Wifi disconnects after sleep and takes long time to reconnect with Mavericks

I suspect this issue is related to the new 802.11ac wifi technology that is new in the late 2013 rMBPs. As stated above, I now use an AirPort Extreme router which has the new 802.11ac technology that my 2013 rMBP is designed to use as well. Eveyrthing works seemlessly. THe failure to reconnect to wifi after waking from sleep when bluetooth is turned on is only occurying when I am on a network router that is the old 802.11n technology, even though new devices with the ac technology are supposed to be compatible with old devices of n technology. The big question is, what does bluetooth have to do with any of this??

Those of you who are experiencing the wifi reconnect problem with bluetooth on, please try your rMBP with a router that is n technology and then with a new ac router and see if you experience the same thing and report us your results.

seb101,

We don't need your snide attitude asking me to "Please stop implying this is a hardware problem..."

1) I never implied this is a hardware problem. The fact that my computer works on some networks but not others implies this is a software problem. And in any case, this is a discussion forum and anyone can imply anything they want.

2) You speak for "everyone here". I am speaking only for the problem I am having and offering what has worked for me in hopes that others may benefit from my experience and perhaps lead to a solution. I don't know what is causing the problem in my case, all I know is what has corrected it.

3) Agreed this is not an acceptible solution. I do not like the fact that I am now restricted to using an apple router for my computer to operate correctly anymore than you or anyone else here. That is why I am conitnuing to participate in this forum by offering my experiences. Even if my experiences are unique to me, they are still piecesof the bigger puzzle. If other people experience the same phenomenon, that knowledge may be helpful. I didn't realize it was your job to police which pieces of the puzzle are acceptable to share with eveyone else.

Message was edited by: DTS419

"I suspect this issue is related to the new 802.11ac wifi technology that is new in the late 2013 rMBPs."

I will corroborate seb101's statement that this problem seems to coincide with the upgrade to Mavericks, and occurs on older computers (e.g. Macbook Pro Mid 2012 Retina -- supported wifi modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n).

Agreeing that people need to keep their eye(s) on the ball...

This is most definitely a problem with Mavericks, period. It happened to me upon updating to Mavericks on two separate rMBP models (mid 2012 and early 2013). I have tried every "reasonable" fix here (even knowing some were not really reasonable).

The problem for me remains: Mavericks + Bluetooth + Wi-Fi = Wi-Fi BROKEN (after sleep)

It is definitely a "weird" problem in that (after sleep) sometimes it sees my (only) preferred network (and others) and doesn't connect to it for a a long time (or at all), other times it acts like it sees no networks for a bit and then when mine (and others) appear after some time, it connects (or doesn't, even with my network visible in the networks discovered), still others it indicates that it connects to my network and then after a very short time disconnects and continues to search in vain (again, even with my network visible in the networks discovered), yet still other times (very rare) it connects immediately without any problem.

In any of these problem scenarios, simply turning my Wi-Fi off and then back on fixes the problem almost immediately. I am ready to do this almost automatically now so as to avoid as much frustration as possible...ridiculous.

Or, I can disable Bluetooth (using none of my BT peripherals) and have no problems...ridiculous.

So, again, it is clear in my case: Mavericks + Bluetooth + Wi-Fi = Wi-Fi BROKEN (after sleep)

If it matters, I have two high-quality (Buffalo) routers/access-points running dd-wrt, and have confirmed as much as is possible (which is quite a bit, actually) that it is nothing going-on/wrong with them. And, again there was no problem at all before Mavericks.

So have others found success by connecting to ac wifi also?

I think we are all saying the same thing here; workarounds are not an acceptible solution. Even though my new Apple router corrects the problem at my house, it came right back when I took my computer to a family member's house and it was quite frustrating.

I have spent an exhorbitant amount of time on the phone with an apple care senior advisor and the local genius bar but of course they can never duplicate the problem with any of their all-apple equipment. I hope someone is able to get their attention.

My local Apple store offered to replace my network card, but I declined the inconvience because I am not convinced that is the problem. Also, the Genius bar people said they had never encountered this problem before, so I was left wondering just how wide-spread is this issue?

chrismartinphd,

Just saw your post. Your problem is EXACTLY the same as mine.

And, I just confirmed that it can happen not only after sleep, but also after a system restart! I just installed an update to an unrelated app, performed a recommended system restart, and then (after reboot) watched as my Wi-Fi did its "thing" again, i.e., not joining my network even though it was visible. Of course, I had Bluetooth "On" as I use it for (only) my Apple keyboard and Apple trackpad.

Folks, please let us not forget that turning the Bluetooth off does not solve the problem for everyone.

I faced similar issues. My MBA 2011, did not connect to preferred password protected Wi-Fi networks after waking up from sleep or a boot. It only happened with password protected Wi-FI and only when the bluetooth radio was switched on.

I reset SMC.

Deleted SystemConfiguration file from Library

Deleted Airport plist and bluetooth plist

Removed all preferred networks.

Re-installed OS (10.9.1)

But to no avail. On testing on Safemode the issue did not occur.

However, after spending a week with Apple Support and finally going to the Apple Store the issue got fixed. Here was my resolution - I had Apple Care so asked for Flat Rate repair mentioning that I strongly believe the Airport Card the issue - took my home router to explain (as there was no problem on the non-password protected Apple Store wifi.).

Received the system with a replaced Wifi card AND a new logic board!!

LOL.. and now everything works the way it should. So although it looked like a software issue, it was rectified by a hardware change. It looks to me like a low level software issue at the least..!

EDIT:

I restored using TimeMachine to the earlier timepoint at which I had the Wi-Fi issue - so it may indicate that it was a hardware issue. But I am not knowledgable about software/hardware issue so can't pinpoint.

It almost felt like that the MBA had forgotten passwords when the bluetooth was on..! So strange.

"WiFi has been turned off during sleep for many versions of the operating system"

I'm sorry, but this is simply not true at least in my case. I have a MacBook Pro and a Mini. The MacBook Pro I upgraded to Mavericks. The Mini is still running 10.7.5. I can have the Mini sleep all day long (it's configured to sleep after 1 hour), come back after more than 12 hours to go back to work, and I have a complete list of all conversations in the company chat that happened while I was gone. They're not a log. They're messages that came in during real time. I'm also never logged out of the room unless the VPN goes down on me, which is unrelated to the sleep issue.

My MBP though... All I have to do is close the lid and walk to a different room and I've been disconnected from the room, messages are missing, servers I was logged into are now disconnected. It's absolutely infuriating and unacceptable.

The fact that Mac doesn't allow you to roll back the upgrade just adds insult to injury.

Can I ask a question - how many people who have this problem also setup storing Keychain in iCloud (new feature in Mavericks)?

I've recently experienced my iPhone (that shares Keychain info from iCloud) take a while to connect to encrypted wifi networks (intermittently of course).

Not me. I don't even have iCloud set up on either of my Macs

Thank you Paul_31! JAHelms suggestion actually works- when no one else's did. Posting link again:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4342982?start=0&tstart=0

Just an update here. I let the local Apple Store replace the network card on my computer under AppleCare warranty since it wouldn't cost me anything (this was their attempt at a fix even though the diagnositc they ran said my card was fine). Anyway, returned home with my new network card installed and sure enough, it did NOT solve the problem. So, this is most definitely a SOFTWARE problem, and is very discouraging.

I can't believe I spent $1800 on this computer over a much cheaper PC and I am stuck with this problem that no one can resolve... 😠