Q: Updated to 10.7.3. Wifi drops constantly.

@FrameThought

@hayesjam

@Steven Kennedy

@newdeal99

Good to hear this works for you !

But a word of CAUTION would be in place :

please be aware that earlier in this thread it is claimed that Apple (a.k.a. 'some unnamed Apple Helpdesk employee') has warned that having drivers and/or extensions of older OSX-versions installed over your current OSX will prevent them from being updated in future updates of OSX...

so... even though you 'solution' may have solved things on the short run, it may as well have put you on the path of new trouble in the longer run...

There is however a solution that has far less chance of future problems, since it installs the same version of the kext-file that 10.7.3 needs : after you have reinstalled the IO80211Family.kext-file from 10.6, reinstall the kext-file from 10.7.2 on it... according to the version numbers you then have the 10.7.3 version installed... (the kext-versions in 10.7.2. and 10.7.3 are the same...) so you have far less chance of getting in trouble again at the next OSX-update...

for some mysterious reason this has worked for others, but only if you've re-installed the 10.6 kext-file inbetween...

the choice is up to you...

Yeah I don't think that will be a problem I will not be upgrading anymore after this mess. I will be waiting and just doing a clean install of mountain lion when it comes

Thank you for your words of caution. What is the version number for the kext-file for 10.7.2/10.7.3?

I can confirm (on 2 iMacs, bought end of 2011, prior to 10.7.3: no Wifi problems, after 10.7.3: need to manually connect Wifi, tried everything else mentioned in this thread) that restoring the IO80211Family.kext from 10.7.2 seems to solve the problem for me.

I used the Kext Utility from FrameThought's link but my own IO80211Family.kext out of Time Machine from before the 10.7.3 update.

For those interested: the version of IO80211Family.kext before 10.7.3 is 4.1.1 and after is 4.1.2.

For those woried about future updates: before applying any future update, replace your 10.7.2 version again with the 10.7.3 (Kext Utility makes a backup before it replaced the original kext).

I suppose I was luckier than most... The 10.7.3 update went in fine on my27-inch iMac (purchased in August of 2010)... It even installed fine on my older iMac (purchased in January 2007). The issues aroe on my Mac Book Pro  (purchased in January 2008). Once installed I had no Wi-Fi at all.. .The system would boot up and tell me there was no Wi-Fi hardware installed.  Everything I tried (from restores from backup and following instructions from the support group failed. I ended up re-installing Snow Leopard which is stable and makes the Mac Book a stable development platform again...

Finally I went back to 10.7.2 with a clean install and I did not update 10.7.3 as well as airport 6.0. Everything is fine. it is the easiest solution so far.

I too am having the same problem.  I stumbled upon the following solution from a blog.  It worked for me:

Just UNCHECK that "Re-open windows when logging back in" button when you log out or shut down and then restart.

http://macnerd-presents.blogspot.com/2011/08/os-x-lion-wifi-no-hardware-installe d.html

I too am having the same problem.  I stumbled upon the following solution from a blog.  It worked for me:

Just UNCHECK that "Re-open windows when logging back in" button when you log out or shut down and then restart.

http://macnerd-presents.blogspot.com/2011/08/os-x-lion-wifi-no-hardware-installe d.html

Hi all,

I've had crazy problems related to both WiFi and Bluetooth ever since going Lion. However, after updating to 10.7.3 (the large update) from 10.7.2 the WiFi always drops whenever I switch my bluetooth audio on. It resumes  after disabling the bluetooth audio. Please note that Bluetooth is always on in both cases, I just switch the audio output. Like someone before said the same hardware handles both WiFi and Bluetooth ...

Anyone having the same problem?

my specs if this helps: MacbookPro 13": mid 2011, 2.3 GHz i5, Broadcom hardware

I've been following the problems apparent to Update 10.7.3 - an Apple Tech Support representative told me that update was "corrupted software", and is in need of a patch or a new update. Anyway, after downloading the update, I had WIFI issues wrt/ my iMac resuming operation from a "sleep" condition, ie. it would NOT automatically reconnect to my router address. It WOULD work if I manually connected it, and it would STAY connected.

Someone suggested waking-up the computer via the on/off button in the back of the iMac - that the system would automatically reconnect from a sleep mode. So, I tried it, and it works. And it's been working - every time - since last week. And I've been using this method INSTEAD OF what I used to do to wake it up: hitting the space bar on my wireless keyboard ...

I mention this because, quite by accident, without reading any further input from any FAQ, ... I just "discovered" that my wireless bluetooth keyboard is "not connected", according the keyboard preferences utility found in system preferences. It IS connected via the bluetooth icon in the upper-right corner of the desktop (because I manually connected it); but the utility still shows it not being connected ... And of course, it's working just fine, or I wouldn't be able to type this ...

Anyway, there might be a tie-in between the bluetooth capability and WIFI, possibly. I have to think that if it (keyboard) was "connected" properly, that possibly, it would awaken my system as it used to do, and automatically connect to my router address ...

Just thought I'd offer this tidbit of info ...

This should solve your iMac WiFi issues related to waking from sleep:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1501

Thank you so much for providing me with this patch - I really appreciate it.

Just downloaded and installed it, and after I did a restart, the system locked-on to the network address ok. We'll give it a try from a "sleep" mode and see how it works.

But either way, I sincerely appreciate your assistance with this. Thanks again !

- Chris

Ah...

good to see that Apple is trying to fix WiFi-problems caused by the OSX 10.7.3 update...

...too bad the fix is for iMacs only...

it refuses to install on my Mac

...and there is no accompanying info to find out if this fix only fixes the "sleep & WiFi problem on iMacs" or if this should also be the fix for all "no hardware installed errors on 10.7.3 Macs with Atheros AirPort-cards"...

...so Apple should still come up with a fix for all those other "no hardware installed errors on 10.7.3 Macs with Atheros AirPort-cards"...

I have to say I'm very impressed with Apple's performance on fixing this - so far, it works just fine on my iMac. And I want to give "kudos" to "Josie" from Apple Tech Support - I talked with her a couple of times during the past month regarding this problem, and she said she would e-mail or call me when a fix or patch came out to resolve it ... She did ! - Sent me an e-mail alerting me to it's availability ! So, in addition to wifiguru's efforts, my sincere thanks goes to "Josie" of Apple Tech Support ...

I'm sure there's other problems that still haven't been resolved, though. Hopefully they're still working on resolving your problems, Toon.B ... I still have a little problem with my bluetooth keyboard not being recognized as "available" by the keyboard utility under system preferences ... The keyboard works just fine; however it's not recognized by this utility ... Yeah, it appears to be a rather insignificant problem - but it should work ... Hopefully, the solution is being worked ...

- Chris

I hope for a fix soon of the other WiFi problems with Lion 10.7.3.. One my new MacMini and MacBookAir WiFi drops several times a day, and usually the problem can only be fixed by resetting the modem. Very irritating.

Interestingly no problems with the MacBook Air with a non-Apple WIFI router.