My new MBA 13" has the somewhat rare Wi-Fi "crash" problem, more accurately described as a "freeze" or "hang". Owners who are experiencing this problem may want to read this rather lengthy post.
Whenever I connect to Wi-Fi, it freezes dead within a few seconds to a few minutes. The display works, but the cursor is frozen in place and the keyboard is unreponsive. One time it happened when I was scrolling through launch icons in the Dock, and they remained raised and magnified when the computer froze. That's a pretty good indication that the CPU is dead or in a loop. But the best proof of a hang is that if I close the cover, the white apple light on the cover stays lit.
The only remedy is to hold down the power key to turn off the machine, then hold it down again to reboot, and I have to turn off Wi-Fi immediately or it'll hang again.
I tested the MBA with at least four different wireless routers: my Time Capsule (previous gen, not the new one), my Comtrend DSL modem, an old Cisco wireless router, and tethered to my iPhone 5. The MBA hung shortly after connecting to each one. It would appear that my problem is unrelated to the type of router or protocols in use.
In all other respects, my MBA 13" works flawlessly, and I love it.
The machine is an i7, 8GB, 512GB custom build from China received on 6/26/2013. When I got the machine, I used a hardwired gigabit Ethernet connection to migrate all my stuff from a mid-2010 MBPro using Migration Assistant. That worked exceedingly well. Then, for the first three or four days I had the machine, I used a hardwired Ethernet connection. I didn't turn on Wi-Fi until a couple of days ago, and that's when I discovered the problem.
I should mention that the problem was preceded by an odd glitch: When I first turned on Wi-Fi, the icon began to pulse, looking for network connections, and when I pulled down the menu I saw my home Wi-Fi network name. At that moment, I realized the Ethernet cable was still plugged in, and I knew it was higher in the Service Order. So I turned off Wi-Fi and pulled the Ethernet cable. Then I turned on Wi-fi again, but this time it couldn't find any networks. I have a DSL modem with Wi-Fi, and tried turning it on, too. The MBA still couldn't see any networks
After much frustration, I started Googling for solutions, and found one that suggested removing some files in the Library/Preferences folder. After a reboot, that worked and my MBA could see all the nearby networks. But when I connected, the hang problem reared its ugly head. I'm now convinced that the inability to detect networks was a random glitch that's unrelated to the bigger problem of hanging.
I called AppleCare, and I have to say that though I was on the phone for close to three hours, Apple's customer service was incredibly good compared with other vendors. My problem was escalated two levels to an expert in the Networking group within a few minutes. The networking expert quickly talked me through two tests. The first was to delete System/Library/Preferences/System Configuration and reboot. He said the system rebuilds that folder if it's missing, and by deleting it we could test whether there were any corrupt files. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem. The second test was to boot into the Recovery Partition, connect to Wi-Fi, and try Safari. The MBA hung there, too. That eliminated a corrupt OS image, bad configuration files or some mishap that might be related to migrating from my old MacBook Pro. In other words, it pretty-much proved that it's a hardware problem.
Now, I believe it's quite possible that the Wi-Fi connection issues being reported here *might* have something to do with my problem, in that a disconnect from the Wi-Fi problem may be triggering the hang, But the hang itself appears to be hardware related.
The first solution offered by the networking expert was to send me a pre-paid shipping label and have me send the MBA back to Apple so they could investigate the problem. It was very clear from the conversation that Apple is very concerned about problems like this. It's a brand-new model and they want to nip any manufacturing or QA problems in the bud. Thus, they very much wanted to get their hands on my machine. I believe this is why MBAs are being "captured" at Apple Stores.
But I pushed back on that solution. They couldn't give me a definite answer on when I would get the machine back or a replacement. It sounded like it would take them 7-10 days to diagnose the problem, and I didn't want to be without a machine for what looked like three weeks: ship, diagnose, ship. I explained to the network expert that it would be a major inconvenience for me to be without a machine for that long (seeing as how I had already loaded up the old MacBook Pro with my wife's stuff and had given it to her.)
After a lengthy time on hold, the network expert came back and told me that they could offer me a better alternative: declare my machine "DOA" and replace it. They would send me a prepaid shipping label, and would order another identical MBA for me. I have 14 days to return the old MBA, and they have a hold on my card in the meantime. Since this arrangement will result in little or no downtime, I accepted. To compensate for my inconvenience, a couple of nice perks were offered to me by the network expert and later by the customer service people who ordered the replacement. These were not necessary, but I was pleased by the gesture.
Now, it was pretty clear from context that there was a reason I was originally offered the "Diagnose" route versus the "DOA" routes. My distinct impression is that these are two completely different functions at Apple, and that likely my MBA will be thrown in a pile of dead machines and will never make it into the hands of the people who could determine the cause of the problem and perhaps prevent it from being repeated.
What really impressed me about this is that Apple chose to satisfy a customer rather than advance its own more immediate interests. This is unfortunate for the greater good of MBA owners, but it's very good for me personally (unless I get another lemon.)
Now, all that said, after digging into the return policies, I see that since I'm still in the 14-day window, I could have simply returned the machine for a refund and bought another. The only advantage to the DOA is that I don't have to pay in advance for the replacement or wait for a refund.
My guess is that the hardware problem only affects a small number of machines, and that my chances of getting an MBA that doesn't hang are pretty good. But having read all of this thread, I think my chances of getting an MBA that can connect to all sorts of networks without problems are decidedly lower. Hopefully, this will be fixed by a software upgrade. If it turns out to be hardware, and a recall is issued, well then I'll just have to live with that. And I will -- I love this new MBA and am committed to the model.
Meanwhile, I ordered a couple of inexpensive USB Wi-Fi dongles from Amazon just in case. They're very small, and I don't think it'll be much of an inconvenience if I have to use them until all my MBA's Wi-Fi problems are solved.
My point is, it's not just a matter of being within the 14-day or 30-day window, or whatever it is. The machine has a one-year warranty, so if the Wi-Fi problem turns out to be caused by hardware, eventually it will get fixed one way or another. I would bet that the turnaround time will be pretty quick, and they'll probably do swaps at an authorized Apple Store.
FInally, while I have failth that Apple is aware that there are multiple problems with Wi-Fi on the new MBAs, and that they're doing everything they can to solve them, the situation confirms that Apple needs to improve its QA process. Too many products have some out with glitches, like the iPhone 4 antenna and the Maps disaster. I realize that there are zillions of potential Wi-Fi scenarios, which greatly complicates testing, but I think it's a solvable problem. As a shareholder, I would like the company to improve its QA process. OTOH, I also realize that delays in getting products to market tend to kill the stock price (and earnings), too. It's a very delicate balancing act.
vhkim
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wifiguru
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