Wi-Fi Dropping intermittently

Any help appreciated



Mac Book Pro 15-inch, Early 2011

OS X 10.9.5

Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7

16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3


SMC resets has been fixing it but drops after a while.


Also temporarily successful were :


  1. Battery unplug
  2. NVRAM reset



Since it's happening in different locations guessing it can't be a router issue.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 7:15 AM

Reply
10 replies

Sep 23, 2016 9:23 AM in response to teoruz

Since it's happening in different locations guessing it can't be a router issue.

Yes, most likely, it is with the MacBook Pro itself.


Try the following on your Mac in order, until (hopefully) resolved:


  1. Create a New User Account
    • System Preferences > Accounts
    • Click "+" to add a new account.
    • Log off, and then, log back on with the new user account.
    • Try connecting to a Wi-Fi network with your Mac's AirPort.
    • If this resolves the problem, there may be something amiss with your current profile and will require further troubleshooting.
    • If this does not resolve the problem, go ahead and log back into your normal account and go on to the next step.
  2. Delete AirPort Keychain Entries
    • Launch the "Keychain Access" application located in Applications/Utilities.
    • In the windows on the left side: Select login for Keychains and "Passwords" for Category.
    • Click on the "Kind" filter at the top, and look for any "AirPort network password" entries...and delete them.
    • Close Keychain Access.
  3. Delete Preferred Network(s)
    • System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi tab
    • Delete all entries under "Preferred Networks."
    • Click on OK.
  4. Add Preferred Network(s)
    • System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi tab
    • Add the preferred network(s) using the "+" button.
    • Click on OK.
    • Restart or log out, and then, back in.
      • If it works, then you are done.
      • If not, go on to the next step.
  5. Move System Configuration Files
    1. Quit any applications that are currently using Wi-Fi.
    2. Turn off Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the OS X menu bar.
    3. Open Finder > Go > Go To Folder > /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
    4. Locate and select the following files:
      Note: Files are OS X version specific, not all the following files are used in each version.
      • com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
      • com.apple.network.eapolclient.configuration.plist
      • com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
      • NetworkInterfaces.plist
      • preferences.plist
    5. Move any matching files to the OS X Desktop. You can place them all in a folder as a backup. The "missing" files will be rebuilt after restarting the Mac.
    6. Reboot the Mac.
    7. Re-enable Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the OS X menu bar.

Sep 23, 2016 12:23 PM in response to Tesserax

Tesserax wrote:



Move System Configuration Files

  1. Quit any applications that are currently using Wi-Fi.
  2. Turn off Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the OS X menu bar.
  3. Open Finder > Go > Go To Folder > /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
  4. Locate and select the following files:
    Note: Files are OS X version specific, not all the following files are used in each version.
    • com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
    • com.apple.network.eapolclient.configuration.plist
    • com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
    • NetworkInterfaces.plist
    • preferences.plist
  5. Move any matching files to the OS X Desktop. You can place them all in a folder as a backup. The "missing" files will be rebuilt after restarting the Mac.
  6. Reboot the Mac.
  7. Re-enable Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the OS X menu bar.


Stuck at #3. Open Finder but don't see, can't proceed to this "Go > Go To Folder > /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/"

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Wi-Fi Dropping intermittently

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