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BigSur wifi issue - connected but no internet. Have internet in safe boot.

Is there a real fix for this issue, or should I just reinstall my last version ?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Feb 27, 2021 10:42 PM

Reply
12 replies

Mar 2, 2021 9:50 AM in response to ramaulitu

In general:


"works in safe mode"

"not in regular mode"


means, it's something you added.


In my opinion, unless you MUST have a VPN or proxy for work purposes, they mostly get in the way and are WILDLY over-rated for protection against anything. Your local wireless link is already encrypted, and your Macs are protected from direct attack by the Network Address Translation firewall in your Router.

Feb 28, 2021 9:36 AM in response to ramaulitu

Typically, when your notebook can connect to the wireless router, but not to the Internet, there may be an issue with the DNS settings used by the notebook.


Go to System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi, and note the DNS servers listed. Are these the ones you expected? If your ISP is providing your DNS services, then they should be their's listed here.


Now give the following a try:

  1. Open the Terminal app, then enter at the command prompt: ping www.apple.com, and then press the enter key.
  2. Use <ctrl><C> to exit the ping.
  3. Was the ping successful? That is, did you get the result of 0.0% packet loss? If not, go on to the next step.
  4. Try another ping, but this time we will use one of Apple's IP addresses: ping 184.31.17.21
  5. How about this time, was the ping successful?


Please post back your results.


p.s. A few more questions if you don't mind:

  1. Do you use a VPN with this notebook? If so, is the inability to access the Internet any different whether using the VPN or not?
  2. Do you use any proxy settings? Check @ System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Proxies

Feb 28, 2021 3:29 AM in response to ramaulitu

Hi, and thank you fo this.


I tried all sorts of guides, and got to that one late in the process.

Since safe-boot connected fine,

and that macbook connected fine before the upgrade,

and every other device at home connected fine as well,

and the macbook failed to connect to other networks, say, my phone hotspot, and my wirk wifi,

I figured that most of the steps in that guide are redundant, as they refer to the router/ssid/security/distance/diagnostics etc.


So I read through it and found tha I already tried all.

The wifi diagnostics just said - "you are conbected to wifi but not internet", which gets me nowhere, actually.


Thanks again

rama




Mar 1, 2021 12:56 AM in response to Tesserax

Hey -- Thanks again <3


It is not a DNS thing; I can't event ping the router - though the wifi connects fast and easy. No ping was successful, not even 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4. 100% packet loss every time


I use a VPN, but can't set it up (for the same root cause), so checking with/without it is not yet defined.

I checked the proxy settings - all checkboxes are off.

Mar 1, 2021 9:22 AM in response to ramaulitu

The fact that you can ping the router only means that the connection between the Mac and the router appears to be ok. Since you are not able to get out of the router to the Internet indicates that your router is suspect.


Have you tried simply restarting your router to see if this resolves this issue? If so, and it did not, what is the make & model of this router? Is it only a router or a combination router/modem (aka, gateway) device?

Mar 2, 2021 9:21 AM in response to ramaulitu

Sorry, about that. You did say you couldn't ping the router. My mistake.


Just to be sure, can your MBP access the router/Internet, if connected by Ethernet?


Going back to Wi-Fi, have you tried creating a new user account? Then log out of your current account, and log back in with the new one? If you can access the router/Internet with the new account, then we narrowed down the issue to your current account.

Mar 2, 2021 11:00 AM in response to Tesserax

I was working from home, without a docking station, so could not check the (wired) ethernet connection. Bu my guess is it would have worked.


I am currently using an alternative (catalina) macbook, so cannot reproduce the issue.


Also, it is a work computer, as you pointed out, so vpn is a must.


Thanks again (and again and again)


Rama





Mar 2, 2021 11:37 AM in response to ramaulitu

Ok, it would have helped if you let us know that this was a company-provided notebook.


Since it fails to connect to any Wi-Fi network, and your company's IT folks have already tried to resolve this, the only other thing I can add is that they provide you with another one that they verified can connect to Wi-Fi networks before expecting to work from home.


We could spend more time troubleshooting the notebook, but again, since it's company-owned, the onus to do so should fall on them. Good luck!

BigSur wifi issue - connected but no internet. Have internet in safe boot.

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