Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Macbook Air Removed Airport Card Problems
- Thread starter myibookg4
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is probably the most bizarre thread I've ever read.
Why would you want to cripple your machine? If you don't want to get online, just don't get online.
The system will NOT get online without you requesting it; even if WiFi is enabled it won't join any networks if you don't have any in your network list.
If you're so afraid of the Internet why are you posting here anyway? WTF?
Why would you want to cripple your machine? If you don't want to get online, just don't get online.
The system will NOT get online without you requesting it; even if WiFi is enabled it won't join any networks if you don't have any in your network list.
If you're so afraid of the Internet why are you posting here anyway? WTF?
You guys are funny. Either you don't read the whole thread or you have selective memory. Anyway, the problem is solved, I think.
To be redundant: No I am not actually afraid of the internet. That was just something some guy said and I jokingly agreed with him. Partly because I thought it was funny that was the only reason he/she could think of that someone would not want any wifi connectivity on a laptop. Again, the reasons are irrelevant, but I don't want the POSSIBILITY of a wifi connection even for the administrator. (Short of manipulating hardware, that is.) It's not paranoia, just a feature that I need.
But this is fun. Let's see how many more people tell me "just don't go online" or "turn off the wifi toggle" or "delete wifi in the network settings."
To be redundant: No I am not actually afraid of the internet. That was just something some guy said and I jokingly agreed with him. Partly because I thought it was funny that was the only reason he/she could think of that someone would not want any wifi connectivity on a laptop. Again, the reasons are irrelevant, but I don't want the POSSIBILITY of a wifi connection even for the administrator. (Short of manipulating hardware, that is.) It's not paranoia, just a feature that I need.
But this is fun. Let's see how many more people tell me "just don't go online" or "turn off the wifi toggle" or "delete wifi in the network settings."
Yes - this is one bizarre, but fun to read thread.
OP - we all know what you want (although we don't understand why, and you don't seem to want to share). The answer is - you can't do it. Not the way you want to do it. There are plenty of ways to do "effectively" what you want, but none of the ways suggested seem to meet your needs.
End of story, really.
OP - we all know what you want (although we don't understand why, and you don't seem to want to share). The answer is - you can't do it. Not the way you want to do it. There are plenty of ways to do "effectively" what you want, but none of the ways suggested seem to meet your needs.
End of story, really.
I read the whole thread twice in amazement and the above comment is exactly what I was thinking.
TheRealDamager also summed up the whole situation perfectly.
OP - you really need to see a therapist. I don't want to be disrespectful or judgemental and you are probably a very nice guy too but you don't sound normal.
While the OP's request may seem unusual, there may be a reasonable explanation.
For example, perhaps the OP works somewhere secure that requires that in order to use personal hardware it must not be capable of connecting to outside networks.
For example, perhaps the OP works somewhere secure that requires that in order to use personal hardware it must not be capable of connecting to outside networks.
Perfectly valid and a plausible theory. If OP explains his reasoning a little more in detail, instead of being baffled, we may offer better solutions.
As already said: How about putting the card back in and simply disconnecting the antennas
Another valid reason not to want it making internet connection is just maybe someone does not want it remotely locked down, they may not have the efi password to do a fresh install of osx, therefore they are stuck with what's on it now. Maybe even only using it as a guest user account
Let me be clear, I am NOT suggesting this is the case with the OP
It is only one of several possibilities for the reasoning why ANYONE would want to 100% disable the internet connection
Another valid reason not to want it making internet connection is just maybe someone does not want it remotely locked down, they may not have the efi password to do a fresh install of osx, therefore they are stuck with what's on it now.
Maybe even only using it as a guest user accountLet me be clear, I am NOT suggesting this is the case with the OP
It is only one of several possibilities for the reasoning why ANYONE would want to 100% disable the internet connection
Last edited:
Same problem here but for different reasons
Hello! I had to remove my airport card because I broke one of the antenna connectors. Now I'm working with an USB wifi (edimax) till I save money enough to buy a new unit. The problem I have is that since that moment, I can't not access the App Store. I did call Apple and I was suggesting exactly what you have confirmed me in this thread: the Mac Book Air uses the airport card for login in Apple system... The unvelivable thing is that this logycal assumption was denied over and over again by the Apple Customer Service and they asked me to reset the system and do a lot of stupid things that never worked out.
Now I have a pile of udpates that I can't not complete because Apple system doesn't recognize my Mac Book Air anymore...
Can somebody help me on how to fix this issue?
Hello! I had to remove my airport card because I broke one of the antenna connectors. Now I'm working with an USB wifi (edimax) till I save money enough to buy a new unit. The problem I have is that since that moment, I can't not access the App Store. I did call Apple and I was suggesting exactly what you have confirmed me in this thread: the Mac Book Air uses the airport card for login in Apple system... The unvelivable thing is that this logycal assumption was denied over and over again by the Apple Customer Service and they asked me to reset the system and do a lot of stupid things that never worked out.
Now I have a pile of udpates that I can't not complete because Apple system doesn't recognize my Mac Book Air anymore...
Can somebody help me on how to fix this issue?
Huh?
Sell your computer and build a PC laptop that will work the way you'd like it to.
The rest of us enjoy having hardware and software designed to work together.
Sell your computer and build a PC laptop that will work the way you'd like it to.
The rest of us enjoy having hardware and software designed to work together.
Don't you really note wi-fi activity when disabling wi-fi? I think OSX enables wi-fi from time to time to get some kind of location information, but it certainly enables wi-fi certain times without user consent.
Another valid reason not to want it making internet connection is just maybe someone does not want it remotely locked down, they may not have the efi password to do a fresh install of osx, therefore they are stuck with what's on it now.
Interesting point. If the OP was some kind of paranoid geek, he should firstly use an open source distribution, perhaps Debian or FreeBSD (for a OSX-like taste).
Another reason for getting rid of Wi-Fi is that in fact it is re-enabled from time to time, what represents a privacy issue. Don't know why OSX does that. But I also think this is a no-issue since proprietary operating systems have tons of privacy holes.
You wouldn't use OSX or Windows if you worked for any international (non-american) military institution. A custom Linux distro should be a better choice, combined with a firewall developed in place to capture security flaws from the bundled software.
It does not. The FCC prohibits such an action from occurring without a user's consent.
Do the test. Turn Wi-Fi off in the menu bar icon. I do this because I need to use a Thunderbolt-Ethernet adapter to get into the LAN when I'm at work. The Wi-Fi menu bar icon turns on and looks like it's searching for available access points. But it only last for a few seconds, then it turns off again. I presume this is done for tracking the laptop's location. It this happening only with me?
You can also remove a wheel from your car fairly easily but you shouldn't expect it to drive very well afterwards.
As with all the earlier posts in this thread that say the same: you need to have the Airport card in the computer even if you're not using it.
Guess what... My airport card is plugged in, the only difference from the past is that I'm not using it anymore but the USB Edimax Wifi...
Any suggestions appart from recomending buying a brand new Mac?
Perhaps you need a replacement card. Unless there's damage to the main logic board, the card should be able to be replaced.
Why in the world did you remove the AirPort card?
So an antenna connector broke, what does that matter?
The Wifi range 1 meter away from router was almost none without antenna, as expectable. The airport card is again inside the unit, as I already said, I removed it once just to see if I was able to fix the connector myself.
Who cares what the wifi range is/was?
As others have explained in this thread, the value of the AirPort card isn't simply to provide wifi access.
It sounds like you had removed it for an extended period of time if you were taking the laptop to Apple to try to get them to fix it, etc.
As I said before, Apple Customer Service was not able to help me, they didn't event knew that the removal of the Airport Card will damage the login capabilities of the unit. If you haven't read what I have already posted, at least keep your opinions for those who may have requested them.
It doesn't surprise me that they wouldn't know this. They didn't engineer the laptop or the software.
"Hello, I removed some parts from your product and now it doesn't work right."
This probably isn't a scenario that they cover in training and I'm not sure why you would expect them to respond with anything more helpful than "why did you do that?"
You're right, you didn't request my opinion about your situation in particular, but you did post about it on a public forum, so you can't reasonably be too upset when people reply to your posts.
In my case I havent remove anything at all, but my wifi board suddenly stop working and I got the "wifi: no hardware installed" error.. now im using an usb port to connect to the internet but i cant log into FaceTime, Messeges, AppStore or any other Apple application. I know this is because all MBA uses its wifi board to authenticate with Apple Servers, but my question is:
is there any way to bypass this??
is there any way to bypass this??