Q: Lion WiFi Connection Problem

Any solution yet for you? I have delved really deeply into this and found that the root of the problem is in the power management in the wifi chipset. In theory, the Apple drivers should make up for this bug but they do not. I can only assume they allow this to continue so they can sell more routers and tech support; otherwise, why is this thread so long and so old with NO actual responses, just a bunch of people pulling wild guesses out of the air and assuming the intermittent problem is solved when something they did causes it to work for a few hours instead of a few minutes.

If we could just turn off power management to the wifi, it would stay connected.

Not sure if this helps, but I installed Ubuntu 12.04 on my iMac and the wifi didn't drop. I prefer Lion to Ubuntu, however.

Actually, I discovered the real problem by using Linux (not Ubuntu). With some careful sleuthing, it became apparent that broadcom chipsets have an issue with power management. There is an updated binary blob available for Linux but none for OS X or Windows. This why Ubuntu has no troubles with the wifi hardware.

Without an updated driver, the best we can hope for is to turn off power management for the wifi. That was the original fix in Linux. I am unsure why nobody knows how to turn off the power management for the wifi in OSX. It must be some super-guarded secret or something. Meh. It is easy to do with Windows or Linux.

Maybe you should re-read some of those blogs. It sounds like you are referring to some made-up story about iPad Wifi from the "WiFi expert" in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kalamazoo is a nice town, but hardly a centre of RF expertise. It sounds like you have a typical problem with a freebie WiFi router from your ISP. Go down to BestBuy and get a decent router for $ 30 and your problems will be solved.

Same fix here, for the first time since moving to Lion and not downgrading the drivers I have a stable connection, more people doing the same here:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/18993967?ac_cid=tw123456#18993967

Depressingly I actually want power managment, wouldn't it be nice if there was a fix just for the Wifi power?

Typically my stability would last for 20-30 mins before a problem started, so far it's been 8 hours.

etresoft, well done for posting such a helpful post.  What has lead to you thing that it's a cheap router thing in this case? 

Secpro has anther new and as far as I can see valid solution, my Wifi has remained stable for 8 hours - typically 20-30 mins.  No RF expertise requried as this, on the face of it would appear to be a power management issue.

Hi, new here and to Apple. First apple -- macbook air, bought last Sunday.  Does anyone think that Mountain Lion may fix this problem? or is there any fix which allows battery operation?

Thanks

I'm very curious as to whether anyone in this post has upgraded to Lion and seen the Wifi connection issue disappear.  I downgraded back to Snow Leopard months and months ago and would very much like to upgrade again, but without the hassle of dropping connections.

I upgraded to Mountain Lion today, still having the same problem, with less frequency.  Before upgrade, every 20 mins or so I lost connection.  Now it's every few hours or so.

NateKH wrote:

 

I upgraded to Mountain Lion today, still having the same problem, with less frequency.  Before upgrade, every 20 mins or so I lost connection.  Now it's every few hours or so.

Nate, do you use your Mac in more than one location and have this problem?  Which things have you tried?

1. Select a fixed WiFi channel 1, 6 or 11

2. Use 5Ghz instead of 2.4ghz

3. Turn off all sleeping in System Preferences for Energy Saver settings

4. Try 802.11g only

5. Try 802.11n only

Maybe if we have a list like this, and people mark down what they've tried, we might be able to see if there could be a secondary issue that is now happening.  I was hoping that Apple would drop a .5 update for Snow Leopard, but perhaps Mountain Lion has a fix, but there's still something else that needs to be dealt with.

on an iMac, problem started when I upgraded to lion, still present after upagrade to mountain lion.

1) Yes, no result

2) No option to choose 5Ghz (dlink dir-615 router)

3) Yes, and there isn't an issue from waking, it just drops signal.  Have to turn off wifi then back on to reconnect

4) Yes, no result

4) same

Since my post, 4 months ago, I reverted back to Snow Leopard. First time I skipped an OS release since OS8.5 

No WIFI problems to report on SL.

I think i'll try once again with Mountain Lion. But I am pretty sure this issue will come back. After reading hundreds of post, maybe changing the router is the only solution !??

Who here bought a new router and solved the wifi problem ? Which one should I buy ? 

Here is my current configuration :

  Model Identifier:          MacBookPro6,2

  Processor Name:          Intel Core i5

  Processor Speed:          2.4 GHz

  Memory:          8 GB

Card Type:          AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x93)

  Firmware Version:          Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.42.4)

  Locale:          FCC

  Country Code:          US

  Supported PHY Modes:          802.11 a/b/g/n

  Supported Channels:          1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165

  Wake On Wireless:          Supported

  Status:          Connected

Router : D-LINK DIR-615

thanks !

Alexlava wrote:

 

Since my post, 4 months ago, I reverted back to Snow Leopard. First time I skipped an OS release since OS8.5 

No WIFI problems to report on SL.

 

I think i'll try once again with Mountain Lion. But I am pretty sure this issue will come back. After reading hundreds of post, maybe changing the router is the only solution !??

 

Who here bought a new router and solved the wifi problem ? Which one should I buy ? 

 

Here is my current configuration :

 

  Model Identifier:          MacBookPro6,2

  Processor Name:          Intel Core i5

  Processor Speed:          2.4 GHz

  Memory:          8 GB

Card Type:          AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x93)

 

Router : D-LINK DIR-615

I put "D-link dir-615 problems" into google, and the first link was this.  It doesn't paint too good of a picture.

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/d-link-dir-615/4864-3319_7-32435592.html

Well, I thought I had fixed the problem with the power save.  No luck there so I thought I would try ML, I'm still seeing some dropped pings at the moment but it's one in about 50, maybe just maybe....

And... wireless fails back to my cable.