WiFi Issues With MacBook Air

@freezig I'm afraid your post is entirely unhelpful.

The problem people are largely having is in connecting to networks that they do not own or manage, so how are you expecting them to set the WEP password, reset the router or do anything other than attempt forlornly to connect to the same network that the people sitting right next to them (not on a MBA) are using without a problem?

If it was a network issue then NOBODY would be able to connect. It is a MBA software/driver issue.

Today totally no success 😟

I've tried all the resetting and restarting orders I can think of and I'm still sitting here with 100% signal strength connection to the wireless network (router in same room) but 'No Internet Connection' and w!f! icon.

More on this....

Earlier this week I picked up an old news item (2+ years ago) about Apple identifying compatibility issues between the 2008 MBA and older Airport base stations. At the time Apple recommended changing older base stations to use the 5GHz channels or to upgrade the base station to a newer model, but then the knowledge base article was pulled.

(Just to recap my earlier post on this page....I have an Airport Extreme (c2008) running 802.11g/n which is the wireless access point for my mid-2008 MBP, iPhone 4, and iPad, all of which have been running perfectly well straight from the box. All software is up to date).

In desperation I used the airport utility to change the Wireless>Radio Mode setting from "802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)" to "802.11n Only (5Ghz)". Since then I've had absolutely no connection problems with my MBA (though of course my iPhone 4 can't see the network). I've powered up, powered down, slept, restarted, and even tried getting the MBP, MBA and iPad to stream content simultaneously - in every case the MBA is absolutely solid. So...no problems at home now, but not the end of the story by any means.

I took my MBA out on the road for the first time this week and had some predicatbly frustrating experiences at the two client sites I visited. At both sites, only a few seconds after boot, the MBA found 12-15 suitable Wi-Fi hotspots from the local area. All had great signal strength, but as luck would have it the ones I needed to connect to both failed.

Separate companies, separate networks, separate ISPs...yet despite having used those networks with my MBP on an almost weekly basis last year, when I tried my MBA I got the same irritating 'can't connect' / 'timeout' / 'incorrect password' errors that other people in the forum have experienced. When I tried a connection at Starbucks on the journey home it worked fine. (And of course, my iPhone 4 worked fine with all three connections).

At all three sites I option-clicked the wi-fi icon on the MBA to check the detailed network info (physical type, encryption type, RSSI value etc) : no surprise that the two networks which I couldn't connect to were 802.11a/g spec, and the Starbucks was 802.11/n. (Incidentally, when I got home my personal network still worked fine).

It's the MBA, no doubt about it.

Excellent research StevieInDerby, that really narrows the net around the MBA's problem.

Now how do we get Apple to take note of this? Is it worth going to an Apple Store to enquire? (Clearly they'll just show me how beautifully my MBA connects to their store's wifi - grrr)

To add to your list - I have been experiencing a different symptom.

I have a Time Capsule, my 13" MBA, and two MBPs (my wife's and daughter's). We all connect at 5 GHz (avoiding the rf clutter in our area). All software on all computers (and TC) are the latest.

Upon waking my MBA I have had several sporadic instances where the Time Capsule is no longer visible on my MBA (including trying to access it via "Airport Utility"). The other MBPs experience a WiFi outage and lose access to the Time Capsule. Turning WiFi Off and then On on my MBA has no effect. Rebooting the MBA immediately brings back connections for everyone.

Thus, there is no doubt that at least one of the bugs is associated with the MBA's WiFi implementation!

Just to pile on - i have the same issues listed. Connection for a while and then poof.

This sounds very silly and very unscientific but i fiddled with the angle of my screen and seemed to help maintain a signal. I suspect it was a fluke but when I had the screen at 90 degrees i dropped, then moved it closer to the keyboard, probably 80 degrees and it seemed to work for longer period of time.

Is there any way that the screen hinge is affecting signal? Sounds hokey but i thought I'd toss that out there. But i agree - its clearly something with the MBA (either sw or hw).

Count me in on this wifi-issue...!
I have a wifi-problem as well with my brand new MBA. I really don't understand why it is like this. The wireless is working perfectly on my MacBook Air all the time until I plug in my 24" Cinema Display using the Mini Displayport plug. The all of a sudden, the webbrowser stops downloading the pages. And it starts again as soon as I unplug the external screen.

Anyone having an idea of what to do? And anyone experiencing the same?

I have a new Macbook Air 1 inch, and my WiFi works for about 30 minutes, and then I can't reach anything on the internet. I have to turn off my Airport and then turn it back on, and then it works again for another 30 minutes or so.

My new Macbook Air (2010) also had a few internet connection drops every hour. I have modified the Router wireless settings from WPA2 to WEP and from Wi-Fi Protected Setup to Manual. I use Linksys WRT54G2. I have not had any drop for a couple days so far.

Indeed! A 1" would be impressive, and I wouldn't be surprised if a 1" MBA had the same connection issues we're having, but at 11" or 13" Apple really should be able to make it stable.

But thanks for posting your experience Daniel Choi1.

Hi Mr Gauss, I'm pleased that you've managed to configure your network to get a stable connection with your MBA.

However the fact that it wasn't working before is still symptomatic of a problem with the MacBook - I guess your other devices were working happily on your existing network without the need for some tinkering.

If you could, please try and take your Air round your local town and have a try in some internet hotspots where you can't configure the network settings and give us some feedback.

Cheers
Nick

+Surely, you might think, a super thin portable laptop with no ethernet connection MUST be principally designed to work with all wireless networks??+

Interesting response from Apple, but why would they not also include backwards compatibility?

Do they expect us to wait around until every other router in the world breaks and is replaced by a new one?

It was just a hunch.
My son's MBA drops out in the lounge room (although no connection problem with my MB nor PS3).
Although there are no dropout problems when my son's MBA is sitting in the same room as the Airport Extreme.
Has anyone tried attaching an external WiFi aerial?

As an update to my issue, I think it might have more to do with my old Airport than the MacBook Air. I say that because I started having issues with connectivity on my iMac as well. Maybe the MBA is just more sensitive to lapses in the Airport's connection? I don't know, but I think I'm in the market for a new Airport Extreme.

Another update.

Since my last post (when I had switched to 5Ghz 802.11n only) I've had no problems with connectivity at home. My MBP, iPad and late 2010 MBA all work perfectly - though of course my Phone 4 won't work with this type of connection.

I've since undertaken more business trips with my MBA, most recently to Switzerland, and I had perfect connectivity all the way. In fact on my journey home from Zurich my MBA worked exctly as it should - powered up for the whole journey, I got perfect (effortless and instant) connections at my Swiss hotel, Zurich Airport, Heathrow and even the Heathrow Express.

Unfortunately, I was unable to draw few concrete conclusions from the experience - all connections were 802.11 g links, signal strength ranged from poor to excellent, and the connections were a mix of secure (hotel) and unsecure (public hotspots).

Once back at home the MBA worked perfectly again - Channel 100, 802.11n, 5Ghz only. One of the first things I picked up was a Macrumors report that there's an MBA software update which fixes - wait for it - wake up issues with comms. I've yet to do this, but will be interested to see if there's any suggestion that the connection issues are also fixed.

So, four weeks in, and about 10 or 12 different Wi-Fi connections later, I have an MBA which appears to work most of the time. Problem is, I bought it because I wanted it to work ALL the time. I'm beginning to believe that what I'm experiencing are problems which occur with older wireless routers (like my first gen Airport Extreme) when there are lots of devices (and so channels) in use. In theory, jumping up to 5Ghz increases the bandwidth and removes the impact of interference from other devices which are using the 'standard' (2.4Ghz) band, but of course can't confirm this.

The bottom line is that irrespective of any theories we might all have, and whatever the root cause, the MBA shouldn't be doing this so I have booked an appointment to a local Premium Reseller who took my concerns seriously. I'll report back once I have any worthwhile news.