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Upgraded to 10.6.7 and wifi problem is back

Since upgrading to 10.6.7 my MacBook Pro is losing wifi connection every 10-20 minutes. The signal strength shows maximum bar and ifconfig shows assigned IP address. But I can't reach any machine including the router. I need to toggle on-off wifi and the network works again. It's very similar to the problem I had with 10.6.5 update. My wifi router is 2WIRE from AT&T U-verse.

It is VERY frustrating to have problem like this again and again. OS X used to be much more stable than it is now. You guys at Apple should stop watching AAPL ticker all day and get to the work.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Mar 23, 2011 7:00 PM

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Posted on Mar 24, 2011 10:37 AM

I am having the same problem! I even went as far as replacing the airport card. Then I reinstalled the snow leopard disc that I have and it worked fine, with the old card(i swapped back out and returned new one). Then like a ditz, i did a software update. I can just do the same thing again but I am worried my imovie 11 may not work on the older snow leopard. This is such a pain in the butt. I have to back up my comp every time before I reinstall the OS. They really need to fix this....
100 replies

Apr 14, 2011 1:31 PM in response to jylee

I am experiencing the same issue at the school I work at. Several of my MacBook Pros & MacBooks were updated and they can no longer connect to our wireless. Yes, if I repair permissions and restart/zap the PRAM it seems to fix it but it is only temporary. The machines that haven't been updated WON'T be until Apple gets this worked out -- hopefully over the weekend as this is a BIG issue!

Apr 14, 2011 2:27 PM in response to jylee

I have the exact same problem. Been googlin' all night and there's no solution as far as I know. I've tried all tips without success. Both my MBP stopped working over wifi at the exact same time. Still our iPhones, PS3, Wii and other wireless devices works fine. I never had any problems with my Airports, and all of a sudden this happens. The funny thing is that i helped a friend the other day who had the same problem and in the end we just re-installed the OS. Now he's back with the same problem again.

Good thing is that it still works with ethernet cable.

If anybody out here has a solution, please get back to us.

Apr 19, 2011 10:52 AM in response to sha sinclair

What "updates rolled out yesterday" are you referring to?


The issue that I have since upgrading to 10.6.7 is not that I am unable to connect, but rather that my wifi connections to internal devices (other computers, printers, NAS drives) are dropped frequently, while wired LAN and external connections (such as web access) remain alive. So for example, my PowerBook Time Machine backup almost always fails unless it happens soon after I have turned AirPort off and then on again. Our iMac on a wired connection has no such problem, and both are on 10.6.7.


I just ran Repair Disk Permissions from Disk Utility, and like newhelper above, found a very large number of airport utility files with wrong permissions. I then ran a backup over wifi with Time Machine, and after it finished, none of my internal connections worked until I stopped Airport and started it again.


I also have recently had the logic board changed on my 2007 MBP - twice in one month, both at Apple's expense. In one of these service calls they also replaced the hard drive. They then installed fresh Snow Leopard and ran disk permission checking. It's possible that changing the logic board with associated changes in hardware, MAC addresses, etc confused some files when I restored from Time Machine.

Apr 22, 2011 1:39 AM in response to jylee

I too have been experiencing problems with my 2007 Imac conecting to my wi-fi networks for the last three weeks, since upgrading to 10.6.7, while everything else in the house, various windows laptops and my iphone, have had no problems at all. The problem was specific to my own network, as the Imac was able to see those my neighbours' networks, but was unable to connect to mine.


So here are my obvervations on all of the various solutions that I tried.


1) Resetting the PRAM didn't work. There's an Apple note that explains that in 10.6 network settings are no longer reset when the PRAM is reset.


2) Using network preferences to change to DHCP with a manual IP address worked for a bit.


3) Unhiding the network SSID helped, in that the Imac could see it, but then wouldn't connect, unless I physically placed the computer next to the wireless router, (although as time went on even this failed work).


4) Connecting the Imac to a router using an ethernet cable, then rebooting both router and computer worked a couple of times, but invariably the next day the problem would re-occur.


5) Creating a new location in network preferences, and setting up the network from scratch didn't work.


6) Removing my home network from the list of preferred airport networks then rebooting both router and computer worked once, but only once


7) Clearing the list of preferred networks, as in 6 above, then using Onyx system tools to delete the boot cache, then rebooting both computer and router also worked once, but only once.


8) Last night I downloaded the combo-updater for 10.6.7 and re-installed the OS, whereas previously I had updated via the software updater. This worked last night and fingers crossed, I've had no problems since re-starting the computer this morning.

Apr 22, 2011 7:05 AM in response to jylee

I didn't read all the answers, sorry.


I had this problem several times with 10.5.x and 10.6.x. Here culprit was the automatic channel selection of my router. I could fix it by defining the channels, e. g. 11 vor 2.4 MHz and 44 for 5 MHz (AirPort Extreme).


I don't know if this will solve your issue - maybe it's worth to try.

Apr 26, 2011 3:07 PM in response to sha sinclair

Yeah... well I spoke too soon.


I've followed and tried all that has been posted and this is what I found:


#1. I have absolutely NO problems at home going through my Apple Airport Extreme. My MacBook Pro, my MacBook, my iPads and my iPods all seamlessly connect.


#2. When here at school, connection is a random thing on all devices. When there ARE issues, sometimes repairing permissions and restarting (zapping PRAM) helps... other times it does nothing at all. What I see when it WON'T connect isUser uploaded fileand I am unable to renew the DHCP lease. My iPads won't connect and neither will my iPods, despite them all connecting and working previously.


Has anyone found a solution? I'm starting to drive our IT guys nuts! 😉


Is anyone experiencing difficulties using an Airport Base Station?

Apr 29, 2011 12:19 AM in response to jylee

I had the same issue and a combination of the following tasks fixed my problems:


  1. Fixed the hard disk permissions
  2. Restarted and cleared the PRAM with Command + Option + P + R key combination
  3. Deleted all existing network locations
  4. Created a new network location from scratch
  5. Selected my wifi router


Crossing my fingers but so far no more issues 😉

Upgraded to 10.6.7 and wifi problem is back

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