Q: Wifi problem since 10.11.2

Just drove to the closest Apple Store, which is super far away from where I live and had my computer checked-out. The technician said the wifi chip needed replacing after a few tests. Back home now and the issue remains, nice!

Did it work fine at the store?

Nope, the technician measured regular wifi outages using a network monitoring software.

That's no good. They should have had it working for you in the store, with their wifi, before ever letting the repair out the door.

Yeah they said they had run the tests again after the repair and that everything came back normal, but I doubt it...

Regular WiFi outages - that sounds like the problem and it's not hardware related.

I've had the logic board replaced on mine, and the WiFi card - still made no difference.

I just wonder how many people have had parts replaced and not needed to, at Apple's cost - this is a software issue and apple just need to fix it.

AN ACTUAL FIX!

Just an update...

I think I finally found the answer and solution.

Initially I tried everything, all the usual stuff everyone is talking about.
Then, Grant Bennet-Alder pointed me in the right direction and his advice got me up and working again.

This is NOT a router issue, however, switching to a router that has both 2.5ghz AND 5ghz made all the difference.

After to setting my Macbook to run only on the 5gzh channel, I haven't had any drops, even under heavy load.

I also noticed that even on the 2.5ghz channel, I tested how much it drops the closer I got to the router.

I found that the closer I got to the router the less it dropped.

What I think the issue boils down to is that whatever updates that were made in El Capitan.. they can't seem to handle all the interference from neighboring devices. We all know that 2.5ghz is particularly crowded because the majority of wireless devices use 2.5ghz.

I'm not sure what the exact bug is causing this, but under heavy load with all the interference, El Capitan just craps out.

The traffic on 2.5 is pretty heavy around my house and my router was outdated and did not have the option to use 5ghz.

In short, I got a new router (dual channel) and set my Macbook to use only 5gzh and haven't had any issues since.

This of course isn't a solid fix. Apple will need to actual fix whatever bug is causing the issue, but this is major progress.

Actually I think the problem is more an incompatibility with certain home routers, and not WiFi itself.   Just by using a different brand router/software probably just worked around the incompatibility.

I've done a lot of testing on this, and I'm going to post my results soon.   It actually has more to do with some kind of DHCP drop out / timing issue with certain routers rather than WiFi.

-Larry

I have done a lot of testing on this issue.   I am using a several year old Motorola/Arris SBG6580 cable router with 802.11n.   I don't believe the problem if with WiFi itself.   Here are my findings:

* Get network drop off every 10-15 minute, for about 90 seconds.

* WiFi link never disconnects

* Did not have problem on Yosemite.  Problem started with El Capitan upgrade, and persists even with 10.11.4.

* Problem does not happen on any other device in house.   All iOS and Windows machines are fine.

* Turn Mac OS WiFi On/Off clears the problem (although I don't think it is a WiFi issue)

* Simply doing a Mac OS DHCP Renew immediately clears the problem.

   - It is as if El Capitan and the router can't agree on keeping the DHCP address in place

* Tried the IPv6 and Energy Save recommendations.   Had no effect on problem.

* I tried an external known-good Cisco enterprise 1142 AP with L2 bridging.   Kept the SBG6580 as the router and DHCP server.

   - Problem persisted.   Tells me the problem is more related to the router+DHCP, not so much WiFi itself

*  Tried a different router (old Linksys) and problem goes away.   But I don't want to use that router, but rather the 802.11n SBG6580.

* Clear all the System Config settings in Mac OS X and rebooted.

  - Problem goes away for a few days, then re-appears.

So Apple did indeed break something in El Capitan with some home routers, and many people are having the issue.

If they want to try to troubleshoot it, they can get a used SBG6580 router and faithfully reproduce the issue.

-Larry

Also note the SBG6580 is on Broighthouse cable, and they have it running: SBG6580-8.6.2.0-GA-03-141-NOSH

esteban108

this is a User-to-User forum, where other users like you try to provide suggestions to posted problems. It is not actively managed by Apple.

if you need a response from Apple, Inc, you should be calling their 800-numbers in your area or initiating a chat or taking your computer in for service.

Sadly, the problem persists for me with both my Apple Time Machine, a TP-LINK router at home, the one in my office and one I used at my parents' house in Australia. It's a bit better since i learned here to delete the wifi connection in network settings and create a new one, but i still need to do that every few hours or so.

.

I had issues with the TP-link router at my house even with the older 10.8

Switching to Asus AC routers fixed a lot of issues. Of course with 10.11 I had more issues but only with my computer. once resetting the router to factory settings it fixed my issues.

So I have experienced the same issues since OS X 10.11.X,  I have worked with bug reporting, I went into an apple store and ran diagnostics, and the last resort they wanted $280.00 to send my computer off to a repair location.  Thanks Apple, after paying nearly 1800.00 for my machine two years ago you want another 280.00 because the engineering team in charge of wifi connections hasn't figured it out.  The diagnostics ran and indicated nothing was wrong with the wifi chipset. I even removed the back aluminum cover and ensure everything was still connected.  But I have a solution for everyone.

Purchase a $9.00 T-Link miniWIFI-N chip to plug into the USB port.  Yes, T-Link, has solved the issue of producing reliable wifi for my device for a mere $9.00. Maybe they should get into the computer game.   As a long term Apple customer I haven't been more upset with a product.  What happened to the slogan, it just works.  Because, for many late 2013 Macbook Pro's, it doesn't just work.