WIFI Issues with Macbook M3 Max

I’ve started experiencing this issue as well with an M3 Max MacBook that I purchased brand new not two months ago. I’m six feet from the router, but the MacBook fails to find an internet connection even though wifi shows itself connected to the router. My M2 work MacBook has no problems.

Resetting the router, restarting the laptop, forgetting the network, reconnecting to the network - none of it works. The MacBook might come back online only for the internet to stop working a few minutes later, or it might not come back online at all. Worse I can’t seem to connect to my phone’s personal hotspot either.

It is a problem with the computer. Either some piece of the WiFi hardware is failing two months after purchase or the OS has a serious WiFi bug in it.

First, Restart in Safe Mode and see if the problem is the same. Safe Mode keeps most third-party add-ons from loading.

'works in safe mode', 'fails in regular mode', implies" it's something you added".

next hold the Option key which you click on the WiFi icon on the menubar.

Select "Open Wireless diagnostics"

press (Continue) and it will do a quick check for GROSS problems and mis-configuration.

Don't let it create a report, the report is not human readable, and it HUGE.

I think there's definitely a wider failure with the M3 chip computers — my 15" M3 MacBook Air has trouble discovering any wifi networks and when it does connect, it only manages to maintain the connection for a brief period of time before losing awareness of all networks.

juanabrams wrote:

This has to be a wifi modem issue. I cannot even AirDrop something from my iPhone to my Mac. It first says "Waiting" and after a while it says "Declined" when if it's my Apple ID I don't even need to authorize and if I need to approve I'm not even getting a notification on the Mac to accept or decline. But I don't remember this happening in the beginning so maybe it's one of the software updates

If your local network routing is incorrect, then all sorts of misbehavior is possible.

Check the Wi-Fi router firmware and update to the latest, and restart the Wi-Fo router.

If you have both wired and wireless, then using two subnets is a common choice, or the Wi-Fi router has to present the Wi-Fi as an access point and not routed.

If you have more than one Wi-Fi router, you either must use multiple subnets, or all of your Wi-Fi routers must be reconfigured as access points, or you need to switch over to a mesh mode id that’s supported.

next, hold down the Option key while you click on the WiFi Icon in the menubar. The values you see there are you current operating parameters. Screenshot, photograph, or transcribe those values and post back to the forums for Readers to analyze. Looks like this older one:

gosh that sounds like a problem. You should post your Option Wifi snapshot for analysis.

or run wirelss diagnostics

Once the wireless daignositcs window is open, these c-hoices are available on its Utilities menu:

you could use the Monitor function, to see what is happening when its drops

or the Performance widow to see if your. performance is stable or wobbly

very often how fast you can run depends on thing is your "network neighborhood" that are not under your control.

if you neighbors change the channels they are using, sometimes that clobbers your performance.

This screenshot from WiFi Explorer, an inexpensive utility with a free trial period, can give you additional insights into what might be going on. This is an example of how crowded the Spectrum around you can get:

...

nobody in this example is getting much done today.

these newer computer use more modern modulation techniques, and their operating characteristics may change because of that. At the same time, your neighbors are doing upgrades, changing what data channels they are using, and may be clobbering you data in new and unforeseen ways.

I answer many of these queries when posted on the MacBook Pro forums. [in my opinion] there is no such uptick in problems, and almost without exception the problem is not in the newer hardware supplied with these Macs.

Please post your Option Wi-Fi snapshot values for an analysis.

I have 3 other MacBook pros one M1 and 2 intel based, plus a windows laptop. None of these have ever dropped wifi yet my new M2 drops every other day. I have videos of them all side by side. All the others stay connected while the M2 drops every 5 mins.

This has to be a wifi modem issue. I cannot even AirDrop something from my iPhone to my Mac. It first says "Waiting" and after a while it says "Declined" when if it's my Apple ID I don't even need to authorize and if I need to approve I'm not even getting a notification on the Mac to accept or decline. But I don't remember this happening in the beginning so maybe it's one of the software updates

I was having wifi issues with my new machine, but was able to resolve it by turning on Firewall.

Settings > Network > Firewall turn to "active"

Not sure why that seems to have resolved some of the issues.

I will try those things but I still think it’s a WIFI issue considering that you can airdrop without being in a wifi network and I still have issues transferring data from iPhone to my Mac and neither are connected to wifi

if you want more help with this, please post your Option Wi-Fi snapshot values for an analysis.

Readers with the same issue can start a new discussion here:

Create a new question - Apple Community

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