Internet issues on Monterey

There seems to be an issue between macOS Monterey and some other 3rd Party applications, in our case Cisco's 'AnyConnect Client'. macOS opens UDP sockets to serve its mDNS process as a normal operation behaviour, and for some reason, Cisco AnyConnect presence prevents the macOS to close down those unused sockets. Give it enough time, eventually, macOS runs out of sockets and cannot open a new one for a simple operation like a DNS query. That's why you see a DNS request fails, and that's why a reboot fixes the issue. We are talking with our vendor (Cisco) and they have an open conversation with Apple's team. I hope they can figure it out soon.

You're right. That was a typo. I meant to enter 12.1. I saw 12.0 in your first post and didn't realize you have updated from it to 12.1.

You might try the OpenDNS servers:

Also boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

Appears to be an issue with Monterey from my tests. I rolled back to Catalina on my early 2015 MacBook Pro, and I'm getting the usual fast speeds again https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253335091?answerId=256242908022#256242908022

That's great news to hear. However, I don't think I'm going to update if 12.1 doesn't naturally fix the issue. I don't see why we'd need to adjust Network settings if they were never changed in the first place.

Waiting to hear back from users in this other thread about their tests. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253335091?answerId=256501234022#256501234022

Happy your speeds are looking better!

Similar issues here, as well.

I opened another thread here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253371433

But this one seems to be the most prevalent on the issue at hand for many of us... My Situation:

Upgrade to Monterey OSX brought about frequent loss of broadband connection

Since upgrading to Monterey OSX, my Mac Mini has been losing broadband connection several times a day. Prior to the upgrade both wireless and broadband connection were rock solid. It does not lose wireless connection to the router, just the broadband feed regardless of whether I am on wired/ethernet or on WiFi.

Since upgrading the connection is dropped at least 5X or 6X per day. Reboot solves it for a while but eventually it drops broadband again forcing yet another reboot. It's getting tedious.

Running Currently: Monterey OSX version 12.1 on a Mac Mini (M1, 2020), 16GB Ram.

I had hopes the V12.1 upgrade might help, but alas it is no better.

I have had success keeping connected when I don't open Apple Mail and/or Readdle Spark. MS Outlook does not seem to engender the issue. Once I boot up either Mail or Spark applications - I have what appears to be a DNS issues and lose broadband in any open browser (Chrome, Safari, etc).

My machine is for work and we use Cisco AnyConnect sometimes to access certain portals (maybe once every couple of weeks). When I go into 'Network' panel in System Preferences I notice there are three Cisco AnyConnect Socket Filters open and connected. there is also a 'MS Defender ATP Content Filter' connected and running. Of course the WiFi connection is there too. We use typical array of MS Office apps and comms tools like WhatsApp, Signal, et al but nothing exotic and we rarely VPN in (just as mentioned above).

I have tried all the DNS flush advice and different suggested configs within this thread, but to no avail. Kind of disheartening as I was leaving my rig on for weeks at a time with the previous OSX.

Appreciate any help on this!

Best,

Mike

That's good to hear. FWIW there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.  

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  

Also, unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer, school or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint.  Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites. 

Wow, this is a long thread. Sorry to hear that.

I have a few new suggestions, however I think first, (And forgive me if this has been said already), best test is to see is the internet drops while in recovery mode. This may help to determine the culprit as you are not booted from your normal startup disk, this may help to see if it’s a hardware, software, or network conflict. Please test Safari while in recovery mode:

Use macOS Recovery on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

Thanks!

Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points

I have a MacbookPro 16" 2-19 Intel Core i9 with Monterey 12.1 I have the same issue where DNS stops responding after 24 - 48 hours. Either a reboot or executing the following 2 commands fixes this. The commands are:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; 

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

This command netstat -anxv -p udp | wc -l shows the following counts:

• Under Monterey 12.1 total count is forever increasing. It is well above 103K
• Under BigSur macOS 11.6.2, the total count does not exceed 100

Clearly, Monterey has issues. Apple needs to address this ASAP.

Thanks,

AT

I had the exact same problem after installing the MacOs Monterey update. After trying all recommended solutions, the following fix was the only one that resolved all WiFi-problems I had:

• To get rid of problems, navigate to System Preference> Network> Wi-Fi.
• Hit Advanced> DNS.
• In the DNS Servers section, one or more IP address will be featured.
• (Take a picture of or write down the existing DSN Servers, as they might disappear in the next step).
• Now, tap on the Plus-Sign (+) Button and write 208.67.222.220.
• You have to perform the same procedure using 208.67.222.222.
• (You have to perform the same procedure using the DNS Servers you wrote down if they disappeared).
• Hit OK> Apply
• (Restart your Mac)

I hope this works for you as well!

On Mac 1 download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Hi, in addition to previous comments.....

I have found with my 2015 MBP if I am very close to the router wifi goes doo-lally.

After this episode either in Big Sur or Monterey, sleep or reboot required to return connection.

I have changed the hardware, no change to result.

Windows Bootcamp has NO problems with this!!! Nor any Linux I've booted from.

I've looked at the drivers in Big Sur and Monterey, they are so similar.

See pics I hope.

The only real difference I see is in the line for 'Firmware'.....???

Example of the connection dropping out and (briefly) reconnecting. Dropouts are about 90 seconds(on avg) in length. While this is connected to Second Life, I see this with other apps (like browsing) as well.

Do any of you all have Cisco Anyconnect VPN on your machine? If so remove it. That solved the issues I was seeing with my customers. It's not a fix, especially if you need to use Cisco VPN, it's more of a bandaid. Just having the program on your machine will add Socket Filters to your network settings. One of them says it controls the DNS proxy config (see image). You can delete that socket filter and the network will work again once you restart the programs using the internet or better yet restart the computer. Once you connect to the VPN again that socket filter will be added back so you will need to remember to delete it again. Again not a fix but a solution for not deleting Cisco Anyconnect but still being about to use the internet. I would assuming this is a DNS issue. The customers I have worked with are connected to the internet but cannot connect to sites or resources. That is typical of a DNS issue. Anyway hope that helps some of you.