Macbook Pro 14 losing 5ghz wifi and then reconnect?

[saber106]

Hi everyone, english is not my native my language so please bear with me.

I'm having trouble with my MBP14 5ghz Wifi: Sometimes for no reason it will lost connect to my 5ghz wifi (Wifi will say Not Connected, if I click on it I will not be able to see my 5ghz wifi SSID)

1. So what I have been trying to do?

- My current Wifi router config is: Set to AX / channel 153 / 40mhz - reserve DHCP for MBP14 only -> this is my 1st wifi router and I encounter this problem, I blame it on the wifi

- I Replace with another wifi router (TP Link AX1500, config 5ghz to channel 36 / 40mhz / reserve DHCP for MBP14 only) : This 2nd wifi router still encounter the same problem.

- Wipe my MBP14 and reinstall a fresh macos 12.4 : Still encounter the same problem.

2. What happen when I encounter this problem?

- I turn off the MBP14 wifi and turn on again, the 5ghz wifi will reappear and I can use the wifi no problem.

3. More information:

- It did NOT happen with my WORK MBP14 at all, only happen to my Personal MBP14
- It did not happen to any other devices such as Iphone / Ipad.
- it ...rarely happens, sometimes like 1 a day or did not happen for a couple of days. What annoy me is because sometimes it happens when I'm in a meeting with my devs and at working sessions, really pissed me off.

Has anyone ever encounter the same problem like me? Thank you

P/S: Because this happen randomly / rarely so it cannot be reproduce 100% so I cannot bring it to any AASP (It just gonna be a waste of 2 weeks when they give me back the same machine and tell me no problem) + I need the laptop for my 2nd job.

 

[BanditoB]

You can try some of the fixes linked here to see if they make a difference:

https://osxdaily.com/2020/11/23/how-fix-macos-big-sur-wifi-issues/

 

[Airs0urce]

Yes, exactly same happens to me. Macbook Pro 14" M1 Max. iPhone, iPad, Windows laptop - everything stays conected. Only drops on MBP14. I have some kind of ZTE GPON router from ISP. I use "Wifi Scanner" app to check what networks available and it looks like some moment all 5ghz networks disappears. 2.4Ghz still shown. After that I can either reboot or just sit and wait (and may be turning off/on my wifi) and it gets fixed.
Can't find solution. I tried to change channels on router, disable bluetooth, many other things including full reinstall of MacOS and looks like I can't fix it and I'lll have to give the laptop back to Apple to get replacement or something.

 

[satcomer]

Yes, exactly same happens to me. Macbook Pro 14" M1 Max. iPhone, iPad, Windows laptop - everything stays conected. Only drops on MBP14. I have some kind of ZTE GPON router from ISP. I use "Wifi Scanner" app to check what networks available and it looks like some moment all 5ghz networks disappears. 2.4Ghz still shown. After that I can either reboot or just sit and wait (and may be turning off/on my wifi) and it gets fixed.
Can't find solution. I tried to change channels on router, disable bluetooth, many other things including full reinstall of MacOS and looks like I can't fix it and I'lll have to give the laptop back to Apple to get replacement or something.

That means the router is losing clock in your router and you should think about replacing the router!

 

[Airs0urce]

That means the router is losing clock in your router and you should think about replacing the router!

Thank you for response.
I’m using this the router with Macbook pro from 2020 on intel and don’t have this issue.
Also when it drops 5ghz, it doesn’t see any 5ghz networks, even from my neighbor. Do you think the router could be a problem still?

 

[satcomer]

Thank you for response.
I’m using this the router with Macbook pro from 2020 on intel and don’t have this issue.
Also when it drops 5ghz, it doesn’t see any 5ghz networks, even from my neighbor. Do you think the router could be a problem still?

No the problem with Wi-Fi 5 is unless you're 15 feet from a router to get 5 speeds! Wi-Fi 6 was made with new channels frequencies to fix 5 problems and called it Wi-Fi 6! IMHO Wi-Fi 6 is fix to Wi-Fi 5 short ranges!

 

[BanditoB]

@Airs0urce, You may want to try the fixes in the following article. Removing the configuration files seems to have fixed the issue of WiFi dropping out on one of my old iMacs. If that doesn't work, you can try setting up a new location with custom settings and perhaps that will address the issue. The article was written specifically for OS X High Sierra, but is generally applicable.

https://osxdaily.com/2017/11/13/fix-wifi-macos-high-sierra-issues/

 

[Alex W.]

I had a recent merlin firmware update that was causing this, rolled back and its all good.
Also there is a few settings in your wifi that might be harming the Macs ability to connect, in your professional settings if its an asus router.

 

[xraydoc]

I've only had my 14" MBP for a couple of weeks now, but I've not seen this kind of behavior at all. That it's happening on two different wifi routers suggests that there's some kind of interference.

How far away from the router are you? 5GHz has lower range than 2.4GHz. If you set the SSID and password of both networks to the same, your Mac can bounce back and forth from 5GHz network to 2.4GHz if there's temporary external interference.

I would also reset the router and let the router choose the channel instead of you specifying the channel(s) used. See if that helps. While the ones you're picking may look clear on a wifi scanner, there may be other interference that you're not able to scan for.

 

[MrGunny94]

I have had this happen to me but strangely enough only when using SurfShark or NordVPN for geo lock removal of video content… hmm….

 

[saber106]

Yes, exactly same happens to me. Macbook Pro 14" M1 Max. iPhone, iPad, Windows laptop - everything stays conected. Only drops on MBP14. I have some kind of ZTE GPON router from ISP. I use "Wifi Scanner" app to check what networks available and it looks like some moment all 5ghz networks disappears. 2.4Ghz still shown. After that I can either reboot or just sit and wait (and may be turning off/on my wifi) and it gets fixed.
Can't find solution. I tried to change channels on router, disable bluetooth, many other things including full reinstall of MacOS and looks like I can't fix it and I'lll have to give the laptop back to Apple to get replacement or something.

Guess I'm not the only one then, I tried new wifi router but also still happen to me.

P/S: so it has been like 4 days and it hasn't happen yet, my currrent config is:

1. Remote the VPN App that I previously install but never use much (vietpn)
2. Set the location from [Automatic] to [Home] and remove all uneed connection
3. Upgrade my macos to 12.5

I'm still keeping an eyes on it but let's hope it okay now. In my country there is only AASP and if I cannot reproduce this problem 100% then I'm not eliegble for a repair / replace even with my AC+

But at least I'm not the only one with this problem.

P/S: I replace my router with an AX1500 TP-Link but still the same problem, also the AX1500 doesn't have the channel above ~100 so whenever restart my MBP it tooks a couple of minutes to reconnect so I'm back to my old router because this does not seems to be a router problem.

Thank you for response.
I’m using this the router with Macbook pro from 2020 on intel and don’t have this issue.
Also when it drops 5ghz, it doesn’t see any 5ghz networks, even from my neighbor. Do you think the router could be a problem still?

I also did not see other 5Ghz wifi near me when this happen, only 2.4Ghz.

@Airs0urce, You may want to try the fixes in the following article. Removing the configuration files seems to have fixed the issue of WiFi dropping out on one of my old iMacs. If that doesn't work, you can try setting up a new location with custom settings and perhaps that will address the issue. The article was written specifically for OS X High Sierra, but is generally applicable.

https://osxdaily.com/2017/11/13/fix-wifi-macos-high-sierra-issues/

I did try remove the config file and haven't seen the problem for the last 4 days, not sure if it's really fix or jut because it feels cute and doesn't acting up atm.

I have had this happen to me but strangely enough only when using SurfShark or NordVPN for geo lock removal of video content… hmm….

You think this might be VPN app problem?

I also did delete the VPN app from my machine and waiting to see how it works atm, currently 4 days going strong.

 

[saber106]

I've only had my 14" MBP for a couple of weeks now, but I've not seen this kind of behavior at all. That it's happening on two different wifi routers suggests that there's some kind of interference.

How far away from the router are you? 5GHz has lower range than 2.4GHz. If you set the SSID and password of both networks to the same, your Mac can bounce back and forth from 5GHz network to 2.4GHz if there's temporary external interference.

I would also reset the router and let the router choose the channel instead of you specifying the channel(s) used. See if that helps. While the ones you're picking may look clear on a wifi scanner, there may be other interference that you're not able to scan for.

Thanks for the suggestion:

1. I have disable all 2.4ghz network on both router when I tried with them.

2. Both my MBP14 is 50cm away from the router.

3. if I let the router choose the channel then it could also not choose channel more than >100 which result in slow reconnect when I reset my wifi.

And also, this only happen to my private MBP14, my work MBP14 runs just fine so hmmmm.

P/S: Updated with my update " fix? ", hasn't happen again in the last 4 days and I'm keeping an eyes on it.

 

[MrGunny94]

Also make sure your router isn't using the 'Smart Wi-Fi' option which blends both networks into a single one, for some reason M1 Macs go crazy with a router who uses this.

 

[xraydoc]

If your personal machine has VPN software but your work machine does not, that could very well be the problem.

 

[saber106]

Also make sure your router isn't using the 'Smart Wi-Fi' option which blends both networks into a single one, for some reason M1 Macs go crazy with a router who uses this.

Yeah I know that feature, that's why I straight up disable the 2.4Ghz and only run 5Ghz on that wifi router.

If your personal machine has VPN software but your work machine does not, that could very well be the problem.

It could be yeah, I have remove the VPN software completely using AppCleaner, clean out the network tabs.

Let's see how it goes, it has been 4 days no problem

Airs0urce: Do you also have VPN app on your MBP14?

 

[Airs0urce]

Airs0urce: Do you also have VPN app on your MBP14?

I have Wireguard installed. But usually I'm not connected to VPN, only sometimes I enable it. And every time when Wifi drop happened I was not connected to VPN

 

[Airs0urce]

Also make sure your router isn't using the 'Smart Wi-Fi' option which blends both networks into a single one, for some reason M1 Macs go crazy with a router who uses this.

Before I used same name for 5Ghz nad 2.4Ghz. Later when I was tried to fix the issue I separated them to two different SSIDs but it didn't help

 

[Airs0urce]

This is how my wi-fi env looks. Also if can see I have two Tho and one Tho24 networks. Two "Tho" because I have wifi repeater, it's from same company and installed for me. And 2.4Ghz I left only on first router connected to internet, this is why only one Tho24. But when the drop happens, I don't see any 5ghz (Tho) networks and even 5ghz network from my neighbor disappears.

 

[Airs0urce]

1. Remote the VPN App that I previously install but never use much (vietpn)

Looks like we are both located in Vietnam, which sounds interesting that we both have this issue. I have Viettel provider and ZTE F670Y router btw. I deleted those network configuration files too, will see how it will work.

 

[saber106]

Looks like we are both located in Vietnam, which sounds interesting that we both have this issue. I have Viettel provider and ZTE F670Y router btw. I deleted those network configuration files too, will see how it will work.

I heard from the tinhte group post that this happens because of the conflict country code: our machine are both from Vietnam meaning it expected the wifi country code to be VN but mine wifi was set to US.

It supposed to refused connection (?) but for some reason it stills accept, which result in my disconnect problem.

So what I have done is change my wifi country code to VN and keeping my eyes on this.

Let me talk to you through DM but yes, if there is any Vietnamese find this post and wanna know why, set your wifi country code to VN.

 

[Airs0urce]

I heard from the tinhte group post that this happens because of the conflict country code: our machine are both from Vietnam meaning it expected the wifi country code to be VN but mine wifi was set to US.

Not sure is this is the reason. I had Vietnam set for both 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks.

Also checked second router (repeater) and there is no Country setting. I suppose it takes country from the first router:

 

[Airs0urce]

Ok, I just got another disconnect before contacting you in Telegram. Wifi env was looking like this right after the disconnect (the main router is still visible on channel 153, but second one is not, and also 5ghz wifi of my neighbor is not visible too):

Then after few minutes it looks like on the screenshot below. The second router is visible, neighbor 5ghz wifi appeared and also on same channel along with "Tho" (main router) I see some [Hidden] network:

I have feeling that this is some "restart" magic of those ZTE routers which prevent memory leaks or something like that and can't be correctly handled by new wifi adapters in macbooks.

 

[mi7chy]

Make sure you're not using DFS channels in your country, don't force channel width (set it to auto) and try 802.11ac only mode for 5GHz (for old 802.11b/g clients they can use 2.4GHz radio).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

 

[satcomer]

1. I'm a firm believe er to this Network Administrator that slightly different names for 6 to 4! this way no interference won't happen! I seen this this happen in businesses and at home all these years! However over several different router manufactures this trick always seems to work! The Broadcom chips sometimes seems to get confused especially in Mac OS over the years! So separate the names between your different wireless networks. because it also effects Linux and older Windows computer users too!

 

[Airs0urce]

16:29 PM:

16:31 PM:

16:33 PM:

So, even 2.4Ghz networks disappear, then some 2.4ghz networks shown (those have the most strong signal like Tho24, ***EPSON***). Then later all other 2.4ghz networks appear and then 5Ghz networks. For me it looks like some issue with laptop.