Q: WiFi Issues With MacBook Air

I just tweeted a few things on that tag.  Wifi running well in Windows 7 in Bootcamp first day of testing that.  Of course, if I have to resort to that, why have a Mac in the first place?

EFI update didn't fix it for me.  Still hanging badly in Safari and Firefox.  App Store hangs too so not limited to browsers.

So far so good with the latest software update. We were so frustrated with this MBA and its inability to stay connected to the internet via wifi.I just found this thread and at least I know we were not alone.

I'm cautiously optomistic that it may continue to stay connected.

Just to add voice to others who are also having intermittent Wi-Fi dropping on MBA mid-2011. I never had any of these issues in 10.7.0. However since updaying to 10.7.1, I get intermittent drops of the Wi-Fi, once every half an hour or so. Sometimes the Airport icon indicates it's connected, but when I try to use the Internet, I get connection errors. These drops tend to last around 1-2 minutes before reconnecting. I know it's not my router because I have a HTPC and iPhone 4 also connected on the same network, and network/browsing tasks work fine whilst the MBA is down.

It's working better now. I sure hope it continues to work well.

There seems to definitely be a WiFi issue here. On my home network (Airport Express and DSL modem) I get drooped connections frequently. If I use my mobile hotspot phone, no problem.

I'm still having massive issues, even after installing the EFI update.

The problem occurs on wake or after a clean boot. The Wi-Fi drops tend to last anywhere between 1-5 minutes. Also, my MBA is connecting to the Internet through an Airport Express.

Hi,

whatever people may say here, resetting the PRAM works for my MBA mid 2011 (Lion 10.7.1), it worked for over a week, and when the wifi-speed dropped, restarting the MBA didn't help, switching off and on wifi didn't help, but RESTARTING and RESETTING the PRAM worked...

So have a try although some websites claim that nothing that could influence wifi-speed is saved in the PRAM

let's hug the world

;-)

After trying all the fixes that worked for others with no good results including trying 3 different wireless routers with different bands, channels, encryption etc., I finally a fix.  A day after the EFI update which didn't help me, I had my broadband service upgraded from 10Mbit to 40Mbit.  That came with a new cable modem with built-in wireless.  My previous cable modem had built-in wireless and didn't help my issue.  That was a Netgear.  This is a Ubee (never heard of it before).  I've had no problems since this was installed which I don't understand.  Nothing was changed on the MBA to resolve this other than connecting to the new wireless network which is using WPA/WPA2 just like the other 3 I tried.  Maybe there was some sort of synch or timing or latency issue with connecting to the 10Mbit cable modem connection? 

Sorry, but I'm just jumping in at this late point in the thread. I have been having the same problem, dirkfromvlissegem, with a frequent dropping of wifi connection on my mid-2011 MBA 13" and your suggestion to try restarting and resetting the PRAM caught by eye. How does one reset the PRAM?

Resetting the PRAM is done by restarting and hitting command-option-P-R before gray screen comes up. Let the start up bell chime twice. (Anybody more computer savy please correct me if I'm wrong.) Resetting the PRAM did not help me. My problem seems to be a little different. My wireless bar remains full, but pages stop loading. I turn Airport off, then turn it back on. Network assistance pops up and takes me through the usuall steps. 99% of the time, this works, and every now and then, a box shows up that says that my network configuration has changed. (whatever that means) This is very annoying. The posts for this are all spread out over this and other forums going back to 2007. For all I know, there's a fix somewhere, but I just haven't found it or I'm not Mac savy enough to understand it. At what point do I just run an ethernet cable and be done with it? Are their any USB WiFI options?

PS, I had to restart my wifi twice while posting this and had I not copied before resetting, I would have had to start all over

Kevin, sorry to hear this was not a solution to your problem. I can say with a great deal of confidence that I had no problems with my wifi connection on this mid-2011 MBA Lion 10.7.0-10.7.1 until I installed the recent Thunderbolt display update for 10.7.1. Anyone heard of this causing others' issues?

hey-

I had a frustraing time when I updated to lion.

After spending 3 weeks looking I cam upon this fix which actually worked:

http://thoughts.maayank.com/2011/08/wireless-problems-with-macbook-air-and.html.

briller

Hey-

I tried every config possible with my Airport extreme and Macbook Air.

I even bought an E2500 - no luck.

Then I found this link- and getting desperate tried it and it worked.

http://thoughts.maayank.com/2011/08/wireless-problems-with-macbook-air-and.html

Was getting 200kbps download and 1Mbps. Once in a rare moment I would get 5 Mpbs,

Now everytime I get 5 Mbps (max for our cable company in the boonies) and 1 Mbps up.

Apple needs a Lion update for this issue.

Briller

http://thoughts.maayank.com/2011/08/wireless-problems-with-macbook-air-and.html

This was published here 3 weeks ago and I have been using it since without major problems.

Gregory