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Wi-fi off and will not turn on - MacBook

I have a MacBook aluminum unibody (late 2008) with OS 10.7.5. This morning when I turned it on, the wifi icon in the Menu bar was 'empty' (i.e. no bars) - clicking on the icon gave me the info that 'wifi is off' - I clicked 'turn wifi on'- nothing happened. I opened System Preferences - Network. Status showed Wi-Fi is off. I clicked on the 'turn wifi on' button - nothing happened. I restarted the MacBook - repeated the above steps - six times now - always the same result :-(

Can anyone suggest some other trouble shooting steps to take?

I've also unplugged and re-started the modem/router. AIl other devices in the house can connect to the network without any problems - my MacBook is the only device having problems!

Cheers,

Tricia

MacBook (13-inch Aluminum Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Aug 5, 2013 11:43 PM

Best reply

AtlantaElise

Level 1

11 points

Posted on Oct 2, 2013 3:08 PM

I just had this similar problem happen to me! Although you have probably resolved your issue by now, this is what I ended up doing to fix it.

1. Go to System Preferences and open 'Network' - or click your wifi triangle along the top tool bar and select 'open network preferences'.

2. Click your wifi on the left hand side from the list, and then click the small cog at the bottom of that box, and click 'Make Service Inactive'.

3. Once you've done that, click the minus to delete your wifi as an option from this box.

4. APPLY!!

All other instructions I read said to click the plus and add your wifi again and then restart. Well that did nothing for me, infact it did nothing about 7 or 8 times, soooooo...

5. Restart your computer now, without any wifi configuration setup.

6. Once restarted, go back into system preferences, into network, and use the + button to add a wifi connection back into your computer. With any luck, you will be able to click on 'Turn wifi on' and it will actually work!

View in context

78 replies

pachiras

Level 1

4 points

Mar 29, 2015 10:12 PM in response to GrandBravo

Thank you GrandBravo.

Your solution really helped me!

Panamera

Level 1

0 points

Apr 6, 2015 9:09 AM in response to AtlantaElise

Thanks for a great workaround - worked first time on my sons 2008 Macbook Air.

xRipt3r

Level 1

4 points

May 6, 2015 3:54 PM in response to Patricia Henwood

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...

hung156

Level 1

0 points

May 27, 2015 9:39 PM in response to AtlantaElise

Thank Elise for the post.

It's really really helpful to fix my sister's mac pro 2013.

Best wishes!!!

Hung

Jun 1, 2015 6:37 PM in response to AtlantaElise

Finally, a solution that worked. Thanks much

Gregg13

Level 1

0 points

Jul 1, 2015 11:33 AM in response to Patricia Henwood

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.

iddqds

Level 1

0 points

Jul 23, 2015 1:14 AM in response to Patricia Henwood

AtlantaElise's fix worked for me. i additionally swithced it off and back on again to get rid off the X marked wifi symbol to normal wifii symbol.

neontn

Level 1

0 points

Sep 8, 2015 3:33 PM in response to Patricia Henwood

If you tried the solutions above and still have the problem, if might because you didn't set up the password for your mac.

Bzar

Level 1

4 points

Sep 29, 2015 3:20 PM in response to neontn

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!

FAllMKU

Level 1

0 points

Oct 12, 2015 3:35 PM in response to Patricia Henwood

here is a solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu4xUzJK_X8

Nov 1, 2015 3:04 PM in response to Patricia Henwood

Thanks AtlantaElise This solution worked for me...But curious to know.. why this problem should happen?? I mean, what is the cause??

1andre10

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2016 6:46 PM in response to 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...

;}

Jan 20, 2016 7:39 PM in response to AtlantaElise

Thank you sooooooo much! Worked 1st time out, saved me much agony!

Jul 11, 2016 1:30 AM in response to AtlantaElise

Clear instructions and it worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing!

Sep 6, 2016 2:18 AM in response to AtlantaElise

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

Wi-fi off and will not turn on - MacBook