Wifi connection issue on MacBook Air M1

You seem to understand a little about network connections, which makes this easier. My first suspicion would be a DNS lookup failure when you attempt to access websites. This is easy to test using the Terminal app and ping command you have already used. Picking an easy example try

ping 17.253.144.10

// should get a response from apple's server

// now try

ping apple.com

// should get a similar response

Try looking up one of the websites you have failed to contact with Safari, for example,

nslookup apple.com

This should return a result including the IP address of the site

Now try nslookup for one of the websites you are having problems with, and try to ping either by name or IP address.

Also try the problem website from Safari, using the numeric IP address instead of the site name.

Hopefully this will give you a few more clues.

I fixed this issue for a friend who had a MacBook Air M1 which would connect to the Router but not to the internet. She had a 2 hour call with Apple Support who said it was duff and she returned it. A new one arrived and it had the same problem. She had Norton Installed so I removed the "Norton Internet" protocol from the left hand pane of the Network preferences and the internet kicked in and started working normally - 10 Minutes and all fixed. Of course if you don't have Norton installed this won't apply. I did also create a new location in Network preferences and set IPv6 to local link only because the router was a bit old.

Have you downloaded the latest update to Big Sur? it contains a new WiFi driver which seems to be working for a lot of people. Also in network Preferences create a new location and switch IPv6 in Network Preferences to "Local Link Only" then connect to the 2.4Ghz WiFi of your router. If that works try connecting to the 5Ghz and see what happens.

So I’ve discovered on mine that my Mac wasnt getting the DNS Server numbers automatically, so I got them from my phones WiFi info and punched them in and now it seems to be working!!!! I just deleted whatever numbers were in the DNS column and the hit the + and added them individually, there should be 4 rows

This just worked for me! New Apple Macbook Air M1, Google Nest Router. I have Kaspersky installed because it is a work computer. I switched that off in Network preferences, and voila! It works!!! I think you are onto something here.

The laptop is brand new out of the box, and as soon as I loaded my backup I hit the problem. When I was using the computer before I ran migration assistant, I had no problem connecting to the Wifi. So it must have been Kaspersky being switched off that fixed it.

Hi, I can confirm that issue is something with antivirus. I got a new M1 one week ago, installed antivirus app (Avast) and since then it kept me disconnecting from wifi (also randomly). Therefore I uninstall Avast and everything works fine.

I'm having exactly the same problem! My son and I are using the New M1 MacBook purchased just this month. One is a 14" and the other 16". When connected to Google Wifi, it either has no connection or runs Very Very slow browsing the internet momentarily and disconnect on its own! Yes, I have rebooted the main, Google Wifi routers and Macs, and does exactly the same thing! I even Uninstalled recently installed apps but to no improvement. Also to note, all my other devices other than the M1 macs are working just fine on my 1GHz bandwidth line. And very fast!

To check whether the problem was isolated to the M1 Macs or Google wifi, I installed a temporary 2.4/5Ghz wifi router. To my surprise the problem is resolved. Now both M1 Macs connection is stable and downloading at optimal speed. So it's a compatibility problem with the Google wifi! Hope Apple can resolve this issue with their next update!

Another note, don't mistaken the Google Wifi (pucks) with the Nest wifi!

Just an update in order to help other colleagues to accelerate a workaround on this issue.

I've disabled IPv6 and its behavior/performance is more reliable: Less packet loss and better BW.

My issue is completely resolved. Unfortunately, I had to completely erase the Apple SSD in disk utilities. Then, after the erasure, renamed the 'untitled' image to 'Macintosh HD' and reinstalled macOS. All of my data was stored in OneDrive, so I just resynced and reinstalled any applications needed. My M1 MacBook Pro is now working perfectly.

I renewed the dhcp license and it’s been fine

I had a similar issue and my norton antivirus was the culprit. it has a setting that scans internet traffic or something like that and ends up blocking the connection. hope this is helpful. sorry I don't have the link to the solution handy but if you google norton related keywords on this topic you will find it.

I use a BT Smart Hub and having migrated data from my old (mid 2012) MacBook Air to my new M1 MacBook Air (with both on the same network) could not connect to the internet following migration, even though I was connected to the Hub. BT could not help but advised that it is on their system that many new M1 users report the same problem. They did however suggest that bringing across my entire data may have resulted in some security conflicts.

I had no idea if this was the case and was ready if necessary to return my Mac to the reseller, so I went ahead and wiped the hard drive in preparation and then thought I would try to set the new Mac up manually - no problems whatsoever. I had always planned to set the new Mac up manually but when I was offered migration when I started the activation process I thought why not! Well the answer is most likely what BT suggested and I would hope that Apple will look in to this and if this is the problem put a warning on not to migrate from and older Mac and let's face it most new purchases will involve migration from an older Mac.

Anyway my advice, not as an expert but from experience is just go for a new set up. It is actually quicker

It worked for me to create a new location in network settings

Turns out it was my Internet provide having issues with the Internet. However it is kind of weird when there is no Internet, the MBA keeps on connecting and disconnecting to my WIFI router as if it was trying to go to the internet. Why can't is shows a stable Wifi connection but just display no Internet.