A wifi app that automatically reconnets

[Synchromesh]

So I have a bit of an unusual question. I have a 2018 MBP 15". At some point it developed an issue with the wifi card. Basically during heavy usage such as streaming the wifi will spontaneously disconnect and lose the entire list of available networks, basically a reset. This is fairly random and happens several times per day. It's annoying as hell but since Apple managed to build the wifi card into the board the only way to properly fix it is to replace the entire logic board which I'm not willing to pay for (no Apple warranty left on the system). Yes, it's only the MBP on the my network does that and I've tried to reinstall a fresh bare OS to test it and it still does it so it's most likely a hardware issue.

So my question is: is there an app of some sort that will monitor the wifi and just automatically reconnect it back? I've been googling it but cannot find anything specific. Thanks.

 

[johnmacward]

This is definitely a long shot but seeing as though it’s a potential hardware problem... I wonder if the wifi chip is overheating and may need the tiniest of heat sinks to avoid utter destruction, keep it below a certain level of temperature. There’s a bunch of pre-glued sinks out there that are low profile and cheap. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Heatsink/s?k=Small+Heatsink

 

[Synchromesh]

This is definitely a long shot but seeing as though it’s a potential hardware problem... I wonder if the wifi chip is overheating and may need the tiniest of heat sinks to avoid utter destruction, keep it below a certain level of temperature. There’s a bunch of pre-glued sinks out there that are low profile and cheap. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Heatsink/s?k=Small+Heatsink

Thanks. It worked fine before the topcase swap, I see no reason why it suddenly would start overheating after.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Thanks. It worked fine before the topcase swap, I see no reason why it suddenly would start overheating after.

You didn't mention a "topcase swap"! Did you leave anything else out? Update of macOS?

 

[Synchromesh]

You didn't mention a "topcase swap"! Did you leave anything else out? Update of macOS?

My mistake. Yes, I had the top case replaced under the keyboard recall. It started after that. I tried talking to Apple about it but as the machine is not under warranty anymore they basically told me to go away.

Not an OS problem though. It appeared after I restored a backup that worked perfectly on my substitute machine while this one was repaired. I tried it multiple time and it worked fine on all except for this one. And original backup was from this one. So I'm pretty sure it's a hardware issue with this machine only.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yes…signs are pointing to a hardware issue. Not sure how swapping the topcase could have damaged the wifi in a way that causes this behavior but I can't rule that out.

The issue could be coincidental and perhaps johnmacward's solution would work but as he says it's a "long shot".

Have you tried Apple Diagnostics?

Diagnose problems on Mac

If your Mac doesn’t start up using macOS, try using Apple Diagnostics.

support.apple.com

 

[Synchromesh]

Yes…signs are pointing to a hardware issue. Not sure how swapping the topcase could have damaged the wifi in a way that causes this behavior but I can't rule that out.

The issue could be coincidental and perhaps johnmacward's solution would work but as he says it's a "long shot".

Have you tried Apple Diagnostics?

Diagnose problems on Mac

If your Mac doesn’t start up using macOS, try using Apple Diagnostics.

support.apple.com

I don't think my 2018 has Apple Diagnostics anymore but I'll look. It's an intermittent problem so I also don't think basic diagnostics will help since it will detect wifi just fine and use transfer a few things fine too. It happens only on heavy streaming.

If I had to guess there is a short somewhere or a capacitor on the board overheats and makes it reset. But those are just guesses, I would need someone skilled with board-level repair to look into it.