Q: 27" imac wifi problems (intermittant)

I first posted about my problem with dropped wifi on February 27/12.

It's now over two months later and even with help from a couple of Apple folks I still get the dropped wifi signal.

Many times I come back to the computer and there is no wifi signal. I thought it was something to do with energy saving so I turned off "put the hard disk to sleep when possible", "wake for network access" - still didn't help.

If I notice there's no signal I turn wifi OFF and then ON and it seems to come back. When it happens it seems to just keep doing it and doing it - then it will be fine for days - then I'll come home other times and find that it's possibly been off all day because my e-mail accounts just show a ~ beside them all and no mail is downloaded.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..................

I guess I can take it to Apple but I'm not hopeful. Meantime, the 2007 iMac never has these problems.   And they are 7' away from one another. The iPads never have this problem, Apple TV never has this problem and neither does my iPhone when I run it on wifi!

This is totally maddening.

I was able to get around this issue by purchasing a simple USB 2.0 Wifi adapter. My iMac has been connected non-stop with it for the last two weeks straight, which is more than I can say for the built-in Wifi device, which I had Apple replace once already to no avail.

This seems like the best solution to me, even if it's the antithesis of the Apple mentality.

Nugx,

To use the USB adapter, did you have to turn off the iMac internal wifi or just plug in the USB and go?

thx

:^{)

There are now many hundreds of posts on this issue and that is only on this forum. There must be thousands of Apple customers who are suffering from this same problem and like me have been very frustrated that Apple appear not to be interested. I believe that the only way to get Apple to give us some customer service is to publicise the problem. I would therefore propose that as many as possible email the BBC click programme and seek there help. The link is click@bbc.co.uk. I just do not understand why Apple has not fixed this issue, it must know that hundreds of there customers are totally fed up with this and deserve better.

what make/model of wireless router are you using ?

Thompson 050A65. This problem is not about the router as can be confirmed in many previous posts and discussion with Apple retailers. I never had a problem with using the same router in my old G5 Mac.

My router is a Cisco - it was installed a few months ago with our Broadband 50 on shaw.ca.  This problem was happening before that and I was using Airport Extreme. It was about 5 or so years old and never had any problems until my June 2011 iMac 21". And I don't know that it was having problems right away.

The old iMac (2007) never had this problem and still doesn't. So it's specific to my "new" iMac.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............  And here it is another 9 days later and still the same issue. 

I too suffered from this intermitttant WiFi problem with the mid 2011 27 Imac Quad Core with 1TB Seagate harddrive.

Apparently there is a replacement program for the 1TB hard drives: http://www.apple.com/support/imac-harddrive/

Since my iMac was under warranty still, I brought it to the Apple Store yesterday. The tech there told me that he is 80% sure that the WiFi problems are do to the faulty hard drive. Apparently the drive has problems waking from sleep. Anyways, they are replacing the hard-drive and installing a fresh version of Lion. Coincidentally, 10.7.4 was released yesterday as well.

I will update you guys on whether the problem goes away. Good luck!

Oh well - at least the tech is only 80% wrong then.  If you read through the thread you'll see, the WiFi problems are affecting iMacs without the faulty drive too.

I remember the old anti-establishment Apple ads, about how they were different than the PC giants. Well, my iMac is my first Applw computer, and they are different: IBM or Dell or Compaq or HP actually have custiomer service that one can reach without going through a maze and they all would have admitted this problem and fixed it or otherwise satisfied their customers. Folks, these recent vintage iMacs are plainly defective, and Apple knows it. Unless they simply dispensed with product testing and quality control for their iMacs (perhaps a possibility in light of the resources devoted to iPads and iPhones), they surely knew this as they sold and shipped them. The complaints are all over blogs and message boards and noted in on-line publications. Every fix Apple suggests is temporary at best, and involves inconvenience and costs that we should not have to incur in order to enjoy the warranted use of these very expensive products. Plus we have been damaged further because we all have pay high prices for broadband internet which we cannot enjoy. My suggestion is make sure you have complained clearly and often to Apple, and then start contacting lawyers who have brought defective product lawsuits against them in the past. While I admit that these lawyers might not get us satsifaction with the product, at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing Apple's shoddy products and customer service will not be cost-free.

The other thing I suggest is reaching out on other boards and forums, and to friends and acquaintances to not only spread this story, but also to warn potential iMac buyers. Every Apple customer and potetnial customers should be wary in light of this clear display of shoddy products backed only by corporate arrogance and irresponsibility.

i have already replied on here, but wanted to reitterate about a month after I solved the exact same problem so many of you are having.  I can confirm, for me, it was 100% my router.  as soon as I replaced my router, my wireless was fixed, and has remained up and running flawlessly since the day I installed the new router. 

Get a Blekin N600 Dual band router.  It saved me from throwing my computer out the window.  It instantly solved a couple months of ongoing issues....before the Belkin, my wireless connection was dropping every minute or so, it was driving me insane. 

This was my last ditch effort to solve the problem, I had previously tried every fix I read about here on these boards and NOTHING worked, so i fuigured I'd try the last possible thing that might fix the problem... get a new router. and it worked.

I had thought it was an apple issue, but I no longer think that.  its definitely a router issue.

I am convinced this is an Apple issue, not a router issue. While I am happy to hear someone had good results(for the time being) with a new router, others have taken that plunge only to experience the same problem. Wifi on a PC runs like gangbusters off of my wifi router. Other devices pick up the wifi and run fine as well. The problem is the iMac, and the iMac, and the iMac. Perhaps Apple could step up and do some testing and tell consumers if some routers work better or if there is some range limitation or whatever. Instead, they have offered a dizzying variety of explanations and fixes which, on balance, are little better than voodoo spells. Consumers should not be forced to engage in quackery and trial and error.

Don't be a fool.  If it is a router issue for EVERYONE as you claim, then why does the iMac work fine for so many people when merely used with Windows on a Bootcamp partition ??  Same router, same computer, different result.  Read back over OTHER people's posts before you claim to have the definitive answer to this issue for everybody and that you have magically found it is not Apple's problem.  It is NOT "definitely" a router issue - do you work for Belkin perhaps ?

PLEASE don't trivialise this issue and the distress it is causing other people by suggesting you have the solution and we are all fools for still having problems ...

I just installed the new Mac Update (10.7.4). I did not see any explicit mention of a Wi-Fi fix in the update description. Has anyone experienced improved results after installing it?