Wi-fi off and will not turn on - MacBook

I highly recommend that fearless owners of elderly Macs try iFixit. They publish easy-to-follow guides to teardown specific models and replace specific components. They sell tools and tell you where to buy replacement parts. I have been doing my own upgrades and drive replacements for 15 years, and it just gets easier.

The unibody Airport card replacement guide is here: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Unibody+Model+A1278+AirPort+Card+Replacemen t/8987.

This repair is categorized as difficult.

They also have an incredible iPad app.

SOLUTION IF AIRPORT IS NOT FOUND AFTER RESTART!

Hi ChrisZam,

I had the same problem with my MacBook Pro from 2011 (operation software 10.6.8). After a year my wifi stopped working, I went to the mac store and had to pay 175 euro's for a new airport card (the problem was so far that my mac uninstalled his own airport card -_-). after the fix, it worked just fine but the problem reappeared a year later... by searching the web I found a solution that spared me money but cost my guarantee (my mac was 2,2 years old). I opened my mac and carefully pulled out the cable connecting my wifi card with the motherboard (please make sure your mac is completely off!). After that I reinstalled it back in the motherboard, that fixed the problem. Unfortunately it was a temporary fix... when the problem reoccured I did the same thing over and over again.

Note: the problem can occur faster after each attempt.

Just today (3-21-15) I found this post on my quest on finding a permanent fix for this problem. (TNX AtlantaElise! Great job!) Only I had the same problem with the restarting of my mac that the Airport is not shown in the + of the network system preference. Fortunately i found the solution for this fix!

SOLUTION:

First you follow the steps of AtlantaElise. If the airport wont show up in your network system preference, shut down your computer and reset PRAM:

1. Shut down your computer

2. press and hold Command - Option - P - R

3. Startup your computer

4. When your computer starts up for a second time, release the buttons.

(This is for 10.6.8, find on apple support if the PRAM is the same with your operating system!)

Everything would be just normal and your airport would be automatically been reinstalled. If not, check your network preferences and add AirPort like AtlantaElise mentioned.

Hope it would help (you or some one else),

Gr GB

I just been occupied with this issue... I tried everything... so the last thing I tried is to make a hardware scan... while on that... my macbook turn off... I forgot to plug it to charge it... when I plug it and turn on... my wifi appears again on and everything runs just OK... I think maybe it happens because I drain off my battery... maybe when it get off, the PRAM was cleared...

Hi there. I have got the same problem on macbook pro 2009. I tryd the things what are writed there, but it doesnt help. Every time when my wifi crash I have to restart my computer. Almost every 20 minute it's crashing since 4 days, i dont know why.

AtlantaElise's fix worked for me but instead of using the + button to add a WiFi connection, I just clicked the small cog and clicked "Make Service Active" and was able to turn the WiFi on. Thanks AtlantaElise!

For those who have tried Elise's method without success for reliable wifi that won't crash again shortly (like me), you may want to consider a relatively cheap and easy fix on the hardware side.

I have a MacBook Pro (early 2011) and am running Mavericks. Over several months, had issues with my airport card (showed: "no wifi hardware installed"), replaced it with a new one, and still had inconsistent wifi connection...frequent drops and shutoffs that were driving me crazy (after resetting the nvram/pram and smc innumerable times).

After doing some research, I decided to go with a wifi dongle that fits in the USB port, the Edimax EW-7711MAC, which is designed for MacBooks and runs with OS 10. Downloaded and installed the driver from the Edimax website and plugged in the dongle.

Works excellently...but one caveat, for this Edimax model you have to have a wifi router that operates at the more robust 5 ghz level, not 2.4. (Edimax has another dongle for the lower level.) Everything is loading so much faster now -- with stability, efficiency and, especially, reliability.

Picked up the Edimax dongle on Amazon for around $25 http://www.amazon.com/Edimax-EW-7711MAC-Adapter-Performance-10-7~10-10/dp/B00LGN 8HWS...a lot cheaper than getting a new airport card and it is so small that it integrates discreetly and nicely into my Mac.

Whew...what a relief! Wish I would have known this option before paying for and installing a new airport card, and trying all the software "fixes" that are out there on the web...

;}

i was having same issue today (first time ever happened)and tried your tip and after restarting it worked.thanks

Re: Wi-fi off and will not turn on - MacBook

I followed the steps listed on the answer above and then also had to restart. This is on MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015), 10.11.6

Dear AtlantaElise,

Many thanks for posting - your solution worked perfectly for me... I was fearing the need to replace

my Airport Exterme card. Now all is well again!

cheers,

David

I had exactly the same problem as Tricia and used Elise's suggestion which worked beautifully. Thanks Elise.

Pete

Thank you so much!!! This worked like a charm!

Thank you for the great advice. Your directions worked like a charm!

Robert

Mine Wifi quit and needed to do the tip here when I got the new Itunes update.

Follow the directions from AtlantaElise on the first past of this posting. It worked for me

Same here, this worked for me. Smells like corrupted settings. I do hope that Apple fix it in 10.8.6

F