Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cannot solve my 10.7.3 wifi problems

T

trsblader

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 20, 2011
450
204
Hello all

I have been fighting wifi issues since around Christmas (December 25th) on my 2011 iMac. I have only found a temporary solution, and that is to reboot my machine. This works for a (seemingly) random amount of time. It has worked for a day or two at a time before, and also not made it more than 5 minutes.

When the problem really gets bad, I can lose a connection to wifi every 5-10 seconds for a few minutes, and then it will be fine for another hour before starting all over again. I say it seems like random intervals because I'm not aware of anything I'm doing differently at different times, but that doesn't mean I'm not.

I have tried deleting my network from preferred list, then re-adding it.
I have tried to reinstall the combo update from Apple
I have tried to make a new location.

Two weird things I have noticed. When the wifi constantly drops, so does speed. Normally I can achieve around 7mb/s downloads, but once the wifi issue begins happening, I am lucky to get 1 mb/s downloads - uploads are NEVER affected.

I am looking for another idea. I saw someone say they reinstalled snow leopard, then reinstalled Lion and updated to 10.7.3 again and was just fine. I'd like to stray away from that if possible, but I'll do what I have to do in the end.

This is a large enough problem I have pretty much stopped using my iMac because I need to be on the internet for my research term papers that are due soon. My laptop on 10.6.8 does NOT experience this problem at all. The other 15+ devices (xbox, ps3, windows and mac laptops (none on Lion other than mine) android and iphones/ipods) are not affected. My iMac on Lion is the sole device having issues.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
One thing you do not mention, and it's an oldie. Shut down your router AND modem if they are separate.

Reboot after 1 to 2 minutes....Make sure your Mac is NOT connected to email, Internet during this time.
 
Ah, yes I forgot to mention that I have in fact tried to shut down both our router and modem with my wifi turned off and it did not work. It is a netgear router
 
I've had the same issues ever since DP1 (ADC member). I work in communications so I've done all the "fixes" with regards to my current gen AEBS, modem, wireless settings, Network settings, etc. I finally gave up and have been using "Snow Leopard" on my 12-Core Mac Pro. Not one issue, neither in Windows 7. Many of us have filed reports with Apple engineers about WiFi instability across numerous current and previous gen Apple systems. 10.7.4 beta doesn't even resolve the issue.

Lion's a "big bag of hurt."
 
Hi, I've been having the exact problem. The latest workaround I have tried is to perform a content ping to a google public server, 8.8.8.8 is the one I am using. I still get a disconnect but it is not as often. When it disconnects I turn off wi-fi, turn it back on and it works again.

(To do this, open Network Utility in Utilities, run the ping and minimize.)

I know it's a drastic workaround but I have tried everything else.

Good luck.
 
additional note: I just changed the channel my router uses. It was set to auto and I changed it to 7 (none of the wi-fi networks within range was using this channel).

So far the connection has not dropped, 30 minutes and counting...

ps I am still using the 8.8.8.8 ping to keep the connection alive. If I get to over an hour without a network drop, I will turn this off and see if it says...
 
I will try your suggestion when it cuts out next. Since posting this, it has yet to cut out even after going to sleep. I have been doing random speed tests and it has been all over the place though. It was at 7mb/s for a while, currently at .67mb/s and has been everywhere in-between since. Uploads have been steady in the 5mb/s range.

This is very strange. I should also mention I'm the only one that's been home all day, so there aren't others disrupting the network either.
 
Hi,

My problem is still there but nowhere near as bad as at first. I keep the constant ping running (to either my router or to an external address, doesn't seem to matter) and the connection drops maybe once an hour.

Far from perfect but good enough for me to not have to use the ethernet cable.

Regards

JW
 
Tried the above suggestion, and it worked for a little bit but then stopped again. Seems I have slowed down how often this occurs, but still not fix. Any last ideas before I reinstall Snow Leopard?
 
trsblader said:
Tried the above suggestion, and it worked for a little bit but then stopped again. Seems I have slowed down how often this occurs, but still not fix. Any last ideas before I reinstall Snow Leopard?
Click to expand...

Reinstall 10.6.8. Worked for me. :)
 
I had 2 drop outs right in a row, but it has been flawless since. I have work/class pretty much all day until monday morning, so Monday I will probably reinstall Snow Leopard unless by some miracle the problem is fixed this time.
 
Just wondering, because I don't think you mentioned it in your previous postings.

Is the iMac -in the same room- as the wireless router?

If it is, why not just use a wired connection?

Wired is ALWAYS preferable to wireless, unless you need wireless for portability (as in laptop) or for location (as in the iMac isn't in the same room as is the router).
 
Just tried the keychain as well. No issues found, but went ahead and continued and still no luck.

Since I can't find a permanent fix, I have just resorted to Snow Leopard again for the time being. Really hope a fix is found this summer before I buy my new laptop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back