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Mac forgets home wifi network every time

Each time my powerbook sleeps, or restarts, I have to reselect my wifi network. It's my home network, and although I have "Ask to Join New Networks" selected in Prefs, ... my network is not new.


In Advanced, my home wifi network is at the top of the list of preferred networks.


It's a nuisance having to selected manually every time I start my computer. What's the problem??

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Sep 23, 2012 5:38 PM

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Posted on Mar 10, 2017 10:46 AM

I found a way easier way to fix this annoying problem! Go into network preferences, click the "advanced" button on the bottom and find YOUR wifi. Just click and drag it to the top of the list of wifi addresses, and PRESTO! MY wifi is what I get immediately signed in on, not one of my neighbors. Yippee!!

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Mar 10, 2017 10:46 AM in response to tahm77

I found a way easier way to fix this annoying problem! Go into network preferences, click the "advanced" button on the bottom and find YOUR wifi. Just click and drag it to the top of the list of wifi addresses, and PRESTO! MY wifi is what I get immediately signed in on, not one of my neighbors. Yippee!!

Sep 15, 2017 7:33 AM in response to JAHelms

I just tried this and I'm hoping it works. My MacBook Air kept connecting to my 5GHz network over my 2GHz network, even though the 2GHz was at the top of the list. After reading your post, I looked at the security settings. The 5GHz had WPA2Personal whereas the 2GHz had WPA/WPA2Personal. I created a new 2GHz network with the same name and set the security to WPA2Personal. I'm hoping that makes the difference.


I also noticed a bunch of networks listed in my remembered networks list that I don't ever remember connecting to. So strange.

Sep 24, 2012 5:02 PM in response to tahm77

Hi, this has worked for a few...


Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712


10.7 & 10.8…


System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.



10.5.x/10.6.x/10.7.x instructions...


System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.


The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.


Instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.


For 10.5/10.6, System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...


208.67.222.222

208.67.220.220


Click OK.


Also, turn off IPv6:

System Preferences » Network » AirPort » TCP/IP tab » Configure IPv6


Or whatever Interface you use.

Sep 24, 2012 8:36 PM in response to BDAqua

I struggled to follow your suggestions.



http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712


>>> article starts with "This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple." not sure if that means it's obsolete or? There was info about Network Port Configurations

that didn't seem to apply.


10.7 & 10.8…


System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.


>>> I created a home location.


The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.


>>> My home location cannot be dragged to the top of locations


Instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.


>>> Home isn't available as a choice.

Jan 18, 2013 1:39 PM in response to tahm77

I found this thread because I was experiencing the same problem. I tried the fix suggested by BDAqua (as well as suggested fixes from similar threads) and nothing worked for me, but I did figure it out on my own. When I went into the Advanced tab in the network preferences window, I noticed that though my home network was listed first in the preferred networks list, it for some reason showed that my network did not have a security setting even though it was WPA encrypted.


I created a new network by hitting the "+" button just below and on the left side of the list pane and gave it the same exact name as my existing home network. I then set it up properly with WPA encryption enabled and the appropriate password. When I saved it, the computer asked me if I wanted to replace the existing network of the same name and of course I did. Boom, problem solved. The MacBook remains connected at all times now.


Hope this helps those of you future readers that, like me, weren't being helped by any of the existing suggestions.

Mac forgets home wifi network every time

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