Macbook Air (Mid 2013) Wi-Fi Stops Working When USB 3.0 Stick Is Plugged

take a look at these articles.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4512

Bluetooth: Unreliable wireless performance may occur when USB 3.0 external devices are close

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5172#15

Using USB 3 devices on Mac computers FAQ

I sometimes have difficulty with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices when USB 3 devices are attached to my computer. What could be wrong?

Some USB 3 devices, hard drives in particular, can generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your computer. Do not place hard drives or other USB devices behind the rear of your Mac near at the hinge of your screen. The antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are located there, and USB 3 devices placed there may interfere with your wireless connections. See this white paper for more information.

Hi yavuz,

This exact problem is happening to me too with a 2013 Air. When I use a USB3 hub, the wifi often stops working, in exactly the same way as yours - it still shows connected for a while, but no data flows. If you disconnect and try to reconnect, it will show a timeout error. An older USB2 hub doesn't cause the same problem.

I've had intermittent wifi problems with the machine without the USB3 hub plugged in, but nothing repeatable, and the Apple store have tested the hardware with no faults found. It's very annoying, you don't know when it's not going to work!

Not sure if you've found your solution yet. If not, I might have an answer for you.

I got my latest MacBook Pro just last week (running OS X Mavericks). WiFi working fine until last night. Since then I have had the exact problem you described: WiFi won't work when a USB drive is attached (but on the USB port on the left, not the right).

I called Apple Support. The guy had never come across this problem but suggested a hardware reset which seems to have solved the issue. There are two resets. I did both. Steps are as follows:

1.

Shutdown computer, plug in the charger

Press Option–Control–Shift

Hold for 10 second

Let go: charger light should go from Amber–Green–Amber

2.

PRAM reset:

Shutdown computer

Immediately after hitting startup button, hold down Command–Option–P–R until a second sound is heard

Log in as usual

Please let me know if it works for you.

Same story and same problem with my Macbook Air (Mid 2013) and Mac OS X 10.10.2

After I plug in a 64GB Verbatim Store 'n' Stay Nano USB 3.0 Drive the Wi-Fi is not working any more after about 5 to 10 minutes. When I remove the USB device, everything is working well again.

Is there any fix by Apple meanwhile? Did anybody find a solution?

Thanks a lot!

Update 04/13/2015

The funny thing: it seems it hapens only with the USB slot on the left side close to the MagSafe power connection. When I am using the USB 3.0 nano stick on the right side close to the Thunderbolt connection and SD-Card slot, everything is working well. It seems like a physical interference to the Wi-Fi module, or something like this. When that is really the reason, it would be a screw up by the Apple engineers like the antenne issue of the old iPhone with the metal antenna at the casing. I don't know but it is really annoying.

thanks, i think i did something wrong with the first reset (green light didn't turn on)

but the second one seems to have worked!

thanks! (macbook pro retina)

I had a similar problem with a 13" Mac Book Pro Retina and El Capitan 10.11.6

My problem started occurring with the introduction of a Unitek Y-3045 AX88179 combo (unpowered) USB 3.0 hub with GB ethernet connection connected to the left USB port near the power connector.

Symptoms were that I could not connect to 'any' wifi network when AX88179 was connected. If had a wifi connection then later connected the AX88179 the wifi connection would deteriate with slow ping response times and packet loss.

MBP wifi would only work normally when the AX88179 was removed from the USB port.

I couldn't get the "Amber–Green–Amber" effect. Just stayed green

Resetting NVRAM had no effect as well.

I also tried deleting all files in the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ folder except for the com.apple.Boot.plist and reboot.

No success

I didn't try and put the AX88179 in the USB port on the right-hand side of the MBP because I wanted to keep all my cabling on the left side. This may have made a difference as well.

My solution was to connect another unpowered USB 3.0 hub to the same MBP USB port and piggy back the AX88179 on to this USB 3.0 hub. Wifi connection all good for me now.

Thank you to other contributors to this post to lead me in the right direction.

I have a PC, which appears to have the same problem as all of y'all Mac users: EXTREME send/recieve issues when my Unitek 6/2-port/charging Hub is in the loop; the connection itself like NEVER EVER drops; the built-in Troubleshooting Routines are even more useless than usual; and the "connection issues" vanish as soon as it's disconnected...

This kinda like REALLY *** for me, as all FIVE of my external HDDs connect to the Mothership through this hub. All together they amount to some 7 to 8, maybe 9, TBs, so it's obviously an issue I'd like to correct as quickly and cheaply as possible, 'cause I just had to replace my Mobo AND one of my nVidia GeForce GTX 950s, leaving me with nothin' but lint in my pockets (and very little of even THAT)!

Soooo, any kinda solution which involves moving, reconnecting or otherwise manipulating my existing equipment would be GRACIOUSLY appreciated...

Thanx!

J. Ross

I've encountered an almost identical problem with a brand new MacbookAir7,2 1.6Ghz Intel Core i5 8G/256G 13inch Early 2015, running Sierra MacOS 10.12.2

I have two identical Patriot Blitz 128GB flash drives
If I insert either into the left USB port, the Wi-Fi stops working. The Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar will grey out and if I turn it off/on, it fails to connect, until I remove the USB flash drives.

The drives themselves seem to function normally.
If I insert either drive into the right USB port, there is no problem.
If I insert a Patriot Blitz 64GB flash drive into the left port, the Wi-Fi becomes slow, or may also turn off, as above, until the device is removed. Again, there is no problem in the right port.

It makes no difference if the computer is charging off external power, or running only on battery.

I'm trying to decide if I should exchange the computer for a different unit, or do they all have this problem.

I re-tested, this time using a 6 foot USB 3.0 extension cable, to connect the 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive to the left USB port. When connected this way and holding the flash drive behind my back, the flash drive functioned correctly and the WiFi connects to the internet correctly.

This seems to confirm that there is a radio frequency interference issue, between the WiFi antenna and the left USB port, possibly specific to USB 3.0 devices (as mentioned in the other comments).