Wifi card replaced after "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed" error

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Level 1

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Wifi card replaced after "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed" error

Hi, I got the "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed" error on my Mac one day. Everything was working fine the day before, but when I opened up my Mac the following day it had that error. I have tried resetting the SMC, the NVRAM, deleting the wifi setting files from my Library and I have reinstalled Mac OS, but nothing has worked. Therefore I tried ordering a new wifi card for my Mac. I installed the card and reinstalled Mac OS again - it did not work either. It seems like my Mac won't recognize that I have a wifi card installed e.g. in system preferences under network I can not add WiFi from the drop down menu. The weird thing is that my bluetooth works fine even though that chip is also a part of the WiFi card. Do anyone have an idea of how I can get my Mac to recognize that I have a WiFi chip installed?

My Mac is a MacBook Pro (early 2015) model.

Posted on Dec 1, 2016 8:48 AM

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Answer 1

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,784 points

Dec 1, 2016 9:12 AM in response to thmu16

Reboot into recovery mode. Does it have wifi?

You could try Apple Diagnostics…

Using Apple Diagnostics - Apple Support

I think there is a listing for the found hardware somewhere within diagnostics so see if it recognises the card.

If the card is not found in recovery or diagnostics it points towards a failure in the hardware. If the card does work in those modes you need to consider the software is a possible fault (clean install the OS to a new disk without any third party apps).

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Answer 2

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,784 points

Dec 1, 2016 9:57 AM in response to thmu16

Apple Diagnostics: Reference codes - Apple Support -->>

There may be an issue with the Wi-Fi hardware.

Contact Apple or take your computer to an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail Store to determine which service and support options are available.

P.S. Just to be clear by clean install you mean erase & install the OS without any third party apps?

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Answer 3

thmu16 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 1, 2016 9:48 AM in response to Drew Reece

Thanks for your response. It gives an error in diagnostics (reference code CNW001). I'll try downloading Yosimite which it came with and see if that works. I have already made several clean installs without any luck.

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Answer 4

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,784 points

Dec 1, 2016 11:58 AM in response to thmu16

I think you have a hardware failure. The WiFi card is no the only part that can fail, it could be any of the components or connectors that interface with it & may not effect the Bluetooth interface.

Sorry, I think you need a trip to an Apple store or contact support for a quote. If you have Applecare it may be free, but I suspect you are out of standard warranty now (depending on your location).

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Answer 5

thmu16 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 1, 2016 10:07 AM in response to Drew Reece

Thanks, yes exactly. I have done it by downloading the old install file from my other mac and then created a bootable flashdrive, which I install Mac OS from after having erased the hdd.

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