Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

Hi guys,

I've strugled with this on and off. But I'd like to report that this fix that someone posted really did work for me. Not entirely sure why, but I connect normally and my speed is the same as it is through my ethernet.

http://www.dailytech.com/MacBookPro+AirPort+Auto+Connect+and+Connection+Drop+IssuesSolved/article1672.htm

Maybe it'll work for you guys.

Here's hoping.

Hi guys,

I've struggled with this on and off. But I'd like to report that this fix that Donna Penn posted really did work for me. Not entirely sure why, but I connect normally and my speed is the same as it is through my ethernet.

http://www.dailytech.com/MacBookPro+AirPort+Auto+Connect+and+Connection+Drop+IssuesSolved/article1672.htm

Maybe it'll work for you guys.

Here's hoping.

Just for clarification - my router is a 500Gb Time Capsule with firmware 7.4.2

I've been experimenting and switching to the 5GHz 'n-only' mode means I get rock solid connection at all times. But this is a poor fix as the other computers in my house only have wireless 'g' capability at best.

So the question becomes - do I accept compromised performance from the MBP or do I stay at the 'n' setting, stick SL into 64-bit mode permanently, and upgrade the PCI cards in the Windows machines to wireless-n capable cards? The third option is to get 2 Airport Express units and plug both PCs into the ethernet on the bottom of each one - advantage of n coverage without having to faff around too much, plus I then have wireless repeaters I can take on the road with me... Mind you, it will cost almost £160, against £30-£50 for the PCI card swap-out.

Suggestions?

You can hear the sound of the wind from the lack of Apple support. My MBP only works maybe 10-15 feet from the D-link wireless. I am using right now a 6 year old (or more) 12" ibook and works like a charm. My Powerbook upstairs works great. I tried that link by deleting the pref. file. It gave me more % for awhile and then back to 33-45% (istumbler).

Apple......where are you? This has been going on too long. If you don't want to admit a defect, just post the fix....we will be fine with that. Wake the **** up.

my MBP is only 3 weeks old! and i have the same problem!!!
the apple "experts" have made me
1.reset the browser, clear cache
2.take the wifi security off
3.change broadcasting channels
4.change location.
5.do the weird prshift and idk what other keys till my MB beeps 3 times.
6.reset my router
7.disconnet all my router connections
8.change broadcasting channels again
9.change broadcasting channels again
10.change broadcasting channels again
11.change broadcasting channels again
12.change broadcasting channels again
13.change broadcasting channels again
14.throw away all the internet preferences folders.
15.restart OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
16.blame my router.
17.say the MBP is tooooo high end to work with my router, and that that is the reason why it works with all my PCs because they are LOW END.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! cant they just admit it has something to do with the MBP!?

im tired of calling over and over again!!!
literally 6 apple expert case IDs and countless hours later
i stopped calling them and decided to take my MBP into the apple genius bar. my appointment is set for a week from now!

apple just gives the run around on their low end products that they think of high end.

my sony vaio that i bought 3 YEARS AGO works fine! but this "HIGH END" MBP cannot hold a simple wifi connection? phhhsssstttt.

imma new MB user and im NOT happy.
i thought after having the best experience with an iphone everything would be OK...NOT!

i hope they fix it, has anyone found a reliable solution?
ive tried EVERYTHING!

This is FIXED! Amanda at AppleCare Support told me that it's due to a corrupted file, namely:

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

This file can get clobbered during an OS upgrade, which is why I never had the problem until I went to Snow Leopard. The fix is to move that file out of its directory, then restart your Mac. It will re-create that file and you'll be good to go. This glitch can also occur if you create new locations in your wireless profile. Again, if you create a new clean location with your customary setup, then do the number on the plist file and restart, it'll work fine.

Can anyone verify if Jeff Maxwell's solution does indeed work?

I need help too. I installed Snow Leopard when it first came out and had not wireless connectivity problems until a week ago. I am not very familiar with wireless security, but had a suspicion a neighbor was stealing my wireless. I enabled the WPA security and had no problems for a few days. Then two days last week every night I would get booted off and have to restart my router. Then the problem got worse, I would have to be in the same room as my router to get a signal. I called ISP tech support and they were no help at all, but suggested changing my channel possibly getting interference. That helped some, but my dropped connections started again in the morning, so I disabled WPA thinking that was my problem. That totally did not fix things, I am having dropped connections continuously now, and about the only way I can connect is being in the same room as my router. I've tried changing channels, restarting the router nothing seems to work. Is my problem Snow Leopard, the security encryption, my wireless router, or my computer. BTW, my iPhone doesn't seem to have a problem picking up the signal. Thinking about tossing my wireless router in the highway if I can't get it fixed. Hope someone can help!

Some of the same experiences here. I've been through many postings about this. It is a hardware issue with the MBP1,1. No one wants to admit it. Sorry. I hope you've had some success.

Jeff Maxwell's solution worked for me.... well only for about an hour. After that, it was back to the same old tricks.



Although reading through some of this post, I don't see my exact problem here.



My network consists of a Linksys AP, hooked to a router which is serving the IP addresses. I am using WPA2-PSK as the access security. I will surf along, and then after a period of non-use the network drops (not just when it goes to sleep).

When you sit back down, you see the network listed, but the icon indicating that it is a secured network is missing, and I am unable to join.



Removing this network from my preferred list, and re-adding it does little, as does rebooting.



And after 20-30 minutes the problems disappear.



Anyone have any idea on this, I like most others that have posted here would be eternally grateful.

For me... the problem has finally been fixed. I had been dealing with the wireless issue for several long months. My hard drive then began to fail. So I brought it to Apple and I paid the $300.00 diagnostic/overhaul/repair fee. They replaced the antenna, wireless card, both fans, and the hard drive. My wireless now works perfectly and has been for 3 weeks. Could it have been the hard drive causing the problem all along? The faulty fans overheating everything? Perhaps a combo of issues creating the perfect storm. All I know is that, in my case, it turned out not to be a software issue and was definitely hardware related.

I have the same wireless problem on my MacBook Pro.
Notebook is 15 months old. Had the issue in Leopard, still have it after upgrading to Snow Leopard. Just using 32 bit Kernel, haven't booted into 64bit yet.

I read from the beginning and found some kudos to Jerry for his "PMU/PRAM reset" suggestion, made in early 2008. This, however, did not help. There are no more software or firmware updates available for this machine.

I have run ping tests all day long from the MacBook Pro, for several days in a row.

I have two wireless-N routers: Buffalo WHR-G300N (2009), and Airport Express 802.11n (2008). Other equipment includes a Buffalo WHR-G125, and Linksys WRT-54G. The Buffalo and Linksys have all been modified to run DD-WRT.

The laptop is the only N-capable device in the house. It has all kinds of trouble maintaining a stable connection with any wireless router. The ping times fluctuate between 1ms and 1000ms, and the dropout comes in waves.

My Solution: Turn an Airport Express into a LAN client on existing network.

I created a 802.11B/G wireless network on the Buffalo router, then added the Express (AEX) as a client via Ethernet/LAN (plugged in cable, set AEX to "Bridge" mode so it relies on the Buffalo DHCP server). On the AEX, I created a separate WiFi network in the 5GHz range (802.11a mode) which only the MBP can use. MBP gets an address and DNS from the Buffalo, and the AEX just passes the signal. Performance has improved dramatically.

This proves to me that the issue is definitely with the MacBook Pro, and specifically in the way that it communicates in 802.11n mode. 802.11a seems less affected, though I still see occasional bouts of higher-than-usual ping times.

Message was edited by: Bradley Chapman

Thanks for your post.
It helps to hear the trouble shooting/testing/and conclusions others are coming too. Doesn't fix the problem but helps with the frustration of sitting in the same room as my Airport Extreme and Airport Express, and my MBP not being able to recognize either. Of course, my 17" MBP and an old 15" G4 recognize and connect just fine.

Neither Airport Utility or advanced Network pref settings see the Apple wireless hardware, but they do see other 3rd party 802.11 signals next door. And I know my network is set to different channels. Both encrypted so "neighbor net" is no an option.

Frustrating!

Deleting com.apple.airport.preferences.plist did not work for me.

I have a 17" MacBook Pro. The wireless always worked flawlessly -- up until I finally upgraded my Linksys Wireless G router to a new Wireless N model.

Immediately upon switching to an N network the sporadic disconnects started.

One solution I tried which DID seem to work, was disabling Bluetooth in the System Preferences menu. I re-enabled it before trying the delete .plist soluton to no avail.

The Bluetooth fix is a band-aid fix however because under no circumstance should we have to compromise out computer or routers to make this work.

I talked with an Apple Expert today who wants me to do more tests-taking my new mbp out and seeing if the drop outs occur on other networks. My wife's macbook 5,1 uni-body with the same network card has no problem with our network (dsl-verizon through a westell 327w router).

My drop outs on this 15" mid 2009 mbp occur every 10 minutes or less. I did a test with a livecd (Ubuntu)-the connection has been solid for over an hour!!

Do something Apple!!