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Support team disinterested in wifi diagnostic reports

I’m puzzled. In the five or so months since trading in my 2015 MacBook Pro for MacBook Air with the M1, almost from day one I’ve been dealing with intermittent, yet persistent, Wi-Fi issues. All of my other devices show strong signals, as does my partners identical MacBook Air, but my MacBook Air can’t make a Wi-Fi connection for a few minutes or 30+.


I now have 11 0.5MB+ Wi-Fi diagnostic reports generated while the Wi-Fi was on the fritz (note that when the Wi-Fi restores while the diagnostic tool is running, the tool tells me the wifi is working and doesn’t generate a report). Yet every service tech I’ve spoken with has dismissed the reports, opting instead to hang out with me to wait for the wifi to cutout. Totally futile.


I had a Genius Bar appt this morning and, same thing: the tech, super nice guy, dismissed the reports I’d generated while the wifi wasn’t working, saying his diagnostic tool was better. But the wifi was working so, unsurprisingly, no problem found. My homework assignment was to go home, erase the machine and not restore the backup.


Fingers crossed this work, but if Apple’s online troubleshooting advice is to run the diagnostic, and the diagnostic tool tells you to call technical support, why are the diagnostic reports so universally dismissed?

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Apr 9, 2022 5:33 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 9, 2022 8:04 PM

Most Apple support personnel do not understand more than the very basic Mac functionality. Even a lot of techs may not really understand more than the basics and may not understand the information contained in the reports. I know I created one of those reports once, but gave up looking at it as it was difficult to read. In fact I'm not sure it is even in a readable form by default.


Try creating a new network location or even a new macOS user account and test the WiFi from the new user account. If you are running any anti-virus software, cleaning apps, or third party security software, then those apps may be interfering with the normal operation of macOS.


I haven't repaired an M1 MBAir yet, but most recent Apple USB-C laptops have the WiFi integrated into the Logic Board, so unless you have a poor antenna connection, it means your Logic Board needs most likely needs to be replaced assuming you don't have a software issue that is causing the problem. You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if things improve and you can try reinstalling macOS over top of itself, but a clean install of macOS is best to determine if it is a hardware issue. If you don't want to deal with restoring your data, then install macOS to an external drive and boot from the external drive to test the laptop. Just make sure to test a clean install before installing any third party apps and before migrating/restoring from a backup.


You should also reboot your laptop if you have not already done so. Also power cycle your router. Don't overlook the simple things when troubleshooting.


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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 9, 2022 8:04 PM in response to TPnSF

Most Apple support personnel do not understand more than the very basic Mac functionality. Even a lot of techs may not really understand more than the basics and may not understand the information contained in the reports. I know I created one of those reports once, but gave up looking at it as it was difficult to read. In fact I'm not sure it is even in a readable form by default.


Try creating a new network location or even a new macOS user account and test the WiFi from the new user account. If you are running any anti-virus software, cleaning apps, or third party security software, then those apps may be interfering with the normal operation of macOS.


I haven't repaired an M1 MBAir yet, but most recent Apple USB-C laptops have the WiFi integrated into the Logic Board, so unless you have a poor antenna connection, it means your Logic Board needs most likely needs to be replaced assuming you don't have a software issue that is causing the problem. You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if things improve and you can try reinstalling macOS over top of itself, but a clean install of macOS is best to determine if it is a hardware issue. If you don't want to deal with restoring your data, then install macOS to an external drive and boot from the external drive to test the laptop. Just make sure to test a clean install before installing any third party apps and before migrating/restoring from a backup.


You should also reboot your laptop if you have not already done so. Also power cycle your router. Don't overlook the simple things when troubleshooting.


Apr 30, 2022 8:58 AM in response to HWTech

HWTech, it's been several weeks now and no problem with wifi since reinstalling the OS.


Question: prior to reinstalling the OS I would received text messages from non-Apple devices (Android users, security codes from my bank, etc.). Since reinstalling however, I only get texts (on my Mac) from Apple devices. My phone continues to receive all. I have looked everywhere for what setting this might be, but have unsuccessful. Any ideas?

Apr 30, 2022 10:01 AM in response to TPnSF

TPnSF wrote:

Question: prior to reinstalling the OS I would received text messages from non-Apple devices (Android users, security codes from my bank, etc.). Since reinstalling however, I only get texts (on my Mac) from Apple devices. My phone continues to receive all. I have looked everywhere for what setting this might be, but have unsuccessful. Any ideas?

On your iPhone, go to Settings --> Messages. There is an option for "Text Message Forwarding" which will allow your other Apple devices to receive standard text messages from non-Apple devices/users.


Support team disinterested in wifi diagnostic reports

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