You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

Hey guys,


Hope someone can help?


I have a brand new Macbook Air which is able to connect to the internet for just a minute or two before suddenly it drops out. This is even though the signal still shows at full strength and all my other devices are still able to surf the net as per normal.


This device is straight out of the box so no 3rd party applications have been installed. I heard that the wifi has been upgraded to 802.11n on this machine, could that be an issue?


Do i need to return the machine or is there is a software fix for this problem?


Thanks heaps!


Vicky

MacBook Air, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Jun 13, 2013 5:55 AM

Reply
2,163 replies

Jun 20, 2013 7:42 PM in response to marconiusrex

I have personally tried everything mentioned in this thread, and nothing works to keep my new MBA connected to the internet on my home network. I have verified all firmware on router( Linksys router) is up to date, but it still loses connection to internet, not to the router. When I connect to iphone as ahotspot, it'll work flawlessly. When I connnect to iPad as a hotspot, it works flawlessly. When I connect to MiFi air card, it works flawlessly. It only has issues on my home network. I have connected 9 devices now to my home network checking for connectivity issues. PC's, other MAC's, and numerous iDevices and none of them have issues. This is the newest, and the most expensive, computer in the house and it is the only one having connectivity issues with the internet. I'm not totally opposed to upgrading my router if it'll fix my problem, but I'm not willing to do it if I've gotta worry about wether it'll work or not whenever I travel. That's the biggest deal breaker for me right now. If apple can't figure out what's wrong real soon, I'll be returning this computer. Day seven of owning it, so I've still got hope that they'll resolve it before I have to return it.

Jun 20, 2013 7:51 PM in response to vhkim

Here is a summary of the issue most people are reporting:


- Issue is seen only on new 2013 MBA.

- Wifi signal is strong, connection shows connected, but Internet stops working.

- Only known way fix is to turn off wifi and then back on.

- Issue persists even when reinstalling from clean HDD.

- Issue persists even when exchanging MBA for a new unit.

- Root cause seems to be with 2013 MBA Wifi card not working correctly with certain routers.


I am going to try tweaking every setting I can on my DD-WRT router. Will reply later tonight with the results.

One person reported that flasing from DD-WRT to Tomato fixed his issue. I don't want to do this (my DD-WRT router has been stable for 5+ years), but I will try it if I have to...

Jun 20, 2013 7:58 PM in response to indiekiduk2

indiekiduk2 wrote:


Has anyone checked what is output to the console log when the disconnection occurs? Hardware errors detected by the driver are output to the console log. Please paste the error message here then Ill tell you immediately if it is hardware because I've seen it before on macs and the first batch of iPad 3s had bad chips.


yeah, one of my earlier posts showed this

Jun 20, 2013 8:02 PM in response to coolmanpro777

coolmanpro777 wrote:


Here is a summary of the issue most people are reporting:


- Issue is seen only on new 2013 MBA.

- Wifi signal is strong, connection shows connected, but Internet stops working.

- Only known way fix is to turn off wifi and then back on.

- Issue persists even when reinstalling from clean HDD.

- Issue persists even when exchanging MBA for a new unit.

- Root cause seems to be with 2013 MBA Wifi card not working correctly with certain routers.


I am going to try tweaking every setting I can on my DD-WRT router. Will reply later tonight with the results.

One person reported that flasing from DD-WRT to Tomato fixed his issue. I don't want to do this (my DD-WRT router has been stable for 5+ years), but I will try it if I have to...


I went back to stock firmware on my Linksys E2000, it was running DD-WRT. Since going stock, it has not had an issue.


I also bought a USB 3 Ethernet adapter and an Airport Express, to hedge my bet 🙂 If everything stays stable over the weekend, I will keep it. If not, I will return it and wait for the fix.

Jun 20, 2013 8:08 PM in response to indiekiduk2

Unable to ping router when the issue happens. The signal strength shows full, but there is no Wifi conntectivity.


BTW, I change the encryption protocol on my router from TKIP to AES about ten minutes ago... so far, so good. This might be a fix.


Everyone with this issue -- check if you are using TKIP and change to AES. It's easy to configure in DD-WRT.

Jun 20, 2013 9:54 PM in response to vhkim

Hello everyone!

I just sold my 15 MBP, and was about to order a new MBA.... When I saw this news!

Not only I think I'm gonna wait until it's solved, it just reminded me that I have the same problem on my ipad mini!

Logged on an airport extreme 2012, It's got exactly the same wifi problem, which can only be solved by a turning off and back on...

Related problems?

Jun 21, 2013 12:48 AM in response to vhkim

Same issue here it ***** as this is a great computer but as its my travel pc and i can not control the network its on this will not work for me


of course it works fine at the Apple Store but everywhere else it dont work and drops the connection it dont even work with my clearwire hotspot


had to return it hopefully they fix it soon\\

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/kov.png/][IMG]http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6312/kov.png[/IMG][/URL]

New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.