Apple issues support doc for wonky AirPort performance on Intel Macs

@Jay

I have this problem with random disconnects with my mac book with airport express whether or not my computer is plugged in or not.

I really hope apple gets a fix for this soon, my mac book has had airport issues from the day i brought it home.

THE SOLUTION.

I have posted this elsewhere as well.

OBSERVATION: The problem only occurs on battery power when the internet connection is idle for a few seconds.

SOLUTION: Either do not run on battery power OR if you must do so do not let the internet connection run idle.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS:

1. Keep your Macbook plugged in.

OR

2. On battery open a TERMINAL session and run the following command at the prompt.

$ nohup ping -i 10 somehost.com > /dev/null &

where somehost.com can be any server that responds to ping.

Thank http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook for the solution.

A similar solution ($ ping -i 5 somehost.com) is also found at:
http://kristopherjohnson.blogspot.com/2006/08/macbook-wireless-connection-drops.html

Thanks to these two sites, I can use my Macbook on battery without losing internet connectivity every few seconds.

I don't know if people who do not report this problem have better motherboards or do not run on battery power or are never idle on the internet.

But I have found this solution to work for me and that's all that matters. Try it.

Apple's technotes are most of the time really nothing more than plain instructions explaining how to use their system... this one is just useless. looking at the number of airport problems being reported all over the forums (including theirs) they'd better start addressing these problem with a real fix before these issues surface to the general public.

This is a problem with the intel wifi chip. I used to own windows laptops with the exact same problem. Actually it's one of the reason i switched to a powerbook.

After having this and several other problems with my MacBook, and after having it replaced three times at the local Apple Store, I finally decided that it was a better investment to get an iMac instead. I made the exchange last Thursday and I haven't had any of the Airport (or plethora of other) problems with the iMac. :)

I 'm facing a strange situation with my airport. I have an Intel iMac which i bought a couple of months ago. Sometimes when I turn on my Mac it takes too much time for the "chime" and the screen to start. When the OSX starts loading and after everything seems absolutely normal except one little thing. The airport is nowhere to be found! Its like my iMac does not have an Airport Express installed in it. Other times everything is normal. My mac starts right away and the airport icon is up there with the clock, the bluetooth and the rest of the stuff. Does anyone know what is wrong with it?

@vonjos... that's exactly how I have my Wifi network at home.

Linksys WRT54G router
Airport Express

MAC authentication, static IP on the MacBook Pro (using a location for home with the static IP address and other protocols but Airport shut off)

The secured protocols are nice, but unless they know your SSID or can spoof your MAC address, this simple system works great.

Similar problem with a MacBook and a Linksys WRT54G router. Connection kept dropping at random times, tried everything I could think of, was about to phone Apple support then thought I'd try upgrading the router firmware. Problem solved!

Well I tried this anyways, even though I use WEP. I normally can go several hours in OS X on my MBP without disconnecting (XP is fine) but when it does disconnect it's always at the worst times so I figure it is well worth the shot.

A an aside, I had noticed these wireless issues always seem encyption-related, as using my old college wifi network never yielded a singal drop. It could also be my router, as my old laptop used to disconnect on occasion, though it'd reconnect automatically instead of doing nothing.

Funny ... but the move to 10.4.8 seemed to rectify the problem for me. MBP15, and I was having much flakiness under 10.4.7, and everything's been quite peachy since I upgraded to 10.4.8. Maybe there's just weirdness out there ...