Problems with WiFi on macOS Big Sur | Apple Developer Forums

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I've updated to Big Sur from Catalina and I'm having trouble when connecting to WiFi networks. At first no network appeared and now even though it has connected silently to my usual network, it is showing as no connected, but internet actually works.

Anyone having this kind of problems so far? I haven't seen anything related on the forums nor the release notes.

macOS

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Posted by

rodero95

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how does one get around this problem? Anyone fixed it yet? I’m starting to be convinced it’s my cannon utility software on my Mac as it’s not compatible with big sur for wifi and causes corruption of files somehow. Maybe be wrong - but re imaged no issue then got back to transferring files over wifi from camera and it’s all went haywire again.

—
JamieN

Accepted Reply

Could you please report this via https://feedbackassistant.apple.com and attach a sysdiagnose?
You can trigger a sysdiagnose by running sudo sysdiagnose from Terminal. Thank you!

Posted by

Developer Tools Engineer

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I had similar issues on macOS 11.0.1, but Zoom still works!

Posted by

Calvin_BT

There is 11.1 released, hope it fixes this issue

Posted by

Calvin_BT

As long as I don't use an VPN client the Wi-Fi connection in Big Sur stays stable. But when I use an VPN App and I disable the VPN connection the troubles with the Wi-Fi connection starts. Especially with the Wi-Fi connections which are running from my Airport Time Machine. The broken Wi-Fi connection can't be restored. I have to remove the VPN connection in the configuration panel (Network Connections)

Apple has changed some things in Big Sur such as VPN on App level and the L2TP VPN servers has to restrict the SHA-256-hash. the length has to be restricted to 128 bits.

Could this be of influence on the Wi-Fi performance and stability.??

Posted by

NL-John

This seems to get ridiculous: we're all in home office and Apple can't make sure the internet connection stays stable?
All I read here seems not to fix this problem and the checked solution is the sys feedback page from Apple - posted 6 months ago?
I have 4 Macs and those running Big Sur have these unstable connections.
The one with Catalina does not.
Apple, hello? Anyone home?

Posted by

wider-spider

Wider-spider is right, this is getting ridiculous. What‘s happening in Cupertino?
These days, laptops without connectivity are pretty useless, not matter how sophisticated the hardware and OS. I’m having to fall back on an older MacBook with Catalina, as my fully speced-out and very expensive MB pro 13“ is stuck in laptop-quarantine by Big Sur.
Why is there still no fix to this absolutely crucial problem?

I have tried all the suggestions for fixes found in various forums : restarts, resets, configs. No level of resets has had any effect, while some manual configs (DNS entries, etc) work temporarily, allowing to connect to some wifis, but not to personal hotspots, nor do handoffs with my other devices work. Invariably, whenever I restart the computer, it can‘t re-connect to any networks.
Even if it‘s true, as suggested by some, that uninstalling VPN apps and disabling firewalls solves the issues, it is no reason for Apple to sit on their hands. Personally, I absolutely rely on VPN services, and so do many other people. Come on Apple, your testing team has missed the issue, but please do something about it now!

And, by the way, my MBP has also become very noticeably slower and laggy since installing Big Sur. The fan is spinning up and on full revs under, frankly, medium loads now... Not great for a pro machine, less than a year old.

Posted by

Sagaze

The posts in this forum give me little hope. Just updated to Big Sur ans suddenly my mac doesn't connect. What is being done about this? It's my work computer to boot so they're not going to be happy.

Posted by

Jobando

You can try patching see guide at Youtube bCqiK8rRXHs

Posted by

nemuxos

After upgrading to 11.1 from Catalina, Wi-Fi became unusable on my late 2014 iMac 5K. At first I tought was my router... (never had any kind of problem before) after some tests, ended that the problem was the OS upgrade. Connection drops frequently, ping goes high and low. Online conferencing, gaming and Stadia totally unusable; via Chromecast is perfect. Really hope tha 11.2 fix this terrible bug...

Posted by

avv3lenato

After upgrading to 11.1 from Catalina, Wi-Fi became unusable on my late 2014 iMac 5K. At first I tought was my router... (never had any kind of problem before) after some tests, ended that the problem was the OS upgrade. Connection drops frequently, ping goes high and low. Online conferencing, gaming and Stadia totally unusable; via Chromecast is perfect. Really hope tha 11.2 fix this terrible bug...

Posted by

avv3lenato

I've got the similar problems with WiFi (uncertain connection, necessity to reboot WiFi and/or the MacBook, etc.) but not with FTP which works perfect : anyone can check and help ?

Posted by

Vishnuda

I'm experiencing the same troubles as most of you described here in comments. At first I also thought it was my Wi-Fi router going crazy, but then I noticed it was actually the update to Big Sur from Catalina I made a few days ago. The Wi-Fi connectivity swings from full connection to no connection, also ping going high and back to low. When downloading movie torrent, the speed fluctuates much more than before. Hope it'll be back to normal with new update very soon!

Posted by

PincOX

I have the same problem and I have tried literally anything but it keeps happening.
I have a Macbook Pro 13-inch, 2017 with Big Sur.

These are the symptoms of the problem:

I open my laptop in the morning, the internet connection seems working for a moment and it suddenly stops.
I click on wireless icon, I click Network preferences, and I am unable to see configurations as the windows seems to be stuck.
By checking Activity Monitor I see the kernel_task process with high CPU.
I am unable to restart or shut down the laptop unless I press the power button.
After restarting I either have no problems or, often, I am even unable to switch on the wi-fi at all. It just doesn't seem to work and I am forced to restart again.

If, after restarting the problems are solved, everything works fine... until the next morning! I usually put the laptop on sleep and the following morning I experience these issues.

Now, this is what I have tried to do:

Completely re-installed the whole operative system and been careful not to install VPNs or software that could trigger these issues... At first it seemed to work fine, but I started experiencing these problems again after some days.
Tried resetting NVRAM and PRAM (don't remember which one exactly) but just been pressing those keys when the laptop starts, with no luck
Uninstalled VPNs software (thinking they were the problem)
Created a new Network Location (as suggested in some websites). It just doesn't solve anything.
Tried booting on safe mode and restarting, but this cannot be the solution anyway!

Some details about what may causing it:

I am using a bluetooth mouse, can it be a problem with the bluetooth? (I cannot find a link though)
I have a usb hub, with hdmi external monitor and usb keyboard connected to it (wondering if these can affect the wifi hw? (not sure)
I usually put my macbook on sleep (and the problems always appears in the following morning, this may be a trigger for the issue to happen)

I am seriously trying to find a solution because I have wasted hours and hours of time without being able to connect to internet and lost track of what work I was doing. This is really annoying.

I am going to try to talk with Apple Support this week and hoping that someone may help. I would not mind to have my laptop replaced as I am not 100% sure this is just a software issue.. but for some reasons it started after installing Big Sur. I have used my laptop with no issues before, for over 3 years, so...

I hope someone from Apple is monitoring this thread and can help us!
It's hard to speak with someone because of the pandemic, but I would appreciate if someone from Apple could get in touch for this problem.

I will update you if I have any news guys.

Posted by

Marko85

After the Big Sur update I started to have Wifi problems and also with My Airport Express (it was not visible many times). I tried to reset all settings as NVRam, SMC but it didn't work. It turned after of many days of up and downs with the internet that after uninstalling the VPN (not just disabling ) the connection problems disappears. I will try to install the VPN again after few days, but for now I enjoy my internet again.

Posted by

RicsiXboy

Recent OS update 11.2 didn't fix this bug...

Posted by

avv3lenato

Same thing here , brand new Mac Mini M1 , works out of the box for 3 weeks without problems, now after update to big Sur 11.2 WLAN is unusable, tried also everything like NVRAM reset etc.

Posted by

pg-control