Resolved Wifi problems on Catalina 10.15.5 and new Macbook Pro

[KatPR]

I bought a new Macbook Pro 13 2020 last week, and since I bought it, I've been having problems with the wifi connection. Randomly the laptop will drop the wifi connection for a second and then reconnects again. I already deleted the network and put it again, I even deleted the Keychain Acess to the connection, and it keeps happening. I have some wifi logs when it happens, if someone can help me out with this I will appreciate it since Apple can't do much. And no, it's not my router since it is a new one and none other devices are losing connection, also, it's not the bandwidth since the previous computer was connected to the same bandwidth and I never had a problem with the wifi connection.

 

[Taz Mangus]

What version of Catalina are you running?

See if any of this helps: https://macreports.com/mac-catalina-wi-fi-problems-fix/

 

[KatPR]

See if any of this helps: https://macreports.com/mac-catalina-wi-fi-problems-fix/

I have tried all of them, except for the changing of the location, which I just did, I hope this works.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Another thing to try is boot into safe mode, login to your user account, wait for the Desktop to load, restart to normal boot.

Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Safe mode can help you to determine whether an issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up.

support.apple.com

 

[KatPR]

Not even with changing the location helped, the wifi dropped again. Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?

 

[KatPR]

If anyone has a solution for this, I will appreciate it. The computer lost connection for a second and then reconnected this is the wifi log for that drop. Sat Jun 13 21:54:36.623 Info: <airportd[236]> SCAN request received from pid 128 (locationd) with priority 2. Then it start scanning the wifi and when the connection drops, this is what it says Sat Jun 13 21:56:42.182 Driver Event: <airportd[236]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: DUMP_LOGS (en0).

 

[matram]

Have you checked with another access point or used the WiFi diagnostic tools to check for weak signal or interference?

 

[Taz Mangus]

Try downloading the free app called WiFi Explorer Lite. You might be having a situation where the channels you have selected is getting a lot of overlap with your neighbors. The app can help you see and possibly pick other channels.

‎WiFi Explorer Lite

‎WiFi Explorer Lite is a wireless network discovery tool that can help you identify channel conflicts and configuration problems affecting your home or office Wi-Fi network's connectivity or performance. • Easy-to-use, intuitive user interface • Graphical visualization of the Wi-Fi environment...

apps.apple.com

 

[edubfromktown]

Try downloading the free app called WiFi Explorer Lite. You might be having a situation where the channels you have selected is getting a lot of overlap with your neighbors. The app can help you see and possibly pick other channels.

‎WiFi Explorer Lite

‎WiFi Explorer Lite is a wireless network discovery tool that can help you identify channel conflicts and configuration problems affecting your home or office Wi-Fi network's connectivity or performance. • Easy-to-use, intuitive user interface • Graphical visualization of the Wi-Fi environment...

apps.apple.com

Wow- nice app recommendation... looks like airmon-ng but for Mac.

 

[adrianlondon]

I've not looked at your logs but there are two reasons I know of that can cause MacOS to drop wifi.

The first is if the router uses a channel that your Mac decides isn't allowed in the country you're in. This is quite a rare problem and happens if your router has no country ID and picks one at boot from nearby routers, and someone nearby has their router configured incorrectly. Solution: manually pick a wifi channel in your router config and don't set it to "auto".

The second, and this is more likely, is that your router has this new-fangled thing where it'll keep changing the wifi channel if it detects too many other routers on the same channel. Turn that option off if it's on.

 

[KatPR]

Hi, I had my channel on manual, and it was happening still, and then I changed it to auto and it was still happening. Also, the scans happen at the same time each night. I disabled Wifi logging, location services, I also deleted all the network configurations and restarted the app to have a new one. I'm using the 5ghz band, and there's like 3 other router nearby maximum. But I'm going to change channels again to one that my mac thinks is better.

 

[KatPR]

Deleted

 

[KatPR]

No, it wasn't my router, I did a factory reset and I'm still dropping the connection for a second and going back online.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Try this:

• Create a new user account.
• SMC reset.
• PRAM reset.
• Login to the new user account. See if the WiFi still happens in the new user account.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.

support.apple.com

Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM don't work as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM might help.

support.apple.com

 

[satcomer]

Also on your Mac open System Preference-> Network pane and at the top of pane is ‘Location’ the use the pull-down To make custom name (any name you want) and don’t forget to hit the Saves in bottom left before quitting to use that custom Location! Don’t worry because it will act just like Automatic!

just have Airport turned off when you make the custom Location. Once you do that rejoin your wireless network! This will reset your Airport Networking settings and in my opinion Work much better that Automatic!

 

[Taz Mangus]

Also on your Mac open System Preference-> Network pane and at the top of pane is ‘Location’ the use the pull-down To make custom name (any name you want) and don’t forget to hit the Saves in bottom left before quitting to use that custom Location! Don’t worry because it will act just like Automatic!

just have Airport turned off when you make the custom Location. Once you do that rejoin your wireless network! This will reset your Airport Networking settings and in my opinion Work much better that Automatic!

The OP tried creating a location in post #5.

 

[KatPR]

Try this:

• Create a new user account.
• SMC reset.
• PRAM reset.
• Login to the new user account. See if the WiFi still happens in the new user account.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.

support.apple.com

Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM don't work as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM might help.

support.apple.com

I just reset the PRAM, let's see if that solves the issue. I just hope it's not hardware related, cause I just got the mac, but, I did a Hardware test and everything came clean. I was thinking about reinstalling the macOs without deleting the hard disk.
[automerge]1592356838[/automerge]

Also on your Mac open System Preference-> Network pane and at the top of pane is ‘Location’ the use the pull-down To make custom name (any name you want) and don’t forget to hit the Saves in bottom left before quitting to use that custom Location! Don’t worry because it will act just like Automatic!

just have Airport turned off when you make the custom Location. Once you do that rejoin your wireless network! This will reset your Airport Networking settings and in my opinion Work much better that Automatic!

Created a new location again too. I'm trying everything and anything.

 

[satcomer]

Did you try to change the channel of the Wi-Fi signal? That could help!

 

[KatPR]

Did you try to change the channel of the Wi-Fi signal? That could help!

One of the first things I did. Then I put it back to automatic and the drop continued, now is back to manual. Also, I went to my router to see the logs, and nothing is there that can cause the drop.

 

[adrianlondon]

As an idea, and to rule out channel and country-code issues, disable your router's 5GHz network and only leave the 2.4GHz network active. Ensure it has the same SSID/password as the 5GHz one (which is the default for most routers anyway, and means your laptop will think it's the same network and not need you to do anything) and then see if your connection is stable.

 

[KatPR]

As an idea, and to rule out channel and country-code issues, disable your router's 5GHz network and only leave the 2.4GHz network active. Ensure it has the same SSID/password as the 5GHz one (which is the default for most routers anyway, and means your laptop will think it's the same network and not need you to do anything) and then see if your connection is stable.

It is a Country-code issue, my wifi was showing and X0 country code, but now is showing the correct country code, both my mac wifi and my router are showing the country code as US. Sadly, there are two routers near me with the wrong country code, and as I was reading, there's not much I can do about that.

 

[adrianlondon]

It is a Country-code issue, my wifi was showing and X0 country code, but now is showing the correct country code, both my mac wifi and my router are showing the country code as US. Sadly, there are two routers near me with the wrong country code, and as I was reading, there's not much I can do about that.

The fix is as I kind of mentioned in my first post - pick a channel that is valid in both your country and the messed-up one the nearby routers show, and set to manual.

 

[KatPR]

The fix is as I kind of mentioned in my first post - pick a channel that is valid in both your country and the messed-up one the nearby routers show, and set to manual.

How do I find a channel that is valid in both countries? Also, I'm using my 5ghz cause it has a better performance on my laptop. Both my laptop and my wifi are set to US. The problem is that the mac keeps doing automatic network scans and then dumping the file, which disconnects me for a second and then puts me back online as nothing happened. I can put the logs here the next time it happens.

 

[matram]

Wikipedia has a list.

List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[KatPR]

I set my router to a valid channel, I'm using the 5ghz one, and I'm using 80mHz width. I have better performance using that. The wifi connection only drops at night and on several times.
And these are the logs:
Wed Jun 17 22:27:50.921 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: DUMP_LOGS (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.266 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: DRIVER_AVAILABLE (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.266 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: driver available (reason=0xe0823805, subreason=0xe3ff8807, flags=0x2)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.268 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/SSID_STR'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.268 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/WEP40'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.269 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BluetoothPagingInProgress '
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.269 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/ProfileID'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.269 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/AirPlay'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.270 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/AutoJoinTimestamp'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.270 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BSSID'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.270 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/SSID'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.271 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/CHANNEL'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.272 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/Busy'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.272 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/Power Status'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.272 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/WEPOPENSYSTEM'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.272 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/CachedScanRecord'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.272 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/UserMode8021X'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.273 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BluetoothAudioInUse'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.273 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BusyUI'
P2P: <airportd[241]> _p2pSupEventCallback: APPLE80211_M_LINK_CHANGED
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.289 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: LINK_CHANGED (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.289 P2P: <airportd[241]> _p2pSupEventCallback: Primary interface link marked down
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.289 P2P: <airportd[241]> _p2pSupEventCallback: APPLE80211_M_BSSID_CHANGED
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.290 P2P: <airportd[241]> _p2pSupEventCallback: APPLE80211_M_LINK_CHANGED
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.654 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.654 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.657 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.657 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.657 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.657 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.658 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.658 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.691 AutoJoin: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCInterfaceContext __updateAutoJoinRetryIntervals]: On AC power, changing to active retry interval.
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.696 AutoJoin: <airportd[241]> _handleLinkEvent: Unexpected link down. Triggering auto-join.
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.696 AutoJoin: <airportd[241]> BEST CONNECTED SCAN CANCELLED on interface en0
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.696 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem __submitLinkChangeMetric:involuntary:interface:network:linkDownReason:linkDownSubreason:isAWDLUp:awdlState:lastSecurityIssueCount:]: link change metric data: CWAWDMetricLinkChangeData: isLinkUp: NO, isInVol: YES, reason: 16, subreason: 0, channel: 0 (0MHz/0), oui: aa:aa:aa, flags: 0x0, securityType: 0x0, awdlState: 20, rssiHistory: [0, 0, 0], htInfo: 0x0, vhtInfo: 0x0
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.696 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWAWDManager submitMetric:]: submitting metric id 0x90009
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.696 AutoJoin: <airportd[241]> AUTO-JOIN trigger requested (Link Down)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Info: <WiFiAgent[364]> current=(no_assoc) changed=(no_assoc, 4bars)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: SSID_CHANGED (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Info: <Wi-Fi Menu Extra[322]> Updating all WiFi menu items
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BusyUI'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/WEP40'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BluetoothPagingInProgress '
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/AirPlay'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/AutoJoinTimestamp'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/CHANNEL'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/Busy'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/Power Status'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/WEPOPENSYSTEM'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/CachedScanRecord'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/UserMode8021X'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/BluetoothAudioInUse'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 SC: <airportd[241]> airportdProcessSystemConfigurationEvent: Processing 'State:/Network/Interface/en0/AirPort/ProfileID'
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 BTC: <airportd[241]> __BluetoothCoexHandleUpdateForNode: <en0> Handle Bluetooth Coex: FrequencyBand <2>, Bluetooth Bandwidth Utilization <0>, Clamshell Mode <0>
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 BTC: <airportd[241]> __BluetoothCoexHandleUpdateForNode: Driver supports APPLE80211_CAP_COEX_PROFILE_OFFLOAD. Airportd won't BluetoothCoexModeSet() and defer coex profile loading to UDM coex manager (UCM/WRM) ...
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: BSSID_CHANGED (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Info: <WiFiAgent[364]> QUERY DIAGNOSTICS request received from pid 322 (SystemUIServer)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 Info: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: BSSID changed, not running HOSTAP, and not associated
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 BTC: <airportd[241]> __BluetoothCoexHandleUpdateForNode: <en0> Handle Bluetooth Coex: FrequencyBand <2>, Bluetooth Bandwidth Utilization <0>, Clamshell Mode <0>
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697 BTC: <airportd[241]> __BluetoothCoexHandleUpdateForNode: Driver supports APPLE80211_CAP_COEX_PROFILE_OFFLOAD. Airportd won't BluetoothCoexModeSet() and defer coex profile loading to UDM coex manager (UCM/WRM) ...
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.697
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.698 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: DUMP_LOGS (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.698 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: LINK_CHANGED (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.698 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: DRIVER_AVAILABLE (en0)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.698 Driver Event: <airportd[241]> _bsd_80211_event_callback: driver available (reason=0xe0823805, subreason=0xe3ff8808, flags=0x2)
Wed Jun 17 22:27:51.698 Info: <airportd[241]> -[CWXPCSubsystem queryBSSIDForInterfaceWithName:connection:error:]: Failed to query current BSSID, returned error code -3903