iMac 12,2 (mid 2011) airport (wireless) problem

With the 2.4 GHZ band on my iMac sometime the wi-fi connection freezes and internet doesn't work.

Why is my macbook pro and ipod are working without problems with 2.4 GHZ band, but my new iMac will only work with 5 GHZ band? 😠

Tried all remedies here and no joy. iMac is the only one in the house that has issues. MBP and MB, together with iPods are all perfectly fine.

One more here.

Problem with Wi-fi connection freezing (and me having to turn it off/on) appeared from day one since I got this new iMac about a month ago.

Today it has been particularly annoying so I came here. I see I'm not the only one.

iPhone 4/iPod also work fine for me.

I just want to add my voice to everyone else with this problem. I received 10 days ago an iMac 27" 2.7 GHz and it keeps disconnecting from the wi-fi. I also have several other devices connected to the Internet at the same time, without a glitch.

I monitor and fix the problem through Network Diagnostics: the Network Settings, ISP, Internet and Server buttons turn red. I click through the Diagnostic tool (start Over - Continue - Continue...) and it turns green again. Sometimes, only the ISP turns red and the same process fixes it.

Seeing how many people have this problem and how many knowledgeable people have tried without success to fix it, I have come to the conclusion that it's a flaw that Apple will have to fix through some software update.

Has *anyone* from this been successful with hardware service on the network card? I know a few of you have tried it, but anyone reading this been fixed by that swap?

I called AppleCare, and got to senior tech, and the basics were covered:

1) reset-pram / SMC

2) reinstall OS

3) happens with multiple routers

All they say is "must be hardware", and direct me to the nearest service center. Can't it be drivers in the OS?

Have all of you turned in a Case at AppleCare for this? If not, why not? The more official calls/ case #'s they get, the more likely we'll get to the bottom of this....

By the way, Support says they don't monitor or consider anything on these community boards! I tried pointing them to this Thread. They said it's just "rumor"... is that true (this question is for the regulars, who might know more than my one applecare rep who told me this)

What with the recent display issues requiring a firmware patch and now reading this wi-fi 'problem' thread I'm wondering if I have just wasted a lot of money on a new iMac I5 27" which arrives in a few weeks????

Is there anyone in the 2011 iMac world who has no issues I wonder ????? 😟

I did have the problem, but after turning the airport off for a few days and going wired. The problem has all but gone away.

I am back to wireless and it works great. Minor slowdowns here and there but nothing like it was before

Betting it's a driver issue, something gets corrupted during setup maybe.

At first I couldn't even stream a 5mb mp3 from a network share, now I can stream anything online. Evan games work fine.

Apple is aware of the problem, and working on it. And it really isn't hardware cause people have no problem in bootcamp.

I'm thinking now that its a hardware issue. There are several users here who have experienced big issues out of the box, only for them to go away a week or so later. This could be some sort of arcing within the wireless card electronic doohiccy that becomes less likely to happen due to oxidisation? Hmmmm.

Dear wifiguru

i know that apple is on it, but could you please tell us, whether it's a hardware thing or not?

So that all the people with this issue here know whether they should wait for an update or run the next Apple Store...

thx so much

I haven't had much trouble since changing the airport channel. By the way Chasb441, I've had no other problems besides wi-fi. Why is it taken so long for your new Mac to arrive?

customer config above standard.

2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5

•

8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB

•

2TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive

•

AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5

•

Apple Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad

•

Logic Express preinstalled

•

Apple Wireless Keyboard (British) & User's Guide (English)

I don't think this problem is going away - customers come on here when they first get the imac out the box as it is very annoying to have something as basic as the wireless connection failing. However many people like myself are just waiting for apple to release a fix for it rather than having through go to the major hassle of returning their new imac only to receive a replacement adapter which might very well have the same issue.

Its just a shame that apple aren't reading these forums and acknowledging that there is an issue.

Have you READ the whole thread?

how can people who take their iMac out of the box... setup Bootcamp and install windows have ZERO problems if it is a hardware problem? yet reboot into OS X and have WiFi issues with the SAME hardware?...

the odds of it being a hardware problem, are slim. Remember there is only one difference between the new iMac's WiFi and ANY other WiFi hardware on any other mac or PC. the new 2011 iMac's have 3 antennae not two. this is a first, the odds of the drivers not being 100% perfect are pretty good.

Also, go back in the thread. Myself and others HAVE been contacted by Apple engineers.

Apple IS AWARE of the issue... don't come out and say is not aware of it. all you have to do is read this thread to know that, you just proved you have not read anything but the last few posts.

As pointed out above by CMRM, he switched the channel and he's not having as much problems.

I disabled the Airport for a few days and went wired. when i turned Airport back on... something had changed, and mine works i'd say 95%. it's not perfect but it works a heck of a lot better than the first week.

It may be a 10.6.8 update, may be a seperate update. but there will be one.

Whooowww there horsey! I think you will find that I have been posting about this problem for a while in this thread and have been reading and following it since it appeared here. I originally thought that the problem is software/firmware to start with. But software problems don't just disappear like mine has, and others have mysteriously posted reports of reduction/elimination of problems with an unknown/unrepeatable reason.

Some say connection to wired access point solved their issue, others say changing to different wireless security solved their problem. If it were a simple software/firmware issue I'm sure that this would have been addressed by apple by now, I myself said in this thread that the problem was not apparent in windows but maybe there is a reason that the problem did not occur in windows. Who knows!

There is zero point getting upset with me. This is a problem of unknown origin and in my opinion it could have been a hardware problem that has cured itself through some kind of degradation of an electronic component within the wireless card possibly after prolonged exposure to heat. Who knows!

All I know is that my problem (27in i5) at the moment has disappeared and this does not happen with a firmware problem. It also does not happen with drivers. Buggy software does not begin to work by itself for no reason. There are no apple gremlins in my drivers fixing them. My system remains with the same settings the imac had the day it came out of the box. I have changed no channels, I have changed no encryption. Explain it to me please... How has my imac fixed itself?

3days ago I started to get the same issue with my 2011 iMac 27" i7. I have been using the wi-fi for 4 weeks prior trouble free!

After a call to apple and my ISP I went into my router settings and changed the CHANNEL to 9! Apparently you can use CHANNEL 11 also.

This has fixed my issue and the wi-fi now seems to work even faster!

Btw I'm located in the UK.

I hope this works for everyone!