Are you fed up with your Mac losing its Wi-Fi connections? Detaching, reattaching, and turning the PC and router off and then on again might not work every time. In that case, you need to tweak around the settings like PRAM, SMC, the DNS, and a few more. This article covers all such possible ways to solve your Wi-Fi network woes.
Diagnose Wi-Fi Problems
Thankfully, macOS comes with a built-in tool to diagnose any problems experienced by your Wi-Fi. You can access the macOS diagnostics tool by holding the Option key on your Mac’s keyboard. The screen that appears click the Wi-Fi icon, followed by the “Open Wireless Diagnostics” option. Now, click on the Window button at the upper corner of the screen, followed by “Performance” to access the Performance Graph, which is the most useful diagnostic tool.
A graph will open up representing the rate of transmission, noise level, and signal quality of your Wi-Fi network. Know that if your signal is poor according to the graph, then the transmission rate will be poorer for your Wi-Fi network. The Wi-Fi signal can be enhanced by positioning your Mac closer to the router. And if the graph suggests that the noise levels are spiking, then you should look for a more solid Wi-Fi channel for your router.
Wi-Fi Turning Off After Sleep Wake
Below is the possible solution to this common issue experienced by Mac users:
Open the “Apple menu” to select “System Preferences,” followed by “Network.”
Find and click on the Wi-Fi option towards the left, followed by “Advanced” towards the bottom right.
A list of all the networks will appear. Select them all by pressing Command + A, and click on the “-” icon to remove all of them.
Again open the Network window, move the cursor over the Locations option to expand the option.
Click on the “+” icon to name the new location.
Hit the to give Done button to save the changes.
Now, try connecting to your Wi-Fi to check if it is still disconnecting upon Sleep-Wake.
Disconnect Wireless Signal Devices and USB
Before getting into technical settings, it is always a good idea to check your device’s wiring and signals. Merely disconnecting a few USB C and USB 3 devices might solve your problem. So try detaching your devices one by one to check if the Wi-Fi network comes back.
Reset the SMC and NVRAM/PRAM
The SMC (System Management Controller) and PRAM (Parameter Random-Access-Memory) / NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random-Access-Memory) control essential operations meant for system functioning. So if these tools are experiencing issues, then your Wi-Fi is bound to get affected. Resetting these tools can help you work out the issues. Here is how to reset these:
PRAM/NVRAM
Shut down your Mac and wait until the fans and hard discs stop spinning. Once you feel the whole system has come to rest, turn on your Mac again. The moment you hear the startup music, immediately hold the Command + Option + P + R keys until you hear the startup music again with the Apple Logo on the screen. Now, you can release the keys as the PRAM/NVRAM has been reset.
Reconfigure the DNS
Domain Name Server or DNS converts the web address into the IP address. If the DNS provided by your service provider isn’t working, then you can switch to public DNS. Here is how:
Open “Advanced.”
Click “DNS” under the Networks section.
Then, click on the “+” icon.
Enter 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 (Google’s DNS).
Hit “Okay.”
Change the Location and Renew DHCP Lease
The reason for a dropping Wi-Fi connection can be an incorrect location picked up automatically by your Mac. This is where the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) comes in. It changes and arranges the IP addresses to ensure limited traffic. Follow the instructions below:
Open the Networks window and select “Edit locations.”
Click the “+” icon to name the new location.
Now Press ‘Enter,’ followed by “Done.”
You will find “No IP address” displayed under the Wi-Fi in the menu bar.
Now go to the menu bar and select “Advanced,” followed by “TCP/IP.”
Click “Renew DHCP Lease,” and you will notice a new IP address assigned to your network.
Finally, hit “Okay.”
We hope that at least one of the above techniques helped you eliminate your Wi-Fi connection woes.
Mia Watson is an avid technical blogger, a magazine contributor, a publisher of guides at Blogs Book, and a professional cyber security analyst. Through her writing, she aims to educate people about the dangers and threats lurking in the digital world. Visit My Site, address-zone.com
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