New member here - I registered to share my experience of the MBA 'wifi problem'.
I've been a Mac user since I bought an iMac in 2010 (which is still going strong). I've been mulling buying a new laptop for a while, and the decision was hastened when my old laptop died last month.
I decided to go for the new 13'' MBA. When I opened it at home, I immediately noticed that there was a problem with the wifi.
If I was right next to the router, the MBA would connect and I could browse the internet. As soon as I moved to another room or floor, the connection would drop. The router name would still show up but the MBA would fail to connect, saying that there was a connection timeout.
At other times it would connect after turning wifi off and on again, or after closing the laptop and opening it again. Usually it would then still disconnect after a few minutes.
What was particularly galling was that I could not connect in my own living room, where I have not had any problems with 2 six-year-old laptops, 2 smartphones, an iPad 2 and a media player.
I verified that the problem occurred on another router that I have at home, as well as at work: a good connection when the MBA was close to the router, but a poor connection as soon as I moved some distance away.
After struggling with this for a few days, I took the laptop back to the shop. The technician there could not get it to connect. After trying various things, including booting it from another Mac's hard drive (and booting the other Mac from my MBA), he declared that there seemed to be a hardware problem, possibly with the Wifi card.
They wouldn't replace it until the problem was checked out, so I left it to be examined.
A few days later, I was called to pick it up. I didn't get to speak to the technician again, but his description of repairs was 'Reset PRAM and reseated Airport Card'.
I don't know which of these two fixed the problem, but now the MBA works fine, and connects flawlessly even in the spots where it was struggling before.
So my advice to anyone considering buying a 2013 MBA is: check out the wifi connection straight away at all the places where you are likely to use your notebook. If you have problems connecting, take it back!
I am happy with my MBA now, but I must admit that my faith in the flawlessness of Apple hardware has been shaken.
I've been a Mac user since I bought an iMac in 2010 (which is still going strong). I've been mulling buying a new laptop for a while, and the decision was hastened when my old laptop died last month.
I decided to go for the new 13'' MBA. When I opened it at home, I immediately noticed that there was a problem with the wifi.
If I was right next to the router, the MBA would connect and I could browse the internet. As soon as I moved to another room or floor, the connection would drop. The router name would still show up but the MBA would fail to connect, saying that there was a connection timeout.
At other times it would connect after turning wifi off and on again, or after closing the laptop and opening it again. Usually it would then still disconnect after a few minutes.
What was particularly galling was that I could not connect in my own living room, where I have not had any problems with 2 six-year-old laptops, 2 smartphones, an iPad 2 and a media player.
I verified that the problem occurred on another router that I have at home, as well as at work: a good connection when the MBA was close to the router, but a poor connection as soon as I moved some distance away.
After struggling with this for a few days, I took the laptop back to the shop. The technician there could not get it to connect. After trying various things, including booting it from another Mac's hard drive (and booting the other Mac from my MBA), he declared that there seemed to be a hardware problem, possibly with the Wifi card.
They wouldn't replace it until the problem was checked out, so I left it to be examined.
A few days later, I was called to pick it up. I didn't get to speak to the technician again, but his description of repairs was 'Reset PRAM and reseated Airport Card'.
I don't know which of these two fixed the problem, but now the MBA works fine, and connects flawlessly even in the spots where it was struggling before.
So my advice to anyone considering buying a 2013 MBA is: check out the wifi connection straight away at all the places where you are likely to use your notebook. If you have problems connecting, take it back!
I am happy with my MBA now, but I must admit that my faith in the flawlessness of Apple hardware has been shaken.
