MacBook Pro drops WiFi connection exactly every 20 minutes for a few seconds on WPA3

Question

Level 1

13 points

MacBook Pro drops WiFi connection exactly every 20 minutes for a few seconds on WPA3

referring to an earlier conversation, the issue seems still unresolved. I have my MacBook Pro on Big Sur 11.2.3 but still the Wifi connection drops in a cadence of every 20 mins when running on WPA3. This is a very annoying bug since Zoom and Teams calls are heavily affected and sometimes even drop. My Wifi is a mesh of a Fritz!Box 7590 and a couple of Fritz!Repeaters 2400, all on latest SW (7.25).

I have a ticket open with AVM since early this year, have sent in several times my symptom data, but AVM has not been able to resolve the issue.

Worth of note, iOS clients (iPhone, iPad) and smart TVs are working fine...all workarounds posted earlier like SMC reset, NVRAM reset, re-installation did not help at all. Only viable workaround is WPA2 instead of WPA3.

Has anyone any idea?

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 6:58 AM

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Answer 1

JovonaP.

Community Specialist

Mar 18, 2021 7:34 AM in response to guidob42

Hello guidob42,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It's our understanding that Wi-Fi connection on your MacBook Pro disconnects every 20 minutes. You've done a great job trying to get this resolved so far! We're happy to help.

If you haven't already, take a look at the following resource for recommended Wi-Fi settings:

Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points

If the issue persists, the remaining steps in the following resource may help:

If your Mac doesn't connect to the Internet over Wi-Fi

If the behavior continues, tell us if this occurs with other Wi-Fi networks. Please include specific error messages and any other troubleshooting steps that you may have tried.

Have a great day!

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Answer 2

guidob42 Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 18, 2021 10:56 AM in response to JovonaP.

Hello JovonaP,

thanks a lot for your reply! I have revisited the support resources you provided to me as above.

Here’s the result: I am using already a single and visible SSid across both .N and .AC networks which is consistent across the WiFi network due to the mesh functionality – verified with InSSider.

I am using auto-channel and everything else as auto in my router (AVM Fritz!Box 7590) and the meshed repeaters. No MAC filter, DHCP switched on. MacBook Pro and WiFi network components are on the latest SW and FW.

Using WPA2/WP3 transitional mode remains causing the issue, while a pure WPA2 mode has no trouble at all. I tried specific channels instead of auto wo/ success. I can verify the issue with a terminal session running pings in parallel to a Zoom/Teams call and can see 4 pings getting lost every 20 mins. Happy to provide more data on this topic.

cheers

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