Sheldon Rothman1

Q: AirDrop not working between two Macs with 10.11.4

I've just upgraded to El Capitan on my iMac (Late 2009) and my Air (Mid 2011).  I no longer can use AirDrop between these two computers (and I know I couldn't use it with iDevices).  When I try it with my wife's Air, both of my Macs can see hers in AirDrop, and her Air can see both of my Macs in AirDrop.  And that's the part that doesn't make sense.  Why is it so?  What can be done, other than going back to Yosemite?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), Core i7

Posted on Apr 15, 2016 10:35 PM

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Q: AirDrop not working between two Macs with 10.11.4

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  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Apr 16, 2016 4:40 AM in response to Sheldon Rothman1
    Level 8 (49,742 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 16, 2016 4:40 AM in response to Sheldon Rothman1

    This is a long shot, but something to look for. Do you have a router that transmits on both a 5GHz and a 2.4 GHz band with the same name (SSID)?

    Early on I noted that I would get flaky performance out of Airdrop if one device was on a 5GHz network and the other was on a 2.4GHz network, even if they were technically the same. By flaky I mean one could often see the other, but the other couldn't see the former.

  • by Sheldon Rothman1,

    Sheldon Rothman1 Sheldon Rothman1 Apr 29, 2016 4:11 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 29, 2016 4:11 AM in response to Barney-15E

    I'm using an AirPort Time Capsule.  Not sure what the name is.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Apr 29, 2016 5:18 AM in response to Sheldon Rothman1
    Level 8 (49,742 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 29, 2016 5:18 AM in response to Sheldon Rothman1

    You would have to look at the Wireless configuration in Airport Utility. Depending on how old, the Time Capsule is dual band capable. I don't have mine to look at the configuration, so I can only vaguely describe what you are looking for.

    There will be a setting for giving the 5GHz band a different SSID (name). Set it up with a different name and then make sure all computers are connected to the same network and test.

    If it doesn't solve the problem, I'm not sure where else to look.