Airport connectivity problems In Macbook Pro

[Chasey]

I have recently bought a MacBook Pro which is installed with OS X 10.5.1. All worked fine until the operating system on the Macbook was updated to Snow Leopard. Now the Macbook loses the Airport connectivity frequently. The Airport Icon visible and shows that the device is connected with a good signal strength but no wireless networks are available to join. Also sometimes the system displays No Airport card installed error. I cant figure out what the problem is and need your guidance to solve it. Is this because of Snow Leopard? Or It is some kind of hard ware failure?

[Gonzo]

There something wrong with the operating system installed on the Macbook pro. As the Airport connectivity worked fine with the OS X 10.5 installed on the Macbook previously which stopped working properly when the new operating system was installed, hence the operating system you have installed is creating problems. If you have the Install disk of the Snow Leopard, you can use it to install a fresh copy of operating system using the Install/Archive mode. In Install/Archive mode you can install a fresh copy of the operating system while keeping the installed applications intact. Check if the installing the operating system solves the problem or not. If reinstalling the operating system does not work then install the OS X 10.5 on the system and check the system performance. Ideally it should work properly on OS X 10.5

[Regina]

I think the SMC (System Management Controller) reset will help you solve the Issue. It is possible that the SMC of the system get affected by the abnormal behavior of some peripherals which are connected to the computer. If the Normal troubleshooting does not help, then SMC reset may be the only solution. Before performing SMC reset, perform a PRAM reset and check the performance of the computer. Press and hold Apple, Option, P and R keys while the computer is starting. Keep holding these keys till 3 startup chimes are heard. When 3rd chime is heard, release these keys and let the system boot normally. Check the Airport connectivity after doing a PRAM reset. If there is no improvement, then Perform the SMC reset by following these steps :-
1) Power down the computer.
2) Remove the AC power source cord.
3) Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
4) After 5 seconds release the Power button
5) Now connect the Power cable and turn on the computer.

[Deep23]

Probably the Airport card on the Macbook is faulty and needs to replaced. The Wireless chip is installed on the Airport card along with the Bluetooth chip. Check if the bluetooth is functioning properly or not. If the Airport card is faulty then the Bluetooth should also not work properly. If the bluetooth is not working properly then the Airport card needs to be replaced. If the Bluetooth works properly then the Cable connecting the Airport card to the Logic board is either faulty or not connected properly. Open the Macbook and see if the cable is connected properly. If the cable is connected properly then definitely the Airport card is faulty and needs to replaced. Take the macbook to nearest apple service center and get it checked.

[Theodot]

It is not the Airport card that is creating problem but the operating system which you are using. Check the encryption of the Network you are using. The new operating system which are developed my Apple does not support WEP encryption. As you were using OS X 10.5 before which supported both WPA and WEP encryption for the network. Now your system is installed with OS X snow leopard which only supports WPA encryption for the network. Hence check the encryption of the network which you are connecting and change it to WPA if it is WEP encrypted. If you are not able to change the encryption then you will have to change the operating system back to OS X 10.5.1 to be able to connect to the network without any problems. Changing the encryption will solve your problem without any problem.

[Barclay]

This problem is faced by many Macbook users all around the world. This issue rises due to software incompatibility between the Airport card and the operating system. There are many workarounds available to solve the issue but a permanent solution is yet to be released by Apple. One thing you can do is configure the Macbook manually with a static IP which will disable the DHCP. After configuring the IP address manually, the Connection will not drop. Also open the Activity Monitor and see which of the applications is using the Network resources to the fullest. Terminate such process and then connect to the Network. Hope the Post helps.