MacBook's Wireless range diminished

Great to hear! Can I ask where you purchased the new Airport card from? Looking for one myself.

I just purchased it directly from iFixit. I paid more than other places, but with their website I'm confident I truly have the correct part. You can select your model of Mac, then the project you want to do, and it brings you to the directions complete with a parts list. Click on the part and add it to your cart. I did not want to get the wrong card and have to deal with returns, etc. So, I probably paid a premium but worth it to me.

What a relief to have it working again. Good luck!

Replacing the Airport Card in my MacBook Pro fixed the problem!

After a failed part shipped and went back, I found the exact same model number for sale on eBay for $6.75 + $2.00 shipping. As soon as I installed it and booted up, the connection hit and hasn't failed since. I bought it from Laptop Aid, but there are many other eBay vendors as well.

Good luck to everyone!

I replaced my airport card with one I purchased from iFixit and followed the provided online directions. I even opted for the upgrade to "n" from "g." I am happy to say that replacing the card fixed the problem!!! At least... for the past six hours.

That said, the parts available from iFixit are a lot pricier compared to those on ebay or even the usb solution used by others in the post. I chose the iFixit parts because I wanted a part that works or at least was guaranteed to work.

I just started checking into this problem with my macbook after suffering for years with diminishing wireless performance. My wifi didn't just drop out, it's been steadily declining over the last two years. I use iStumbler to monitor wifi networks and noticed that I started with over 90% signal strength from a distance of over 80 feet from the router (in the corner of our yard, outside) and it has steadily dropped to where i can't even get over 40% signal strength with the laptop right next to the router. (My connection to the internet "drops out" at between 40% and 60% signal strength, depending on environmental factors) I thought it was a router problem so I picked up a few over the years on sale (I now have 4). My iPhone can connect from 3 houses down the street. My laptop won't connect to my router(s) or my friends routers or at work, but my iPhone can without problem. Process of elimination makes me positive my macbook is the problem.

I'll be ordering the new wireless card next week as I see it's worked for so many. iFixit instructions make it look as easy as the hard drive swap, just a few more screws and a few more minutes.
Thanks for this thread and all the helpful answers pointing me to a solution. I don't know why I waited so long to fix it, life just got in the way. 🙂

Update. Just to test out the theory, I went down to the local big box store and got a USB-WiFi adapter for under $10 and can now get online wirelessly from two houses down the street. I think for me at least, this confirms that the Airport Extreme card is indeed, dead. 🙂

Here yet somebody else with the same problem. Or actually, it's my mother. She's always been able to access the time capsule's network with her macbook if her macbook was in the office while the time capsule is in the living room, about 10 meters apart. Now since about a week she can only access the network if the macbook is in the living room as well.

It's good to know about the USB solution and the iFixit solution. However, I think Apple should actually offer a replacement program.

I also filed a report at http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbook.html .

My 2006 macbook has the same problem. And I filed a report to apple, too, but do not have the hope of getting a replacement. Last time in order to ask for a replacement for the battery (the custom service refused), I have to file bbb.

I replaced by card with a new card i got from MacProonline for 40 bucks.

http://www.macproonline.com/Mac-Mini-Intel/Intel-Mac-Mini-Parts/Mac-Mini-Intel-M ac-Intel/Airport-Card-for-Mac-p5636885.html

Worked great for a month, until this morning I ran into a dropped Airport signal and couldn't get it back. I had to restart the computer to get a signal. I came here to see if anyone is having a recurring problem, or if I should suspect the new card.

Good (and bad) to see this thread is still alive!

To those who are just now encountering the problem, please file a report with Apple and hopefully they'll address this. I do plan on purchasing a new WiFi card as well, but this is definitely something Apple should at least acknowledge. Even if they don't necessarily replace said cards.

Thanks to all those who have already reported this issue!

File your feedback report here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I'm glad I found this thread. I'm not sure if I have exactly the same issue as reported by so many here, but it's too similar to ignore. My 2006 black MacBook has had Airport issues for quite a while now. It'll start out fine, but then signal strength drops drastically. I've got a Netgear N router w/ WEP encryption (I'd try WPA, but with several 'vintage' iBooks and such using original AirPort Cards on the network, WPA isn't an option.) I have had no issues with the other Apple machines, so I know it's a MacBook related issue. So what's different for me?

Well, I noticed that once the signal drops, and my internet more or less stops, if I click the Airport icon and roll over the name of my wireless network twice, it often brings the signal back. Weird, huh? I'll explain a little further. The signal drops, I click the Airport icon and roll over the network name. It never changes anything on the first try. The second time I click and roll over, it'll act like it's rescanning for networks, and many times that'll bring the connection back. Whatever web page was stuck with about an inch of blue bar loads right like it should. Why would it do this when I rollover the wireless network name? This 'fix' only lasts for about 5 min. on average, which makes Netflix and Hulu next to impossible to use without annoyance. I've run the Apple Hardware Test from the install discs for the MacBook (both quick and long version) and found nothing.

My iBook clamshells get better internet than my MacBook... something's wrong here :-/ Any ideas about the roll over would be appreciated. I'd rather not have to buy a USB stick or anything, as my USB ports are rather crowded already.

So even with a new airport card the problem has returned after a month or so. The signal drops entirely and I can't get it back. The easiest fix is to put it to sleep, even for 2 seconds, and when it wakes up the signal is strong and working perfectly, bit it will drop again in about 5 minutes.

Another fix i found in these threads works longer but not permanent, throwing out the file: "com.apple.systempreferences.plist"

So it looks to be a software problem after all, at least on my machine.

I have the same problem which started just few days ago. The only changes I could remember are the airport firmware update and some raw updates. Is there a way to downgrade the airport firmware update and retry it.

Interesting thread. Around the start of the thread my Mini decided to become very slow on the wifi network, after hours of hunting, re-installed OS, Genius visit, reset router I gave up. Not used the mini as a Media Centre since then. About 2 weeks ago my girlfriend got a brand new Air, and guess what the Air has performance issues. Got my Windows 7 Thinkpad & the Air next to each other in the same room & tried copying 5mg images from the NAS. The Air took 6-7 times as long, about the same as when we tried on the Mini.

No solution but this confirms to me that it is an Apple issue, not my WNDR3700 or other networking device.

Try changing the key renewal setting on your wireless router to it's max value. I did this on my lynksys and problem stopped immediately
wireless -> wireless secirity -> Key Renewal Interval (in seconds) -> 99999 (Default: 3600, Range: 1 - 99999)

Make sure securit is WPA2 Personal

Also set your DNS to openDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220