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Mid 2009 Model A1278 / 2.26 or 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo processor EMC 2326

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My wifi keeps disconnected or turning off

My wifi frequently turns itself off and won't turn back on unless I restart my macbook. Or it just disconnects and claims it can't see any networks, again fixed only by restarting.

I've tried resetting the PRAM ( although when I did this I held cmd optn P and R down a little too long so I got the boot up chime 3 times instead of twice, idk whether this matters).

Is there anything else I can do to stop this from happening? It's starting to really wind me up especially as after reseting the PRAM it almost lasted the day without doing it.

Tristan

Macbook pro mid 2009 a1278

Answer this question I have this problem too

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This model has its AirPort board located in the center plastic clutch cover between the hinges. It's a fair amount of work to get to (heres the IFIXIT guide: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2009 AirPort Card Replacement). From the sounds of it you may need to replace it.

I would start off inspecting the cable connection on the main logic board which you can see in Step5. You might want to re-connect it so the contacts are making a good contact. Make sure you don't have any liquid damage on the logic board.

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like i said its easier to replace it with a edimax usb wifi card.

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@j0vian - Sometimes its just a matter of reseating the cable

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I'll have a look at that tomorrow. Wifi does work fine most of the time though so could it really be that the airport card is damaged? Obviously you probably know better than I do but how can restarting it fix it if its the physical connection that's dodgy?

Thanks for the help with this.

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I would ping the gateway usu 192.18.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 and if the response time is all over the place either its your router of your wifi card. If it your wifi card you can either replace it or add an edimax wifi usb device from amazon for about $8.

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I would like to think I know what that means but unfortunately I don't...

Sorry for being useless but could you explain how I do this?

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Open Network Utility (located inside Applications > Utilities).

Click Ping.

Fill out the “Enter the network that you want to ping” field. You can enter the IP address or web URL. Enter www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer to test the ping with that website, for example.

Click Ping. enter 192.168.1.1 and if no response enter 192.168.0.1 . One of those ip address is usually the gateway.

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If you cant figure it out test it by seeing if you get a better connection with a usb wifi device for $8 here

https://www.amazon.com/Edimax-EW-7811Un-...

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Frankly, if you want to measure the WiFi signal I would go with this: WiFi Explorer I use it all of the time, great App!

If the AirPort is loosing connection then it would be a WiFi congestion type of issue if there are a lot of AP's. Or the AirPort's transceiver is failing. Running this app should tell you which.

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I did the network utilities thing - using ifixit.com rather than iplayer as bbc wont work in france. Generally it gives times of around 40ms although occasionally I get a number over 100 in the list.

When I put in 192.168.1.1 it gave much less consistent results - mainly within a 0 to 20ms range but often higher or even 'request timeout for icmp_seq ...' . Putting in 192.168.0.1 just came up with a list of request timeout.

If you need screenshots for this I can give you them.

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Tristan Gale will be eternally grateful.
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