Ventura 13.2.1 - wifi dropping on MBP and Mini

I've got a 2018 MBP and a late 2018 Mac Mini both fully updated to 13.2.1 and both recently intermittently dropping wifi. To the extent that they won't see any wifi networks at all.


The old trick of turning the wifi off and back on works temporarily. I have to go as far as

forgetting the wifi network altogether and rejoining to gain a stable connection.


Other wifi clients in the house are unaffected, even multiple iOS devices.


The router in use is fully up to date on firmware and OS. I've checked router logs and there's no LAN IP conflicts.


The issue seems to be isolated to the two MacOS devices and only since 13.2.1.


I have tried to perform wifi diagnostics on the MBP but as the wifi is constantly dropping there's nothing conclusive but I had the report files saved.


Coupled to this I've also performed some of the common wifi network troubleshooting steps.


  • forgotten network and reconnected
  • deleted wifi interface from settings and rebuilt
  • deleted .plist files from SystemConfig folder
  • reset the NVRAM
  • Created a second wifi network in the router to only have the MBP and Mac Mini use that
  • Turned off Airplay
  • Not turned off Bluetooth as some sites suggest as that's not possible due to input peripherals being bluetooth
  • Ruled out WLAN issues due to all other wifi clients on the WLAN being unaffected, including iOS devices

Mac mini, macOS 12.4

Posted on Mar 6, 2023 1:45 AM

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41 replies

Aug 25, 2023 10:17 AM in response to christof21

Deleting the cisco socket filter didn't resolve my issue. I'm on Ventura 13.2 and have had these issues since prior MacOS versions and even after system restores or trying many other suggested fixes including turning on/off the Cisco VPN, deleting it, reinstalling it, turning on/off the IP/privacy settings, etc.. This current issue does seem to have to do with how MacOS handles particular wifi network setups, but I'm at a cafe where none of my other coworkers on dell or non M1 macbooks are having any issues.


There's intermittent connectivity issues, especially with public wifi, but also with my work wifi at times. I hadn't realized it at work as it chooses between 2 wifi networks there, but looking back on it, this has caused interruptions in my connectivity.


I cannot change the router settings at both places. Suggesting that as a solution as in prior threads is not an actual solution. This has been an intermittent issue for a long time without any real solution so far. This is an issue with the laptop itself.


My issue is a little different than the original post; I can see wifi networks, but connecting to them persists with an error saying that there is no wifi connectivity. However, it persists in the same manner across multiple solutions. Sometimes I can connect for hours at a time, other times I can't connect at all.

Sep 18, 2023 5:32 AM in response to christof21

Hi christof21,

i'm wondering if you are still having the same issue?

this has been my problem since i updated to Ventura and like yours, it seems to be mostly related to bluetooth - like you said, turning bluetooth off gives more consistency, but the disconnect/reconnect of wifi continues. i've tried everything i can think of and have now given up all my peripherals just so i can use my Macbook Air.

if anyone has found a real fix for this i'd love to know - hours spent with Apple support have produced no results.

Sep 18, 2023 5:46 AM in response to christof21

For the OP: If it's your home router and wifi access point then two other things I'd try.


  1. see what wireless channels the wireless selects automatically and then, assuming you can, set it to fixed channels (2.4 and 5GHz) which are different from and a long way from (numerically) the channels it chooses automatically. You might be seeing interference and this might help.


2.Give the problem devices static IPs and make sure they are bound to their mac addresses in the router. You can use the IPs that are assigned by DCHP, but once you've changed from DCHP to static you'll should update the bind list just to make sure there are no clashes in future. You'll have to power cycle the router and the Macs once you've done it.





Sep 26, 2023 2:02 PM in response to christof21

Download and run Etrecheck. Be sure to give it Full Disk access before running.



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.


Copy the report


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



Then we can evaluate the report to see if we can determine the cause of the problem.


Ventura 13.2.1 - wifi dropping on MBP and Mini

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