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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 26, 2013 3:25 PM in response to wsm0603

In his # 17 message, he suggests that the cause may be the "excessive" politic of Apple in power consumption reduction.


As you all know, wi-fi is one of the biggest power consumer (with the screen), they may have reduce too much the wi-fi power consumption so it result of the problem everyone describe. If that's the case, yes, Windows may resolve the problem.


It is only a new lead, this have to be confirmed, but it will explain why the window diagnostic tool open can save your connection, having your wi-fi at full powerconsumption, for diagnostics.


And if it's really the case, the patch may cause a little less autonomy than what we have now.


For full information, you can read the explanations on MacBidouille, links I post before.

Jun 26, 2013 4:00 PM in response to Vinencre

Theres a way to test that theory, as a ham radio operator and learning good bit about frequency and radio signals, ....does someone have a way to test if their new Airport Extreme is shunting to 5Ghz most if not all? surely there is a check for this.


OR, is there on the Air, a wattage wifi check 2.4 ghz and 5ghz.



If one is at the limit of range for communication, it makes a LOT of sense that 2.4ghz public wifi is an issue whereas Extreme dual band is NOT.


Can someone do a dual old Air next to a new Air side by side and check input signal strength and also output in milliwatts.


Additionally is the new air going nearly exclusive on 5Ghz, since 5Ghz has better GAIN thru walls and distance than does 2.4ghz

Jun 26, 2013 10:40 PM in response to desertcaye

I was told by a Apple rep at a local apple store that "contrary to 14 day return policy" they would honor (these are his words) in fact 30 day return (if it turns out the problem is hardware related).


Contrary to chicken little the "sky is falling" complaints about quality control or Apple verifiying hardware before shipping, I dont believe that whatsoever. Apple does extremely extensive testing on their hardware before shipping.


However that being said, wifi and networking is to a GREAT extent not based in the hardware itself whatsoever. Rather in ISP protocols, wifi signal wattage, communications protocols, base station varieties which exceed near infinity...and on and on.


That Apple Inc. isnt claiming "any problem" with the new Air is nearly entirely correct sensibly, since this is likely a simple OSX handshake to wifi fix, or firmware fix, or wifi firmware instruction to increase power output; and therefore is not a hardware issue related to any and all components within the Macbook Air.


Having worked for a large multinational hardware company, the hardware guys were ok happy go luckys.., but the networking guys always looked stressed, logically so, when youre talking WIFI and networking, your dealing with maybe about 20% hardware side issues on its OS or fimrware..... and 80% infinite router and basestation configurations that boggle the mind. That 80% is not something anyone should fault Apple for, rather there is no really down the line standard super-standard for wifi communication between 10,000X devices and 100,000X routers and base stations.


I dont envy anyone who tries to diagnose wifi / routers and make any hardware comunication 100% on such diverse networks and protocols.

Jun 26, 2013 11:59 PM in response to vhkim

Add my name to the list. 5 minutes out of the box and I was having wifi issues. It shows a full signal and even an IP address but I can't connect to the router (192.168.1.1) or any other web page. Renew DCHP lease seems to be the quickest solution. I can't find any pattern to it. Sometimes it's after 5 minutes, sometimes 30.


Using a WRT54GL router.

All other devices work fine.

Problems started out of box.

2013 1.7GHz i7 8GB 13" model


Hope it's an easy software fix.

Jun 27, 2013 12:22 AM in response to vhkim

I'm back today after being back home, where I have a full-Apple wifi setup.

At my place my new MBA Haswell didn't fail wifi once! I've connected it to an Airport Extreme (previous model) to the 5GHz band.

I'm unhappy to report though that the fix I suggested in my previous post didn't stick... today at the office I'm back to square one, but I can give you all a slightly deeper insight.

At work, we run a wifi that uses 2.4GHz band, channel 1, WPA2 Enterprise security, authentication TTLS.

My MBA disconnects from this wifi once every minute sharp! You could set you watch on this!

The fun part is that nothing has changed in my office since yesterday, and I'm sure the connection, after my "trick" of removing/reinstalling the wifi service was working fine. There's a timer that shows the time your Mac stays connected and authenticated to a WPA2 secured network and I've seen that counter up to 40+ minutes... today it resets every minute.

And the trick doesn't work anymore...


And it does like this (i.e. disconnection every minute) also from another wifi we have, using the same parameters, but different security (WEP 64bit), so we NEED Apple to look into this matter, or we're screwed...

Jun 27, 2013 1:35 AM in response to p0ttyp1g30n

Im digging more and more into that nobody is having ANY issues on 5Ghz, regardless of Apple base station or non-Apple


rather those with issues are ONLY getting them on 2.4ghz


Anyone game to confirm this? If proven so, then this smacks of wattage idling on 2.4ghz (for power saving).


If someone is getting 1 min exactly dropouts as reported on 2.4Ghz, but never any on 5Ghz, then this seems to be an easy firmware update.


Namely adding to that conclusion is keeping diagnostics open on 2.4Ghz constantly making dropping wifi issues "resolve" or halt,...that further confirms some kind of power or idling issue when communicating in 2.4Ghz.

New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

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