necessary. The solution? I reinstalled Leopard from the original disk. My system is 10.5.1 now and since it is working, I am not planning to update to the latest Leopard (10.5.6). I don't like this, but it is the only solution that worked for me so far.

I'll report back tomorrow to confirm the fix works. If it does, my problem was either caused by a software update or something else that was solved by reinstalling the system.