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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 27, 2013 1:30 PM in response to Tech Nuts

Hi again 🙂


I've now used my new MBA for three days and it now needs a charge soon - down to 13%.


I have used it extensively at home, away from home on open and secure WiFi and via two different smartphone 'hot spots'.


No drop outs at all, none.


The only explanation I have is that it is a custom build in China bought online for UK delivery....


Still, many others posting here have custom builds and are getting WiFi drop outs.


A P P L E, G E T O N W I T H IT......!!!

Jun 27, 2013 3:11 PM in response to vhkim

This is crazy bad. I have spent several hours on the telephone trying to get this resolved and nothing seems to eliminate the issue....after several configuration changes to my home router it works better, however, it doesn't help me when I need to take my MBA outside my home (why I bought it in the first place) because it drops constantly on other networks.....MBA FAIL!!!

Jun 27, 2013 3:24 PM in response to samtenor

So, I got home and returned the apple engineer's phone call today. wouldn't you know it, missed office hours by 45 minutes! Changed my router security settings to WPA2, AES and have now been online for 20 minutes, no dropped internet. I'll keep running it through it's paces, but so far this is the longest i've stayed online using my home wi-fi. I'll keep y'all updated how it's running, but I'm a little optimistic right now!!


Tim

Jun 27, 2013 3:57 PM in response to patricketurner

Second MacBook Air is stable so far (Had the first for 3 days with WiFi issues, then machine bricked itself). I've had the new Air connected to one of the routers that were causing major dropouts with the first Air - it's been about an hour and no dropouts so far (I've had Terminal ping running for an hour and have been checking the history log). I'll report back if things start degrading again.


I'm using all default networking settings, WPA2 on router, 2.4GHz band.


I was also contacted by Apple engineering and gave them all my diagnostic info etc. Hopefully they can find a software/firmware patch to fix the affected users.

Jun 27, 2013 4:28 PM in response to Tladams123

Well, I've been connected, without interruption, for over an hour now. Only thing I've changed is my security settings on my home router. Changed from WPA, TKIP, to WPA2, AES. I did let the machine go to 'sleep' one time and it did not connect to my home router, I had to pick it from the list and no issues since then. Other than that, it's worked flawless. I'm hoping this fixes it, around the house anyways, but so far so good. Not willing to travel and rely on it working just yet. I'll keep trying to make it drop connection, but so far It's been running solidly since I got back in town.


Tim

Jun 27, 2013 5:05 PM in response to Tladams123

Ive had 4 people with new Air issues contact me saying they called into Apple, and talked to senior Apple reps ....


and first thing the reps said was something like "lets see if you are on WPA2 or not"



So, there must be a LOT connected to this wifi issue and using Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) security access for "fixing the problem"

Jun 27, 2013 5:59 PM in response to PlotinusVeritas

Yeah, that's been the workaround for me so far. Too bad, it shouldn't be that way, regardless of what type of security YOU decide to use at home. I'm not condoning using WPA2 to correct the issue makes it right, it's just a work around right now. I'm sure Apple will figure it out soon so noone will have this problem. It's just a nuicanse right now. Going on 2.5 hours now, and still not a dropped connection, only when the machine 'wakes up', and will not automatically join a network is my only issue now, but that takes me like 2 seconds to click a wifi network. I'm sure it's a easy fix, I just haven't looked into it yet!!


Tim

New Macbook Air - wifi connectivity problems

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