Lion - Wi-Fi doesn't automatically reconnect when reawakening after sleep

Hmmmm, not sure...I certainly don't want to say that this is not correct as it seems to be a complex matter. I honestly think there are more than one issues at play here. I've monitored the thread for awhile now and I've even turned off Timemachine and it still happens for me.

HOT TIP: I have figured out that my REFRESHING my browser screen, after I get a connection error, the connection is established again and everything starts working again.

I turned off TimeMachine (I have an Apple Time Capsule) and now no problem (and no backup). It still seems like this bug is not yet isolated (it may in fact be several unrelated bugs affecting Wi-Fi).

Thank You Carlfromtucson!

Keith in Alaska

Have you guys tried updating to 10.7.2 and retest? There where some fixes in 10.7.2 that might help this issue.

OK...I have 10.7.2 and tested it with and without TimeCapsule and I still have the issue. Same basic symptoms. If I wait a few seconds and use the RELOAD button on my browser the connection does re-establish itself. Naw...there's still a bug in the works.

Same here: Still got issues with the stability of the connection.

I really tried EVERYTHING and also 10.7.2 didnt fixed it.

Update to 10.7.2 and this problem will be solved.

I'm in the same camp as well - updated to 10.7.2 and still have the same connection problem/issue.

Did any of you try carlfrontucson's solution (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3204288?answerId=15967430022#15967430022)?

It worked for me and several others.

Ok, today I installed the Comboupdate of 10.7.2 again, still doesnt work.

I also tried the way of carlfrontucson's, actually this is the only way to get my Wifi running again if the connection drops. But after another sleep and wake up, I have to do it again to get it running.

I'm still encountering this issue. Using 10.7.2 from a clean install, 27" iMac, AirportExpress AP w/ WPA/WPA2.

I've tracked this issue down to a WPA/WPA2 authentication problem. When I do encounter the issue, the following shows up in my system log (sometimes repeated several times in a row, lowest 3 bytes redacted):

en1: BSSID changed to 00:11:24:XX:XX:XX

When I don't encounter this issue, the preceeding line is followed by the RSN handshake completion message:

en1: BSSID changed to 00:11:24:XX:XX:XX

AirPort: RSN handshake complete on en1

When I do encounter the problem, I also see this repeated constantly in my AP's logs in the logs of my Airport Express upon waking up the iMac (mac address is of my iMac, redacted):

Oct 23 18:47:01 Severity:5 Deauthenticated with station c8:bc:c8:XX:XX:XX (received invalid class-3 frame).

My guess is that once the CCMP/TKIP key is rotated by the AP (mine is set to the default 1-hour interval), and the computer wakes up from sleep, the computer thinks it's already authenticated (thus sending class-3 802.11 frames), but the AP is saying it's not and preventing access. I have yet to confirm this with further testing, but will do so as time permits.

FYI - I updated my Snow Leopard Mac Mini & Macbook Pro to Lion on October 21, 2011. Upon completion of the last update (MacMini) we immediately started having dropped internet connections, frequently.

Now...I am not a computer tech or capable of understanding all the jargon and complicated directions as most of you are. However, I am a user of software that was sold to me with the understanding that it would work.

Apparently, at least since July, many people have experienced this intermittent internet drop problem with absolutely no recognition (publicly) by Apple that an issue exists. It appears that the company wants the user to investigate and resolve the issue for them.

In the end, I, and I'm sure other Mac users like me with no limited understanding of the intricacies involved with software, applications, and the hardware, are stuck waiting to have the problem fixed so that we can move on with actually using a product we paid for.

End of whine and rant. APPLE - FIX THIS PROBLEM!!

Hey vrtx0 !

You're AMAZING!

I have a question for you tho...would a 801.11x connection that is NOT using encryption (e.g., WPA/2) still display such an authentication issue? I ask because long ago (relative time) I disabled all encryption on a test account for my MBP...I did this on both the AirPort Extreme and Netgear routers that I have. I still I still have the issue with both...yet the iPhone and iPad don't demonstrate the same issue.

I agree and think it's burried someplace in the authenication portion of the IP stack...heck it reminds me of the the old Win3.1/11 days (not as bad tho).

Again, I have found that I can "correct" or "fix" (not sure what I would call it) the problem by simply USING THE REFRESH BUTTON on a browser after I get an error message that I have a network connection issue.

I have hope that a fix will be in the works soon...there seems to be a fair amount of people all talking about the issue.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Thanks, I would indeed think that disabling encryption would solve the issue if it were just related to authentication... As it didn't for you, I wonder if the problem is something more fundamental though.

I'm about to run a test with the key rotation interval set to 10 minutes to see if the length of time required to reproduce is related. I'll disable all encryption after that to see if there is any correlation.

That's interesting that refreshing the browser works for you -- I have indeed tried this with Chrome, but not Safari. I've also tried pinging 4.2.2.2 and 8.8.8.8 when the problem is encoutered, but to no avail (until I turn off/on my airport connection). Do you by chance have any relevant log output in 'Console' (Applications/Utilities) around the time you wake your computer up from sleep that you could post?

And holy crap yeah, I remember the ol' days of Win3.1 w/ Trumpet WinSock. Let's just say I'm still a huge fan of BSD. 🙂

Thanks for the info and help, I'll try to post my results back tonight or tomorrow morning.

Best,

-Ben

P.S. I did a quick diff of some of the XNU kernel changes from 10.6.8 to 10.7.2, and it looks like a lot has changed (in particular, looks like BSD-style bridging was added). I think the wifi driver handles most of the logic we're getting hit by though (which is closed source afaik).

Just as an FYI...I'm primarily using Firefox but I have been able to also recreate it when using Safari...not that it matters as it's a network issue and not application based.

As far as using the console...happy to assist...if you can give me some instructions I'll gladly do it and send you the results. I'm far from being a UX guru so I may need some coaching.

I'd really be curious of anything you might find out by disabling any encryption.

Scott