After the update Catalina 10.15.7 have problems with the Internet connection

Hi!

So I may have found the issue. I was online with a tech from Apple, shout-out Sarah, and we determined that my Norton 360 anti-malware software was causing the issue. It is most likely due to an incompatibility between the recent update 10.15.7. If you have Norton installed on your computer this could be the issue, however this could be the case with any anti-malware software that isn't recommended by Apple. I have removed Norton from my computer and the issue seems to be resolved. If this helps please let me know!

P.S: I will be reinstalling Norton as soon as an update is available and fixes the bug.

I found a solution to the wifi being dropped. It was a setting on my router. Previously, I had combined the network names to allow the computer to select the faster radio frequencies. I separated them. Now, I have two network names, one for the lower radio frequencies. The other for the higher network frequencies. So far, this solution has solved the problem 90% of the time. When it does drop the network connection, I can get it back quickly.

Hello all,

I was talking to Apple Support via Twitter. I did a safe restart and the problem continued (even worst, 1-2Mbps). So they asked me to reinstall the macOS. For several hours, it seems to work again at full speed (>300Mbps). I keep my fingers crossed. Hope it helps.

This post was super helpful. I tried a lot of the others, and nothing worked. This was affecting both my WIFI and WIRED connections. As soon as I replaced the network location from Automatic to adding a new one with a unique name, it started working!

Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...

System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.

System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.

The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.

Sys Prefs>Network>highlight the Interface you're using>Advanced>TCP/IP>Configure IPv4: Using DHCP.

If using Wifi, instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.

System Preferences>Network>choose interface>Advanced>Proxies Tab, make sure none are set, like for HTTP & HTTPS.

System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

1.1.1.1

9.9.9.9

Apply.

In the mean time, for those who like me are in the shiite because of this issue, I have bought this tiny (half a thumb literally) USB wifi adapter:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/adapter/archer-t3u/#overview

I haven't changed anything to my router and it works really well straight away under macos Catalina, just download the macos 10.15 drivers from their website, and only plug in the adapter after the driver has been installed. Security settings will block the extension during driver installation, so make sure to allow that extension to install.

Hope that helps others, while waiting for Apple to fix that Wifi strength/drop issue.

macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Dropping WiFi

Sep 26, 2020 macOS 10.15.7 update, Xcode 12.0.1 update.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) dropping personal router multiple times per day.

Never happened prior to the update.

I don’t know if this is the solution but so far it is working (five days and counting).

My network preferences were out of order. I moved my personal network to the top.

Go into System Preferences ->  Network ->  Advanced.

Reorder your networks to most preferred to least preferred (ex. personal network first, business network second, etc.)

I recommend not auto-joining insecure networks.

I have turned off auto-joining XFINITY (secure) for now. I have a strong signal from my personal router and the XFINITY network.  Maybe that relates to the macOS 10.15.7 update (ie confused).

after reading the solutions here i tried almost each and everything ( Nothing worked ).

but the optimal solution that i had was actually using my time machine and revert back to Catalina 10.15.6. (Restore backup).

After all the agony of restoring and waiting for 2 hours , everything went back to normal.

that is the best solution.

make sure to back up any important data that is not backuped on the time machine on an anothet hard disk or partition.

Again when i got back my mac wifi working i made sure to delete

• clean my mac
• malware bytes
• any untrusted applications
• all the cache and temp files of those third party apps.

Turned off auto update for macos and updates for any sort of patches.

ill wait until they release a stable version of big sure

Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...

System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.

System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.

The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.

Sys Prefs>Network>highlight the Interface you're using>Advanced>TCP/IP>Configure IPv4: Using DHCP.

If using Wifi, instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.

System Preferences>Network>choose interface>Advanced>Proxies Tab, make sure none are set, like for HTTP & HTTPS.

System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

1.1.1.1

9.9.9.9

Apply.

I've been able to narrow down the problem. Apple has a Beta Security Update available for 10.15.7 . I installed it. The WiFi problems and slow internet have gone away.

I am starting to think the problem is not with Catalina 10.15.7 but with the security patch Apple recently released.

Thank you, monika_pant. I created a new network location and updated with the latest Safari security patch. Everything seems to be working "normal" now. I'm glad I didn't buy new network hardware to attempt a fix to the problem.

Kevin

Hi All,

This is definitely issue of OS update which killed the drivers communication with onboard wifi. I have downgraded to Mojave and tried it doesn't work, later I upgraded it to BigSur still doesn't work.

Finally I purchased a USB WIFI device this worked fine, there is no drop in speed as well no connect disconnect issue. I thought this is the best solution we have right now instead of wasting time to fix onboard wifi drive's issue.

Since I resorted to use a USB wifi adapter as a workaround for this Catalina WIFI issue (see above), I have noticed something interesting/sad.

Apple seem to have hard-linked the use of ApplePay and Airdrop to THEIR Wifi chipset, and not just to the computer being connected to the local wifi network. Indeed, their wifi interface (currently useless since that Catalina Update we are talking about here) has to be turned on and used (arm distance from the router) for these macOS functionalities to work...

A bit cheap and silly...

Hey again, Here are some steps that have worked for me in the past with similar network issues, Hope one or all helps out. (And forgive me if these steps were previously posted):

Although many use VPN’s on Mac’s you may not have to completely uninstall it but in System Preferences > Network If there is a VPN interface on the left column, click on it and hit the “-“ to remove it. (Can be added later).

Create a new network location:

In the same spot next to “Locations” on the top click on it, click “Edit Locations”, hit the “+” to add one, give it a unique name, hit “Done” then “Apply” on the bottom.

This will disconnect the network for a few seconds usually.

In those SAME settings, hit “Advanced” on the bottom right > Proxies, if anything in here is enabled other than the very bottom one, that you or your network administrator didn’t configure, de-select it, hit “Done” and again “Apply”,

Next go to System Preferences > Users and Groups > Login Items, remove (even temporarily) all of the items below in the same fashion.”.

Hir the Apple Logo > Restart, be sure to un-check the option to re open apps, then hit “Restart”.

Test the issue after that.

Also making sure the date, time, time zone and region to make sure they are correct (Even though it was working fine before the update), this can all be done in System Preferences.

If those options fail, do a Time Machine backup, save a separate copy of these files if need be and then delete:

Finder > Go > Computer > Macintosh HD (Usually) > Library:

Save and delete all the contents of:

Extensions (Except Apple Mobile Device)

Internet Plugins

Launch Agents

Launch Daemons

Scripting Additions

Startup Items

(I might do the same for the ~/Library (Hidden).

Restart and test.

I’d say if it still happens and across all good networks and users yet other devices connect fine:

First boot your Mac to recovery mode:

Startup holding Command R,

When there, click on “Get Help Online” (Connect to your network first).

If it works just fine here, but not while logged into any admin account, or safe boot, or across any good network, and the above steps failed:

Backup up this folder also in the /Library:

Preferences/System Configuration/,

Then delete from inside the folder:

Preferences.plist

(You might also see a Preferences.plist(Old) as well, remove that as well if there.

Network Interfaces.plist

Com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

Restart and test again.

It’s not as tedious as it seems most of those steps just take a minute or so, so hope some of the first steps help, they’re worth a try, considering it’s kind of important to connect to the internet nowadays!

Worst comes to worst, and it works while in recovery mode, backup/erase/install if needed, hope it works out!

I’d try the net location first if you haven’t, and definitely any VPN interface.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202480

My resolution to this problem ended up being that I had to reset the DNS settings which were altered after the update for whatever reason. Once back to their usual setting internet connectivity was restored. I hope this is a solution for others too.