My Mid 2010 MacBook Pro wifi keeps disconnecting, and doesn't turn back on. Help.

I am experiencing the same exact issue. Can't seem to identify what is causing it. Up until a week ago I've never had this problem. The only thing that "fixes" the issue to to restart the computer and even that only solves the problem temporarily if at all.

I am running OS X 10.8.2. 15 inch Mid 2010. Core i5, SSD.

No, haven't had my computer serviced or anything replaced. The most recent thing I did was to start using Time Machine a week or two prior to the issue first appearing. However, I doubt that has any relavance.

The problem is now so bad that even a restart isn't fixing it. The Airport status bar just says "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed". I've tried resetting the SMC, setting the service order of the network connections so Wi-Fi is first (now that the system isn't detecting the Wi-Fi hardware at all this no longer shows up as an option), creating a new network location, renewing DHCP, and of course rebooting multiple times. Nothing has helped. I'm starting to wonder if it really is a hardware issue.

Yeah, I may need to do that. Unfortunately I'm over 200 miles from the nearest Apple Store. If I can't find a solution soon I'll try doing a clean install of OS X.

Hey, so I've been having the exact same issues as you for months on my macbook pro mid-2010 model. Very frustrating, wifi dropping every 2-5 mins and unable to reconnect without rebooting several times. I gave up using it completely and was about to buy a new laptop when somebody suggested to me it could be something simple as interference. Noooooooooo I thought, can't be. I've got an Acer laptop, ipad, iphone, iMac 2012 model, two samsung smart tv's all on the same network and they all work fine with no drops. But I thought what the **** I'll try it. Whaddya know - 3 hours of constant surfing last night and not one wifi drop!!

So what did I do?

Well, this is the sceientific bit...... Attached to my sky hub router on ethernet I have a mybooklive, mybook world, sky+HD box and a THREE Home Signal box (very poor reception from Three everywhere I know, but in my flat its non-existent!). The THREE box was located on a shelf above the router which was sitting on the floor. I moved the three box down to the floor and as far away from the router as the very short ethernet would allow. Thats it. I wouldn't have believed it myself, but for 3 hrs last night, not one wifi drop. I tried moving around the lounge, disconnecting, reconnecting, waking laptop from sleep - everytime it connected successfully!

Not completely out of the woods yet. Moving to the bedroom (a very short distance away) it lost connection and needed a reboot - however, this is a million times better than it was. Further trials tonight !

Hi there, I am having exactly the same issue, with the same Mac model. First it started freezing completely randomly (pointer stopped moving and eventually the fan started going nuts), then I had the Wi Fi issue you described. It would be fine, then drop out, then I wouldn't be able to turn the Wi Fi on - I'd click the button but it would stay off. Ethernet would also read as not connected with a tested cable plugged right in. I did the whole DNS flush, DHCP Lease Renew, Delete SystemConfiguration... everything I could find, but no change. Then a couple of days later it froze three times in a row at the white apple start up screen.

I took it into a Genius Bar and they intially suggested doing everything I had already done (as they swapped geniuses throughout the appointment who I had to keep re-informing of the situation), then performed a bunch of tests which said everything was fine, including the Drive. Then he said to leave it with them for a while to do more complex tests. They called back yesterday to say after the combination of tests they tried, it could only be a Motherboard issue (they originally thought it was an OS issue), and that they'd be happy to replace it for the handy sum of £320+! This repair comes with a 90-day guarantee, but I'm sorry, this Macbook is barely 3 years old and has hardly been pushed to the limits. I asked if there was a way to get it guaranteed for a full year, but they won't do it on such an 'old' model (which sounds a little to me like they pretty much expect it to start falling apart after 3 months and would rather it's me who foots the next bill than them...)

Not sure what to do... this came completely out of the blue (all took place over three days), so have now gone from a reliable, essential laptop to nothing at all without having to shell out a chunk of cash that I don't really have. They also won't accept it on their recycle scheme, as it's deemed to have no re-sell value. This cost me £1000 remember! I could have bought three £330 laptops and spread out the workload between them for that money - I bet they'd still be working.

Should I get the motherboard replaced, or buy a new laptop (in two minds about whether to stick with Apple to be honest...)

I've read enough on here about people paying to have hardware repaired, only for it to fail again, to make me nervous about paying for the replacement board.

What do you think? Is there anything anyone else has tried?

Years of fine internet use via WIFI then randomly it starts dropping then one day (weeks later) it is no longer accessible at all and even saying "No hardware installed" when I click on WIFI icon at the top right on screen. Here is how I finally fixed it!:

For six months I wallowed in this problem and had to connect my macbook pro to the internet via ethernet cable which as you can image was very restrictive :/

I have had numerous laptop technicans befuddled by this WIFI problem and most concluding with how my WIFI card must be broken and that I will need to buy a new one. The last suggestion I had on the matter was to buy a USB wifi dongle.

So I ended up buying this one, http://www.asus.com/nz/Networking/USBN10_NANO/Unfortunately my macbook pro didn't want to read the install disc and it didn't autorun so it didn't work. After reading more forums I saw that you could download the program from the net and sure enough it worked.. BUT STRANGER when I took the USB dongle out the WIFI was still working!! The program appears to have reminded my four year old macbook pro that it is indeed WIFI capable.

So to find this miraculous program its located herehttp://www.asus.com/nz/Networking/USBN10_NANO/HelpDesk_Download/

Same link as above just under SUPPORT>Driver&Tools

You then click on a file when its downloaded and a file called MAC will appear, then click on install. Within 5 minutes you should have your WIFI back. My macbook pro crashed again today but without having to get the shortest ethernet cable you've ever seen out again - I was able to install the program again and WIFI was up and running once more. Moral of the story - didn't need to spend any money to fix this and not even using the USB dongle.

So happy!! Hope it works for you too!

This also worked on a MacBook that lost its WIFI when a user accounts password was changed and the keychain password wasn't known to them - another random way to lose WIFI apparently

Not sure if this will help, but I purchased a mid 2010 MBP 13" on eBay recently. Had the Wifi issues after installing Mavericks and did all the suggested resets, took it to the Genius Bar, and even took it apart. For whatever reason, if I hold "D" for Diagnostics upon start up for 10 seconds, my WiFi will work. If I do not do this, it doesn't work. It takes a bit longer to start up, but it works.

Hope this will help someone.

I am having the same issue on my mid-2010 Macbook Pro. Many of the solutions mentioned, including a fresh reinstall of OS X, have not worked. Was anybody able to successfully resolve this issue? Thank you for your help!

I've got a Mid 2010 MBP and it recently has been doing what you've described. I called AppleCare, reinstalled OS X, deleted plist files, and deleted the network keychains, reset PRAM, the whole bit. I had AppleCare totally confused. Has your battery been replaced, or showing any alerts to get it replaced? Mine had been connecting just fine until I downloaded CoconutBattery and the battery was only working about 60-65 percent capacity. Then, I went to Apple and replaced the battery, no issues! Maybe that'll help.