wifi problems mac mini (late 2014)

Often (but not always) when it sleeps for any length of time, it won't reconnect to wi-fi until I have played around in the Network settings for a while: renew the DHCP lease, select the network in the (Advanced) Wi-Fi tab, sometimes turn the wi-fi off and on again. It does finally reconnect somewhat more quickly in Sierra than it did in El Capitan, but the problem persists.

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 & Add Back Preferred Network(s)
   • System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi tab
   • Delete all entries under "Preferred Networks."
   • lick on OK.
   • 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.
4. If it works, then you are done.
5. If not, go on to the next step.
6. Move System Configuration Files
   • Quit any applications that are currently using Wi-Fi.
   • Turn off Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the macOS / OS X menu bar.

   Open Finder > Go > Go To Folder > Enter "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/" into the Go to the folder window > Click on Go

   Locate and select the following files:

Note: Files are macOS / OS X version specific, not all the following files are used in each version.

1. com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
2. com.apple.network.eapolclient.configuration.plist
3. com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
4. NetworkInterfaces.plist
5. preferences.plist
• Move any matching files to the macOS / OS X Desktop. You can place them all in a folder as a backup. The "missing" files will be rebuilt after restarting the Mac.
• Reboot the Mac.

Re-enable Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi icon on the macOS / OS X menu bar.

Hi,

according to my experiance the WiFi/Bluetooth implementation of the 2014 mac mini is far from being perfect. I think it is a hardware issue.

However, I could solve it partially by removing the source of the distortion. In my case it was an active USB hub - or the mains adapter of this hub. I could measure the success by option-click on the WiFi icon in the menu bar and it shows that the signal to noise ratio was drastically improving.

The remaining problem is the well-known WiFi Bluetooth interference. When enabling Bluetooh on the 2014 mac mini the WiFi speed drops to modem quality. Just no usable.

A solution might be to use 5 GHz WiFi instead of 2.4 - but this is not applicable for me.

So I could use either BT or WiFi - but not in parallel.

Hi,

I found out that the WiFi signal is not that strong. RSSI is about -67 dBm. Noise is -90 dBm.

When I switch to my smartphone-provided WiFi the signal strength increases to -39 dBm. - Then using WiFi and BT simultaneously does not degrade WiFi throughput noticeably. Youtube HD streaming...wonderful.

I hope Phil Schiller is reading my post and the next mac mini will get a better WiFi module/antenna.

Best regards

Markus

have you tried to reset the pram ?

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support