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gcrump Author

Level 1

14 points

WiFi Issues With MacBook Air

I am about two weeks in to my new Macbook Air and love it except for the wifi. I have had five or six other Mac laptops in the past five years including the original air. I can confirm that there are some wifi issues with the Macbook Air. Based on the messages posted here and my experience here is where I am. I think if it is a "N" network it seems to work fine. I have never had an issue with my Airport Extreme at my house or my Dad's Linksys at his house which is also an N. This also I think resolves the "is it an ISP" issue, since they are distinctly different ISP's and these both work perfectly.

My problems are on non-N's it seems. I travel a lot so I hit a lot of guest networks which are almost always "g". These networks I can generally find and attach to them but not get a consistent internet connection. With these networks I have found that turning the airport on/off and refreshing the IP address does not work. Again I can connect to the browser, in most cases get what appears to be a valid IP but not gain any internet access. I have found that a power down and reboot AFTER attaching to the network (but not getting the internet connection) will then give me a steady and consistent connection.

I need to do some more testing and I guess traveling to pin down some of these things but I wanted to share what I have found thus far, but I definitely think there is a problem with the wifi on the new MacBook Air's.

Thanks,

Macbook Pro and iMac 27" and iPad and iPhone and MacBook Air 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Nov 28, 2010 6:10 AM

948 replies

Aug 13, 2013 6:19 AM in response to verami

Lucky!. I am still struggling with mine even though I have installed all the patches. Senoir level people are aware ans involved in trying to fix the issue, but I think its looking like a hardware problem rather than something that can be worked around. Lets keep posting and complaining. This post has almost 407,000 views and its being noticed. Apple will make this right if we keep pushing them.

Aug 13, 2013 8:46 AM in response to dogschool

I had mine serviced, and the AirPort card replaced.

Working like a charm since them.

If this is a hardware problem, why not admitting this in first place?!

verami

Level 1

0 points

Aug 13, 2013 8:51 AM in response to Mauricio Xavier

how were you able to get it replaced? in apple store they can never reproduce teh issue since it never drops connection. Only at home when i use it with linksys router does it drop connecting every now so often.

robgw

Level 1

5 points

Aug 19, 2013 3:27 PM in response to verami

I've bought and returned three MBA 2013s. All of them had serious WIFI issues with and without the "patch". Still waiting to see if Apple ever fixes the problem.

Seems to be taking a long time.

Aug 20, 2013 3:00 PM in response to robgw

I am ready to return my 3rd and get a chromebook. Nothing anyone can do as of now to resolve the problem. I have been through all levels of support only to be abandoned as there is no fix.

verami

Level 1

0 points

Aug 20, 2013 7:09 PM in response to dogschool

Did any of you try to see if Apple will give away the Airport Wireless? I have Linksys / netgear but my wireless keep dropping still (after upgrades and patches). Now i am stuck using my Air when it randomly decides to work. Atleast with airport wireless it'll work fine at home.. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and give it a try

Aug 20, 2013 8:44 PM in response to verami

yeah...they`ll give it away...for about a hundred bucks...

Aug 21, 2013 12:22 AM in response to gcrump

Another frustrated MBA user.. the Wifi dropping constantly is driving me to drink..

I visited the apple page that suggests there is a fix, <<http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1672>> and the apple webpage 'could not be found'.. what's going on here? Like all other frustrated customers, we paid good money for what we hoped would be a top class experience..

des325

Level 1

9 points

Aug 21, 2013 5:41 AM in response to Mauricio Xavier

Mauricio - because they actually have to care first, but they have our $ now, so it appears they no longer need to worry about admitting it. Plus there are enough zelots for Apple that can and will buy anything from Apple, whether it works or not.

Guess what else - their tech told me that Apple does not read this forum (other than moderators I assume). I don't know if that is true, but I guess that pretty much sums up their concern for us.

Aug 21, 2013 5:09 PM in response to des325

I think someone must be reading the forum or is concerned at a higher level. Can`t say alot now, but I think they are interested in diagnosing the issue at the source of the problem...it has to be repeatable.

Someone must have finally noticed all the complaining.

JPecard

Level 1

0 points

Aug 27, 2013 12:36 PM in response to gcrump

Just an update: I had to return the first MBA 13" I bought and received a new one. I downloaded the patch and all seemed well. For the most part, I have been able to connect and stay connected; however, I am having trouble connecting to places like cafes that require you to 'sign in.' It allows me to connect to their wifi, but the window does not pop up for me to access the internet. I am past my window of return, so if anyone has any suggestions as per how to fix or workaround this issue, I'd be greatful!

Aug 31, 2013 8:30 AM in response to geedub12

Geedub12's solution worked for me. Thanks.

Here's his solution:

The solution is in two parts:

1. In Network Preferences clear the check box for Ask to join new networks. That stops the searching and solves the problem.

This discussion page took 15 seconds to load before making the change, now it only took a few seconds.

iou94558

Level 1

8 points

Sep 2, 2013 8:58 AM in response to Jersey Andrew

i just bought a mac air 13" and am havbing trouble with the wiifi connection being very slow at public hotspots (Peetes coffee) but while i am have problems loading pages on my new mac air i pull out my ipad 4 and it loads the pages fine and i can stream cnn tv on the ipad also - i have called apple on this but no help

iou94558

Level 1

8 points

Sep 2, 2013 9:08 AM in response to gcrump

same thing i was using Peetes coffee free wifi and my 2 week ols air was running super slow and wouldnt load pages on any sites but i pulled out my ipad 4 and it performed great even allowing me to stream tv thru my cnn news app

EdBraz

Level 1

1 points

Sep 20, 2013 7:22 PM in response to gcrump

Gents - I bought the new Macbook Air 11.6 last month (mid-August 2013) in the states through Amazon, replacing my reliable Macbook Pro as it was too heavy to carry around all day. What a mistake. My MBA IS A PILE OF JUNK! Cheaply constructed and I have the same problems - WIFI dropout - severe. I live in shared housing in Brazil and I a few flatmates share one router that has never given anyone any problems nor me with my old Macbook Pro. The Dropout of signal happens EVERY 2-3 minutes. Yes, EVERY 2--3 MINUTES I have to put the MBA into sleep mode, reboot and get another signal which lasts another 2-3 MINUTES. Not only that, it only works in one (very famous) coffee store 3 miles from my house.

Please imagine this...I pray that any download I do is over in 2-3 minutes, if it isn't, I have to repeat the procedure again. Any video that I watch on youtube has to be over in 2-3 minutes, if I read an article online, immediately after reading, I have to reboot the computer. After reading and responding to each email, I have to reboot, and a facebook chat? Forget it.

I feel like suing apple if I only knew how! Really!! I feel I've been totally robbed!!! What are they doing to sort this out???!

By the way - I couldn't post this - by the time I finished writing - guess what????....Yeah you guessed, just came back from rebooting!

I spent a fortune for a computer that doesn't work. And I can't bring it back to the US - I live in Brazil - the time to take it back has expired anyway. And the ****** patch from July 1.0 doesn't work.

WiFi Issues With MacBook Air