Q: MacBook Pro constantly losing wireless connectivity

Yet another to add to the list here.
I've tried everything listed; resetting PRAM, new location, use WEP key, new routers, and driving a fair few miles to regularly see the Geniuses (Genii??) etc etc.
After spending a ton of time, losing a load of hair, and spending a small fortune on a myriad of new routers, and a new airport card for the MBP, I've got a solution that does genuinely work, and not just for a short time.

I went out and bought an ASUS N10 wireless USB dongle for £30 (about $45) - I installed the OSX 10.5 driver that came with it (I'm running 10.6.6) and it works perfectly.
I know it's a USB slot that's been taken, but at least I've got the MBP wireless again for the first time in 5 months!

If any of you are still struggling with this, and have no permanent fixes as I did, I can recommend it - it's not an elegant solution, but it is a solution!

I've picked up a 17" 2011 MBP and am pretty frustrated to be suffering from these problems.

I'm lucky if I get more than 10 - 20 seconds of uninterrupted wi-fi, whilst everything else on my network (PS3, iPhone, Windows laptops) work flawlessly.

I'm especially disappointed that Apple have not solved it after YEARS of complaints from customers.

Nor do they seem especially supportive of the fact that MANY, MANY people are having this problem. Has Apple given any public indication that they are working on it?

If their newest MacBook Pros have the same troublesome airport adapter that has been problematic for years, surely they simply don't care?

To me, that's disgraceful.

At this stage, my laptop, which cost more than a base model MacPro, is essentially a small desktop because to access the network and Internet, I need to be connected to the ethernet cable.

So, an update on my situation:
- I can switch my router back to B*N and all is still fine.
- so, it seems that channel 1 is key for my setup. Therefore, my theory about interaction with the camera still holds. I still haven't tried turning off the camera and trying different router channels (because I really want the camera).

So, I think the operational problem is that channel 15 is too close to the same freq of the camera. Channel 1 is far enough away in freq that the interference goes away. So, try both ends of your router channels to see if one end works better than the other.

On the issue of Apple's non-response to this issue:
- it's really sad that Apple is not better at customer service
- I've been an Apple customer since the early 1080s. I love their innovations. But their customer service scares the crap out of me.
- I've had problems with Airports and laptops. They handled the airport so poorly (failed 3 days after warranty and they had absolutely no sympathy) that I really considered moving away from Apple for ever. Both my kids have MBP and neither machine has a working CD/DVD drive.
- but, like most of us, I keep coming back. I hate myself for it. And, I definitely keep my eye on Linux. I've had some great experiences with Linux, but the installs are still a total geek experience. I can't handle that level of risk for a machine that I rely on every day.
- I'm forced to use Windows for work. I curse that Dell laptop and Windows XP every day. I hate Apple's customer service, but I hate almost everything about PCs. So, on balance I hate my Apple experience less... what a poor commentary, in so many ways.

add me to the list... i'm hardwired with lan so i can write this...

Macbook Pro airport is junk

Did you find a solution ... my new 2011 i7 MBP has the very same issue ?

Add me to the list as well. When I am at home on my own network I don't have any problems with my mbp. I however am on the road constantly and i get bounced from the hotel networks every couple of minutes. This is a newer problem that I did not have for months but recently i has gotten out of hand. My Lenova doesn't have these problems. What is up Apple?

Add me as well! I have been having this problem since I bought my MBP three years ago... but it has gotten CONSIDERABLY worse over about the past few months. I originally reported it to Apple and they said they could find nothing wrong, so I just dealt with it. But it has gotten to the point of being RIDICULOUS now!

< Edited by Host >

I am crossing my fingers, but I think I have found a solution to this. I chose to manually assign a DHCP address for my Mac, and chose a number that was outside of the range of numbers that would be automatically assigned. It was still 10.0.1.x, but I chose 200 for X, when the range didn't go that high. Ever since then, it has worked. A variety of web sites that I found by googling this issue suggested some variety of this as a fix.

Hi all

I was experiencing the same problem with my 6-month old (basically brand new) 13" Macbook Pro. Internet was painfully slow, and Airport had begun losing its connection periodically, from as often as every few minutes to as infrequently as every couple of hours. I was becoming incredibly frustrated, and, after finding this thread, pretty disheartened. It took three calls to Applecare, two to my internet provider (Bell Canada), and two visits to the genius bar at my local Apple store, but I seem to have found a solution that works for me.

I may as well start at the beginning, and my apologies in advance - I am not the tech-savviest of people, so my account of what exactly was done may not be totally precise. When I first started experiencing the problem, I called Applecare. We reset some keychain preferences and deleted some folders, and the person I spoke with told me to call Bell if the problem persisted. It did. I called Bell, and the person I spoke with there switched my wireless modem/router combo from a WEP to a WPA key. Apparently macs in general perform better with WPA keys - this was a simple fix, and involved the Bell guy making the change to my router from his end and resetting my wireless password. Although this didn't solve the connectivity issue, it did dramatically increase my browsing speed and I would definitely recommend doing it if you are having slowness issues.

However the connectivity problem still persisted, so I made another call to Applecare. We reset a few more keychain folders and made sure that my home network was at the top of Airport's priority list (i.e. the first one it searched for when connecting), and that wireless was my computer's first priority for internet (before ethernet). Again, nada. This time while on the phone I also made an appointment to see someone at my local genius bar. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with my first genius appointment. Despite mentioning my two previous calls to Applecare AND this thread, the genius I worked with basically just took my computer, reset yet ANOTHER keychain preference, and handed it back to me saying 'it works now'. I mentioned that I'd been resetting keychains on the phone all week and he told me 'oh, they don't do this one on the phone'. Bull. I got my computer home and, quelle surprise, the problem was still there. Incredibly frustrated, I called Apple again. We tried a few more fixes that didn't work, and I made another genius bar appointment. At that point I also did a Time Machine backup of my computer because the next step was going to be reinstalling my OS - which seemed like a pretty drastic move for such a minor and seemingly simple problem.

So the next day I packed up my lappy and headed back to the genius bar. This time I dealt with a very patient, understanding genius who actually listened to me and took my problem seriously. He checked over my keychains again to make sure that everything was as it should be, and then did a re-install of my OS. My apologies here - I don't remember the exact technical term for what it was he did, but basically it was NOT a complete re-install. The analogy he used was that it was like picking up all the furniture, vacuuming under it, and putting it back down again - all my files, preferences etc. were left intact and only the software that runs the computer was reset. So I didn't have to reinstall all of my files and programs. At this point we had done everything we could do from the Apple end of things. My computer was 100% working and there was no issue with the machine. If the problem persisted, it HAD to be at the Bell end.

Unsurprisingly, the problem recurred the next day. I made yet another call to Bell, confident at least that the problem was not with my Macbook. At this point I should probably mention that I live with my boyfriend, a PC user. He had experienced none of these problems on his machine which is what led me to think that it had to be a problem with my machine rather than the connection. Not so, apparently. The Bell guy I spoke to this time said that the problem actually has to do with Safari 5. Because Safari is the default Mac browser, any incoming signals go through Safari. So although Safari was losing the connection, technically my computer was still connected to the internet. Case in point, I had allowed the Bell guy to remotely control my computer while he tried yet more fixes and at one point while he was doing it the connectivity problem occurred - Airport suddenly appeared to be searching for my network and, after a few seconds, found it and reconnected. Throughout all of this the Bell guy was still remotely connected to my computer - something that requires a working internet connection to do. At this point he took a look at my network, and discovered that I was on a very popular channel that was experiencing a lot of interference. I live in an apartment building, and the way he put it was that if someone on my floor got a new cordless phone, installed a new network etc., this could interfere with my connectivity if it was on the same channel, which is, ultimately, what I think must have happened. Once he switched me to a new channel and did something involving DMGs (I'm sorry, I really don't understand what this means!), my connection was fine. It has now been several days and I haven't lost connectivity again since then.

So to sum it all up as best I understand it, what was happening was that my wireless network was on a channel with a lot of interference from other devices in the building where I live. Safari, the internet portal inherent to Macs, was ill-equipped to deal with this and as a result my connection was cutting out while browsing - which explains why the problem wasn't occurring on my boyfriend's PC. Simply moving my wireless to a different channel with less interference solved the problem. If the problem you are having is like mine, and your internet connectivity is cutting out every few seconds and then reconnecting, I would recommend giving your internet provider a call and asking them to check your channel for interference. If slowness is the issue, find out if you're using a WEP or WPA key, and if it's WEP, have it switched. I should probably also mention that the Bell guy I spoke with the second time recommended I switch browsers from Safari to Google Chrome, simply for speed, which I have done and am very happy with.

My apologies again for not giving a more technically precise account of what happened, but hopefully this will be helpful to some of you out there.

Good luck and all the best,

--Julie

I bought a Macbook Pro in February 2010 and it's always had the same wireless connectivity problems:

- Drops connections after waking from sleep
- Loses passwords entered for saved networks in System Preferences > Internet & Wireless > Network > Airport
- Responds with "Invalid Password" when the correct password is entered in wireless connection prompts
- Generally unreliable wireless networking

I have the same problems with different wireless routers, most of which service Windows connections perfectly so no router issues, Apple! What's worse is that I have 4 clients who own Macbook Pros, 3 of which were on recommendation, and they all have the same wireless connectivity problems. Apple - WAKE UP and admit you haven't even tested these Macbook Pros! This is YOUR problem. Your laptops are overpriced CRAP and probably contravene the UK Trades Descriptions Act!

After watching this topic for over a year, I'm now throwing my situation in the ring.

I see this problem, but not with just MBP, but with white MacBooks as well (early 09 models). I support 200 of them in a small private school, all running 10.5.8. We have 9 Cisco AP's broadcasting "N" wireless. I have at least one random laptop a week that stops being able to connect to the network. The SID shows up in the list, you select it, it asks for the password (even though it is saved in the keychain and hasn't changed ever). After a few tries it will eventually take the key, tries to connect, and says it is connected. After a minute of trying to get a DHCP address, it gives itself a self assigned 169 IP and just sits there. The laptops work fine on the kids'and teachers' home networks and I can get them to connect to an Airport network running off of a TimeCapsule just fine.

Apple's response is "does it work from the install disk?" Well, yes it does and for the last 5 months it worked from the laptop too. Apple "reinstall the OS". OK, did that. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes I get the computer back in a few weeks with the same problem. Apple "it's your wireless network". Really, then why do I not have 200 laptops not working instead of random laptop of the week?

I have supported Mac's for 11 years. I worked in a UNIX/Linux/Windows/Mac mixed environment. I know my way around a command line. I know that on a UNIX/Linux computer there are ways to fix network problems without blowing away the install. I have tried some of those tricks on the Mac, but since Apple has their own flavor of UNIX, those tricks don't work the same. My users are getting frustrated as is the school administrator's who are paying me to fix the problem that I can't fix. I have sent laptops to Apple only to have them returned to me with nothing having been done to them. The school has one more year before the laptops get renewed. This is their first Apple experience and they have not been that pleased with what was sold to them.

This is not acceptable.

Switching my router to broadcast G only worked for me.

I have a D-Link DIR-615, as soon as I switched the broadcast to G only my macbook pro immediately had internet connection.

First, this thread was started in 2008 and until now this has not been addressed by apple, this really bothers me.
Along with the superdrives constantly breaking down across all models makes me lose faith in apple

Does using a wireless "n" USB device serve as a workaround for this problem that so many seem to be having?

"I am crossing my fingers, but I think I have found a solution to this. I chose to manually assign a DHCP address for my Mac, and chose a number that was outside of the range of numbers that would be automatically assigned. It was still 10.0.1.x, but I chose 200 for X, when the range didn't go that high. Ever since then, it has worked. A variety of web sites that I found by googling this issue suggested some variety of this as a fix."



I did the same a few weeks ago and I did see improvement in the airport stability! However the problem did not resolve permanently. Sometimes I still have wireless connectivity loss though not as often as before.

Message was edited by: click-gr

Phew, I thought I was gong crazy. have 4 Apple products (5 if you count the 2 iPad 2 that I have) and all the wireless product has this wireless connection issues with my Router. So you may think that it is therefore the router's problem right? It's a Belkin N wireless (not sure what model) BUT, here's the thing, my Sony Win XP laptop has no issues. My PS3 has no issues with the router and my wife's Kindle has no issues with the router and my Nokia N8 has no issues with the router. Only my iPhone 4, my iPad 2s and my MacBook Pro (my iMac is connected directly to the router so have not tested the wireless on that one). So Sherlock Holmes would say that "it's the Apple Products my Dear Watson".

The symptoms are exactly the same across all the Apple products, it will connect fine, the wireless icon will show full bar/excellent connection but if I keep it idle for 5-10 minutes, the icon still shows the great connection but it is actually dead. No internet connection whatsoever. The only solution is to switch off my wifi on all the Apple products and switch it on again and the internet will be okay.


I noticed that this thread is now 62 pages long with 930 posts and still a great "no answer" tag in the headlines. Awesome.

I've gone into my router and set it to only broadcast B&G signals, let's see if that will solve the problems. It will be ironic cause the Apple products are the one with the N settings but they are the ones not working.