Lion WiFi Connection Problem

Since installing Lion on both my IMac and MacBook Pro, the WiFi cycles (wifi icon on the menu bar) - looking for network - network on - looking for network. iMac with OS 10.6 doesn't have this problem so it's not the AirPort and there was no problem prior to installing Lion. The AirPort Utility log shows lots of connection activity but I don't know if that means anything. The network troubleshooter says theres no problem but it's causing big problems with connection speed and applications that need a constant connection are giving me network errors constantly. Please give me some advise....

Posted on Jul 20, 2011 5:19 PM

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2,673 replies

Jul 30, 2011 2:51 AM in response to laechleviel

No, I wish I was and I know it ***.


It worked for me but it hasn't worked for some.


With a Time Machine backup it is not so painful to go back to the non-wifi-connecting system in about 20 minutes.


Alternatively, install a clean Lion on an external firewire or USB drive and boot from that and see if Lion wifi will work for you then. If it does and stays connected, it might be worth trying on the internal HD.


I know it is painful but we're looking for solutions rarther than revenge.


And if it doesn't, we've given it a good shot and then it is up to Apple.

Jul 30, 2011 2:52 AM in response to nipper123

Serious! This is exactly why I to moved away from the M$ realm.


By paying more, to a frm with a good reputation so far for being able to keep their act together. I mean come on, they produce all the hardware, they produce all the software. How can this possibly go wrong?


Oh wait, it's a company, they have people that work there, and I suppose sloppiness is being accepted nowadays...


Expecting fix release real soon mister Jobs!!!

Jul 30, 2011 3:12 AM in response to laechleviel

laechleviel wrote:


I don`t use any exotic third-party-software, I`m using a standard-router (FritzBox 7220) which is widespread in Germany and after going back to Snow Leopard (which I did after hours of unsuccessful troubleshooting - including help of the Apple-Hotline and trying almost all the solutions described in this post) the wi-fi-problems dissapeared.


Problems like this have to be excluded by comprehensive and serious tests BEFORE releasing a new OS! Especially when it`s distributed via the internet only...


But I`m sure Apple is working on the solution: It`s BUMPERS - you can order them soon via the Apple-Store (within the 30 seconds to 5 minutes your wi-fi-connection works under Lion)!


But why worry any more? If Apple doesn`t release an update to fix this issue pretty soon they (like others before) will experience the real power off social media...


I get you're frustrated, but you have no idea of how complex the testing matrix is, how much testing was done, and, quite frankly, how few people, as a percentage of the over one million that have downloaded and installed Lion, are actually having Wi-Fi issues.


Instead of stamping your collective feet up and down and complaining that Apple must do something about this bug that was the obvious result of a lack of testing, contact AppleCare about your issue and an engineer may contact you to get further information.


Here's a fun trick - go to your local Apple Store and try to reproduce the issue on their in-store Macs, almost all of which are connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. I'm not saying you can't, but I certainly haven't been able to as I've been trying a handful of different things to try and reproduce this issue, and haven't yet succeeded.


(No, I don't work for Apple, I'm just curious about the issue and am a little too much of an engineer at heart.)

Jul 30, 2011 3:57 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

I know about the complexity of the testing-matrix. But as far as I know in Apple`s case it is much less complex than in the case of MS...


And it is no "fun trick" to go to the local Apple Store at all! Your suggestion won`t realy help me except seeing what I already know - it`s not a problem of the majority of Mac-Users but only of a "very small" and "irrelevant" amount of users... Right?


By the way: I have contacted AppleCare. They could not help me and none of their engineers contacted me to get further information so far...


It is easy to keep cool and argue like you do as long as you`re not affected by the problem...


The point is: There is quite a lot customers who switched to Mac because of Apple`s steady "Mac vs. PC"-Arguments. At the moment some of them are strongly reminded to their personal Windows-experiences... That`s just the way it is...


However: I went back to SL via TimeMachine and will now wait for the next two or three Lion-Updates... We will see...

Jul 30, 2011 6:39 AM in response to nbooradley23

laechleviel, I do think it's a small (comparably) number of people having this issue but I never dismissed you and others as insignificant. Remember if just a very small 1% of users experience the issue, given there have been over one million copies sold that's 1,000 people affected.


nbooradley23, yes, they will be Apple routers but those same routers work flawlessly with iOS, Snow Leopard, Windows PCs and other devices, and no AirPort Extreme firmware changes shipped with Lion, so by the "It HAS to be Lion because everything worked before" argument espoused by many there can't possibly be a difference if they're Apple routers or not, right?

Jul 30, 2011 6:58 AM in response to lrogersinlv

Hi Irogersinlv,


Since you posted this last week, I too had the wifi issue once I upgraded to OS X Lion. After a week of trouble shooting with various Apple Support team members, I may have solved this issue for me and I hope that this may give some of you some ideas of what you can do for your situation.

First, please note that I did try everyone's suggestions here, i.e., deleting plist, moving wifi to the first location, changing my DNS to 8.8.8.8, resetting my router, creating a new connection etc. I tried all the suggestions here (thanks everyone). I was scheduled to bring my iMac 27" (bought in December 2010) to the genius bar but had scheduled to speak to an Apple Support team last night. She tried all the suggestions we all tried here at the forum and nothing worked. She asked that we do a clean re-install of OS X Lion from recovery mode just to start from the basics. I had to connect via hard wire ethernet and then the download started. It stated that it would take over an hour so she scheduled to call back this morning.

After the re-insstalling of OS X Lion, I first pulled the ethernet out of the back and tested the connection. Yes, it did work but I knew better; I decided to restart my iMac and once I wanted to get back on the internet it did not work via wifi. Still shoing FULL BARS but no connection. I resetted my Dlink DIR-625 router, my modem and switch box and it seemed to work intermittently. I was puzzled as by this point, I had tried 2 Dlink DIR-625 router, exchanged my modem and nothing was working. I asked my neighbor if I can use thier Linksys wifi and tried that, It worked??? Can it be something with dlink's wifi router DIR-625? I tried the Linksys for several hours with success so decided to go back to the dlink and then the connection started to fail again? I did some research on this forum on OS X LION AND DLINK and found that some people were having some issues with OS X Snow Leopard and the Dlink DIR-625 model. Their successful solution was to change the settings in the wireless router to select b/g NOT the n setting


This is the suggestion that I got off this forum by doing a search for MAC OS X and Dlink DIR-625:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1394194?answerId=6648782022#6648782022&messageID=6648782#6648782?messageI D=6648782


This suggestion from this user worked for me. It has been over 6 hours now and I'm still able to now get my wifi connection. I tried shutting down, restarting several times and with changing the settings to select b/g only, it has been working for me so far. I know that this may not be the end all be all answer that you maybe looking for but I hope it may give you a direction to try. I will continue to test and hopefully found a solution that worked.

Jul 30, 2011 7:55 AM in response to gokhanki

I have the same problem since installing Lion. After sleep Wi-Fi is not always working. During a session Wi-Fi randomly stops working. The icon top right of screen suggest it is working but no internet. Have to keep disconnecting Wi-Fi and reconnecting. The worst was 4/5 times in about 10 minutes. Very irritating and not good when you are trying to send/ receive information.

Jul 30, 2011 8:04 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

What i'm saying is it probably would be impossible to replicate the error in the store because apple would have made lion to talk to their OWN products first as a priority.


I'm sure they religious have the latest firmwares in stores for the equipment in store.


In my example at home we have a 4 month old router on latest firmware. NOT apple but a linksys WRT120-N which has performed just fine for all other machines in the house including the macbook on snow leopard and also the iphones we have.


As soon as lion arrived on the 27 inch it did not work where everything else does on the wireless network.


I still point at the Lion OS causing the instablility in communication with this router and not the router causing the problem.


As to apple routers causing the issue maybe older firmware ones and we would need a head count in here of people who have those routers and have the same issue. I think more people with NON apple routers are effected by this.


Again there is a facebook community page located here for anyone wanting to put their head count to it and make posts.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Apple-LION-WIFI-Problems/239806982720544

Jul 30, 2011 1:16 PM in response to nbooradley23

Thanks for the Facebook link.


I see someone on there has managed to get a refund for Lion. I wonder if that starts a deluge!


Before I tried installing Lion, I was told I had to upgrade to the latest version of SL (10.6.7) as of a few days ago. I see that has already been superseded by 10.6.8. Googling it I found this comment on 9TO5 Mac website:


One small noteworthy bit from the latest 10.6.8 build. It appears Apple is readying the Mac App Store for doing wholesale updates to Lion. In the release notes, you get the following:

User uploaded file

We’re pretty sure Apple will also sell packaged Lion upgrades but that remains to be seen. Also 10.6.8 Identifies and removes the MacDefender Malware.

Makes you wonder if the new release includes anything that helps make Lion work properly...

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