After the update Catalina 10.15.7 have problems with the Internet connection

Spent 2 days chatting with "Apple Support". Forget it, they'll never fix it. They don't care.

A summary of the "support":

• Them: does it occur in recovery mode?
• Me: yes.
• Them: then it's a hardware issue.
• Me: no, because the same macOS Catalina base system is being used in recovery mode.
• Them: uh... It's still certainly a hardware issue.
• Me: no, computer wifi was working fine until migrated to a fresh install of macOS Catalina. All my other home devices connect fine.
• Them: well, your computer is obsolete (Macbook Pro mid-2012). We don't support it. I can arrange an Apple Repair if you want because I believe it's a hardware issue.
• Me: it's definitely not a hardware issue. Tons of people are having this issue. My Macbook Pro wifi was working fine until I migrated to a fresh install of macOS Catalina. I think Apple needs to look into it.
• Them: Disconnected...

They've offered to help me migrated back to High Sierra. I said I could do it myself.

Disheartening...

You are bound to be disappointed. Sticking your head in the sand and deciding it is the update and not troubleshooting is your right, of course.

You surely have other third party software there, possibly some that are actually causing the problem.

Etrecheck does not modify anything. It just produces a report that has helped solve hundreds of issues-just browse this forum. It is used dozens of times each day, so others like me can have any information on which to advise those, like you, who come here for help. Ir not

You seem to have installed some variant of "cleanmymac" - this is known to corrupt every system it is installed on - very BAD.

Also:

Kernel Extensions:
  /Applications/Turbo Boost Switcher.app
    DisableTurboBoost.32bits.kext (0.0.1 - SDK 10.7)

  /Applications/duet.app
    DuetDisplay.kext (2.1.4 - SDK 10.9)

The first of these two is OLD - it is built with the 10.7 (Lion) SDK - and judging by its name, 32bits, which probably means it does not work. Why would one want to disable Turbo Boost, or install something that interferes with how the OS manages the CPU is, sorry, beyond me. I totally advise uninstalling that.

The second one is also somewhat old, and probably not compatible. In addition, I suppose it works over Wifi, which may indicate it could have something to do with the problem.

You'll have to follow their instructions for uninstalling.

But be prepared for eventually having to do a clean install.

It is not just that cmm modifies system behavior while it's installed, it often corrupts files, so uninstalling is not guaranteed to revert your mac to good health.

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 had the same problem. I noticed it immediately after the update, but never thought that the error was on my Macbook.

Instead I tinkered with firmware on router multiple times in the last 2-3 weeks trying to get the connection to work. I also tried SMC, PRAM resets to no avail.

On seeing this thread, I uninstalled my firewall (Avast) and for the past 24 hours, I have not noticed the issue.

This is not a desirable situation, because an Antivirus / Firewall solution should not result in network drops. Looking at the other posts in this thread Norton and CleanMyMac have also resulted in the same regression.

I request you to solve this bug, because these security solutions are a work requirement. An update should not cause conflicts with Security software.

Hi Luis,

I am grateful that you monitor this forum and are quick in replying to people's posts.

But please answer me, Are 3rd party solutions (be they security programs or productivity or entertainment) not welcome on MacOS?

Tomorrow, if VPN software (which is for security) causes network drops after an update, will forum moderators call them the problem too?

Should users not report bugs in the future and assume that only Apple SW works on Apple HW?

Third party software is of course welcome in macOS.

I use a lot of third party applications too, and I’d be pretty upset if that were taken away!

But the problem is that many these so called “antivirus” and other “security” applications are either completely useless or downright harmful.

An “antivirus” is not just unnecessary, it degrades performance, conflicts with the very serious built-in security features of the OS, and gives unsuspecting users a false sense of security. There exist exactly zero viruses capable of infecting a mac. That is not to say there is no malware: there is! But it is the sort of malware that requires active user participation to get installed. By using phishing and other engineering techniques it fools the user to allow the installation of harmful software. An antivirus provides no protection against that.

Other common sources of malware is aggregation sites that offer all sorts of “free” downloads, and torrents. Again, having an antivirus does not protect the user from his own misguided dodgy website visits and downloads from untrusted sources. Common sense, on the other hand, does.

VPN software is perfectly legitimate, of course, but it needs to be properly implemented and - quite importantly- it needs to be kept up to date. The same goes for any software, of course.

And last but not least are programs that falsely claim to clean, optimize or speed up your mac. Cleanmymac is notorious for corrupting mac systems left and right. (Then of course people blame Apple)

But of course there are many other scams out there.

Luis,

Let me not dissuade you from the service you provide to the community.

I am not completely convinced of your argument though.

I have had horrible experiences running Windows 10 on Bootcamp. The Intel drivers are not updated and there are so many niggles, that I finally had to pay for a new Windows machine on the side.

The purpose of telling you this is that I do not expect Apple to solve every problem that will arise in Macs. It will simply not be profitable.

For the same reason, we need independent providers in Security. If employers and businesses feel safer with an additional layer of protection, then it is a valid reason for Apple to keep such solutions in mind, when rolling out updates.

CleanMyMac may have a bad rep, but Norton and Avast have been proven Security providers which have the trust of several of my clients. Also, there have been instances, where malware has been found on iOS which is far more restrictive than OSX.

I rest my case. I sincerely appreciate your help and only wish to see a better 3rd party involvement in the matters of security too. As I wish that our Mac user community grows far more, I believe there will be more threats to IT security that comes along with it.

UPDATE - I'm now able to connect to wifi consistently. The only difference is that I'm at home on my home network. I have no idea why it's stable now and wasn't before, but I'm happy to be able to work again.