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WiFi dropping connection in OSX but NOT in Windows 7

Howdy.

I have a 17" Unibody MacBook Pro which is about 2 months old; which I use on several WiFi networks (home and several different networks at work).

I also bootcamp the mac with Snowleopard and Windows 7 (64bit).

When running Snowleopard, the WiFi connection will periodically drop and then reconnect (sometimes it will be steady for 20-30 minutes, other times it drops every couple of minutes).

Sometimes it will refuse to reconnect until airport has been turned off and then back on.

The strange thing is, when booted into Windows 7, the connection NEVER drops.

It will run solidly for hour after hour with no problems what so ever; on the same WiFi networks that Snowleopard is constantly losing connecting to.

I have all the latest updates installed so not really sure what I can do; anyone have any ideas?

James.

Macbook Pro 17", Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Apr 6, 2010 3:51 PM

Reply
58 replies

Apr 18, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Skonk

I am having the same problem on my macbook. I've replaced the router already and it happens all the same. My fiance's 13" macbook pro is similarly affected. I do not experience this issue with booting to XP through BootCamp. This is fortunate since that is where I do my gaming, but it is frustrating having to turn airport off and back on every few minutes. When I browse to a slow website, it is impossible to tell if the connection has dropped or if the site is just slow or non-responsive. This is my first mac and it is leaving a questionable impression. I will gladly throw this into the secondhand market and pickup an ASUS if it means I can browse the web without this inconvenience.

Apple: Please fix this issue.

Apr 25, 2010 7:36 AM in response to giuseppeNL

Yeh I've still not been able to find a fix for this.

Its pretty nuts really since it works fine in windows, using the exact same hardware; so the issue has to be software related and thus very fixable.

I switch between windows and OSX a fair bit but finding myself staying in OSX more and more, but this issue of the WiFi dropping its proving to be a massive annoyance and is now the main reason for me to boot up in windows mode.

I've on using the computer today for about an hour and already had the connection drop at least 5 times.

Apr 26, 2010 8:49 AM in response to Skonk

I'm going to add my own voice of protest to this forum - I've had my macbook for 2 months working on a Belkin wireless N network with 4 other windows devices working with no problems on it. The network connection drops every time with the Macbook - once I've restarted the internal wireless network connection, it's fine. On the one hand, it's good to know that I'm not the only one suffering this, but on the other hand, it's a bit shoddy of Apple to ignore this problem. I'm going to try and be persistent with apple on this issue because it's a shame such a promising piece of kit is so badly marred by what appears to be a fixable problem.

Apr 27, 2010 11:44 AM in response to Skonk

Having the same issue. I've had my Macbook Pro for about two years but have only been experiencing this problem in the past month or so. I'm guessing it might be due to a recent software update.

At first I thought it was my router, but all the other computers (windows based) on the network have had no issues at all, even when my connection drops.

I've tried a few fixes I've found - flashing the PRAM, putting airport at the top of the list, setting my router to use G settings instead of N, putting my router on a different channel - but nothing works! Super frustrating since I use my mac for work AND play and no matter where I am I get disconnected!

May 2, 2010 3:15 PM in response to protist

Not to be mean but it would be more helpful to share more info about your working enviroment like
Do you use a router?
What brand?
Which band is it on (b/g/n)?
Which channel is used?
Encryption method?
Etc

just saying it dont work wont give enough info to Apple. I did have a MBP (2009)
and it worked great with my Belkin N1 Router (using WPA) but seen the drop-out with my other old Compaq pc so i know how annoying it can be.
I just ordered a new 15" so hopefully it will continue to work great (cross my finger) 😀

May 5, 2010 9:19 AM in response to shadow

At home I've used both a NetGear and Belkin router (both N band), at work we have various networks using Cisco kit.

The encryption types vary depending on which network I'm connecting to.

The WiFi drops on all of them when in OSX but runs flawlessly on all of them when in Windows 7.

I'm currently sat here at home in the living room connected to a Netgear WNR2000 which is in the room directly above me.

Signal strength is full and the encryption is WPA-PSK + WPA2-PSK.

It had been connected for around an hour without disconnecting but then in the last 20 minutes it's disconnected twice; both times refusing to reconnect automatically forcing me to turn the airport off and then back on.

The fact that the same hardware works fine in windows 7 would suggest that this has to be a software issue inside OSX.

May 13, 2010 3:58 PM in response to Skonk

I'm having the exact same issue on my 13" unibody Macbook @ 2.4ghz w/4gb.
Wifi works flawlessly in Win7, but as soon as I boot in to OSX 10.6 or Linux (Ubuntu 10.4) wifi drops constantly. I have to stop and restart the airport, or rmmod/modprobe before wifi comes back. I have the same results at home on a DLink DIR-615 running OpenWRT Backfire, and at work on a Proxim mesh. Both environments are running WPA2 PSK.
Also, my wife has the same issue on her white 13" macbook.

May 17, 2010 1:14 AM in response to Zacpod

+1 for me

I have this problem with all of my Apple HW (a brand new MacBook PRO i7, a iPhone 3GS and an iPad WiFi) likewise. But not with Win laptops and other WiFi enabled devices.

All Apple devices connect fine and have a good net connection immediately after initial connect. But after a few moments up to some minutes, the connection drops. Only switching off and on wireless network in the settings re-establishes connection.
The pattern is stable - never the connection recovered itself automatically, and never restarting wireless in the device did not help. Only the usable duration varies a lot, sometimes it's up to 30mins, sometimes it's only moments.

It seems to be WiFi router specific however - I only have problems with the Zyxel NBG 417N, whereas the much older Netgear WRG 614 and a Zyxel G570-S in my office does not show the problem at all.

Maybe it is a 802.11n problem. Of my routers, only the NBG 417N is n-capable. Unfortunately, the NBG 417N does not have an option to disable 802.11n so I can't verify.

All in all, it's a really annoying problem. For months now I try to tweak the settings in my router, but nothing has helped. I was about to blame the Zyxel and replace it, but reading this thread I guess it's a more general Apple problem.

WiFi dropping connection in OSX but NOT in Windows 7

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