Wi-Fi AP order not accepting change - "Drag networks into the order you prefer" not working across both my Macs

My MBP16 and iMac 27 running 12.3 are both connecting to one Wi-Fi network, when I need it to connect to a different one. So,

1) I open System Preferences

2) click on Network

3) select the Advanced button in the lower-right corner

4) select the Wi-Fi tab at the top

5) grab and drag one access point/SSID to a different spot on the list

6) click OK

7) click Apply

8) then click the Advanced button once again just to check that the order has changed -- AND IT HAS NOT! The network order cannot be changed by dragging the networks into the order I prefer.


A reboot does not affect this. (How could it? The list isn't even changed before a reboot.)

It happens on both my Macs.

It happened prior to 12.3 as well.

Changing both Macs at the same time doesn't work either.


One partial workaround is to remove a network and then to re-add it. That one network is then moved to the top of the list, but I can't do that with all my networks. I see some of them only once a week. It would take me months to get them in the order I prefer.


I think this is clearly a bug as it is a simple operation and it is happening across two different Macs.


Even if this were to work, the list shows only 5 networks at a time, and trying to drag one more than four spots results in the list quickly scrolling to the end. That is broken as well, though with enough time, you can work around that.


Posted on Mar 20, 2022 3:48 AM

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Posted on Mar 31, 2022 6:43 PM

12.3.1 has fixed this problem on my iMac.


It is still near impossible to move one SSID down more than a few spots without zooming all the way to the end of the list, but at least the important problem appears fixed.

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13 replies

Apr 7, 2022 1:07 AM in response to scriven5025

Ditto for me. I thought it was working. The order does change now when I move the SSIDs around, but it seems the changes don't persist. Before they wouldn't change at all. I even tried simultaneously changing the order on both of my Macs this morning, but now it seems the order has reverted back to what it was before the attempted change.


So, this is definitely still broken, though now it seems like it might be a keychain problem. I'm really not sure.

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Wi-Fi AP order not accepting change - "Drag networks into the order you prefer" not working across both my Macs

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