How to Fix a WiFi Problems and Dropping Connection on Mac

How to Fix a WiFi Problems and Dropping Connection on Mac - Macs, like any computer, are vulnerable to losing their Wi-Fi connection. If you restart your router, you find that another device is connected to it and your Mac still refuses to connect, then it is pretty sure that the problem is because of the Mac itself. This article will discuss adjusting packet sizes, resetting of PRAM and SMC, reconfiguring DNS, changing locations and removing and re-adding WiFi settings.

Wi-Fi off after sleep Wake

This is a common problem for Mac users, where Wi-Fi disconnects when the Mac wakes up. Here is a possible solution:

Go to "Apple Menu -> System Preferences -> Network". In the left pane, click Wi-Fi, then "Advanced" in the lower right corner.

On the next screen, select all networks in the list with Command + A and use the ‘-‘ icon to remove them all.

Back in the main network window, click on the Locations drop-down menu, then on the "+" icon and assign the new location the name you choose. Click Done to use this location as of now

Finally, reconnect to your home Wi-Fi network. With any luck, from now on you should stop disconnecting from Sleep Wake.

Disconnect USB and Wireless Signal Devices

Before moving onto the nitty-gritty methods of fixing your Mac’s Wi-Fi woes, there’s something simple you can try that might just solve everything. Remove a lot of Mac users have reported that disconnecting certain USB 3 and USB-C devices has solved their problems. So the first thing to try is disconnect your USB devices one by one and see if the Wi-Fi comes back.

Why does this happen? Certain USB devices emit wireless signals that can interfere with the Wi-Fi, while devices like USB hubs have been known to outright disable the Wi-Fi port (sort of like how plugging in an ethernet cable automatically disables Wi-Fi).

So unplug all your devices, then observe whether your Wi-Fi returns after removing a particular one.

Reset NVRAM / PRAM and SMC

First I started having connection problems while running the public beta version of macOS Sierra. Of course, start by restarting your Mac to see if this solves the problems. Otherwise, try resetting the PRAM (random parameter access memory) / NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) and the SMC (system administration controller). These are the parts of your Mac that control basic operations critical to the basic function of the system.

PRAM / NVRAM

1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac to turn it off completely. Hard drives and fans should stop rotating and the screen should go dark.

2. Turn on your Mac.

3. Immediately after listening to the startup sound, press and hold the Command + Option + P + R keys.

4. Press and hold until you hear the startup sound again and see the Apple logo.

5. Release the keys and the PRAM / NVRAM will have restarted.

SMC

This process will vary greatly depending on whether your Mac is a desktop or laptop computer and if it has a removable battery or not. Apple covers this process greatly.

The following attempts to get back online will require you to start with the "Network Settings" of your Mac. To get there:

1. Click on "System Preferences" in the dock, or click on the Apple logo drop-down menu in the upper left corner.

2. Click on "Network" in the newly opened window.

Reconfigure the DNS

DNS stands for Domain Name Server, which essentially changes the web addresses we can read (for example, www.google.com) to IP addresses that the server can understand. This acts as a kind of "phone book" for the Internet. Sometimes, the DNS provided by your service provider will not work properly, in which case we can use secure and free publicly available DNS options, such as Google's.

1. Click “Advanced.”

2. Select "DNS" in the network settings.

3. Click on the "+" icon.

4. Type 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 in the box and press Enter (these are Google's DNS options).

5. Click on "Ok".

Now try to surf the web.

Adjust package size

Do some pages load well and others fail completely? This could have to do with the number of packets that can be transmitted. In simple terms, this is the amount of data that can be transmitted through the network. We can adjust the value so that certain sites can load.

1. Click on "Advanced".

2. Start by selecting "Hardware" in the network configuration.

3. Change the "Configure" setting from "Automatic" to "Manually".

4. Change MTU from "Standard (1500)" to "Custom".

5. Add the value "1453" in the box and press Enter. Click on "Ok".

Browse the Web a bit to see if this was able to solve the problem.

Change location and renew DHCP lease

Sometimes, the automatic location determined by your Mac will not get 100% correct settings, in which case we can set a custom location and accompanying settings. This is where we can also renew a DHCP lease and an IP address. DHCP is a protocol for organizing IP addresses, and changing that can ensure that traffic is directed accordingly. Now, after all that technological jargon, here is how to do it.

1. Again in the network settings, click on "Edit locations" in the drop-down menu where "Automatic" is currently selected.

2. Click on the "+" icon and name this new "location". You can name it literally as you wish; The name itself does not affect anything. Press Enter and click "Done."

You will now notice that "there is no IP address" appears under WiFi in the left menu bar.

3. Click on "Advanced", then "TCP / IP" in the menu bar.

4. Click on "Renew DHCP lease". A new IP address will be assigned.

5. Click "Accept" and try to browse the Web.

Conclusion

Hopefully one of these steps were able to get you online.

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