Airport sometimes refuses to reconnect after sleep unless power cycled

[Makosuke]

The title explains the situation: I'm connected to a wireless network. I put the computer to sleep, and wake it up later. Usually it will reconnect quickly and without complaint. Sometimes, however, it simply will not--even if I re-enter the network manually. Using the menu to turn power off to the Airport card and then back on will almost always kick it back in immediately, as soon as I turn Airport back on.

At first I thought this was specific to my particular MBP (first-gen 17") and/or my AEBS (gigabit). However, I just had exactly the same problem at my parents' house, with their brand-new mini connecting to a Netgear router. And in this case it's basically a stock system, without even any network preferences migrated over.

This has happened under 10.5 and 10.6 (10.4 too, I think, though it was so long ago my memory is hazy). Things found via Google usually suggests deleting the preferred network and/or its keychain item and re-entering. This does not help, nor has any other preference/setting voodoo I've tried, including trying more or less every available wireless channel.

I'm pretty sure it's not a signal-strength issue; the Mini shows full bars and there are no other wireless devices in the area, and my MBP is literally 10 feet of open air from the AEBS in a small room with no interference and only two very weak networks visible.

All other devices in both areas work properly, and of course after an on-off cycle the computer in question works perfectly, too. Neither EVER cuts out apart from this issue after waking from sleep.

Under 10.5 the network in question wouldn't even show in the menu, but under 10.6 it usually does, and other networks in the area (very weak ones) also show, so it's not like the Airport card has stopped responding entirely.


I've been living with this annoyance for years, but after seeing it happen to a brand new Mac that wasn't mine, I'm now really, really curious if others have seen this and if so, if there's anything else I can try to fix it.