Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

Do you mind explaining what the Ctrl + Alt + P + R key set does in the system?

I can't seem to get it to work on mine.
...
It would be nice if those MAC commercials were true that a MAC simply worked, but my PC like most everyone else on this Disc Group just simply works too. For that fact, My Unix and Linux work just fine too.

Here is some info on the Pram http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

The NVRAM is what they use now, and I guess they used to store Network information on it, they don't anymore. come to find out resetting it is pointless for networking issues. in my earlier post, turning off the IPV6 fixed my issue.

hope it helps.

Has anyone tried the 10.6.2 update with the Broadcom BCM4321?
Unfortunately, I changed my card with an Atheros one which works prefectly...

My previous one (BCM4321) works without problems in an Asus F5VL (Vista 32-bit), using the Bootcamp driver. I think this is indicative that the problem lies on the driver in Mac OS X.

gamanakis - can you say what model of Atheros you're now using in the MBP? That's the idea I was having for dealing with this issue...

Thanks for any info you can provide.
bob

I have the Atheros AR5008, or with another name AR5BXB72. It is manufactured by Apple, second handed, bought from ebay.de and supports 802.11a/b/g/n. System Profiler reports:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme
Firmware Version: Atheros 5416: 2.0.19.4

However it has 3 antenna receptors whereas the BCM4321 has only two.

I connected the antennas on 0 and 2 (leaving the "middle" connector 1 without antenna) and it works perfectly, both in 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands, with better reception than the Broadcom card (-48 vs -55 RSSI under the same circumstances)

New drivers for Apple Airport Clients. Atheros AR5008 and Broadcom BCM4321 have updated firmware as of this update. I did not notice any difference in the AR5008 behaviour. Did anyone notice a difference in BCM4321 drops?

Thanks buz,

I changed to 13 character password, WPA2 personal, and that solved all my problems.

Previously I had 10 character pw. The problem started with frequent drops and finally complete outage, except on my Belkin F5D9230-4, v3. Complete outage on Airport Extreme v7.5 and Thomson TG784.

Now the 13 character pw have worked like a charm for one week without any problem.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,4
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2,53 GHz
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8D)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.26)

BR

Is there a solution to this problem yet? I am having the same problem on my white macbook AND my mom's white macbook. Both drop the wireless connection for no reason and I have to toggle the airport off and on again to get connectivity. I have a ipod touch that never has the issue. I also have a XP laptop that never has this issue.

It seems like every mac I have gotten recently (in the past 3 years) has had some hardware/software issue. I thought the fact that Apple made their own software and hardware was supposed to keep these problems at a minimum. These issues that keep popping up are getting old fast.

Message was edited by: jjjohnson

its pretty annoying
im constantly having to wait for it to reconnect
it drops every... ooh 5-15 minutes
it doesnt seem to be a set amount of time, but sure enuf, as soon as im done reading a photography forum, and want a new page, it suddenly drops as i go to click something
SO lame
ok it just did it as i was moving my mouse to hit send on this msg... i kid you not.
*tapping finger waiting for reconnection*

oh it also didnt start doing this until about 2 months ago
nothing with our network changed
other laptops are fine, 2 iphones are fine... just me and my macbook here having issues.

To the people losing connectivity - Does it happen while the computer is hot? That's when it happens to me! Also when you try to connect to your router do you get "connection timeout"? I find that you have to put the computer to sleep and cool off in order for it to connect again. What the **** is going on?

Hi all! Just wishing to add my name to this still growing "Me tooooo!" issue. Strange that Mac has not solved this problem!? I see that it started quite some years ago!?

I got here by searching for issues with a Macbook after connecting to the wireless network. My wife uses a macbook, and I use a built up PC running Vista as well as a laptop running Vista. Both these connect via wireless to our home network and have absolutely no issues.

Not the MBK, that's a different story! It connects to the wireless network and obtains an IP address if set manually or automatically. And if I'm lucky, we'll have a session of internet access to go with it. The toggle on/off of airport only sometimes works, and I've discovered that I can force an internet session by manually changing the IP address, then resetting it to automatic. However, restart and I've got to go through the whole process again!!!!

In SA we pay a premium for Macbooks, not only in currency, but also in compatibility as Macbooks are not standard and you must really be a Mac supporter to see it through. We thought we wanted to be different than the rest and now seriously regret that decision!!! After all, even though you want to be different, you want something that works right!!!

Anyway, I'm going to be ressetting the SMC and put Windows on there. Will let you know what my experience was.

PS, apologies for not reading the entire thread of 54 pages. I'm hoping I didn't miss something that could have solved my problem!

Very interesting- I did not know that the internet wifi connection problem is also what others (not all) are experiencing. My problems did not start until my logic board was replaced in late September - A few weeks ago they replaced the airport card, and it worked great for 5 days and then the intermittent wifi connection problems started occurring again- so now Apple is replacing the logic board and airport card - we shall see what happens when I get it back. I received my MacBook Pro in October 2007 - I try to keep a log of the days and times the connectivity is lost - since it is such an intermittent problem . . .

Guys,
I have the same problem with wifi connection since I updated my OS to Snow Leopard. The worst thing is that I have this problem not only with my MacBook Pro, but also with iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2nd Gen, the softs of which I updated to the newest available versions.
Only suggestion that comes to mind: Don't update OS and software when the older versions are working properly, coz there is a big probability that you get frustrated cheap and untested products for your money you have spent on updates. Hate Apple since recent times.
JuneSeven

Hi, sorry I did not read the WHOLE discussions/54 pages.

I have a DIR-615 too and I fixed my drops by setting the router to a fixed channel.
It was that simple. You can use Wire Shark or some other network tool to determine
which channel has the least amount of traffic or test each channel for signal stregnth.

Cheers,
Glynn

Hi Glynm,

Any chance you can walk me through how to change the router to a fixed channel? I'm sort of tech-challenged. I have the DIR-615 as well.

Thanks,
Brandon