My Macbook keeps disconnecting itself from the internet

I'm getting the same issue with my MBP 15". I agree that it seems like a possible power management issue. I'm getting this error frequently.

Error occurred at July 8th, 12:34PM
I found these messages in the console log

7/8/10 12:33:46 PM kernel AirPort: Link Down on en1. Reason 4 (Disassociated due to inactivity).
7/8/10 12:33:47 PM configd[13] network configuration changed.
7/8/10 12:34:14 PM kernel Auth result for: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx MAC AUTH succeeded
7/8/10 12:34:14 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en1
7/8/10 12:34:14 PM configd[13] network configuration changed.

I have had this problem for ages and either turned Airport off and on again or just put up with it. After trying a bunch of things mentioned here I finally called Apple Care and solved the problem, yay!

The firmware in my Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router was not up-to-date. (It's both the router and wireless access point.) The Apple Care rep even gave me a number for Linksys in case I had any questions on checking or updating the firmware.

Just thought I would post this in case it helps anyone. It was really annoying and I am so happy it's fixed now. 🙂

I've been having the same issues since when i bought this thing last November 09. I've put up with it. When I want to research it on the internet is when it is the worst. Go figure. Anyhow, I was just reading your solution, however, I've purchase an Apple airport, upgraded my other wireless. Both cause the drop in wireless. It even happens when I'm in other houses. It drops less frequently when I'm not running on batteries though, yahoo. But I've never had such issues with any computer before. Another thing I've noticed is that if I turn on this computer and connect to the internet, it causes my wifes computer to drop, to where she needs to run the repair function.

Mac Book 13" still seeking a solution to wireless drops.

I've been check a topic for solutions and just noticed it was archived to where nobody and post to it anymore.
Here is the topic:
Wireless disconnects randomly throughout the day on 13" MBP
Yet again, no solution that works. This is nonsense.

Another thing, I received an email on Jan 18th 2010. After responding he never followed up with me. Here is his email to me.

Hi,

I work for Engineering in Apple and am looking into the wireless issues being reported by you. I am sorry you are experiencing issues with wireless connections on your Mac and hopefully I can resolve it for you.

Could you please give me the following details, so I get a better idea of what you are seeing. Also I have sent you a list of things to do so I can get a much better idea of whats going on.

- Access Point modem/firmware version
- Wireless Mode and channel ( 2.4/5 )
- Wireless Security being used
- How many computers do you have in your network and in which mode do they connect to the AP ?
- Please describe the issue you have seen and any methods you have used to troubleshoot it.
- Please attach the System Profiler report of all the machines that display this issue in your reply.


Things to do:

Run this command in Terminal
Command 1:sudo ipconfig setverbose 1

Command 2: sudo /usr/libexec/airportd debug +alluserland +alldriver +allvendor
Command 3: sudo /usr/libexec/airportd logger
*Copy paste the output thats displayed in Terminal ( after you enter command 3) after you reproduce the issue and mail it to me.

Now reproduce the issue being reported. If the issue is not reproducible readily, remember to enter the above commands after every reboot so we can capture the issue when it happens.

Collect the following Logs after you reproduce the issue:
- Launch the Console app and on the right hand side, look for 2 files - system.log and kernel.log. Click on each of them and then choose File-> Save As and then mail those files to me.
- Output from the terminal running airportd logger. ( Where you ran Command 3)
Other info needed:
Run this Command in Terminal a couple times (3-4 times) and paste the output in a text file: ( its an upper case 'i' in the command at the very end)
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport -I'

Run this command in Terminal and it will place a tar file on the Desktop with all the needed info. Please mail me this file.
/System/Library/Frameworks/SystemConfiguration.framework/Versions/Current/Resour ces/get-mobility-info
Please do let me know the time frame around when you ran these tests so I can look at the right place in the logs.

Please do not hesitate to mail me if you have any doubts/questions on how to get this information. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the issues seen by you. Also would you be willing to let us come on site and take a look at this issue in person if it is easily reproducible ?
I really appreciate your time on this matter.

Thanks

<Edited by Host>

ibsurfin wrote:
Another thing, I received an email on Jan 18th 2010. After responding he never followed up with me. Here is his email to me.

Hi,

I work for Engineering in Apple and am looking into the wireless issues being reported by you. I am sorry you are experiencing issues with wireless connections on your Mac and hopefully I can resolve it for you.

Could you please give me the following details, so I get a better idea of what you are seeing. Also I have sent you a list of things to do so I can get a much better idea of whats going on.

- Access Point modem/firmware version
- Wireless Mode and channel ( 2.4/5 )
- Wireless Security being used
- How many computers do you have in your network and in which mode do they connect to the AP ?
- Please describe the issue you have seen and any methods you have used to troubleshoot it.
- Please attach the System Profiler report of all the machines that display this issue in your reply.


Things to do:

Run this command in Terminal
Command 1:sudo ipconfig setverbose 1

Command 2: sudo /usr/libexec/airportd debug +alluserland +alldriver +allvendor
Command 3: sudo /usr/libexec/airportd logger
*Copy paste the output thats displayed in Terminal ( after you enter command 3) after you reproduce the issue and mail it to me.

Now reproduce the issue being reported. If the issue is not reproducible readily, remember to enter the above commands after every reboot so we can capture the issue when it happens.

Collect the following Logs after you reproduce the issue:
- Launch the Console app and on the right hand side, look for 2 files - system.log and kernel.log. Click on each of them and then choose File-> Save As and then mail those files to me.
- Output from the terminal running airportd logger. ( Where you ran Command 3)
Other info needed:
Run this Command in Terminal a couple times (3-4 times) and paste the output in a text file: ( its an upper case 'i' in the command at the very end)
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport -I'

Run this command in Terminal and it will place a tar file on the Desktop with all the needed info. Please mail me this file.
/System/Library/Frameworks/SystemConfiguration.framework/Versions/Current/Resour ces/get-mobility-info
Please do let me know the time frame around when you ran these tests so I can look at the right place in the logs.

Please do not hesitate to mail me if you have any doubts/questions on how to get this information. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the issues seen by you. Also would you be willing to let us come on site and take a look at this issue in person if it is easily reproducible ?
I really appreciate your time on this matter.

Thanks

Hi,

Access Point modem/firmware version - LinkSys WRT54G2 v1 - last firmware 1.0.4

Wireless Mode and channel ( 2.4/5 ) - 2.4

Wireless Security being used - WPA2

How many computers do you have in your network and in which mode do they connect to the AP ?
2 or 3 (only navigation, not download)

Please describe the issue you have seen and any methods you have used to troubleshoot it.
Happens to me only when I'm browsing the internet normally, ie, some tabs. Both in safari as other browsers. Just back to normal after disable and enable the airport in macbook.

Please attach the System Profiler report of all the machines that display this issue in your reply.

<Edited by Host>

Still occurring.

So I was at the Apple store the past few days (4 times in all). And they've done things like clean out some possible problems via Terminal, had me do a fresh install on my system, and finally replace the actual Airport card and run hardware tests which it passes.

So far the computer has dropped the wifi connection about 4 times since replacing the AP card Friday. I'm sick of driving out to the store & sitting in the traffic on the way back at this point.

The problems are still the same:

- Randomly will lose internet connection doing anything from having a chat open to downloading files, browsing sites & streaming audio/video at the same time. Sometimes hours & days pass. Sometimes minutes.

- All other devices on the network will keep their connection. PS3, Blackberry, Droid, PC (all wifi connected).

- Drops it on different routers w/different settings. Doesn't matter where I sit in relation to it.

The ONLY solution that works is to turn the airport off then on. I can just off/on it real quick when it hangs up and everything loads fine thereafter till the next time. Unplugging the router or modem does nothing. And it's doing it both in clamshell mode, sitting in a stand hooked to an external monitor and when used by itself.

Since not everyone is beating down the door at Apple I can only assume the next step is Apple replaces the laptop, yes? There must be something wrong internally at this point.

HAve a Macbook Pro 15, Powerbook 17, and airport extreme. I experienced the same wireless disconnect problem on the Macbook Pro 15 not the Powerbook 17. I found the wireless disconnect problem does not occur when the wireless router is located in the ceiling or up high. I had my airport located on a low shelf when the wireless disconnect problem occurred.
After raising the airport router up towards the ceiling (higher) the wireless disconnect problem does not occur. At other places find the wireless router location. If the router is located in the ceiling there should not be a disconnect problem.

Raise your wireless router (airport) up into or towards the ceiling. Probably related the the iPhone antenna engineers not paying attention
The Powerbook 17 does not have any connection issues not matter where the router is located

I too have been afflicted with this problem for quite some time. When it happens (and it happens quite often when the network is being used heavily), the Airport icon in the menu bar stays full strength, but preferences (and the command line) indicate that the network is off. Turning airport off and on again from the menu bar rarely works for me. It usually turns off, but then attempting to turn it back on doesn't work; it just stays off. Oddly, there don't seem to be any useful messages in the system logs. However, I've collected the information that Suresh asked a different poster -- if you're other there, Suresh, I'd be happy to send it to you...

I have three different base stations, and they are all Apple branded. I have an Aiport Extreme (802.11g), and Airport Extreme (simultaneous dual band), and an Airport Express (802.11n). All have the latest firmware, or so says Airport Utility. I use WPA2 personal, and am generally connected to the 5GHz channel on the dual-band Extreme.

I've been having the exact same problem. Though my partners MacBook (running the same software update) always seems to connect - no matter what network she is using or wherever she is. It was getting extremely frustrating. Until I copied her settings from the network panel is system preferences. Bingo. All good. I have no clue what they mean and why it's working but it's working. Yey.
We are connected via Airport to any network interface. Airport extreme, dlink, buffalo, random wifi, in McD's with BT wifi or the Library etc. etc.

What I did was:-
System Preferences/Network/Airport/Advanced/DNS - then enter.
192.168.1.50
195.235.113.3
195.235.96.90

In search domains enter:-
dlink.com

Then goto proxies and then in the bottom window that says Bypass proxy settings.... enter
*.local, 169.254/16

It worked for me and now I'm happy as Larry.

I have a very similar problem, except when i try to reconnect i get "network timeout".

I hope this is fixed with a simple update!

@ JScullin and the rest also.
This is exactly the same issue as we are experiencing on my girlfriends brand new MBP. Here is a summary..

Setup:
Macbook Pro 15” with OS X 10.6.4 connected to a Linksys WRT54G2 wireless router.

Problem description:
MBP loses regularly the wireless connection.
Sometimes it works for an entire day and sometimes the connection drops every hour.
We have 2 other Windows Pc’s, an Xbox 360 and a PS3. All wireless connected which doesn’t have any problems.
The problem is regardless if the power cable is in or not.
There are no other wireless networks in the area which could cause interference.

To get the connection restored, we simply have to turn the Airport Off and then back on again. This restores the connection for a while.

We have noticed that the problem is occurring more often is the wireless nic is stressed a bit with some heavy downloading at the same time you browse around internet pages. However problem is also seen when the nic is not stressed at all.

What we’ve done so far:

Updated firmware on the Linksys router to the latest version: 1.0.04
Security setting is WPA2 Personal and encryption is set to TKIP+AES
Tried setting up a MAC filter on the router which made no difference.
Tried setting the wireless connection to G mode. (802.11g)
Tried creating a new network location.

Tried setting up google DNS in the network setting. DNS address 8.8.8.8
We found out later that the DNS settings wouldn’t have any say as it’s not the internet connection that is the problem. The WLAN connection totally dies. We cannot even ping the MBP from another PC.

We could really use some advice on this issue.
Apparently this is not a hardware issue. Must be some sort of firmware problem in the AP card or?

Any suggestions would be usefull.

Thanks.

I seem to be having luck with my router (WRT54G2) at the factory settings.

Try running it at a factory reset level. No renaming, no security, no nothing except the bare minimum to connect it with the internet. So far for the better part of the day I haven't had a disconnect on the MBP, but my chat client (Adium) now signs on/off through the course of the day.

If it gets through the night and into tomorrow without still having issues then I'm assuming there's an issue with the Airport/MBP and the security on the router. Despite nothing else on our networks having issues with it.

Of course, this also means my wifi network is completely unprotected in the mean time. So it's by no means a solution if this is in fact the case.

No No No! put the wireless router (airport ...) up higher!
Put the router on the roof of your dwelling.
the Apple engineers were asleep at the switch, as usual.
Macbook Pro i7 2.66 15 Powerbook 17 Hammerhead.