Problem?
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of the WiFi issues I’ve been experiencing with my MacBook Air ever since I purchased it 2-3 months ago. For me, it was one of those deals where I hadn’t heard a single thing about this whole WiFi problem until after the fact, and now, all I’ve been doing is keeping up with the countless other individuals experiencing this problem not just with MacBook Airs, but MacBook Pros as well.
On Apple’s support community forum, there are a number of active threads regarding this prevalent problem (see here and here). The amazing thing to me is how new this problem is NOT. I thought it was an issue unique to the latest version of the MacBook Air (the one I have that I’m experiencing issues with), but apparently not, what with the two threads noted above being started in November 2010 and January 2008, respectively.
As of now, the overwhelming consensus by owners actively trying to fix the issue themselves is that it’s software-based — somewhere between a Bluetooth/WiFi conflict and Lion itself. According to one user from this thread on Apple’s support forum: “The irony, in bootcamp the wifi reconnects like a charm” after resuming from standby, which seems to be the root cause of the issue many are experiencing (including me).
Lion update after Lion update since July, release notes have noted a fix pertaining to WiFi issues, yet after every successful installation of said updates, the issues persist for many, including myself. With that said, it’s only fair to note that some users have chimed in with success stories after updating to the latest version, Lion 10.7.2 (see here and here).
To be honest, I’m kind of baffled by the fact that this is such a prevalent issue. At best, one of the WiFi fixes — with its vaguely-worded description — will magically fix the issue in a future update. At worst, this single issue exploits the whole “Apple products are consistently and supremely stable because their hardware and software are developed in unison and in controlled environments” thing.
“It just works”? Not quite.
Now, I understand the M.O. of companies who refuse to acknowledge faults in their products while actively pursuing solutions in a short-term capacity, but it would be really awesome to MacBook end-users if Apple — after all the time that has passed with this WiFi issue persisting — would at least say, “we understand you’re all having these issues and we’re trying our best to replicate them and solve them.”
Perhaps that’s an unrealistic and unreasonable request, since the issue may not actually be as widespread as the Internet has a way of making things seem. But it seems to me that it’s at least widespread enough to address. Hopping on Twitter to do a quick search, there are plenty of people reaching out there and looking for a solution (see here and here). Never mind Facebook and enthusiast forums.
Honestly, I would be willing to go so far as to offer my MacBook Air to Apple so they can get their hands on an actual unit that’s having the issues many of us are having. And before you say to take it to the “Geniuses” at an Apple store, a journey through those threads I linked to above yields unsuccessful results by those who have already ventured that route — sans ones like this, to which only a very temporary solution was applied.
Maybe there is a solution out there that preferably doesn’t require downgrading (one of the only solutions I’ve seen that appears to work for a number of people), to which I welcome your contributions. As a tech writer, my reach is but so far, but it’s certainly much farther than the everyday MacBook user’s. And though it aggravates me that it sometimes takes a red flag post like this on ZDNet to try to get a response from an 800-pound gorilla like Apple, being one of those affected by an issue so many have experienced for so long has motivated me to do just that: throw up a big, ginormous red flag.
So, Apple? Please fix our MacBook WiFi issues.
Loooove,
MacBook users
Are you a MacBook user who is experiencing WiFi issues as well? Or, are you perhaps one of the lucky folks who was experiencing WiFi issues but no longer do after a recent update? Please share your experiences with us below! Maybe, just maybe, Apple will see this and show us all some love.
-Stephen Chapman
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