Immediately after upgrading to 10.6.3 last night, my MacBook Pro lost the ability to connect to the internet via WiFi. While a wired connection worked, wireless was apparently ravaged by the latest Mac OS X update.
I’m not sure if this is a widespread issue, but I know at least some other Mac users have experienced similar Airport related problems. Supposedly, installing Mac OS X 10.6.3 through the Software Update mechanism is more likely to cause trouble than manually downloading & installing the update from Apple’s website. Unfortunately, I went with the easier first method and ended up with a MacBook Pro that was showing itself as connected to my network with the correct IP addresses, yet refusing to access the internet. Both Safari and Firefox would hang for minutes with no response at all. I even tried connecting to another wireless network in a totally different location with no luck. It was a bit frustrating, to say the least.
If your Mac’s wireless won’t work or connect to the internet anymore, I may have come across a fix that could work for you – whether your problem was triggered by the 10.6.3 update or not. After trying everything else under the sun, here is what did the trick for me earlier today:
- Open System Preferences and click on the Network pane.
- Select Airport in the list to the left and click the minus button (-) below to temporarily delete it.
- Restart your Mac.
- Go to the Network section of System Preferences again, this time pressing the plus (+) button towards the bottom of the window.
- Select Airport from the Interface menu, leave “Airport” as the default name, and click Create.
Your Mac should now scan for and find your wireless network. Not only that, it should connect to it and let you browse the internet again. If not, I apologize for getting your hopes up – I’m just thinking what happened to work for my ailing MacBook Pro could be successful for others as well!
Is your Mac’s WiFi not working? Are you experiencing another issue after the 10.6.3 update? Share it in the comments below!
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April 3rd, 2010, 8:52 AM
Dmitri,
Thanks for confirming this worked for you! I usually add the restart step out of habit and good practice after changes like this, but it’s good to know it isn’t required.