Airport dying - bad card or something else?

[heythad]

This problem began a few weeks ago. Occasionally (roughly 1 in 5 or 6 times) when I open my MacBook and it spins back up, the Airport card isn't working. I first noticed I wasn't able to get a wireless connection, then found I couldn't get Airport to turn back on. Until tonight, restarting the computer has resolved the issue. Tonight it did not, and after restarting I was getting a "No Airport card" message when I'd attempt to turn on Airport. I then powered down completely, powered back up, and it recognized the card.

This seems to be a gradually deteriorating issue, and I'd rather not spend the money to have a certified repair shop to do something I can do myself. My assumption is the Airport card is dying, but I don't want to assume that and spend money on a new card if there's a decent chance the issue is something else.

Any experience or input? Any opinions about the best place to buy a card for my model Macbook (info below).

Thanks in advance.

Specs: Macbook - black (MB063LL/B) // Late 2007 Santa Rosa chipset // OSX 10.6.7

[iThinkergoiMac]

Confusion on this point:

Originally Posted by heythad

Until tonight, restarting the computer has resolved the issue. Tonight it did not

vs

I then powered down completely, powered back up

The latter is a restart. What were you doing before, log out/in?

I agree with you that the Airport card is likely the issue. I can't remember if they're part of the board itself or not, though. If not, you might try cleaning the contacts first to see if that helps. 90+% isopropyl works well.

[heythad]

Sorry for the confusion. Prior to tonight, one quick "Restart" did the trick. Tonight I did a warm Restart and got the new twist of it telling me I do not have an Airport card. Then, instead of a warm Restart, I did a full Shut Down, then after a minute powered back up. Everything worked at that point.

The distinction between the Restart and Shut down likely isn't relevant. I was just trying to be descriptive.

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't pulled the machine apart yet to see if the card is easily replaceable. It didn't occur to me that it would be fully integrated into the board. Let's hope not.

[davidg4781]

Before you start opening things up, I'd call up an Apple Store and ask them what they would charge to fix it.

For example, my screen started flickering. After doing some research, I decided it was either the inverter board or inverter cable. For both of those, it was going to cost me I think $70-100, if I remember correctly. That's just for parts, and me doing all the work.

I called up Apple and asked what they would charge. $80, parts and labor. So I took it to them. Turned out to be a cable, which was only $8. They didn't charge me labor since they ended up replacing my cracked top case anyway.

Problem was, when I got it back, my airport wasn't working. I called and asked about it and they said I had 90 day warranty, so I took it back and they replaced the card.

My reason in taking it to Apple is that if I ended up mucking something up on the logic board or something, I'm stuck replacing it. If Apple did, they'd fix it, and they did.

[LukeJG]

Originally Posted by heythad

I haven't pulled the machine apart yet to see if the card is easily replaceable. It didn't occur to me that it would be fully integrated into the board. Let's hope not.

Dont worry about that mate, the card isn't integrated into the logic board.

In my experience, those cards do degrade over time, so it does sound like it is the card thats the problem. If you're still wanting to sort it out yourself, you could first try re-seating the cables connecting the card to the logic, and if that doesn't fix it, you could buy a new card from somewhere like the bookyard.com, they do new and used ones.

Good luck.