Q: Dropping Wi FI Signal

This may not be purely a wifi issue.

I use a mixed network with an iMac 24 2.4 (10.6.1) and a Windows XP PC linked by ethernet to a TC. The TC links via AE to a Linksys router on n/WPA. I use a 13.3 MBP (10.6.1) on wifi and a windows vista laptop on wifi. Prior to upgrade to 10.6 all worked normally with no network drops.

Since upgrade to 10.6 both the iMac and MBP both show intermittent network drops after approx 20mins. Not related to airport signal strength as it also affects the imac. No effect found on the pcs at the same time using the same dns. The iMac will loose network access (ethernet) while the PC plods on. If iMac is switched to wifi the same will happen after a while.

Similarly the MBP will intermittently loose all network access (mail/www/ftp the lot) while the PC stays connected at the same time. All worked before 10.6 and an old mini will happily stay connected on wifi all day long if turned on (media server).

This seems to suggest ? a network stability issue under 10.6. Not changed by clean install of 10.6 or update to 10.6.1. To reconnect I will switch off the network interface and then switch on again in Sys Pref Networks and all works again - but it is a bit of a pain.

Hope this adds a little more to the discussions.

This seems to point to some type of issue with your DHCP server if it's occurring on both Ethernet and AirPort on your network.

FWIW, I've two machines running SL and neither drops AirPort connections at all.

Thanks William

I dont think this is purely a DHCP issue as;
The network worked well and was stable for at least 6 monthe before 10.6.
The PCs work happily on the network by wifi and ethernet at the same time as the 10.6 has problems.
The Mini is happy and stable on the network.
Other wireless bits not effected (airtunes on 2 A/E, PS3 internet radio).
The affected Macs have allotted IPs at the times of failure and router reports nothing of note on its log so router is not blocking their IP.


My suspicion is that this is an issue linked with the affected machines on OS (10.6), possibly firewall and aspects of network protocols TCP/IP etc. (none of which I understand).

M

The twenty minute thing seems to indicate a DHCP issue of some sort, either due to a very short lease time on your router or the existence of a second DHCP server on your network that is confusing things.

Have you checked your logs (viewable via Applications->Utilities->Console) to see if there are any error messages being logged that might shed light on your issues?

The only ways an Ethernet connection can "drop" is if your IP address is being set to something non-functional, or due to a physical issue such as a bad Ethernet cable, bad switch or bad switch port.

I have the same problem. My WiFi was working perfectly before upgrading to SL. And this is not related to interference, router setting, or DNS, etc. This is a BUG in SL. Apple, please admit it, and fix the bug.

Exactly...This is an issue with Snow Leopard, not everyones connection

I checked the issue of the DHCP timing and this is set at its usual of 24hrs. Only one DCHP server on the network at the ADSL router. Any network tools on Macs or windows report IP that matches that allocated to them by DHCP server and correct dns and secondary dns. No difference if a fixed IP is manually allocated.

WiFi channel allocation is well clear of neighbouring transmitters. Good reception on all airport reception reports. AE which acts as a bridge to Time Capsule has no difficulty and is stable for win XP linked to the TC (ethernet) while the iMac (10.6) on a similar ethernet is variable since 10.6 upgrade. All cables changed - no effect.

So its not DCHP, not DNS, not poor reception, not cables, not on 10.5, not on windows (xp, vista or win7), not on PS3, not on AE, not on internet radio - therefore I believe that my network is stable prior to 10.6. I do NOT think this is a physical issue to do with the individual network port on the mac (Airport or ethernet) but more a software issue in 10.6 and its handling of network comms. As it is intermittent and shows some variability of timing and circumstances, it may be an issue/interaction to do with timings, stacks, firewalls or some network complexity so only affecting a proportion of users.

For the present I just keep network open in system prefs to switch off and on the interface which resets the connection?

HovaThaGod32 wrote:
Exactly...This is an issue with Snow Leopard, not everyones connection

Yes, it definitely is. BUT that does not mean you can't understand it or work around it while we wait for Apple to figure out what's actually wrong.

Remember, it's definitely NOT everyone. More people running 10.6.1 have no problems than have problems. It can work just fine. So, it's usefull to consider all the possibilities, even if it's Apples fault.

Call support and hold their feet to the fire. If one call doesn't work, keep trying. Take your laptop to the Apple store and ask them to test. Stay with this thread and try anything new.

Cheers,
tod

it's quite weird that i noticed my macbook pro dropped wifi signal but my girlfriend's iMac has no problem at all. we run them on the same network, installed from the same disc. so maybe it only happens to apple laptop only?

Edit: Seems from what I've read most are having issues with Snow Leopard and didn't have issues with Leopard as well as most of these people are MBP owners. Just saying, they might be something to that. My issue started well before Snow Leopard was even announced.

Original:

I'm sorry I didn't feel like reading the 10 pages of complaints, mostly because I've been dealing with this issue myself for over 6 months, long before Snow Leopard. I'm sort of new to Macs, I got my MBP at the beginning of the year and I was very excited, but I have had nothing but problems with the WiFi connectivity. I took it into Apple and they replaced the Airport card. I talked to my ISP which replaced all their equipment. After all that didn't work I took it back to Apple who replaced my MBP altogether. Still the problem persisted and now I couldn't connect at all to my WiFi on my college campus.

Sorry for the long story but I just hope someone at Apple is reading all these complaints on this thread.

Long story short, in effort to fix the issue of the WiFi not connecting on campus, tech support had me put in the Snow Leopard Install Disc and boot from the disc, and if I can connect to WiFi in this manner it will help narrow down the possible conflict and of course it didn't help me there. But I decided to do this at home about a week+ ago and since my drop-age has stopped. I don't know why, I didn't really do anything, and I really don't care. I suggest to everyone having this issue to boot from the install dvd, connect to the WiFi network that is giving you issues, then reboot back to your OS and see if the problem is still there. Could have been a complete fluke, but I figured I'd post just incase it helps anyone

Message was edited by: forum1983

forum1983 wrote:
I suggest to everyone having this issue to boot from the install dvd, connect to the WiFi network that is giving you issues, then reboot back to your OS and see if the problem is still there.

It's not unreasonable that this might fix the problem. It's possible that something in the normal installation is preventing networking from properly setting parameters. Booting from the CD creates a proper setup which then sticks.

Try everything.

Tod

Does apple care enough to fix the problem?
It looks like a "vista" senario............go back to 10.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I tried the latest tip from this thread, i.e booting from the SL DVD.
It did not work. After trying out everything I've found in this and other threads I still have no clue nor remedy.

The only way I can get Wifi to work is being very close to the base station.

/Anders

Anders Holm wrote:
So I tried the latest tip from this thread, i.e booting from the SL DVD.
It did not work. After trying out everything I've found in this and other threads I still have no clue nor remedy.

The only way I can get Wifi to work is being very close to the base station.

/Anders

THE PROBELM:
I recently upgraded to SL and last weekend i came back to college and since then I can't get my wifi to work "Normally". I did not install anything new on my mac. I am running my wifi on a Netgear WGR614 wireless router. When i turn on my mac, i'll be able to access net properly for couple of mins and nothing seems to load after a while. That's the cue for my airport of start "acting up". I cannot connect to my signal. Sometimes, it just wouldn't scan for signals.

On the other had, a windows based desktop and my iPhone seems work just fine. That ruled out the router to be the culprit. (NOTE: I was using the same router with same settings for this macbook before i upgraded to SL). If i sit next to my router, i'll be able to access net. if i move to next room I can't load pages(Wifi shows all bars).

THE SOLUTION:
Somehow I manage to get the wifi working with few tricks. I disabled the DHCP server on the router. Set router to both B&G bands and Channel 9. Secured the network with WAP2. I assigned a Static ip address and DNS to the mac's airport connection while i connected the mac via an ethernet (When i tried to do the same without ethernet connection, it didn't seem to work.). After assigning the static ip, i disconnected the ethernet, turned off airport and turned it back on and BOOM airport works normally.

But there seems to a be a problem, when i close my mac(sleep) and open it again, I have to do over the entire process all over again and Assign a different ip to airport.

I just want you all to know that, i am no networking technician. I am just a regular joe who know a little bit about computers. I can't tell you why this works and why it doesn't. This is one the hundred random things i did to get my airport work.

I finally got mine to work like normal by restricting my wireless modem to operating on only the B band (removing g band). Don't know why it works, but it does. Doesn't matter if I put my laptop to sleep, still works great when I wake it.