How to fix Wi-Fi on all Macs. In this video we'll learn how to determine if
this is a software or Hardware Wi-Fi issue, how Wi-Fi works internally and how
to replace all Wi-Fi cards. Essentially this video will help you fix any Wi-Fi
issue on any OS X operating system on any Mac running the most current
operating system. Click the Apple logo and go to about this Mac, click system
report, on the window that pops up scroll down find the networking tab and click
Wi-Fi, once you click Wi-Fi if you see data
loaded in this window this means that the operating system actually loaded the
kext (aka driver) and recognized the network card when it was booting up. At this point it
is quite possible that you're experiencing a software issue. There's
one way to deal with this, go ahead and go to the Apple logo and go to System
Preferences, select network, highlight Wi-Fi, scroll down and press the minus
sign. Hit apply, this will delete the Wi-Fi
network profile. Now go ahead and click the plus sign. On the drop down window
select Wi-Fi and click create. This will recreate the Wi-Fi network profile. Click
to turn it on and press apply. Once turned on, click apply on the top right corner
Wi-Fi logo and attempt to connect to your network. If you've connected
successfully then you have solved your problem.
This software remedy quite commonly fixes Wi-Fi issues. This procedure is
quite similar in older operating systems. Click the Apple logo and go to about
this Mac. Press more info, on the next window, click
system report, scroll down, select Wi-Fi under the networking tab.
If you see data here that means the kext (aka driver) was loaded in your operating system when
the computer was started. So the operating system can actually see the
Wi-Fi card. Click the Apple logo again and go to System Preferences, select the
network icon. Here we'll have to unlock the access to change these settings. Go
ahead and scroll down to the lock on the bottom left corner and unlock it. Go
ahead select Wi-Fi and press - now press + create the Wi-Fi profile again and hit
apply.
Attempt to connect to your network now. If you've successfully connected to your
network by using this remedy then you have fixed your problem. If your Wi-Fi
issue is still not resolved or you didn't see any data underneath the
networking Wi-Fi tab then there's a hardware issue. Let's talk about hardware
issues now. Every Wi-Fi system made by Apple or any other company has the
following three choke points. 1. Wi-Fi card itself can break. 2. Wi-Fi cable
connection can be severed. 3. Wi-Fi antenna connection can be severed. All
three of these can cause Wi-Fi to stop functioning. Let's familiarize ourselves
with some of the Apple laptops to get a good idea of how a Wi-Fi system is
hooked up. For this instance we're using a 2008 macbook pro. We're going to take
off the back and show you exactly how things are hooked up. The antenna is
located right here and it runs all the way down and plugs into the logic board.
So the antenna and the Wi-Fi card are actually inside of the LCD screen in
this model. This connection can come apart and cause the Wi-Fi to stop
working. From 2008 to 2010 the Wi-Fi cards were located inside of the LCD
screen. Let's have a look inside and see exactly how its structured. After
removing this bezel we can go ahead and have a peek in and see
that the Wi-Fi card is being hooked up through this cable. The Wi-Fi card itself
is located right here, then there's the two antenna cables that hook into the
Wi-Fi card and the antenna is right next to the Wi-Fi card. If you've taken this
unit apart and notice that all the connections are fine, it is most likely
the card that needs replacing. Here's an example of a different Wi-Fi
system the Apple used from 2010 to 2012. There's a Wi-Fi card that becomes
disconnected quite a lot right here. The Wi-Fi card itself is no longer inside
the LCD. You must disconnect this cable and verify that it is not broken on either
side. You can also remove and inspect the Wi-Fi card itself. Also inspect the
antenna connections, because the antenna is still stored inside of the LCD on
these models. When you're observing this, make sure that everything is clicked in
properly. 2010 to current MacBook Airs and all Macbooks after 2012 have the
following Wi-Fi technology. The antenna is still inside the LCD but
there's a small little card that you can remove by detaching a t5 screw and
pulling out the card. Now that we have a solid foundation of how Wi-Fi works,
let's go ahead and determine how to replace your specific Wi-Fi card. We
first need to identify your macbook. Click on the Apple logo and go to "about
this Mac" here you'll find your macbook size and year. Now on any other computer
or a smart phone, open up a browser, navigate to www.appledollars.com once at
appledollars.com scroll down and select your Mac type. For this example
we'll use Macbooks, a 15-inch MacBook, that's from the 2010 era. Here you will
find an interactive video map. Locate the network card and watch the
replacement video on how to replace the network card for your specific Mac.
www.AppleDollars.com has network card replacement videos for every type of
Mac!
This concludes this tutorial, thank you for watching!