MacBook airport drops connections
 

My new MacBook is set to pick up the wireless signal from our 802.11g Lynksys router, connected to our cable modem. The signal seems to be strong throughout the house -- the MacBook even gets a good signal out in my office, a couple of walls and some yard away.

But, occasionally, even when it is near the base station, it just drops the connection. I start to send an email or pull up a web page and nothing happens. I see that the little "Wave" at the top is greyed out and have to select the name of the connection and when I do it's back on. I went a full day with no problems the other day but this morning, it has dropped the connection several times. I went into System Preferences and changed the network setting to prefer that particular connection instead of "automatic" but that did not seem to make any difference whatsoever.

What I wonder is, if it does drop the connection, why does it not just re-connect immediately, on its own? Is there some way to tell it to automatically re-connect? This is just a minor irritant, since the signal is strong and the re-connect is easy but I would sure like to fix it. Any ideas?

Try putting your access point in your "Preferred networks" list. This is in Preferences>Network>Airport. Use the + and - to add the proper network. Also, make sure that you have a unique SSID and not just the factory default.

Please note that any 2.4GHz devices that are used could affect your wireless connection.

I have pretty much gone through those steps. The network I use is the only one in my "Preferred Networks" list. And we do have a unique SSID; have from the beginning. I know of no 2.4 GHZ devices that would be competing with the network connection -- no wireless phones or speakers.

Checking out the Apple Support forums, I see literally hundreds of postings about this particular problem. There seems to be a consistent problem with at least the MacBooks wireless-connection-dropping. All of the complaints I have seen are when on battery-power and most, if not all, seem to be with the Linksys 54G router, which many people have.

I have tried several fixes and fix attempts that people have posted, including a router firmware upgrade and changing it to serve wireless G rather than B & G but my MacBook still drops the connection from time to time, for no apparent reason.

I would be willing to buy an Airport router if I felt assurred that that would fix the problem, but I am not sure, at this point, that it would.

Well, one thing that I have noticed is not that the Linksys routers are the problem, however; they are so popular that may people have them. If many people are using the same router that are in close proximity to one another AND if the SSID's are unique, the MAC addresses are the same for all of the routers.

First, download iStumbler or MacStumbler to see if there are any other networks around you that could be interfering with your connection. Also, the AriTrafficControl widget is nice because it shows the typs of routers that are around you (linksys, belkin, etc). If you do find that there is another Linksys around you, I would try the method described below.

I would try MAC cloning in your router. Login to the router and choose MAC address cloning. You can use your computer's MAC to clone and see if that helps. Unfortunately , most consumer rated routers are not very good at distinguishing SSID's when within close proximity to another router just like itself. They have a tendency to get "confused" and rely on the MAC address to distinguish it from the others, however; all Linksys routers are set to the same MAC when you buy them.

I imagine posting this could jinx me for sure but my MacBook has been holding the connection nicely for the past few days, in various rooms of the house, including one where the signal is not always that strong. (Pause to knock on wood.)

Have no idea what, if anything, I did that has made the difference. But I have downloaded and installed a recent firmware update for the router. Set it to broadcast in "G" mode only. Put the wireless at the top of the MacBook hunt-for-connection list, ethernet second, unchecked everything after that. Took all the neighbors' wireless signals out of the list of connections, so that only ours is on the list. Maybe one or more of those things has made a difference? Time will tell.

Tell you what, though, that is one fast web connection -- based on the toast.net speed test, as fast as my iMac's ethernet connection much of the time and there never seems to be any problem at all with downloading files. One more good thing about the MacBook, among many good things. A great little laptop!

www.Speakeasy.net would give you a decent idea as to how large your bandwidth is. Its used by several Telcom companies to gauge the connection rates of their customers.

Same Problem here
 

I am having the exact same problem with my new 13" Macbook.
It only happens when running on the battery. I know my signal is strong. I have a 12" Ibook with airport and the signal never drops even on battery.

I also made my network the preferred one but this did not help the issue. I too have a Linksys 54G wireless router.

There is definatley something wrong here. I would gladly pick up another router if I know that would fix the problem. Has anybody else had any luck switching routers?

MacBook Dropping wireless connection
 

I am having the same problem as everyone else with my new macbook.

The only difference is that I am using a Belking 54g wireless router. I need to see why the mac continues to drop the connection. I spent 3 hours talking to belking and they even replaced the router so now I'm stumped on what to do.

I am a new mac user so I don't know much about them I have done all the steps so far in this forum and still no luck. So if anyone could help I would much appreciate it.

MacBook Airport drops connections
 

Ok well I found my fix and it is retarded but it is the only way it will stay working. On my belkin 54g wireless router I had to drop all securitys and then hide the SSID. For some reason it stays connected when it is wide open. I guess if anyone knows a real fix let me know since I have tried everything and all securities.

fix for airport problem on intel macs
 

http://www.apple.com/support/downloa...acosx1042.html

I was having problems like those described on this page too. The Airport signal would get lost after the computer went to sleep. I would have to click on the menu bar icon a couple of times and keep reassigning the local connection that I wanted to use. The fix at the site above fixed this problem for me.

Solved...
 

I've had the exact same problem for quite som time now, and solved it today.
The solution? Simple, I switched from channel 8 to 6. Guess it could have been a wireless phone interferring.
I use dd-wrt v23 SP1 on a Linksys WRT54GS and my MacBook would disconnect almost immediately after switching to battery operation.

Anyways, I'm a happy person now :-)

I've been having the same issues and I tried everything here...changing channels, not broadcasting, etc. I eventually decided to call Apple and the solution is easy and works every time:

1. Go to Preferences-->Network
2. Add a new location
3. In the Show: menu, go to Network Port Configurations
4. Make sure AirPort is checked (it probably is)
5. Drag Airport to the top of the list (above Modem)
6. Click Apply and watch your signal meter. In about a second, it'll pop back to life.

Enjoy!

The only remedy
 

OBSERVATION: The problem only occurs on battery power when the internet connection is idle for a few seconds.

SOLUTION: Either do not run on battery power OR if you must do so do not let the internet connection run idle.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS:

1. Keep your Macbook plugged in.

OR

2. On battery open a TERMINAL session and run the following command at the prompt.

$ nohup ping -i 10 somehost.com > /dev/null &

where somehost.com can be any server that responds to ping.

Thank http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/ind...?title=MacBook for the solution.

A similar solution ($ ping -i 5 somehost.com) is also found at:
http://kristopherjohnson.blogspot.co...ion-drops.html

Thanks to these two sites, I can use my Macbook on battery without losing internet connectivity every few seconds.

I don't know if people who do not report this problem have better motherboards or do not run on battery power or are never idle on the internet.

But I have found this solution to work for me and that's all that matters. Try it.

Permanent fix
 

Hi,

In the end, I found this to be the ONLY permanant fix:

Switch to WPA2, pre-shared key only. For algorithm, use TKIP+AES.

I've had NO DROPPED CONNECTIONS ON BATTERY SINCE SWITCHING and it's been two months. Apple's WEP just doesn't cut it...



Cheers,


-Morten

I will try this at home but you cannot tailor third party networks to your Macbook's needs. Mine drops signal everywhere unless the TERMINAL fix (posted above) is running.

I agree - but, when you CAN decide what protocol to use, this does the trick.
The disconnects absoultely drove med up the wall - and there was no appareant fix. This has changed my use of the MacBook completely.

Also, as a side note, beefing up power on the router to max (251 mW) is not such a good idea for an ap router as it might sound. With such a setting I had a glowing hot MBP and battery with no more than 1h 45min usage in it. With power set to 56 mW, I can happily run on battery for nigh on 3 hours :-)




Cheers,


-Morten

If your settings prevent this problem, it would be a big advance. It would also mean that the problem lies with the software and that an update could fix the problem instead of say...a motherboard replacement.

The TERMINAL trick because it pings continuously uses up battery resources and internet bandwidth and according to some, interferes, with their Macbook's sleep function and thus is an inelegant albeit effective fix. What made me use it despite its limitations is the time it took me to explain the problem to others even on the internet. Those who do not experience it simply think it is imaginary or that resetting the wireless settings will fix it.

Quite! :-) I have already had a motherboard replacement to try to "cure the disease" - to no avail, of course.


Cheers,


-Morten

Cheers
 

Hello mate ' sorry as I was going to thank you for yr tip...........my connection droPPED--------------
SORRY:mad:

The Solution
 

Did you read my message above:

"Switch to WPA2, pre-shared key only. For algorithm, use TKIP+AES.".

If you router is capable, this should do the trick.


Cheers,



-Morten

I have the same problem with my connection. Using a Netcomm NB9W router, the Terminal fix doesn't always work.

Such an annoying problem spoils such a great laptop.

This actually helped me
 

I did this steps yesterday (skipped step 2), and the MacBook wi-fi works as dream. I use very old AirPort Graphite for my wireless router, and had problems, but after this suggested steps, it behaves very normal.

THANK YOU!!!

Change the Terminal ping interval
 

If it fails it is because it is dropping the connection between pings so make the pings more frequent. Try pinging every 1 second.

I recently realized this problem has been more widespread than I thought. Firstly, a lot of people who always run their notebooks plugged-in to AC power never face a problem. Also I recently met with some diehard Mac types (the type who refuse to believe that Macs have any flaws). When I described my ordeal they expressed considerable surprise and said that they had experienced this symptom but had always thought it was a security feature!!!

Incidentally in fairness to Apple, after some recent firmware upgrades on the Macbook this problem seems to have been solved. However I am not rejoicing yet because the problem has been so nasty that I cannot believe it is over yet.

So you should click APPLE>>Software Updates and get all the latest updates for your Macbook. If that does not help, you can reduce the PING interval to 1 second instead of 5.

Thank you! I have been suffering with lousy wireless internet access for almost a year now, and this solution worked really well -- the strongest signal I've ever had, not dropped once over the last hour. Thanks again!

hi everyone,
I've tried to follow these steps, but I am a little bit confussed,
under what tab did is "add a new location", and where is "show, go to Network Port Configurations"

thank you

I FOUND A SOLUTION THAT WORKS!!!! First a little back story.

Got my Mac Blackbook and the wi-fi worked great from my Linksys wrt54g2 router. Moved to Germany and into an apartment and my connection issues started happening. My MB would connect once then loose connection quickly and would only recover connection if i either closed and re-opened my screen, or re-connected to my network... then it would drop again before my next page turn.

After multiple days of research I read about SOOOO many others having this issue and the fact the Apple pretty much refused to acknowledge the issue. It seemed that sometime near the OX 10.4.2 update the airport driver got fubar'd leaving all those with Intel based macs wi-fi connects messed up.

Some of the solutions i read about and tried had to do with changing my WEP connection to WPA. This did not work, but i left it as WPA as my research finds it a more secure connection. I also read about and tried setting my Wireless RTA Threshold in my router to 256 from the *2432 default. This as well did not work, though I have left it at this setting as it seems to be the best value for MAC's connecting over wi-fi. This is not true for PC's though so be careful.

More research, more research, o' my brain hurts and my patience is wearing..... then BINGO!!! I found a thread about connection issues that pertained to MB's not connecting to local-network printers. The poster mentioned that MAC's seem to have a hard time connecting to networks that had more than one wi-fi network present. This is my issue i thought. I have 8 in my available connections now. In my old home I had just mine. So i followed the directions suggested and it has now been 2 weeks of 100% perfect wi-fi connections.

Below is the excerpt from this page, http://www.macintouch.com/readerrepo...topic2005.html (Do a find for “Little Snitch”). The program the writer talks about is called Little Snitch found here, http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html. It's a $29 dollar program, but in my mind its well worth it to make my $1500 Blackbook work!

This may not be the Apple Fix we have been waiting for them, but its completely working for me.

It works for me :) Thank you

Cloning the router’s MAC address
 

(Note: using Linksys WRT150N)

Hey people.

I was having the same problem… for a couple months everything was fine then a couple of weeks ago my Macbook kept dropping my wireless connection. :confused:

My search landed me here & I tried the suggestions.

Making sure the Airport was to the top of the list did not do it for me.

While I read the TERMINAL fix worked I stayed away because of the inherent side effects – “an inelegant albeit effective fix” is the best way of putting it according to jayray999

I did happen to have Little Snitch so I tried that too (fix shown in the quote by cesarcesar) however even this did not work.

I’m sure the above has worked for others however while our end result is the same (dropped connections) what caused it in each of our cases is a bit different.

The winning ticket for me was the fix by bored28 (which I tried last cause I really hate messing around with my router’s settings.) Apparently My Mac was having trouble figuring out which router it should connect to, as there was at least one other in the area. Cloning the router’s MAC address has worked thus far. (thought it’s only been a day or so) usually my connection would drop every 3 minutes so that’s saying a lot. :D

Thanks for all the help guys… & especially you “bored28” :cool:

Possible solutions to dropped wifi connection on Macbook
 

I'm not a computer expert. however. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that something is obviously causing my MB to disconnect from the wireless router, so, using deductive reasoning I have noticed that:
1. It happens more often at home than on the road
2. It doesn't EVER happen at home with my "non-apple" laptop
3. It still happens on the road with a variety of routers.

# 1 above I believe is likely caused by other wireless routers using the same channel. #2 means Apple's Airport software needs to be improved. #2 and 3 means it is not a problem with my router.

End result is that Apple's FIRMWARE is the culprit. That is why you see so many "solutions", none of which work for everyone and most of which only work temporarily. I've been hoping for a firmware update that would resolve the problem but to date there is nothing from Apple to address the issue

I have thus, taken a multi-pronged approach to resolve the issue as best I can, working around the crappy Airport firmware. The following steps are designed to minimize the number of wireless signals the Airport has to sort through so that it is less likely to get "confused" by interference hence dropping the connection;

FIRMWARE resolution:
1. Open Network Preferences
2. Choose Automatic or Edit Locations then + to add a new location
3. Put your network at the top of the "preferred Network" list.
4. Delete the Bluetooth and Ethernet services under your "Automatic" location so Airport is only option remaining - if you need them save them under another "location" or try everything else first)
5 If you don't do step 4 then reorder so that Airport is at the top of the list
6. Click Apply and watch your signal meter. In about a second, it'll pop back to life.

INTERFERENCE resolution:
1. Download the Network widget. then check to see if any other networks in range are using the same channel. if so. change the channel on your router to one no one else is using.
2. If you have wireless phones (2.4 GHZ). unplug them to see if they are interfering, especially if you lose your connection while using the phone. If so try different router channels to find one that works.
2. Set to G or N only, if possible.

Hope this helps, my connection issue has been chronic and continuous, and today for the first time in a year I have not dropped the connection. I even took it to an Apple Genius and his solution was to reinstall my "user and network settings" which lasted for about 2 days. Feel free to add to my suggestions andlet us all know if this works for you. In the mean time, we all need to be a squeaky wheel with Apple until they correct their Firmware issue.

Hi everyone, perhaps someone finds this information useful:

I have been struggling with dropouts for quite some time, reading all I could find on the net regarding this topic. I think I can say I've tried most of – if not all – software/settings related solutions either on the computer and router side. Nothing helped.
I finally decided to try installing a new wifi card, and it fixed all problems instantly.
I get full bars reception as I used to, from before the dropouts and week reception started.

So if you cannot find a fix, send the computer back to apple and have the wifi card replaced.
If your apple care period is over, which was my case, you can even try to disassemble the top case and exchange the card yourself. There are instructions on how to do it on youtube.
I only recommend it however for those, that have experience in putting things back together, and know how to be gentle with electronics. I got the wifi card (AR5BXB6 for my white MacBook 13") from eBay.

Airport & Ethernet loss of connection.
 

For anyone having wifi connection problems I would recommend removing any software used for downloading material.

I eventually discovered that having a software program like Vuze - for instance - running on my computer was causing my connection to fail - both with wifi and, surprisingly to me, with an ethernet connection.

Since removing this software I have had no problems.

I am not sure as to why this is and would be interested if anyone out there knows what is happening there.

I hope this helps anyone out there struggling with the same problems that I have had. The damn thing has had me dumbfounded for months and now I'm just glad to have a constant connection again.

bored28, demiphonic,

Cloning the MAC address worked! Thx everyone for your participation.

-isaacw

i have a problem with my mac which i believe something is wrong with my airport. whenever i connect to my home internet wirelessly, the airport shows that it is connected but when i go into the internet , a message appears saying that i could not connected to the internet. any advice?

THANK. YOU. !!!!!

I've been living with this problem for soooo long, and tried all kinds of solutions. But this little quick fix solved the issue completely! My life just got 30 percent better.