Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

onlykaria · Mar 25, 2006, 04:08 PM

my computer drops the internet connection after a while if left alone. i was trying to download some episodes of DL.TV and the internet disconnects it self after a while even if the computer does not go to sleep... has anyone else had this problem? is there anything i can do?

Peligro · Mar 25, 2006, 05:48 PM

That's funny. Mine has done this a few times this morning. I turn airport off and then on again and that hooks me back up.

vamp07 · Mar 25, 2006, 11:43 PM

I'm seeing the same thing.

John123 · Mar 25, 2006, 11:45 PM

ditto...

schmoe · Mar 26, 2006, 12:00 AM

I'm also seeing connection drops, even while I'm using the MBP. I'm not sure what is causing the problem, although the drops seem more frequent when my Thinkpad with Intel wireless is active. What other wireless devices do you guys have? I'm using an Airport Extreme base station, and the only other wireless device is a 1ghz Ti.

John123 · Mar 26, 2006, 01:21 AM

Originally Posted by schmoe

I'm also seeing connection drops, even while I'm using the MBP. I'm not sure what is causing the problem, although the drops seem more frequent when my Thinkpad with Intel wireless is active. What other wireless devices do you guys have? I'm using an Airport Extreme base station, and the only other wireless device is a 1ghz Ti.

I have nothing else, but I'm in an apartment complex. I'll try changing the channel on my router tonight, although I really don't think it's an interference thing.

onlykaria · Mar 26, 2006, 04:09 AM

hmm i wonder if there is a fix for this.

vamp07 · Mar 26, 2006, 08:11 AM

I have three access points in my hope all with the same ssid. I always have a great signal but it makes no difference. Suddenly my browser will not connect and when I look at the airport signal level it is at 0. I understand that there is obviously sme problem where it is droping connection but What I don't understand is why it does not recconect automaticaly? Does anybody know what "use interface robustness" does?

vamp07 · Mar 26, 2006, 08:13 AM

I have three access points in my home (cement walls not an estate :-) ) all with the same ssid. I always have a great signal but it makes no difference. Suddenly my browser will not connect and when I look at the airport signal level it is at 0. I understand that there is obviously some problem where it is dropping connection but What I don't understand is why it does not reconnected automatically? Does anybody know what "use interface robustness" does?

Star-Fire · Mar 26, 2006, 10:19 AM

My MBP does that also, but my parents iBook g3 that I recently updated to 10.4.5 also started to do this, so I'm not so sure it's the MBP.

chme6583 · Mar 26, 2006, 01:57 PM

My 1.25ghz Mac Mini does the same thing. I thought something was wrong with my router, but now that I think of it the problem didn't start until I updated to 10.4.5. Hmm? I hope there is a fix, because it is really annoying.

Just reading on macfixit.com the problem is occuring with iMac Core Duo as well. It says some users have been able to fix the problem by changing the channel on their router. I will try it and see if that works.

jhonizzle · Mar 26, 2006, 03:05 PM

thats astounding, i haven't had any problem with dropped connections....is this a case of everyone having bad AirPort cards? that is the thing that i have heard people doing in the instance of dropped connections. i wonder if it's just a certain batch of the MBP/ intel mac

onlykaria · Mar 26, 2006, 04:00 PM

well i looks like something is afoot. and it looks like it is from apples end. so far it looks like it might be either airport cards or 10.4.5 that does this. personally i can see apple putting something in that will drop your signal as a "feature" but i as always transparency and knowledge of those perimeters are is a must...

dahcar · Mar 26, 2006, 07:03 PM

what would be the advantage for apple to add this as a "feature?"

onlykaria · Mar 26, 2006, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by dahcar

what would be the advantage for apple to add this as a "feature?"

the only thing i could think of is something to with logging your computer of the net to keep it from being spied on and so on...

cambie · Mar 26, 2006, 08:13 PM

I'll chime in here and say that I'm seeing it too. I chalked it up to yet another reason I shouldn't have bought Rev 1 of the MBP.

Truthfully, it happens to me mostly while I've gone away from the computer. It seems almost like a power saving "feature", but I can't find anything to disable it. It's definately freaking annoying. I thought my old 12" powerbook had crappy wifi performance. Nothing makes me happier to open up safari and realize I've got no wifi connection. And, to top it all off, sometimes my backups don't kick off because the stupid wifi connection dropped and my linux box can't reach it to initiate the backup.

vamp07 · Mar 26, 2006, 08:26 PM

I’m sure its something apple will solve. It’s definitely a software problem given that simply reselecting the ssid reconnects. This is the kind of thread that is going to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

gregjsmith · Mar 27, 2006, 12:57 AM

I was going to say I never saw this, until I read this last night. I woke up this morning to to find it had disconnected.

Simon · Mar 27, 2006, 03:30 AM

I've seen my Mac mini (1.5GHz G4) do the same thing. From time to time, it loses its connection to our APX base station. It reconnects all by itself, but it takes a few seconds. This has been going on since I got it, it's definitely not just since 10.4.5.

Troll · Mar 27, 2006, 04:27 AM

I have an MBP and a G4 iBook in the same household and they're both doing exactly the same thing. They do reconnect automatically, but they're dropping the signal regularly. People with Airports don't seem to have the problem. Seems to be a problem only with third part routers. I'm using a Linksys compact router.

Simon · Mar 27, 2006, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Troll

People with Airports don't seem to have the problem. Seems to be a problem only with third part routers.

As I just mentioned, I'm using AP Extreme (both the cards and base station) and I'm having the problem too. It's definitely not just a third-party problem. I'm guessing it's an issue with the AP drivers.

cambro · Mar 27, 2006, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Troll

People with Airports don't seem to have the problem. Seems to be a problem only with third part routers. I'm using a Linksys compact router.

I have a PM G5 acting as an airport base station for my MBP. The MBP will occassionally drop the connection (bars go to zero) but it always re-establishes it within a second or two. It will also drop down to 1-2 bars occassionally for a short period of time as well.

CorpITGuy · Mar 27, 2006, 09:53 AM

Same problem on my MBP 1.83.

eevyl · Mar 27, 2006, 09:55 AM

For the record, my MacBook Pro doesn't drop the connection with my Comtrend router. It sometimes fails at reconnecting when awaken from sleep, but it never drops the connection in nice signal areas.

2kmy477 · Mar 27, 2006, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by eevyl

For the record, my MacBook Pro doesn't drop the connection with my Comtrend router. It sometimes fails at reconnecting when awaken from sleep, but it never drops the connection in nice signal areas.

I also have the same problem on my new MBP(got it 2 days ago),BTW,I also have a Sony Vaio laptop sat next to my MBP,it stayed connected all the time even when the MBP connection dropped.

vamp07 · Mar 27, 2006, 02:36 PM

Is there some place at Apple where these things are tracked and we can simply link there from here? I would assume Apple is already aware of the issue.

vamp07 · Mar 27, 2006, 03:11 PM

Here is a link to where this is being discussed on the apple boards.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....60450&#1860450

Daniel Bayer · Mar 27, 2006, 08:54 PM

Same thing here. Drops at least a few times a day. MBP 2.0.

mmmm_beer · Mar 28, 2006, 12:35 AM

I've got the 2ghz with the awesome CPU whine... noticed my connection at home was dropping when I wasn't downloading anything... I have a linksys A+B&G router, model WRT54G, I think... anyways, I did a firmware update on the router and haven't had problems since...

Enigmaaron · Mar 28, 2006, 09:08 AM

I've got the same issue. Unfortunately it seems that it is worse for me. If I leave mail or ichat open while it's idle the computer will hang. I can get a click or two in but then all I get is the wonderful beachball. I have to close the lid to sleep it then bring it back and it's fine. I've experienced this on Linksys, D-Link, and Belkin wireless routers.

M75 · Mar 28, 2006, 01:58 PM

Running Linksys WRT54G as well and both my wired (1 PC & 1 G4) and wireless (MBP) computers are having dropouts. No firmware upgrade but I did switch wireless channels / g-only band (default was mixed band) and it seem to stay connected. So far no dropouts. Then again my MBP was less than 3 feet away.

Anti-Spam · Mar 28, 2006, 08:26 PM

i just bought an airport extreme(bridge), and since i had it, my connection to my linksys router drop several times a day. It will not reconnect automatically, and i have to reset everything. This is very annoying. - iBook G4.

morituri · Mar 28, 2006, 11:13 PM

I have a MBP and an iMac. Since the 10.4.5 update the iMac drops the wireless connection roughly every 30 minutes the MBP never drops the connection. The wireless router is a D-Link.

krove · Mar 28, 2006, 11:40 PM

I have an Airport Express and Airport Extreme BS and I am exhibiting the dropped net connection. I can't get any work done.

mmmm_beer · Mar 29, 2006, 02:31 AM

Have all of you that are still having problems done the recommended firmware updates by your router manufacturers?? I'm not having the drop problem anymore after the firmware update... it (my mbp) won't connect automatically to my router after waking up from sleep or a reboot, but it doesn't drop the connection anymore....

Simon · Mar 29, 2006, 02:51 AM

My AP Express has thee newest firmware. Still, no dice.

phoenix78 · Mar 30, 2006, 08:12 AM

Hi guys!

i have a ALPB17" and it does not drop connections much at all. only sometimes when my signal is very weak on a rainy day. (I have belkin pre-N base station - it rocks!!!). you should open 'internet connection' from the strength bar display at the top of the screen in the menu bar to get amuch finer reading for signal strength... if there is less than 3 squares shaded dark blue then i reckon it is a failing signal strength. The lower the signal strength the more susceptible it is to noise or interference and your receiver wont be able to tell if it is genuine signal or just interference. if this happens then you may have a break in your connection... and it may happen several times.

The only other thing i can think of is to check wether or not your PB drops its power level when the system is idle for a breif period of time... you know when the screen goes dim after about 5mins of idling. this 'may' cause the power to the wiresess system to drop significantly enough to lower your reception... because remember that not only is your base station transmitting signals but your PB/MB also needs to produce a sufficiently strong signal to reach your base station. This may be unlikely since it would constitute a design flaw and i dont think apple makes too many of those when writing control code lol...

Also... another thing i do to make sure it is not my PB that is a dud... when i cant connect to the web i just try to access the router page. if you can open the router http page then your reception is fine... then you can diagnose it as an issue with your router or your dhcp lease or some other setting on your router.

these are just a few practical things i have come across from my useage. i hope it helps in some way.

oh.. for what its worth... my sister bought a Dell inspiron core duo and she gets slightly better reception than me at the same location. So i think it is safe to conclude from this and all the other posts about poor reception is that apple does have a slightly poorer reception than most other brands of PC. if this is actually the case then i think there is nothing that can be done about it except improve the base station signal strength.

cheers,
robM

vamp07 · Mar 30, 2006, 09:27 AM

Given that many of us are loosing connections even wit full strength I'm pretty sure this problem goes beyond something we can tweak in our setups.

chme6583 · Mar 30, 2006, 10:02 AM

I know this has all been said before, but hopefully with enough uproar the problem will be fixed sooner rather than later. Now with that being said, let me continue.

I just got my Macbook, what a get machine!! However, the airport connection drops a lot (like once a minute). This is not a Macbook problem though, my MacMini does the same thing, although not nearly as frequent.

I hope this is fixed soon, it is very hard to surf the net or do anything over your network when you keep losing your connection.

Other than that, I love Macs!!! Switched about a year ago and never looked back. Also got my mom and my brother to switch, we all love them.

Barefoot Matt · Mar 31, 2006, 12:30 AM

Mine seems to drop the connection once every hour or so, and the network disappears from the airport menu until I reboot the router

. I've never used the router for wireless before (I have two computers connected by ethernet), so I can't tell if it's the MBP or the router.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is that if I mount a network drive and then the connection cuts out, the finder hangs.

gperks · Mar 31, 2006, 01:18 AM

My MBP is doing it too. The AlBook never had any problems. The MBP can hold the signal for a loooong time. I rebooted after software updating (ipod updater, itunes update, security fix), and noticed the wireless connecting, dropping, connecting, dropping, ... repeatedly once every second or so! I couldn't believe my eyes.

I can get it to lock back in by turning off the wireless, then back on, then I have to choose the network from the menulet's dropdown. That seems to keep it held.

Weird behaviour; new to me. Our PMG5 doesn't exhibit this problem.

Only one wireless router in the house, a Linksys GX200 I think.

krove · Mar 31, 2006, 11:45 PM

I restarted the MBP and turned my AirPort off and back on from the menu extra. It seems to be fixed now, but I'm not sure what actually fixed it.

phoenix78 · Apr 1, 2006, 12:40 AM

Just curious.... has anyone tried calling apple's tech support regarding this? it would be most interesting to see what the official word is at present regarding this issue.

i mean, many of us here are likely not apple tech support providers so we could talk about it until the cows come home and not get too far... but if there was some more deffinite answers i think that would help immensely.

regards,
robM

Enigmaaron · Apr 3, 2006, 03:47 PM

I decided to run iStumbler and see if the logs showed anything useful and much to my surprise my connection hasn't dropped yet in two days while running iStumbler. Not sure what that implies but I suppose that could be a temporary work around.

Originally Posted by phoenix78

Just curious.... has anyone tried calling apple's tech support regarding this? it would be most interesting to see what the official word is at present regarding this issue.

Once I get around to calling them to fix the buzz when the screen dims I'll ask them about this as well, but I'm lazy and that could be a while.

gperks · Apr 3, 2006, 08:15 PM

This is unfixed in 10.4.6. I just upgraded and immediately had the reconnect-disconnect repetition on reboot.
:-(

cambie · Apr 4, 2006, 12:05 AM

I haven't had a drop out since I upgraded to 10.4.6. I was ready to call it fixed. I'll wait a bit though.

vamp07 · Apr 4, 2006, 07:57 AM

It's been really steady for me for the last couple of days. I have not upgraded yet. I have not changed anything either. Very strange.

TOONA · May 18, 2006, 12:44 AM

i just upgraded my MBP to 10.4.6 and noticed immediately that i get sporadic Wi-fi on my machine. there was no problem before tonights upgrade. I have airport extreme base station, and i noticed that the signal just goes away, but when i check the available connections, my home connection is there, and i can usually regain connection by selecting it again. This is SOOO annoying!! anyone know how to fix this?? Should I take my computer in?

n8236 · May 18, 2006, 01:20 AM

I notice the connection drop in school more often than anywhere else I go. My classmates' PCs have a stable connection while mine is intermident.

onlykaria · May 18, 2006, 01:32 AM

i have to say that i have the 17in now and dont have this problem anymore.