"Can't Connect to this Network" on Windows 10 Partition

Question

Level 1

10 points

"Can't Connect to this Network" on Windows 10 Partition

I have had Windows 10 installed on my Mac Pro (2013) for several months now and have had no issue. Recently, it has been unable to connect to my home Wi-Fi. It connects just fine to my iPhone's mobile hotspot, though. I don't recall updating or downloading anything around the time it happened. All it says when I try to connect is "Can't connect to this network." The troubleshooter was unhelpful. The problem is not with the Wi-Fi itself - everything else connects fine, and nothing has changed with it since Windows 10 stopped being able to connect. Even running Sierra on the same computer connects to the Wi-Fi just fine, so it can't be hardware related either. It's only my Windows 10 partition that refuses to connect to my home Wi-Fi network. I've tried several solutions I've found from google searches, but the best it would do is allow me to connect for only a few minutes, and the connection would be incredibly slow, and progressively getting worse until I can't load anything at all. Nothing I've tried has been able to solve the Wi-Fi connectivity problem. Any insight into my issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mac Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.2), 12GB RAM, Xeon quad core, 250GB SSD

Posted on Oct 5, 2017 1:46 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 19, 2017 2:37 PM in response to stephenrwn

The Windows machine is a 802.11n client, while the Mac is 802.11ac. There are known issues with Mac's 802.11ac card and Broadcom drivers. If you have a Windows System Restore point, I suggest you create another one, and then see if the Broadcom drivers can be rolled back to a version older than 7.35.118.73.

Reply

Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 7, 2017 4:37 AM in response to stephenrwn

Apple Software Update provided a WiFi update, which does not work for some environments. If you click on BC Assistant -> Action -> Download, check if you get the same Broadcom driver version. If you do, then you have the base version.

Is your SSID a 2.4G or 5G? Check Network Adapter settings for 20/40 Mhz tolerance and bands.

Reply

Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 24, 2017 4:39 PM in response to stephenrwn

Has the Windows side connected to your wireless network in the past? In Services, you should see a WLANService, can you check if it is set to Automatic?

From a Windows Administrative command prompt can you post the output of

netsh wlan dump

Reply

Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 7, 2017 2:53 PM in response to stephenrwn

Is your 2.4G SSID 20 MHz or 40 MHz? You can find out on the macOS side using Check for Wi-Fi issues using your Mac - Apple Support and running a Scan.

Reply

Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 21, 2017 6:14 AM in response to stephenrwn

Did we check Power Management settings to see if Windows was turning devices to save power?

Reply

Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 7, 2017 3:58 PM in response to stephenrwn

Do you have more than one Mac? If yes, then switch the non-working Mac to Windows, and the second Mac to Wireless Diagnostics and click on Windows -> Sniffer, and choose the same channel as your SSID channel and correct bandwidth (20MHz), and start a capture and then try to connect the Windows to the SSID. This will allow you to capture the WLAN packets between the Mac-running-Windows and the AP. We can then analyze the capture using Wireshark.

Reply

Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 20, 2017 3:46 AM in response to stephenrwn

On the macOS side, run Wireless Diagnostics, and check the SSID settings. If you can post a screen shot of the SSID then it can provide more clues.

Reply

Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 20, 2017 10:26 AM in response to stephenrwn

This shows the Mac connecting to a 2.4 11n compared to the 5G 11ac network. Does your AP support separate names for the 2.4G and 5G networks?

Reply

Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 30, 2017 9:56 AM in response to stephenrwn

Keep an eye on any Windows or Apple Software Updates for any drivers. You may want to apply only Security Updates.

Reply

Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 5, 2017 3:44 AM in response to stephenrwn

Is the WiFi adapter being turned off by Windows to save Power?

See Information about power management setting on a network adapter for reference.

Reply

Answer 11

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 19, 2017 7:21 PM in response to stephenrwn

I suggest you create a Windows System Restore point in it's current state, before you install or rollback to an older driver version.

Reply

Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 21, 2017 1:14 PM in response to stephenrwn

Can you run SMC and NVRAM Reset and test? You should check these in Device Manager for the Wireless (or BT) Network Adapter.

Reply

Answer 13

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Oct 7, 2017 4:37 PM in response to stephenrwn

Microsoft Message Analyzer is the other tool which can let you analyze messages from the Windows side. You can save the files to Wireshark format, if necessary. Do you want to install it, learn and try it?

Reply