WiFi Issues With MacBook Air

Is there an Apple store close to where you live? I had similar issues with the drops every 2-3 minutes; I set my wireless router to all bands and also installed the patch from Apple. It seems to work fine (very few drops now, every few weeks. Not as bad).

If you start a ping log or network diagnostic to show these drops and take it to Apple Store they may be able to help. If you have no stores around and cannot get help or return it, then buy a new router, better than being frustracted with your Air. Hope it helps.

My WiFi dropping is back again. Not as bad, but still doing it. It has been a while since Apple has done anything to acknowledge their customers, so I have no illusion that they will resolve this problem (as it is rare according to their patch, which did not resolve all the problems). Now the camera will not work on Skype, Google +, etc. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5216). Their solution to that is for me to spend more money on an external camera until they resolve their problem - like they have any intention of doing that.

I am just waiting for the term "class action" to start up, and then maybe, just maybe....okay, I can dream.

you don't need to buy an external camera, if you cannot wait for a patch you'd follow this trick to rollback your iSight 32bit compatibility

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5311252?answerId=22986701022#22986701022

About WIFI dropping, i never ever experienced it during my travels in Europe and Asia with differents APs.

My MBA works well before and after WIFI patch. All APs joined successfully in my case were WPA2 encrypted on G/N (channels 1-11).

You are not alone - there are a lot of users who have not suffered the problem. As you can tell by this thread, that is not the case for everyone. Thanks for the fix though - it worked until this morning. I unfortunately applied Apples patch to fix the problem, and no I have no camera at all - even for Facetime.

Apple's quality control has dropped significantly.

This solved my problem! Thank you.

it doesnt surprise me that this issue isnt fixed for many people. They just keep stringing along people when its a hardware issue. They did the same thing with the 2012 mac mini and getting black screens / snow. it was never fixed and remains to be an issue to this day for many. they just keep ignoring people and expect them to live with faulty hardware. there will be a new macbook air released in 2014 and I bet this issue will still be here being ignored just like the mac mini issue from 2012.

I was considering upgrading to a 2013 air because i had the infamous dead 2012 sandforce toshiba drive. yet another issue apple doesnt acknowlege. however I know they wont do the right thing so I will wait until mac air 2014 and see what issues there are.

My MBA was dropping WiFi about every five minutes. I just tried Robby's trick, and it's been working for the last 30 minutes. Thanks for the tip!

Go to Network in System Preferences.

Click on Location and add new one call it Internet

Click Apply and restart.

After restart, click on Airport and join your network.

Fixing wi-fi issues on macbook air – basics

I bought a June 2013 Macbook Air one week ago to help me while working away from home. I had problems connecting to the internet where I was staying and it just got worse over the week until it virtually came to a grinding halt. At first I thought it was poor reception on the router but after reading this forum I thought that the problem could be with my Mac. I managed to speak to someone at the Helpline and within 10 minutes it was resolved. In order to help others, I’ve typed up what I remember she told me:

1. First check that the problem is not with your router by going connecting to the Wifi with your phone or another device. I did it on my phone and opened up my e-mails fairly quickly. My brand new Macbook Air however, was still waiting to open up my e-mails 5 minutes later!

2. Make sure you have no anti-viral software running which could slow it down.

3. Force Quit everything except Finder.

4. In Finder – go to Applications. Then Go to System Preferences. Third row down – internet and wireless – choose Network. On the left you should see that Wi-Fi is connected and it has a green dot.

5. In the same Network box – click Advanced (bottom right)

On the next page the central box Preferred Networks should list the networks you use.

If there are any there you don’t need, delete them by clicking on them and pressing delete (by pressing the minus key below).

6. Make sure the Network you use most is at the top of the list. Do this by dragging them up or down.

7. Next Quit System Preferences and Shutdown your computer.

8. Switch your router off and then on.

9. Hold down the following 4 keys for 10 seconds: Shift, Control, Alt and the Power Button.

10. Switch the computer on again and go to Network again (via System Preferences as above or by clickin on the Apple button and choosing System Preferences this way).

NB I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE HOLDING DOWN OF 4 BUTTONS DOES BUT EVER SINCE I'VE HAD A BOX ON THE TOP RIGHT WHICH SAYS OS X UPDATES AVAILABLE SO I ASSUME IT'S TO DO WITH THIS. I'M HOLDING OFF DOING THE UPDATES UNTIL I GET BACK HOME.

11. Choose Advanced Option again and make sure your preferred network is top of the list.

12. Click the second button along at the top (TCP/IP) and make sure the option for Configure IPv6 is Automatically.

13. Press Renew DHCP Lease and click okay when it prompts you.

14. Click on third button along (DNS) and in the box DNS Servers type:

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

(This is something to do with servers used by Google according to another post in this thread)

15. Now click Okay and then Apply

16. Finally make sure your OSX software is up to date by clicking on the Apple and choosing About this Mac. Click Software Update.

I am pretty sure I have remembered everything in the order she told me.

Now try your internet connection. It worked wonders for me. Good luck!

But.. But... But.... Mac's are supposed to "just work"....

The air is a giant mess. This whole thing has become so ridiculous it's laughable. Last Air I'll ever buy.

I totally agree and was furious on Friday night - after the money I'd spent on it. But was so delighted to get it working on Saturday night. I'm sure when the next problem arises, I will feel like throwing it again!

I have just gone from the Macbook Pro to the Macbook Air 13...big mistake! the Pro is so much better! I have had so much trouble with the wifi connectivity for the week that I have owned this thing and will be returning to the Pro model asap. If you should purchase the Air and have any wifi issues I would suggest connecting first with an ethernet cable and getting all the available software updates first off. This is what I eventually worked out for myself with Apple seemingly not wanting to know about it (tried all the support sites I could find). My wifi seems to be working ok for now but I keep the ethernet cable handy. Good luck with your purchase.

My MBA 2013 seems to be running quite stable now (after all the patching, etc.). My wife likes it too, so we were talking about getting another one, and maybe a MBPro. However, my only real concern now is that Apples has yet to acknowledge the huge issue they have, so my trust in their integrity is still needing to be resolved. The first patch they released to fix the problem mentioned WiFi issues minimally, and even used the words "rare instances". A slap in the face with those struggling with it.

As this thread has not been updated in quite a while, I am wondering if anyone is still experiencing the problem?

I sure am. And I'm really mad. I am constantly disconnected from Airplay on my Apple TV and I'm really getting angry that this hasn't been resolved in months. I can't use Apple TV at all, even on the low settings, because I get up to 220ms ping latency and 2.4% packet loss!!! I'm 4 feet from the router!!!

I'm going to return the Apple TV and sell the macbook if this continues. The Yoga 2 Pro is looking very appealing at this point.

This issue has never been resolved. Still an issue. I highly doubt since it has been years that apple wil ever fix this issue, they will just crank out newer versions of the hardware (likely all have the same issue unless they upgrade the wifi chip)