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Mac OS X Lion WiFi issues

Ever since I have upgraded my late 2009-iMac to Mac OS X Lion 10.7 I have been experiencing issues regarding my WiFi. I'm actually loosing connectivity, as in AirPort seems to keep "refreshing itself" for no apparent reason, and disconnecting my WiFi intermittently each time. It's almost like my WiFi card can't keep a stable connection to my router anymore. This problem is not occuring on my iPhone, which is also connected to the same home network on the N Router. It's constantly halting downloads halfway through, or near to the end, and they have to be restarted and this is infuriating when the download has taken ages!


Even reaching this page now took several refreshes, as Safari keeps coming up with blank pages every now and then telling me I am not connected to the internet.


Has anybody else had problems with Lion dropping WiFi connection constantly?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Aug 3, 2011 2:12 AM

Reply
263 replies

Nov 20, 2011 3:31 AM in response to bingobingo88

Frankly, I do not know the status of iDVD on newer macs, but it should be there in iLife.

As about iMac, the only having this problem, one question: have you already run software update and tested whether you have all software and, perhaps, firmware updates? There have been some over the last days / weeks. Firmware updates are essential for a good work; they are done once for ever, but pay attention how you do them, read carefully the instructions, as they MUST NOT be stopped in the middle of the process.

There is also a very recent AirPort Base Station firmware update


http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1471


which may solve your issue.

You may also have a hardware issue, but this is very improbable.

Be calm, everything is solvable with patience.

Nov 20, 2011 4:00 AM in response to Ethanace

Of course done all the updates. I did the recent update for the Airport a few days ago, on the same day it was released, but the wireless disconnection got much more frequent after the update, not better. Oh, and I forgot to mention that some of the letters in my wireless keyboard (4rgv) did not work when I got computer. After spending a lot of time going through all the processes of fixing it, nothing worked. After a lot of "patience" and hourse wasted I eventually had to go back to retailer which after trying many things to fix keyboard had to finally give me a new keyboard(I spent 40 minute in store while they tried to fix it first) . For the iDVD it does not come with the new iMac’s. I have thoroughly checked. Trust me. I have also seen the posts on the forums here confirming that as I tried to look for it. Apple leads people to believe it is on therebut it is not preloaded on the brand new iMacs. On the forum someone says they had to go to apple and complain and then they were given the DVD to load themselves. But frankly I can’t be asked to waist more time to go again after having been there once already to get a new keyboard. I am utterly disappointed. Certainly not what I expected from a company that trumpets how user friendly their machines are.

Nov 20, 2011 12:19 PM in response to Ethanace

I have the same problem. Sleep the computer and it looses the wifi connection about 80% of the time. It's not a home router issue, as this happens at several other places I work. It ALWAYS happens if I sleep the computer and move from one location to another.


It's obviously a Lion issue, there was none of this under Snow Leopard.

Nov 20, 2011 12:30 PM in response to bingobingo88

It's really is worth having a go at turning the Channel Selection on your router to manual and going through all the available channels till you find the most stable one. I'm using a Thompson Wireless Box ii and the only channel that works for me is channel 2. It's not perfect but it is a **** of a lot more reliable than the other 12. As an test, I tried using channel 13 before writing this post and when that dropped went to 12 and so on. I was down to 8 before I gave up and put it back on channel 2 and I'm still connected at the moment.

Nov 21, 2011 4:21 PM in response to mauryr

Have you tried the Snow Leopard driver - this fixed the issue for me:


http://rys.pixeltards.com/2011/09/04/osx-lion-wifi.html


This is obviously just a workaround, but until Apple fixes the actual issue it's the best solution I could find.


Also, make sure to contact Apple about it and let them know how you feel. Either use the feedback form on their site or try emailing someone high up the chain. Tim Cook's email address is not that hard to guess.

Nov 28, 2011 12:33 PM in response to Ethanace

I agree, this is a bad show for Apple. This is reminding me of my days with early PCs, with ridiculous crash after ridiculous crash. I am very disappointed with the Lion upgrade, and am recommending my friends NOT upgrade until the bugs are worked out. It took TEN HOURS for me to download the latest fixes ... because the internet kept searching, searching, searching. I called Time Warner Cable (since slow speeds are usually their problem), but the very patient guy walked me through and checked everything. With a hard cable, my speeds are normal. It is a router issue since upgrading to Lion - and he said he'd had quite a few calls. Bad show, Apple.

Nov 30, 2011 10:55 AM in response to AbraBaby

I just purchased a new 27" iMac (2.7 ghz) and am having the same issues mentioned in this thread. Except in my case, the computer doesn't even need to go to sleep to drop the signal, it just constantly drops it.


I have used Mac's for 15 years, no it's not a case of being a newbie. My Macbook running Snow Leopard works completely fine, as does the the PC in the house, the Apple TV, and my iPhone. This is either a Lion issue, or an issue with the new machine. I am leaning towards a Lion issue. It's a complete pain in the butt though and I am very dissapointed. I wish I had caught this issue before I migrated my old system over. I'd reinstall Snow Leopard, but now it's a pain to do so because my work will be interupted even more.

Nov 30, 2011 12:00 PM in response to Tim Hassett

Of course. When a wl network is reportedly problematic, the first step is to make it open, i.e. without any psswd protection. If it works, then go on.

Across years, I discovered that, in mixed mac-win wl networks, the psswd MUST have 13 characters precisely, otherwise Windows PCs will not connect, macs do connect. This is a simple example.

Non-Apple routers require 13 characters too, even if only macs are there, another personal experience. I do not know whether this is valid for ALL wl routers, but it is worth noting it down, for future experience.

Mac OS X Lion WiFi issues

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