Opening MacBook Air causing whole-home internet to drop

[jsf23]

For the past week or two I’ve been experiencing the oddest issue…

I have a mid-2012 MBA that’s still running El Capitan (I know, but the hard drive is full & I’m holding out to buy a new one this year when they’re refreshed).

Whenever I open the lid, the MacBook connects to our Wi-Fi network but nothing will load, and additionally every connected device in our house loses internet access (they remain connected to the router but can’t access anything). This persists for probably 10-15 minutes and then typically resolves itself, but not always and not consistently.

We have generally decent internet service and Wi-Fi. We have a lot of devices connected, but we also live in a relatively small apartment so signal strength isn’t an issue.

If the MBA is closed or powered down, everything works great, but as soon as I open it or boot everything drops. It’s almost like the MBA is doing something to hog every bit of bandwidth off our internet service for a period of time.

Is there a full wireless reset or something I can do? Is it just dying on me?

 

[JPack]

Sounds like some kind of EMF issue caused by defective hardware.

 

[jsf23]

Sounds like some kind of EMF issue caused by defective hardware.

Thanks. That sounds like something repairable then? I don’t want to put a lot of money towards it before I replace it later this year, but more than that I really don’t want to buy a MBA 2020 when we’re so close to the newer ones.

 

[StoneJack]

For the past week or two I’ve been experiencing the oddest issue…

I have a mid-2012 MBA that’s still running El Capitan (I know, but the hard drive is full & I’m holding out to buy a new one this year when they’re refreshed).

Whenever I open the lid, the MacBook connects to our Wi-Fi network but nothing will load, and additionally every connected device in our house loses internet access (they remain connected to the router but can’t access anything). This persists for probably 10-15 minutes and then typically resolves itself, but not always and not consistently.

We have generally decent internet service and Wi-Fi. We have a lot of devices connected, but we also live in a relatively small apartment so signal strength isn’t an issue.

If the MBA is closed or powered down, everything works great, but as soon as I open it or boot everything drops. It’s almost like the MBA is doing something to hog every bit of bandwidth off our internet service for a period of time.

Is there a full wireless reset or something I can do? Is it just dying on me?

Delete the wifi connection in Settings, delete all network preferences, reboot. Update router firmware. Reset router.

 

[jdvoracek]

I would discuss with your ISP's customer service by chat (on another device) or by telephone. They could tell you if they are dropping your connection in response to something your router is sending them on the LAN - e.g., some virus specific traffic, or if the your router is the one dropping the connection. I guess I would also as suggested, just reset/reboot your router if you've not already tried that. GL!

 

[JPack]

Thanks. That sounds like something repairable then? I don’t want to put a lot of money towards it before I replace it later this year, but more than that I really don’t want to buy a MBA 2020 when we’re so close to the newer ones.

Does the problem happen when you're on battery power? What you've described suggests something is emitting interference the moment it boots (e.g. power adapter). It isn't a Wi-Fi issue as the computer isn't trying to connect to wireless when it boots.

 

[jsf23]

The issue was on completing boot or opening the lid to wake it from sleep, rather than interference when the power button is pressed.

In the end, after once again power cycling my modem and router (which is supplied by my internet provider, who I dislike, because they don’t play nicely with customer-owned routers), the router wouldn’t come back. When I called my ISP, they did something remotely to their router and now the issue appears to be resolved. At least temporarily. Very odd and if the issue is my MBA, hopefully this just gets me to the release later this year.

 

[StoneJack]

The issue was on completing boot or opening the lid to wake it from sleep, rather than interference when the power button is pressed.

In the end, after once again power cycling my modem and router (which is supplied by my internet provider, who I dislike, because they don’t play nicely with customer-owned routers), the router wouldn’t come back. When I called my ISP, they did something remotely to their router and now the issue appears to be resolved. At least temporarily. Very odd and if the issue is my MBA, hopefully this just gets me to the release later this year.

as i told you, it is router and its firmware, that should be updated. Mac is probably fine, but corrupted connections do happen