WiFi Issues With MacBook Air

oh MAN is that good to hear. This has been driving me nuts (and I have Airport Extreme and Airport Express with other devices having no problems) hopefully the fix is out soon!

Not sure if this problem is isolated to Lion. While I had my MBA 13'' i5, I dual booted with Windows 7 and the wifi drops still occured.

Nick

like many others I recently boaught a MBA (last week) I have all the WiFi issues and took the machine back to the Apple Store. They said they would give me a new one but there was no point as it would have the same issue. Apple were aware of it and would fix it in the next software update. I said why sell somtething which does not do what it is supposed to, they said that all new software releases have bugs and the best way to find them was from the public. Can you belive that. I have tried everything to get a definitve answer from Apple without success. They know the issue but will not admit it publically.

Hi all,

I also picked up the MBA13 this week and have experienced Wifi issues both at home(b,g) and at work (n). Never had issues with any other device.

In my case however, I'm convinced its an OSX software stack issue, possibly impacting certain wifi chipsets. It causes dropouts and poor performance. Obviously their could be a few different issues and some will indeed be faulty H/W.

Why am I convinced of this?

Often, the wifi thinks it is still connected, but its not "talking" The interface will have an IP and will be online, but other DHCP provided details, such as DNS, will have been "forgotten".

In this case ,simply renewing the DHCP lease immediately resolves the problem.

The other way of fixing it is to turn wifi on/off.

I'm tempted to write a shell script to check for an active connection on en0 on a regular basis (run it via cron), and if a DNS lookup of a random site doesn't return a result, renew the DHCP lease immediately.

This will give the illusion of a persistent connection for casual browsing etc, but won't help things like downloads or persistent connections to services such as remote access to work. It also won't help the inconsistent performance.

If I write something I'll share it, but without any warranty of course.

Apple need to be pressured into recognising the issue and outlining their plans and timeframe to resolve it. They certainly make "pretty" things but I feel far to many are prepared to make excuses for their lack of transparency to their customers.

Good luck all.

-Steve

I got my MBA 11 last week and it is lovely. However it would appear to be demonstrating the same symptoms as everyone else is outlining. I find that most of the general advice works, such as switching WIFI on and off, or forgetting network and re-joining, or clearing PRAM etc. However, this is not an acceptable way of managing the situation. I live in France, but purchased the MBA from UK - I wanted a QWERT keyboard layout. The option of returning this to a store is not easy. I mean COME ON! This is a £1k piece of KIT, not some E-machines £350 cheap job from Dixons. Why are these issues not troubleshot before hardware leaves the factory!! I expect Apple to be issueing an update to the software to fix this bug ASAP!!

Thanks for this info, Gerrdir. My wife and I just got a new MBA, and right out the box the WiFi performance was horrible. Pretty annoying! I hope Apple can get a fix out quickly. Love the machine otherwise.

Somewhat reassuring, but this is just one employee in one apple store saying this...who knows whether it is true without an official statement. If and when an update does come out it'll take us all about 3 days to download and install it.

My connection on my new 13" MBA 1.8 i7 is sporadic, but mostly bad. Mush better on my Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard, so not sure if its the hardware or software.

I'm having very serious issues with WiFi on my MacBook Air 13" i7, a replacement from the MacBook Air 13" i5 that I bought three weeks ago. Both had this WiFi issue. I've been detailing it on this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3253568

Sounds very similar to what everyone is describing. It seems to me that it is a combination of the Air's hardware + Lion + authentication. I have detailed my testing with various machines, routers, configurations, OSes, etc. on the thread I reference, but essentially, the only affected machine I've had is the Air running Lion (i.e., a late 2009 MacBook Pro running Lion is NOT affected; various machines running Snow Leopard, iOS, Xboxes, etc., also not).

I'm presently reading through this thread, but just ever so thankful to FINALLY hear others talking about this issue. It's been maddening and it has had me dead in the water as far as working is concerned. I've spent probably 20+ hours troubleshooting this. Ridiculous.

theroux wrote:

To make matters worse the computer just hangs after you enter a URL and takes 30 seconds before it actually loads the page.

Yes, exactly this same issue here. The Air hangs as if it's having DNS lookup problems, whereas all other machines on the network - SEVERAL Macs, an Xbox, a couple iPads, iPhones, etc. - have no such problem. Clearly the issue isn't simply misconfigured DNS at the router or machine level, or all the machines on the network would be suffering. The issue is absolutely isolated to the Airs, and seemingly to the combination of Airs and Lion. In addition, I believe it to be related to authentication.

I've written a shell script which I run from cron on my air every minute. It checks if the network is active and does a DNS lookup. If the lookup fails it renews my DNS lease, which solves the problem temporarily.

I've set it up to send me sticky growl messages when it needs to take action. Having just come back to my desk after been away for an hour or so, I have noticed a pattern.

Every 30 minutes the script had to take action. So this is an idle mac wirelessly connected but with nothing using the interface.

It's also possible the issue is more likely to occur, but not constrained to, running off battery.

If anyone wants a copy of my script and feels comfortable working in the shell, I'll create a link to it here.

Cheers,

Steve

Here's my script and some instructions for those comfortable with the shell.

http://younixgeek.blogspot.com/2011/08/issues-with-2011-macbook-air-dropping.htm l

And for whats it worth, the network again died 30 minutes after the previous occurence, still running off battery, except this time I was using it during that 30 minute period, so it wasn't idle.

Cheers,

Steve

I had the same problem with my new MacBook Air 13". It was driving me crazy. It seems like there really is a problem with Lion and the new MBA WiFi chipset.

I finally solved it by replacing the 802.11 kext with an older version as detailed in another discussion. (Yippy!!! 🙂 )

I posted a recap of the whole experience (and solution instructions) here: http://thoughts.maayank.com/2011/08/wireless-problems-with-macbook-air-and.html

Hope you find it helpful!

Just received my 2011 Macbook Air - based in Ireland and having the sames issues outlined above. I will be sending it back to Apple for a fix. I am posting this message on my Macbook because I cannot get online on the Air. Maybe if enough of us complain they will write an update. Until Apple resolve this issue I would not advise buying the Air.

Hi, Gerrydir - the "Buy an Airport Express" bit is nonsense. I am running on an Express N right now - third router I've tested while troubleshooting this problem - and that DOES NOT resolve the issue. Also, what a ridiculous suggestion, considering that one cannot control for router hardware wherever one goes. Silly to even have suggested it to you.

Hello Rob

The discussion is getting bigger on this issue. I bought a CrapBook Air for my wife which she uses for house hold stuff and email and to \skype/\facetime me as I work on remote construction projects. The reason I bought it (My first Apple laptop/PC) was for its ease of use and speed. At the Apple store i emphasised this.

I have read the various threads and appreciate all the suggested fixes BUT if I buy a car for my wife I do not expect her to get under the hood to make it work. My frustration is that nobody at Apple has any comprehension of customer service. I am currently over 1,000 miles from the nearest Apple store so their suggestion to "pop in" won't work. Not only does my wife have auseless piece of junk, she has the mouse, external drive, office for Mac etc etc to go with it. I want to call the store to arrange for her to bring in the whole lot for a refund but Apple wont give me their number.

Incidently I am writing this on a Dell netbook, wirelessly (via Satellite), in the middle of Australia on a mine camp. I bought this little machine second hand in Qatar five years ago for $50 and is faster than the MacAir and has never let me down.