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Level 1

12 points

MBP 2010 can't connect to wifi 5 Ghz

I have a router ASUS RT-N56U. My MBP does not connect to the 5 GHz wifi in OS X 10.8.2 (12C60). In Windows 7 x64 Boot Camp is no such problem.

In my family, there are other devices Apple (MBA 2011, iPad 3) and they have successfully connected to the 5 Ghz wifi.

The difference is that the MBP purchased in Russia, MBA - in England, iPad 3 - in the United States.

Router bought in Russia, but in the settings 5GHz wifi I force the American region and it runs on 149 channel.

Information WiFi adapter in the MBP:

Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x93)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.98.81.22)
Supported channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108 , 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 27, 2013 7:44 PM

Best reply

Martin-Bisousnours

Level 1

4 points

Posted on May 30, 2017 11:58 AM

Thanks for the advice. Same happened for me when migrating from Macbook 11in Intel --> 2011 MBP 13in.

* Turn off wifi,

* delete /Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and

* turn WiFi back on was enough.

No need to remove passwords from keychain.

Thanks again, you saved my day.

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49 replies

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 1:17 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I get home, check it out.

Feb 28, 2013 7:05 AM in response to SmokeGCH

You don't have both the 2.4 and 5GHz networks named the same, do you? Some routers allow for this and most of the time it works fine unless you're pushing the radios to full speed and then I've seen Macs bounce between the two networks so much that it finally just drops.

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 9:41 AM in response to SwankPeRFection

I have the router with two access points. They have different names and different settings.

Here are the basic settings of 2.4 Ghz:

2.4 GHz WiFi SSID: HomeWiFiNet

5 GHz WiFi SSID: HomeWiFiNetFast

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 9:49 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

You have your mode set to "n" only - that's the only change that I see that I would make...

Available settings 5 GHz:

clintonfrombirmingham wrote:

Hunh... I've no idea what's going on... what did NetSpot show running it under OS X?

Clinton

NetSpot report here

http://dfiles.eu/files/ts955fm86

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 10:08 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

clintonfrombirmingham wrote:

And the AirPort card in the 2010 model is 802.11a/b/g/n, so that shouldn't be a problem. About the only thing that I can suggest is playing around with different channels - maybe 149?

I've tried all channels, the result is - time out. 😟

Feb 28, 2013 1:22 PM in response to SmokeGCH

Why don't your region codes match up on both networks? You have the 2.4 set to Euro and the 5 to US. ???

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 7:39 PM in response to SwankPeRFection

Became available to the channel 149 in 5 GHz.

I have another router AirPort Express. MBP is connected with a 70% probability in the "n" standard, a 300 Mbit / s. I started looking in detail, it appears ASUS RT-N56U in 5 GHz running by default on 36 channel, and AirPort Express - a 149 channel. 149 channel is not available on the European routers ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5.C2.A0GHz_.28802.11a.2Fh.2Fj .2Fn.29.5B14.5D ).

I tested one hypothesis, but it too failed.

Feb 28, 2013 9:53 PM in response to SmokeGCH

What country do you live in? If you're US, please use the US bands. If you're in EU, then use those. Don't mix and match. They're like that for a reason, even if it's not the end of the world, why leave it as a possible issue.

Anyway, short of that the only other thing you can do is nix all the .plist files that control the wireless preferences. They're listed in the root /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration I believe. I'd look, but I'm not on my Mac right now. There's only one folder under Preferences that has System in the name. There's three files in there that hold network preferences and config. Drag them to the Desktop to pull them out and reboot. Then try your connection again, but put your radios on the right region first.

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 28, 2013 11:16 PM in response to SwankPeRFection

Ок. I'll try.

For information. In the setting of AirPort Express in AirPort Utility has the following countries:

P.S. That's interesting. Is it possible to change the region on the WiFi card?

Mar 1, 2013 7:08 AM in response to SmokeGCH

WIFI frequency use is governed by the FCC rules set forth for different manufacturers. While some WIFI equipment manufacturers let you control this setting (mostly due to the fact that they ship the same product all over the world with a single version of the firmware on it), not all do this. Some have specific hardware/software that goes to specific geographical locations. Netgear for instance is one company that sells the same hardware everywhere, but has a non-US specific firmware that you must run when you're in another country. It's not too far fetched to think that Apple knowing the laptop is destined for the US to software lock the frequencies to a certain range. However, if this was the case, you wouldn't be able to even see the WIFI network. Regardless, if you live in the US, you MUST set your radio to US settings otherwise you'll cause some interference by having your radio using frequencies that are outside of the defined airspace for US use.

Mar 1, 2013 7:21 AM in response to SmokeGCH

Furthermore, read this... http://jeff-with-a-g.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/5ghz-wifi-on-your-mac-got-you-down. html. It will explain to you why it's important to use the right region code for the radios.

SmokeGCH Author

Level 1

12 points

Mar 1, 2013 8:24 AM in response to SwankPeRFection

Excellent article! All clear!

Need to build a Faraday cage! Just kidding! 😁

Change Region on the router, and automatic channel selection.
Turned off the wifi on the MBP.
I removed all the passwords from the keychain.
Deleted file "/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist" .
Activated wifi on MBP.
Select 5 GHz WiFi network - It worked!

From all we can conclude:

Use WiFi channels are common to all regions.
Delete all passwords from the keychain.
Deleted file "/Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist" .

Thank you all for your help!