My Macbook keeps disconnecting itself from the internet

my bad, that didnt fix it, just a temporary patch, soon as i connected to anther wifi the problem one stopped working

I just picked up a MacBook Pro less than a month ago - I had to wonder [ *** ] when I would see the Airport Disconnect Signal. With 8 wireless connections ONLY the laptop drops off . . . Even using an Airport Extreme and still. I question the location of the antenna location or what I am finding ( with discuss ) perhaps a plist unmentionable ' power saving ' setting the users are just not smertt enuf to know about or . . . well Apple that is you.

Laptop drops in the bedroom, in the den, in the kitchen, on the couch, at the desk ( which is within 14 inches of the Airport Extreme )

I can not force it to disconnect - but - it does to a frequency where hey, it is noticeable - interrupts data transfers to / from the network / internet / printer. I will say it disconnects more when not touched for some period of time.

I just want to increase awareness about this problem. Apparently it's rampant!

I bought a 2010 MBP 15" about a month ago. I was having the same problems where the signal indicator would appear to be connected but I would not be able to complete a connection to any website. This would happen on any number of wireless networks, encryption types, and wireless channels. Toggling AirPort on/off would reset it, and I would be connected for 10 more minutes or so. It worked fine over ethernet, and other devices had no problems.

Yesterday I swapped the machine at an Apple Store and today, after having set up the computer again, I am experiencing the same problems. It's infuriating! I have noticed something though: the connectivity gives out unfailingly after I have connected to the WiFi network with my iPhone or any other wireless device. The appearance of another device on the network is not the only trigger, but it is a reliable one.

I took my MBP to the Genius Bar for the third time in three weeks. Told it was most likely an interference issue. The Genius seemed perplexed but didn't take it in. I got home and changed the channel of the Airport Express from Automatic to 10. I then went into Network Diagnostics to connect to the internet. I chose my network and typed in my password. I have never seen my MBP work faster. I would usually be very excited but I'm just waiting for the connection to drop like so many times before.

The Genius told me that the problem could be the lack of plastic associated with the MBP. Who knows.

I have the same problems as described here, when on Wireless I get disconnected when browsing and such. I have read almost every post on this issue and tried all supposed remedies... no luck.

It occurred to me that perhaps this is a power saving feature/bug that makes the wifi turn off the radio or whatnot after x minutes of passiveness. So... I started a terminal and typed ping -i 2 192.168.1.1 which has been running for the past hour. Before trying the ping approach I had three disconnects this evening... however since I started the infinite ping =) in order to keep the wifi alive I have not had a single disconnect. (there are more efficient ways of doing keep-alive I'm sure)

So if this is indeed a power saving strategy by apple, intentional (or not?), the interesting question is HOW do I turn it off?

I also have lots of disconnects at work, when power is plugged in, but so do the not Mac owners, so I guess the source of that is something else. I should perhaps test if I get disconnects when power is plugged in at home, but I really need to sleep now... =) perhaps someone else can try this and see if they can replicate the results?

I've got similar problems. I got my MacBook Pro in March, and it's worked fine up until the last month. Now, the wireless will drop out on occasion while I'm at home, often if I've been out and connected to another network before re-connecting to the home network. Also, once I've lost connectivity, when I switch AirPort off/on/off (usually it goes a few times), even while it's Off the bars are still searching, and although the home network's showing as connected, the browsers are offline.

At first I didn't think much of it and restarted the wireless from the router, then restarted AirPort, which seemed to fix it. But I've realised that the other 2 laptops using the network aren't affected by these 'drops'. I'm in a studio apartment, so I'm always in the same room as the router.

Starting to contact Mac help, but from what it looks like here, I might be searching for answers for awhile....

I had the same problem. I tried everything I could find on the internet and too my MBP to the Genius Bar. I finally figured out how to change the channel on my Airport Express. I changed from Automatic to channel 10. It's been working for a few days now. **Knocks on wood**

I've had this same problem, will drop connection, and my router will disappear from my list.
But my Girlfriends windows desktop doesn't disconnect though its only about 20 feet away. Nor, does my ps3 or xbox 360.

How do you change the channel from Automatic to channel 10? is that the location: Automatic. in Network Prefs?

To change channels on an Airport Express,

Applications > Airport Utility >(you will now see a column of any base stations Airport Utility finds within range). Choose the base station you want > Wireless > Under the Channel drop-down list, choose a new channel.

It might not be channel 10 that works best for you. Experiment with other channels to see what works. This will only work if you are experiencing interference because of other networks using similar channels. I live in an apartment and there are a lot of networks around here.

Hope this helps.

the channel 10 fix worked for me too. thanks so much for this

Great! Thanks for letting me know it works.

I've had... and am still having this exact same problem.

I've tried changing the router channel but still get the same problem. So frustrating constantly having to turn airport off and on again to get the connection back. Seems to be mainly when the connection is idle, but tried to adjust settings on the router to keep alive but no joy.

Arrrgghhh

Took mine into the Apple store a few days ago and, of course, it never shows any problems. He took it out back and reseated the cables (didn't say if they were loose or not). But it's been almost a week and have had no connection issues since (no change to the wifi settings).

I just recently got an mbp and am having consistent problems with wifi dropping out. Wifi will be fine for a minute or two, drop out, then come back again. It will do this over and over again. However I noticed that if I am downloading a big file I will never get a dropout. Feels like a problem with power management of the wifi card to me, but I don't know how to disable power saving for wifi if this is in fact enabled.

I have same issue in my MBP 13, bought in Brasil.