major airport issues wuth 13" macbook pro and other issues

joestriker · #1 September 19th, 2009, 07:28 PM

Hi

I haven't posted here in over a year now and I was hoping not to since it means i have problems.

I have finally retired my 13 inch macbook i've had for over 3 years. I bought one of the unibody 13" macbook pros and did a clean snow leopard installation, then upgraded to 10.6.1. Since then my mac experience has gone from bright sunny days to death and doom.

My airport is the major issue, it keeps dropping signal and doesn't pick up my netgear router. it works for 5-10 minutes then just looses it by itself. i try and see if there is an update or something for it but it crashes the airport and i have to switch the airport off and then on again. This is along with all my favorite snow leopard/13" mbp issues which include but not limited to the laptop freezes, hangups, and just failing to come out of sleep mode!!! most of these issues requires me to force restart the machine. I'm now back to my old laptop seeing that I'm struggling to connect wirelessly.

I'm not sure if this was the right place to post, but I'd appreciate any help possible.

Thanks

djackmac · #2 September 19th, 2009, 08:38 PM

Try it on other networks to be sure its not a problem with your router first. But seeing that its a clean OS install and the other issues I think its time to utilize the Apple warranty. Sounds like harware.

Satcomer · #3 September 19th, 2009, 09:52 PM

To reset your wireless settings. There are several ways.

Easy Way:

Navigate to System Preferences (in your Dock)->Network pane. In the Network pane look at the top of the pane and in "Location" use the pull-down and make a new Custom Location (calling it what ever your like).

Then at the bottom of the pane hit the "Apply" button and rejoin your wireless network with the proper settings for the network.

To reset the wireless = sort of difficult:

1. TURN OFF the Wireless!!!!! It is important you don't skip this step!!!

2. Navigate to the folder /Your Main HardDrive/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ and delete the files com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and preferences.plist. THEN YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY RESTART to complete reseting the wireless (Airport reset).

3. Upon the Restart don't turn on the wireless just yet. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/KeyChain Access and delete any saved passwords for your wireless. After that turn on your Airport card and rejoin your wireless network, saving your password again.

Now some people in 10.6.1 are reporting DNS issues with some of the newer Mac portable models. So use the free OpenDNS.com (yes they have European centers now too). They even have an instructional video telling you all the benefits of controlling your own DNS using their free service.

Lastly IMHO the Airport setting (in System Preferences->Network) of "Automatic" is and has been problematic at best! Creating a custom Location solves so many wireless issues it is not even funny.

joestriker · #4 September 20th, 2009, 12:12 PM

thanks guys I hope its not a hardware issue, I bought the macbook pro in the states and I'm in a country that does not have a mac service centre. It means I have to fly half way across the world to get it sorted... I'm in a remote african country

joestriker · #5 September 27th, 2009, 04:34 PM

ok well i took my macbook pro to a coffee shop and browsed perfectly well, no hangups or any of the airport issues i had before. I think the issue is with my netgear router at home, it seems to be the only place where it fails. any ideas on the netgear and SL issues? I upgraded my netgear firmware but still has issues.

As for the freezing, it still happens. Most of the time it freezes during startup when the spinning thing happens. once in a while it freezes just as the desktop is loading after startup. Usually if nothing happens after 2 mins of startup, it will stay on. Any ideas? Software issue? Hardware issue?

northbeach · #6 September 29th, 2009, 08:10 PM

i have a brand new macbookpro 13 inch. seem to be having serious airport issues as well. not sure why. i have the feeling that it is cheap hardware. this machine has a cheapness about it. cheap screen. too glossy. etc. ugh. dreading my visit to the apple store. so sorry to hear that you are far from an apple store yourself!