Disable wireless card and use USB wireless adapter

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Level 1

9 points

Disable wireless card and use USB wireless adapter

Okay I've read countless posts on forums and blogs by people who are having the same problem as me, i.e. WiFi constantly dropping after upgrading to Lion.

Seeing as Apple don't seem bothered about fixing it, I've decided buying a USB wireless adapter is probably the best bet. I'm literally at the end of my tether with this so I don't care if I have to buy an accessory just to fix it (I've tried every different fix I've read, e.g. PRAM reset, static IP addresses, reboot router... even done a clean install of Lion, amongst others... still no luck).

So perhaps if I try a USB adapter that might work. It can't be *just* my router as my MBP works fine on the network with Lion. But if I were to buy an adapter, wouldnt I somehow need to disable my wireless card also?

Posted on Oct 18, 2011 11:41 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

drewfromlittleton

Level 1

80 points

Oct 18, 2011 12:14 PM in response to pealo86

First, it is unlikely that if software caused the problem, replacing hardware would resolve the cause of the problem. I would try deleting the files in Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration. Then reboot the computer and reconfigure the network settings. That is, if this step was not included in your "amongst others".

To your question, you wouldn't "need" to disable the wireless card, but it probably isn't a bad idea. You can do this in the network system preference pane. Just select the Wifi interface, turn it off and then delete it from the list by clicking on the minus button.

Finally, while the assumption that it is not your router because other computer don't have trouble with it, would seem logically sound, but it is not always the case. Does your computer drop off other wireless networks? I once had an issue with my iPhone and my home network. My iPhone didn't have problems with other network, and none of my other devices on my home network had problems. It was just my iPhone dropping connection with my home network. I had to do a hard reset on my router and reconfigure it, but once I did that it fixed the problem. A firmware upgrade might be in order.

It is likely that using a wireless USB adapter will fix your problem, but only because you have circumvented so many of the variables involved. Is that worth it? Probably not to me, but its not my computer.

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Answer 2

pealo86 Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 21, 2011 1:46 AM in response to drewfromlittleton

Thanks for the detailed info.

I hadn't actually thought about deleting the system config files, however I have tried it but the problem remains (although maybe not quite as bad, but it's hard to tell just yet).

I agree that it might not be a problem with the wireless card exactly, more like a combination of the wireless card, Lion and my router. As my Mac worked on my old network at my parents house when running Lion, plus my router works with other devices no problem (and my MBP works fine which is also running Lion).

Come to think of it, I haven't tried my Mac on this network whilst running Lion (although there isn't really much desire for me to install it just to see if that works).

I'll see how it goes and then maybe just buy a wireless adapter.

Thanks

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