Q: Mac OS X Lion WiFi issues

I bought a new apple router with the computer, Airport extreme, as well as Windows Office.  My purchase seems to have been a total waist as I am fed up with the problems of wireless.  I have no probleme with wireless when connecting through the iPad or my old PC laptops.  They are working fine with the new mac router so it is not the router or the network.  it is the iMac being a piece of junk since only new "top of the range" iMac has the problem.   iLife was installed on my Mac but does not include iDVD, so obviously new iMacs don't have iDVD.

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.

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. 

Had to reconnect to post first message just for your info.  Wirless still disconnecting all the time.  Junk,junk,junk. 

What about the firmware update? It should be detected during the moments when your wl network is running.

If not yet, install that firmware, I have the feeling this is it.

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.

This is indeed a Lion issue.

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.

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.

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.

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.   

Has anyone in this discussion thread tried turning off wireless security? 

I know this is not a long term, viable solution.  BUT this solved the issue for me, and I'm curious if it solves the issue in 90% of the cases. 

If so, the culprit has to lie somewhere in the WiFi chipset of the Mac, the base station, and security protocol.

I'd have to guess most of us aren't in the position to try that.  I know I am not.  I live in a complex where I'd have 20 people on my WiFi within minutes lol.   

Can you make sure you are connected to your AP then open a terminal and copy and paste the following commands (one at a time)?

sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport -s

sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport -I

Then post the output?

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.