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

It iseems that a similar WiFi problem affects some new iPads and Apple is replacing them. Too bad the iMacs are not receiving the same kind of support. After seeing these 25 pages of discussion and suggested fixes, I am convinced that this is a computer flaw, either hardware or software, that can only be solved by Apple.

It's clearly software - enough people have been running the same machines on their Windows partitions without problems.  Nor is it exclusively a "Lion" problem as someone else suggested.  This problem started with Snow Leopard, and has carried on with Lion.

I am reminded also of the faulty iPhone reception issue.  All these problems in conjunction with the faulty reception on the new iPads suggests that Apple's main failing is wi-fi/antenna reception and that they are getting progressively worse in this area (or at least this "blind spot" is becoming increasingly obvious).

I'd give up a Retina Display or an 8 Core A6 processor or a liquid metal casing in their next products, if it were just able to send and receive emails or connect to the internet without issue, like my Apple computers used to in the '90's ...

I agree this is software related. Specifically I think it is Java related. I did a bit experimentation and restored my iMac to Snow Leopard. It ran fine with reliable wifi connections for about a month UNTIL I updated SL with a Java patch. And there it was! The wifi disconnects were back.

None of the other updates affected the computer. How do I know? I did one update a week so I could see the effect. The Java update caused the wifi issue instantly and is the culprit! It would be nice if we could uninstall an update  - why is this not allowed?

Based on the symptoms of this problem, I didn't believe the router could be the problem, but after fighting with this exact issue for a month, I finally changed out my wireless router and now it works fine. No more false reedings on my iMac wifi indicator (i.e. showing I've got full coverage even though I can't connect) and no more 5 seconds of connection, then nothing after waking up from sleep. Now it works just as it should. Very strange since I'd used that old Netgear router for the last five years on tons of different computers without ANY connection problems. Now my new iMac won't play nicely with it for some reason.

My three year old iMac and my wife's new one both were suffering from the same issue. Our NetGear wireless (G) router had worked fine for several years, using WEP security, then about two months ago, the lockups started in both machines.

Seeing several suggestions to try WPA-PSK (TKIP), I changed the router to that setting, only to find the "stalls" were still as prolific as ever. Like everyone else, turning AirPort off and then back on made it work properly, but only temporarily.

Then, (you're gonna love this!) I returned to the original WEP settings and the issue cleared!!!!! I left the computer on all afternoon, perhaps 6 hours, and it didn't stall once. (After dinner update: Still working!!!

I was reminded with this "fix" of the several posters who said going to hardwire fixed their issue after returning to wireless. Could this switch back and forth between security settings be doing the same thing? It may not be a permanent fix, but I'll take it. It only requires a few seconds to go to the router and make the switch two and back from WPA-PSK.

Update- still normal operation the next day.

Hope this helps others- it seems to have solved it for me. (Note to myself: Don't brag about it!!!)

If this, in fact, works it would be an amazing boon to all of us who are suffering. I will give it a try. I have both a newer gen Airport Extreme (n) and older (b/g) bridged so I'm not sure it will work. I have noticed that if you upgrade or use only newer gen n routers it fixes the issue but then again maybe that is somewhat like resetting WPA...

Keerock,

I'm now convinced the simple double switch of security settings does it. It's been three days and both of our iMacs are still performing perfectly without any of the very frequent stalls we were getting. Both wife and I are heavy 'net users, so we've tested the "repair" pretty intensly during that time frame. 

Your idea of a connection between router upgrades and the fix I stumbled onto may also be valid. I think there are several ways to get at this solution, and perhaps more yet to be discovered. Perhaps over time, someone will spot the common thread between the methods and get at the real issue, but for now  .  .  .

Good luck!

That is great news! 3 days is the record so far (that I know of). I'll post back my results when I can. I ultimately gave up and moved my iMac 2011 to ethernet so I'll have to try Airport again.

Cheers!

Have you tried this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4628 (Symptom: The network connection drops unexpectedly)?

I just talked to a senior advisor from AppleCare who told me that Apple is aware of the problem and working on a software fix (as of this wrting, the current version of Mac OS X  is 10.7.4). The only solution at the moment is to hard wire the router to the computer.

This is good news: the attempts described in this thread have never solved the problem permanently for all and it seemed obivous that the ball was in Apple's court.

In the meantime, I have solved this problem for me by buying a new TimeCapsule and putting my old one next to my iMac as a network extender. No drop in two days, a record.

While there hasn't been any activity here for the last two months, I am guessing that some people may still end up here by searching on the discussion forums, so I thought an update would be useful.

Francis,

I am sure you are right about people still searching for a solution to the Apple wireless problem.  Many folks (including myself) have just switched to an ethernet connection for the time being while Apple continues to work out a solution.  Thanks for your post.

  still waiting...  .. ...

tried many workaround but my wifi is still instable...

...still wainting.

I have just learned about this problem.  It is acutally causing me to not buy a new imac at this time.  I have read posts claiming apple is fixing it.  My cause for concern is that these complains started in early may...it is now july.  Do you really think apple knows what is wrong, and plans of fixing it???  I am very skeptical.

Early May of LAST YEAR that is.  I think it is emminently fair to be sceptical after over a year without a solution or even acknowledgement that an issue exists !