Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

So what your saying is that unless you are within the first year of warranty or you buy an extended Apple Care warranty, in Apple's eyes you don't exist. I agree that is the way they do business. That is why I think they need to take another look at their quality control and customer service policies.

Raise the wireless router (airport) up towards the ceiling or into the ceiling
Move the airport extreme wireless router (or other routers) up higher.
Have a Macbook Pro 15 do not experience the wireless disconnect problem if the router is up higher or located in the ceiling.

Had my airport on a lower shelf - experienced the disconnect problem - moved airport up towards the ceiling - no disconnect problem

I too have a MacBook Pro with this same issue (and a PRAM issue). Oddly enough, I've been on the phone with the tech support people (who wanted to charge me a $49 fee to do a remote diagnostic on it or something like that). The tech guy on the phone claimed to have never heard of this issue.

I dropped it at the Store where I bought it yesterday, they also claimed to have never heard of it but they are keeping it to run further tests. Both the phone guy and "genius bar" guy said it might be the software or the network card but neither could be sure.

I'm now using my 2 year old standard MacBook that never has a problem of any kind. Today I accidentally discovered other problems: *My black MacBook will open files (pdf and excel) in MS Entourage that my MacBook Pro claims are corrupt and unable to open.* I have MS Office for Mac on both machines and use Entourage as my primary email. The same emails were downloaded from my IMAP email account with the exact same attachments. They all open on the black MacBook but not on the Pro...

When my Airport Extreme connection drops, sometimes when I click on the antenna icon at the top left, it will say "None of your preferred networks are available" yet my own network is listed at the top! I click on it to join and it asks for the WPA password. I type that in and it says "incorrect password". The password stays there so I click connect several times and eventually it will accept it and connect... Either that or I have to restart the computer (sometimes twice) to get it to reconnect.

I took it on a business trip and had these same issues with at least 3 different hotel networks and even a wireless laser printer I was printing to. Some days it would print, some days I had to reinstall the printer and drivers to get it to work.

My biggest fear is that I'll go to the store and they'll say they can't find anything wrong with it and try to give it back to me in the same condition I dropped it off in.

Also, on my 2 year old black MacBook, I've upgraded the OS to Snow Leopard and it still works just fine.

I'm having connective issues with my MacBook Pro running 10.5.8 (2006 machine). All updates have been installed. Suddenly in April 2009, I started having connectivity issues. My machine was still under AppleCare so I spent literally days on the phone with Apple diagnosing, checking and changing settings, trying this and trying that, moving from one department to another, mostly starting over from the beginning of each phone call to do the diagnosis over the phone in the utilities from the start. Finally, they asked me to take the machine to the Apple Genius. They ran tests three times. Each time they said there was not a problem with the machine it was connecting and holding a connection in the Apple Store just fine. (Of course, there are Airports all over the store and the machine can hold a connection as long as it's within two or three feet of the Airport.) I was told the problem was interference with the signal at my house. Never mind that only my machine was having the connection issues (there are two PCs and a MacBook at my house) and only my machine was having issues on two other networks where there were again several machines connecting just fine. I had a hunch that this was all stemming from software/update issues but of course no way would Apple look into this idea since they could not produce the problem in the Apple Store with lots of Airports all over the area so my machie was never more than 2-3 ft. away from an Airport. I had my cable company come out and check for interference in the network to the tune of $150. No interference. Apple said there was nothing they could do because they don't perform interference diagnostic and do not accept diagnostic data from an independent company and so there I sat with a big nothing from Apple. Besides that, the Apple Care was running out in 30 days and Apple did not want to invest in a lot of time and expenses on my machine. They suggested I buy a new updated Mac, of course.

Suddenly in August 2009, another update to the OS came through and my computer started connecting and staying connected to any network in the area. So, off I go on my happy way, somewhat satisfied that the problem was a software update from Apple and that Apple just didn't want to deal with a less than perfect product (similar to what's happened with the latest iPhone and the antenna issue).

About 2 weeks ago, the whole connectivity issue started all over again. I recently got an update for iTunes and Safari. I have gone through all the diagnostics, again. Apple is now telling me there is interference with my network. Seriously, again!!!!

Does anyone know anything that will tell my MBP how to stay connected to the wireless port if I move more than 2-3 feet away from the Airport?

Or, how do I uninstall the two latest updates on iTunes and Safari. I don't use Safari (way too slow compared to Chrome and Firefox) and my iPod is 5 years old so it doesn't really need the updates of iTunes.

Someone please help!!! Apple is no help. After this experience and watching Steve Job deal with the news, I'm not sure I'll ever buy an Apple product again.

I'll likely be vilified - not to post this again, however....... I have found HEIGHT is a possible solution.
technically interference may be it - put the wireless router up higher (in the ceiling) I know I know - however it did work - in alleviating/stoping the (interference) connection problem.

( I still believe an "Antenna Engineer" became Fat Dumb & Happy (FDH)) - this is likely a true believe

In addition:
(just made it through a Severe Thunder Storm deluge & drenching with the Macbook Pro in the backpack on a Harley Davidson motorcycle) No lightning strikes on the Macbook Pro.
Survived!


Macbook Pro i7 15"

Bob,

No worries, _nobody should be telling you what to post and what not to post_. If that worked for you great. I do disagree however because as I said in other posts, my Airport Extreme is located on the second floor and we use both of our MacBooks on the first floor, almost directly beneath it. Again, my black 2 year old MacBook works flawlessly and I've also have numerous other guests with both MacBooks and Windows laptops here, Ipod Touches, and even both smart phones my wife and I own work flawlessly anywhere in our home connecting to the Wi-Fi/Airport Extreme.

ONLY my MacBook Pro has had this issue, even when I brought it into the same room 2 feet away from the airport extreme. In fact, my MBPro has experienced this connectivity issue at many other locations on other networks as I've traveled around the country for work. It has lost connection with both wireless networks and even wireless printers that were less than 8 feet away while every other computer in the room operated without problem.

I just received a call from the Apple store that my computer is ready to pick up. I was told that the airport network card was replaced and they "pinged" it 400 times and it connected every time. I'm hopeful that this will resolve the issue but I have my doubts. _If it does resolve the issue, I will be the first person to post here and happily claim that they've solved the problem._

The one thing that is somewhat puzzling is this: These posts go back over 2 years and after searching through them for hours, I've never seen one person state the issue was resolved by Apple. I don't mean this as a slight against Apple, I'm just curious. If we are all here to voice our complaints, and Apple does solve the issue, we should also step up and say so. This might be helpful to others experiencing the same issue.

Also, for those that think Apple is not watching this forum, they are! I posted something yesterday out of frustration in response to another's experience and it was later REMOVED and I was emailed about it.... Soooooooooooooo, Apple IS WATCHING. That's actually good news in my mind. We all just want this problem solved.

hope the new airport card resolves the Macbook Pro connectivty issue - if not how about changing the location of the router on the second floor

While my old Powerbook 17 always connects to the WiFI no matter where the router is (height) the Macbook Pro 15 will not connect (unless the router is either placed up higher or placed to avoid the interference)

Let us know what happens!

Same issue. My son just gave me his 2006 MBP. All other computers function just fine.

+(2008 MacBook OSX 10.5.8; 2004 Compaq Presario Ubuntu; 2010 Acer Aspire Windows 7; 2005 Dell Inspiron Windows XP)+

I thought my MBP airport card was responding to heat, but this am it wouldn't connect after all night rest.

This very moment, it is fully connected and responding with speed and alacrity.

I'm thinking of a USB wireless adapter card; what say you, forum members? Other solutions/ideas?

Message was edited by: m.eichar

Well, I think you shouldn't have to resort to a USB wireless adapter card on a $2000 computer to make it work like it is supposed to.

That being said, I picked my MB Pro up from the store last night. It was not a good experience, but pretty much what I expected. I had an appointment at 6:20, got there at 6:10, finally saw someone at 7:00... When I started to ask how much longer it would be once I was 30 minutes past my appointment, the response I got was fairly rude but eventually we got through it.

I wanted to have them explain to me what they'd done to fix the problem and see if they would admit that this is somewhat common. No luck. My airport card was replaced. I was advised to reformat the HD and reinstall the OS once I got it home. I'd mentioned to the "Genius" tech that the PRAM had seemingly gone out as it reset itself to a date in 2009 and also called to note that my MBPro would not open pdf's I'd received in emails that my Black Mac Book would open from the same emails. I was told this was caused by a permission error and was resolved. When I got it home, it still would not open the files... Strike One.

TECHNICAL CONTENT: Currently I'm writing this from my old black MacBook while my pro is going through a 7-Pass Secure Erase so I can then reinstall the Snow Leopard OSX. The advice of the "Genius" was that my disk permissions might be broken on so many levels that I should start over. I backed up all of my content to an external HD and am proceeding with that. It looks as though the 7-Pass Erase will take over 8 hours... If you are having these issues, you might try using the disk utility and "repair disk permissions" to see if it helps you. I will be sure to let you all know how it goes either later tonight or tomorrow.

When I got it home, it did connect with my network without any trouble, but it had done that before. The proof (as we all know) will be in if it will connect and stay connected after running and heating up and also after "sleeping" and waking up. I'm hopeful that this will work but I'll reserve my judgement until it actually does and I will be sure to post the results here.

Your Apple Genius may have a point * "reformat the HD and reinstall the OS"

(although I concur with your in-store experience with the Apple store staff)

However, I did reformat and reinstall everything on my new Macbook Pro 15 i7.
A couple of days after receiving. The original installed system just felt wrong
My wireless is doing well.

Seems counter intuitive however.....

If you think about it
.....these Macbook Pros are manufactured and sent directly from CHINA. Perhaps that's where the problem originates from?

I still believe the an Apple engineer just became Fat Dumb & Happy (FDH).

Well, here I am over 12 hours later... So far, So good!!!

I completely re-formatted the HD with a 7- Pass Secure Erase and then completely reinstalled Snow Leopard OSX and also MS Office for Mac 2008. I've run all of the updates for everything several times to make sure it is all up to date. At this point, everything seems to be working fast and fine!

Here is what I've changed:

I did not set up MS Entourage, I just reinstalled all of my various email accounts into Mac Mail instead.

I synched all of my address book contacts with my gmail account (since that works automatically with my droid, that way they are all the same from the internet account, to the phone to the macbook.

I have not installed Google Chrome and may not at all... Safari is running fine right now.

I noticed that the ip address for the airport is different than it was before. It discovered the airport and set itself up automatically, all I needed to do was input the password.

I will need to re-download and install VM Ware Fusion and install the Windows OS I have but I don't need it right now and that never affected the connectivity problem so it should be fine.

Other than that, I have a good strong signal on my airport and this computer has literally been on and running for about 14 hours so the internal temp should have gotten up there at a few points? It took about 9 hours for the 7-pass disc erase and about 2 hours to install the OS and everything else so it's been running for a good 5 hours online.

I'll let you all know if I have any trouble in the next week or two. Apart from that, the new airport card and reinstallation of the OSX seems to have fixed the connectivity issue at least for now.

Thanks.

Way to go
The wireless connectivity issue must have been the CHINESE OS install!

Should be Good to Go

I too am having issues with connectivity. After using windows for many years and being impressed with how my iphone functions, I decided to invest in a MacBook Pro. I am so disappointed with my experience. I recently bought my husband an ipad for his birthday and the staff at the Apple store were more than helpful, then when we bought the MacBook again they were great. Then it came time to transfer my files from the hp to the MacBook. They gave me a time and date to collect my computers and when I arrived told me it wouldnt be ready for another 24 hours. Went back 24 hrs later and was told it still was not ready, no apology for making me drive to the store twice (I also had called ahead both times and was told they were ready), the technician basically told me it was my fault for buying a computer during the iphone 4 release week!!
Finally got my MacBook home and was impressed with how intelligent this machine is. Then I connected to the internet and my dreams were dashed. My MBP loses its connection at least every 5 mins. My husband will be online on his hp and have an internet connection while I can not get one.
We recently changed cable providers as we thought maybe they were the issue, however the connection works fine for the other 2 PCs in my home but not the MBP.
This is driving me insane. I took the problem up with the Apple technician during one of my 'One to One' sessions and he said he could fix it, whatever he did worked great in the store but not when I got home.
As I type this I have lost my connection twice and my husband remains online.

(CROSS-POSTED) from another thread.

__
I have some potentially good news for people who have been losing AirPort connectivity on their MBPs lately. I have fixed my problem with this issue!

About 6 weeks ago, my AirPort began randomly losing its connection -- about every 35 or 45 minutes. The only way to fix it seemed to be to turn the AirPort off and then back on.

I tried all the remedies -- changing the wireless router's channel, updating the router's firmware, making sure my AirPort had all necessary updates, switching to a 20 megahertz channel, etc, etc, etc. All the remedies mentioned on this forum, in other words, I tried until this morning when I read a great piece of advice on the MacRumors forum...

"try turning the wireless capabilities off on any other wireless devices kept in and used in the house...."

WOW!!!!!!! That TOTALLY worked for me.

I turned off the wireless on my iPhone and VOILA! No connection drops now for 6 hours and counting. It seems my iPhone was kicking into wireless every so often and somehow bumping my MBP off my home WiFi network. WHEW! I am so pleased that so far, so good with this fix. It seems that the dropped connection on my MBP coincided with my decision to keep my iPhone on wireless mode full-time about 6 weeks ago. Obviously, I have changed that personal preference to make sure my MBP keeps ON the network.

Admittedly, if people have several wireless devices in their homes that they wish to use along with their MBPs, that could potentially be a problem.

But, for my purposes, I am very glad I found that bit of info and tried it.

So, give it a try if you're losing your MBP wireless connection at somewhat regular intervals, and good luck.

I too am having this wireless issue. I have a 13" Macbook Pro (2010), OS 10.6.4 and and a Linksys WRT54G2 wireless router (firmware v1.0.04). The router is about 10 feet away from me.

I have never had an issue with any device losing it's connection (neither hard wired devices nor people who randomly bring over their laptop/netbooks to my house have any issues), so this has GOT to be an issue with the Macbook Pro specifically.

I tried changing wireless channels as well as setting the router to wireless G only, but the connection still drops and honestly it's really a drag because otherwise it's a really nice machine. The only solution for right now is to "Turn AirPort Off" and then turn it back on.

This machine is only about a 6 weeks old but I've had this issue since day 1. It's ******* me off to the point where I'm considering going in for a refund on this thing (Best Buy).

Message was edited by: Klatox