Issues with Wi-Fi on MacBook Air 2017 running Big Sur

Question

Issues with Wi-Fi on MacBook Air 2017 running Big Sur

From the latest update (probably) of macOS Big Sur I am having issues with Wi-Fi on my MacBook Air. The internet runs fine, but in some situations it's acting weird.

When I close the lid and leave the MacBook for couple of minutes in sleep, the Wi-Fi after wake up isn't working. Sometimes I have to turn on and off the Wi-Fi in bar to make it work. Sometimes I have to switch from Wi-Fi to mobile hotspot of my iPhone and then back to have it working. Sometimes I have to restart the MacBook, because none of these previous solutions are working. And this repeats after each sleep mode I put my MacBook into.

What I've tried so far:

Reset NVRAM/PRAM and SMC
Reinstall macOS via cmd+R option
Solutions from the internet (e. g. deleting files in the system to force macOS to make new ones)

None of these steps didn't solve the issue with the internet. All networks I joined were working properly with other devices.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Oct 14, 2021 11:01 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Oct 19, 2021 11:50 AM in response to rady_the_great

Hello again!

So I think I fixed it. The issues with Wi-Fi were on the side of the provider (not with Mac), it is now being processed. And with the hotspot (which didn't work either, when I connected it) I simply reseted network settings on my iPhone and now it works just fine.

Thanks for the initial help

Best regards!

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Answer 2

Sharon_419

Community Specialist

Oct 18, 2021 11:35 AM in response to rady_the_great

Hello rady_the_great,

Thanks for the follow-up info. Did the Wireless Diagnostics determine there was any issues or interference detected? If you can attach a photo of the testing results, we can look into what can be done going forward.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

Oct 19, 2021 6:32 AM in response to Sharon_419

Hello!

Yes, the diagnostics showed 3 issues.

First of all, I am not native English (Czech Republic btw), so I will add translation for the following photo.

In English:

Summary

read the recommendations for Wi-fi operation
interrupted Wi-fi connection
busy Wi-fi signal

To describe more this problem. Its a Wi-Fi used by higher amount of users (due this it works sometimes slowly). One of my friends, who also uses this Wi-Fi (also Apple user) never had this problem. He never had to restart the Wi-Fi function (on Mac) or reconnect to the Wi-Fi.

See you soon!

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Answer 4

Oct 18, 2021 2:38 AM in response to SnickZ.

Hello!

Thanks for the reply. So I did the Wireless Diagnostics as you asked. But I don't know, what am I meant to share with you, because the program created 300 MB file, which I cannot share (due Apple policies I guess, because I have already replied to you, but the post was deleted because of the link it contained, which led to the 300 MB file)

I have no problem sharing the specific file or photo!

Looking forward hearing from you!

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Answer 5

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Oct 21, 2021 10:16 AM in response to rady_the_great

Hello again rady_the_great,

You're welcome! Please feel free to reach back out if you have any questions, or run into any further trouble. We're happy to help.

Take care and be safe.

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Answer 6

SnickZ.

Community Specialist

Oct 15, 2021 11:56 AM in response to rady_the_great

Hi there rady_the_great,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're happy to help with this issue you're having with the Wi-Fi on your MacBook Air. A Wireless Diagnostics would be a great step to analyze the connection, and advise of potential sources of trouble. Get started with the guidance here:

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

Let us know the outcome, and we can go from there if needed.

Best regards!

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Issues with Wi-Fi on MacBook Air 2017 running Big Sur

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