Early 2011 Macbook Pro dropping Wifi Signal

I would take it in, sounds like something wacky with the wifi chip.

I've had the same problem with my 2011 13" MBP (base model). Seems to only happen when I have an external monitor hooked up. I've read that display port adapters can cause wifi issues. Usually I only have to turn airport off and then back on, but today I had to do a full reboot.

Other problems that I've had: Bluetooth issues with my Magic Trackpad not being recognized...... and crappy flash performance / memory leaks in Safari. That's fine that Steve Jobs doesn't like Flash for iOS but he should give a crap about it under OS X.

These problems with this computer makes me think that this MBP update was not ready for prime time and Apple pushed them out to coincide with Intel's Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge release.

Hi, I too have a 2011 13" MBP and am finding the exact same problem.

I have no external displays connected. I am using a Normal Wireless N Router.

Before, I was able to just reconnect, but today I had to do a restart.



Any ideas anybody? Should I take it back to the Apple Store?

I have the same mbp and router and everything works fine. Take it in.

I kind of have the same problem too, but it's my network that doesn't seem to be fully compatible with the Apple products because my iPhone as the exact same problem. (however, today … oh miracle it isn't dropping [I switched off/on the router and the thing that gets the internet ])

However, when I take my MBP to public places, such as library and university, it never drops.
Maybe try to reconfigure your router/thing that gets the internet (sorry don't know the name)?

I had somewhat the same result last Saturday. I took my Lexus RX350 in for some maintenance and was expecting to be able to use their WiFi network as I had done in the past. Three of us in the waiting area had Macintosh laptops, but I was the only one that constantly dropped the Lexus WiFi network. Another network, named Free WiFi turned out to be much more reliable, but I fail to see why the other two Macs, both of which were earlier MacBook Pro models, seemed to grab the Lexus WiFi signal when mine apparently couldn't.

That being said, that was the only WiFi network that I have found to which my new laptop has an aversion. Everything works swimmingly well at home, but I haven't had a chance to try it at grad school yet - we're on Spring Break now, so I'll have to wait until next week to try.

As it turned out, I spent most of my waiting time coding (or rather, modifying) my iOS apps, so I didn't really have a large need for internet connectivity

I have the same problem and my MBP is 3 months shy of being two years old. I usually just log out and log back in.

Same issue here. Called Apple, they said interference was causing it and because it is Netgear router (two months old) they can't do a thing. Interference? Not sure about that as I am 3 feet from the router. Seems to be an issue with MBPs?

Same problem occurring here on 3 wk old 2011 15" MacBook Pro. Wifi signal has cut out 4 or 5 times over that period; no apparent pattern to this signal drop out is descernable, and the wifi signal is easily reestablished by turning Airport off and then back on. I'm using a new Airport Express as my router and this problem just started with the use of my new MacBook Pro. Any thoughts?

macbook pro 2011 15' 2.0 gzh

im having the same problem with the wifi just randomly stops working but no change in the bars of the airport?? WTF!!! lol the only fix is shutting off the airport and turning it back on should i return the mbp or could it just be my wireless router but my iphone or any of my other computers are not having any problems with it

DJMIKEYD said:

im having the same problem with the wifi just randomly stops working but no change in the bars of the airport?? WTF!!! lol the only fix is shutting off the airport and turning it back on should i return the mbp or could it just be my wireless router but my iphone or any of my other computers are having problems with it

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Search on the apple support web site....I saw a link earlier today about how to resolve this issue. Someone posted here on the forums.

Sorry - I don't have the link for you.

R

I think I saw that link as well, and the resolution suggested was to not use WEP encryption. Are you broadcasting the SSID, as if not that can sometimes cause issues? Are there any interfering signals nearby, if it is a 2.4 signal than lots of cordless phones and devices and bluetooth signals can cause interference? Have you scanned the area to see what neighboring signals might be causing interference if broadcasting nearby (from my house on the average night I can see 11 different routers from the neighbors, I made sure I am on channels they are not, and am the only 5 GHz so that helps as well)?

I' ve the same problem. When I' m using wifi all works great. But when I don' t use it the wifi lost the connection randomly. I' ve only 1 Wifi network in the MBP range and My old 13" MacBook Pro (2009) works great with that network!

I followed the directions from this site http://michaelhyatt.com/fix-for-wireless-connection-problems-on-macbook-pro.html 4 days ago; since then the Airport dropout problem has not repeated itself. Basically, I opened the Network Prefs, reordered the network options so that Airport was the first network connection tried, hit "Apply" for this option, closed the Network Pref and then quit System Preferences. Finally, I immediately restarted my 2011 15" MacBook Pro and then zapped the PRAM when it restarted. So far so good, the Airport dropout problem, which had been occurring every 3 or 4 days, has not recurred since I tried this solution; if it happens anytime soon I will update this post.

Same problem here!

Macbook Pro 13' (early 2011), base model; Mac Os X 10.6.7.
Linksys-Cisco WRT160NL access point, WPA network.

Wireless connection drops every 2 minutes and to restore it,you have to both close and re-open the notebook lid (sleep-unsleep) or disable-enable Airport card!

Official thread on Apple forum (at moment no word from Apple):
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13223879&#13223879

I have the same problem, though with no external display connected. I've spent around 2 hours in total on the phone to apple, I created a new network location, reverted to factory settings, booted off the os x installation disc and ran a ping test outside of the OS, and it worked fine. Inside the OS, it is still dropping out. I wiped the hard drive and did a clean install of os x as instructed by apple, still no fix. The fact that the unlimited ping test ran for over 1 hour with no issues outside the OS rules out a hardware fault, but the tech said that the fact that ethernet works is indicative of a hardware fault. So 'm back to square one. either a hardware fault or a driver issue.

I just purchased a refurb 2010 model and I am having similar issues. My airport bars do not change but webpages become unresponsive. Its not an issue with my browser because I use an alternative and still nothing. I restart the macbook and all is good. How do I tell an apple bar tech (sorry genius is a dumb title for a tech) that I have a random problem and expect them to do anything about it? Take video? Input greatly appreciated.

silverf1re said:

I just purchased a refurb 2010 model and I am having similar issues. My airport bars do not change but webpages become unresponsive. Its not an issue with my browser because I use an alternative and still nothing. I restart the macbook and all is good. How do I tell an apple bar tech (sorry genius is a dumb title for a tech) that I have a random problem and expect them to do anything about it? Take video? Input greatly appreciated.

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You can just tell the tech what you describe above- that the problem is intermittent- and they will do what the can to handle the situation. Since the problem goes away when you restart, arrange your visit with the tech to coincide with a lengthy interval since your last reboot.

I'd recommend exchanging the laptop if it's not too late.

I've been following a thread for the last 4 months of people waiting for Apple to fix it with a software update that has yet to come.

Unless you want to try a new router, take the laptop back and demand a new one. Not all 2011 MBP's have this problem, including my own.

Random wifi drops, disconnects

Having similar issues with a 2009 MBP.

Connection works fine for random period, drops connection, will not reconnect even manually choosing same network and entering password.

This last detail is the most curious: The saved network and password is not longer retained in Network Preferences (NP), although still retained in Keychain Access. It appears the problem is with NP.

Seamus Berkeley
Fine Art Painting