Wifi dropping - Mid 2011 iMac

[CharlieBrandt09]

All of the sudden, my iMac has been dropping wifi signal.

I have read other threads on here and elsewhere regarding similar issues, but still remain stumped. Most of the other threads I see about it all have Time Capsules, or other Apple branded routers.

I have a Lynksis E3000.

No other devices in my home have any issues. My iPad, iPhone, Macbook Air, and many other wifi devices all remain up. Therefore I have established this is isolated to the iMac.

Another tidbit is that I also lose connection to my wifi printer.

My uptime can be anywhere from 2 minutes to about 60 minutes. I ran the Apple wireless network diagnostics tool while is was up and it came back fine. I then chose to run the wifi network monitor, and it did drop while that was running. I now have the diagnostics report on my desktop, but I don't know what any of it means.

Any suggestions?

 

[bensimpsy]

I have this issue as well, my Apple Care expires in 4 days, I cannot replicate the issue and it happens randomly. Nothing came up on the hardware test when I took it in to have the Super Drive and HDD replaced (no surprise there). I have just come to terms with it and I'll have to deal with it. I have a USB Wireless Adaptor that I will probably end up using, and a EoP adaptor on the way.

Alternatively - is there anywhere online I can purchase a new airport card? perhaps even a shiny new ac one? If I can find somewhere to sell online I might replace it when I get around to putting a SSD in.

 

[macthefork]

It could simply be interference from a nearby WiFi router using the same channel as yours. There are apps such as WiFi Explorer (in the App Store) that can check your WiFi signal strength, channel, and other configuration settings and also show any others in the area that could be causing interference. If so, you can change the channel on your own router.

 

[CharlieBrandt09]

It could simply be interference from a nearby WiFi router using the same channel as yours. There are apps such as WiFi Explorer (in the App Store) that can check your WiFi signal strength, channel, and other configuration settings and also show any others in the area that could be causing interference. If so, you can change the channel on your own router.

I might try that. I read around and saw that people were having some success setting it to Channel 11, which I did (2.4Ghz only, 5Ghz channel did not allow that). I have no clue what that even means, but I figured I would try.

In doing that - I had to hard reset my router because I must have changed the admin password way back and could not remember it. Therefore I had to change every wifi device in my home with the new settings! What a PITA.

Also, it did not remedy the situation.

Boo.

 

[CharlieBrandt09]

Ok - I just downloaded that app and I see that my network "Rocky" is on the same channels as a neighbors network "Belkin" (not sure how they are showing up as I live on 2 acres...weird).

Should I manually change both frequency channels, and if so, does it matter what channel I choose?

 

[macthefork]

Most routers (if the channel setting is set to Auto) should detect the channel setting of a nearby router and set yours to use a different one. However, sometimes this this doesn't happen.

You can set your 2.4 Ghz channel to 9 or other channel that no one is currently using. Your 5Ghz channel could be set to 153 (or another nonused channel) to make sure interference isn't being caused by the Belkin router.

Then see if that fixes the dropped WiFi signals to your computer.

 

[CharlieBrandt09]

Thanks.

I gave it a try - now I wait.....

 

[FreemanW]

Seeing that other devices on your LAN would indicate that it is not your router and you feel comfortable pointing the finger at the iMac . . . . . .

. . . . . have you scanned the iMac for malware or other 'undesirable' items?

. . . . . . like, oh, uh, GENIEO which is a lovely piece of Israeli malware that will fubar your NIC faster than anything.

I would run the ClamX and/or the BitDefender free scanners and see if they come up with anything. If you do find something, once you have the iMac clean, do a NVRAM/parameter RAM reset.

 

[CharlieBrandt09]

Ran that and came back clean as a whistle.

Since I switched channels, it has only dropped out one time. Not bad.

 

[macthefork]

You also could check to see if you have a base unit for a regular wireless phone (not a cell phone since their frequencies are nowhere near the WiFi band) near the iMac. Sometimes there can be interference from them. If you do have a regular wireless phone located near the iMac, try locating it further away.