Apple Intelligence is now available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac!

📢 Newsroom Update

Apple’s new MacBook Pro features the incredibly powerful M4 family of chips and ushers in a new era with Apple Intelligence. Learn more >

📢 Newsroom Update

Apple introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max. Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

MacBook Dropping Wifi

Hi there,


I have started having issues with connecting to Wifi using my MacBook Pro 2020.


The Wifi connects for short periods of time and is seemingly fine, until it isn’t. The connection drops and the Wifi icon shows that it is trying to connect to a network. It eventually gets the connection back, which doesn’t last long. This started happening a few weeks ago and goes through phases of being tolerable, but happens at least twice a day.


For the sake of preempting the standard troubleshooting suggestions:


• Nothing has changed with my router, location, orientation or nearby devices. I have tried different locations and moving closer the the router, but the problem persists.

• All other devices in my household are able to connect, and the problem persists even when these device are not connected. This includes an iPad, iPhone and non-Apple devices.

• I have tried all the relevant suggestions found on other threads in this community forum as well as others — nothing works.

• I have taken my device to the local Apple Support desk, where they checked the hardware and software relating to the Wifi and said that nothing is wrong.

• I have made use of NetSpot (as suggested by one of the forums) and attach a screenshot of the connection monitor, which shows the dropping but this does not happen for any other devices.


Please can someone assist me with this.


Thank you.

Posted on Jul 18, 2022 4:18 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 18, 2022 8:43 AM

Power cycle your router and wait at least five minutes for the router to finish booting.


Here is an Apple article for troubleshooting WiFi issues:

If your Mac isn't connecting to the internet over Wi-Fi - Apple Support


Your router may support multiple types of WiFi connections over different frequencies and protocols. There is no guarantee your laptop is connecting using the same type of connection as your other devices. You can see the connection information as well as the signal strength (RSSI) and noise levels of your WiFi connection by Option-clicking on the WiFi icon on the menubar. Signal strength should be somewhere between -35db and -60db (-60db is getting to be a weak signal) while the noise is usually around -90db.


Try booting into Safe Mode to see if things improve since Safe Mode prevents third party software from launching automatically during boot and login. Try creating another macOS user account and testing the WiFi from the other user account -- if this works, then the problem is localized to something with your main user account.


You can try running the Apple Diagnostics, but I doubt it will show any issues with WiFi.


Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 18, 2022 8:43 AM in response to B_rath

Power cycle your router and wait at least five minutes for the router to finish booting.


Here is an Apple article for troubleshooting WiFi issues:

If your Mac isn't connecting to the internet over Wi-Fi - Apple Support


Your router may support multiple types of WiFi connections over different frequencies and protocols. There is no guarantee your laptop is connecting using the same type of connection as your other devices. You can see the connection information as well as the signal strength (RSSI) and noise levels of your WiFi connection by Option-clicking on the WiFi icon on the menubar. Signal strength should be somewhere between -35db and -60db (-60db is getting to be a weak signal) while the noise is usually around -90db.


Try booting into Safe Mode to see if things improve since Safe Mode prevents third party software from launching automatically during boot and login. Try creating another macOS user account and testing the WiFi from the other user account -- if this works, then the problem is localized to something with your main user account.


You can try running the Apple Diagnostics, but I doubt it will show any issues with WiFi.


MacBook Dropping Wifi

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.