New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

Me again... remember I said I went to the Apple store and exchanged it for a different one... and that everything was fine with the new one? No - same problem. To reiterate, I have four other MacBooks running at my house (two other Airs) as well as at least ten various other WiFi devices such as iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches... no problems.

This one connects... and then a few minutes later it can't get a webpage or be in the iTunes store or download Cloud content... and so on. It says it's connected, but of course it isn't.

I am returning the MacBook Air tomorrow, and will repurchase in the Fall if/when Apple figures it out. There's a major problem here, and I lack the technical skills, time, or money to test/configure/replace everything in my house... only to have the same issue on the road.

Bummed in Berlin...

HEADS UP: Even though I am a customer in Berlin, I just got an email followed by a lengthy call with Engineering in Austin, TX. There is awareness of the issue, and I ran/provided logs from the non-working (second) MBA purchased yesterday, as well as the working MBA which I bought six weeks ago.

No news beyond "they're aware"... but they're aware enough to call a customer in a foreign country.

Best,

Yoram from Berlin

Mac air 2013 the same problem routers Netgear WGR614v10 and Netgear wndr 4000 drops every 5 to 40 minutes, tried change speed settings, all channels, different types of encryptions, settings in keychain, sing and pray, no matter if i have open or closed wireless diagnostics still dropping connection. for money and time i spend, i would've be able to buy 2 mile of rope and box of soap and use it on apple stuff who sells raw product. i'm so disappointed

Just want to reiterate that I have an Asus RT-N16 router. I had this problem after I got my new 2013 MBA and my router at the time was running DD-WRT. Reformatting did not work. However, changing my router firmware to Tomato (shibby build) solved the problem at home. So, if you have an ASUS RT-N16 router, load Tomato firmware. Seeing as how other people have exchanged their MacBook Airs with the no improvement, it sounds like this is software/firmware. So, I'd suggest either returning the computer, or fiddling with your firmware until (hopefully) Apple comes up with a solution.

I had just ordered my MBA and found out about this problem. I'm curious if this is a fix that apple can do via firmware update or not. I'm moving abroad at the end of August so until then I'm not really planning on using my MBA outside the house much so I can just connect it directly to the router.

But if this is a hardware problem I'm not sure how I could get apple to help me when I'm in another country. So if waiting for a firmware update is all that's necessary I'm okay with sticking with my purchase. But if you guys think it might be hardware that needs replacing I might consider canceling the order.

Maliath,

I have it workking with the Asus RT-N 16. This is what I am running on it:

Router ModelAsus RT-N16

Firmware VersionDD-WRT v24-sp2 (06/08/12) mega - build 19342

CPU ModelBroadcom BCM4716 chip rev 1

CPU Clock480 MHz

What does the non working dd-wrt firmware and CPU models say for you ? Try the version I am using. I see no issues with it.

Just wanted to give a summary of my experience so far:

My router: Netgear WNDR3700v2 running the latest official stock firmware

this router has several devices wirelessly connected to it including an older Macbook Pro (late 2007), two iPhone 5s, a couple of android tablets, an xbox, and a windows HTPC all working flawlessly throughout this ordeal.

Summary:

I ordered a 13" i5/8gb/256gb model from the website the same day they were released at the WWDC. The device that came immediately had wifi issues. It would connect to my home wifi and would work for anywhere from 1 minute to 15 minutes and then it would lose it's connection. After dropping, the machine would no longer be able to see ANY wifi networks until it was rebooted or it came back up from sleep mode. This happened both on the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks.

Turning wifi on and off via software had no effect after the wifi dropped. If i turned it off and on prior to the drop, then it would function correctly until it dropped. I took this unit back to the apple store and it exhibited the same behavior on their wifi network. It did seem to take longer to manifest though. The genius felt it was a software issue and not hardware related. I don't necessairly agree with his diagnosis but either way the laptop was exchanged. I needed a working unit for a trip later that week and didn't have time to order another one from the online store.

The new unit I came home with was a 13" i5/4gb/256gb model and that machine worked perfectly on my home wifi. It had no issues whatsover and the wifi never dropped. It also worked great on the hotel wifi at the resort I stayed at.

I ended up returning the 4gb unit and placed a new order for one with 8gb of memory. The new CTO unit is being "processed" and I assume it will arrive sometime later this week. Hopefully it will not be a dud.

Is this a common issue or it happens by chance? 😮 Anyone don`t have wifi issue? Was going to buy the new air til I saw this post last week

I can also confirm that it works fine on a Belkin F9K1001 v3 running the stock firmware F9K1001_WW_3.00.03

I have been on this router all day, connected to a WPA2 (AES) wireless network.

Hi gmc Don`t know why I can only see your last reply when I log off apple account. I read through this discussion yesterday but can`t remember all detail, how did you solve the problem? Have you try with other wifi like public wifi or hotel? I want to buy one in two weeks so I can get tex refund when I go abroad, or you recommand me to wait til this solved by apple?

I've held off on replacing an almost 5 year old 2.4 Ghz Intel Core Duo 2 Macbook, 13", for more eight going on nine months now. This is a bummer. My first 'hold' was when new 2013 MBPr's were having loud fan issues. Apple released a firmware fix for the 15" MBPr about 3 weeks after the blogs lit up with the problem, but to my knowledge did not release the same fix for the 13" MPBr - and I want 13" size. Customers are still reporting fan problems with the 13" MBPr.

When rumors about new MBA's having ac WiFi ramped up, I decided to wait longer and go for 13" MBA and a new Airport Extreme Base station & Airport Express. With MBA Haswell, lighter, longer battery life, faster WiFi vs. (still overpriced) Retina display seems fine. I think it might be a while before we see 12 hour battery life with a Retina display. I never watch movies/t.v. on my laptop, I have a beautiful home theater for that - but speaking of my HT, there's no Airport Express with a/c WiFi yet and that's how I connect my home theater to my WiFi network. The incoming cable internet signal is wired to an outlet in the lower part of my duplex, and that's where it needs to stay. Without an a/c Airport Express upstairs, my bandwidth to my HT will not be upgradeable, yet. Unless i buy one new AE Time Capsule and one AEBS - which seems so overkill and $$$.

So.

I'll hold off another month or so, until Apple releases a firmware update. It should not take longer than that.... but as a long time Apple customer of 30 years, it is sad to see these quality and timing issues.

Who thought it was a good idea not to roll out ac airport express simultaneously?

flinlov, I only saw your response in my email, not on here... odd.

I haven't 'solved' the issue on my end, though I have figured out how to reduce it's occurrence. I am going on the road for a week, so it will be interesting to see what happens at the hotel. I am bringing my airport express, just in case...

I know they are working on it, and i am sure they will resolve it. I have the option of returning up until Friday the 28th, but I don't think I will be doing that.

Was about to purchase the new MacBook Air, but after reading so many complaints regarding New MBA's wifi problems. I think I have to wait till Apple officially admit and fix the issue. Hope they will do it asap. 😕

Yeh me too, can`t see your reply in this page, thats weird. Thank you, I will wait for one more week to see hows going with this problem, have fun with your trip, tell us if your device is good on your way.

I just wanted to let you know that I got an email by an Apple engineer.

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