Once the wireless router is back up (this can take another minute or two), see if the Mac can connect to the Wi-Fi network. But if you do unplug the modem as well, make sure to plug it in first, wait a minute or so for its lights to indicate that it’s back online, and then plug the wireless router back in. If you’re dealing with a separate cable/DSL modem and wireless router, restarting the modem won’t generally affect Wi-Fi.
(You can also restart an AirPort base station using AirPort Utility in either Mac OS X or iOS, assuming, of course, that you can connect to it at all.) Unplug the device (either end it’s generally safest to unplug the cable that goes into the device rather than risk pulling the wrong cord from the wall) and wait a few seconds to be certain any internal capacitors have discharged.
These devices often lack reset or power switches, so the easiest way to restart them is to pull the power. Or, you may have a standalone cable/DSL modem connected to an AirPort base station, Time Capsule, or third-party wireless router. That hardware may come in the form of a single device from the Internet service provider, a cable/DSL modem with Wi-Fi built in. Just as many issues are solved by restarting the Mac, the same goes for Wi-Fi hardware. Restart the Wireless Router - The next step is to reboot the wireless router, often an AirPort base station. A restart fixes many ills, including recalcitrant Wi-Fi, so it’s always worth a try. You may think that restarting is obvious, but several times my clients have told me they restarted, and, after two hours of troubleshooting, admitted they hadn’t actually done so, because they thought it would take too long. Restart the Mac - Just do it, and if you’re helping someone else, make sure he or she does it.
(Note that I’m talking just about the wireless network connection here, not Internet connectivity, since that’s another whole ball of wax.) Here are a few troubleshooting steps that should fix it.
Or perhaps the Mac drops the Wi-Fi connection, or won’t connect at all. As a consultant, I occasionally come across a Mac that insists that you choose the Wi-Fi network from the menu bar icon every time. Remember the lengthy screech and squeal of a modem handshaking with your ISP? Today, thanks to wireless networking (and broadband Internet connections), you can open your MacBook Air and be browsing the Web within moments.Īt least, you can when Wi-Fi is working properly. One of the benefits of Apple products is that the company has gone to great lengths to make the underlying technology invisible, to the extent possible. #1603: Replacing a 27-inch iMac, Luna Display turns a 27-inch iMac into a 5K display, OWC's affordable Thunderbolt 4 cables.#1604: Universal Control how-to, show proxy icons in Monterey, Eat Your Books cookbook index.#1605: OS updates with security and bug fixes, April Fools article retrospective, Audio Hijack 4, 5G home Internet.#1606: Apple's self-sabotaging App Store policies, edit Slack messages easily, WWDC 2022 dates.#1607: TidBITS 32nd anniversary, moving from 1Password to KeePass, pasting plain text, Mail fixes anchor links, RIP Eolake.