My D has a 4 year old MacBook. She has used this computer without a problem since she got it. About a week ago she started having periods she could not connect to the internet. She is near the fires in Northern Ca and thought that was the reason. It is intermittent where sometimes she is fine and others she can’t get on at all. She had had to reschedule several proctored exams due to not being able to get online at the exam time. Today she took her computer to work to see if it was the computer. She can’t connect at the office so thinks it must be the computer. Plus she took cellular data off her phone and can connect to wifi at work so it’s not the router. She had tried resetting router and computer. She is not on campus not living close to an Apple Store. Any suggestions as to things she can try? She is going to call the tech person she uses at her office and see if he can work on her Mac.
I am tech challenged…but will say that during this past week of fires here, our Mac has had periods of not being able to connect…or verrrrry slow connectivity. ymmv…
Sounds like the computer needs repair - wifi is typically on a chip, so it might just be bad.
In the meantime as a short-term solution she can try tethering or hot-spotting the computer to the phone. That is, if she has an iPhone just turn enable personal hotspot and plug it into the MacBook. The Mac should start using the phone’s internet connection automatically.
I should probably caveat that with that’s how my previous Windows laptop used to work. I haven’t tried tethering with my MacBook yet.
Here’s a couple articles on doing it with a Mac.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203302
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tether-iphone-apple-laptop-48766.html
^^ I should add that unless your D has unlimited data, she should probably be sure that her phone is on a wifi network and disable cellular data to be sure she doesn’t run up her bill when tethering.
Thanks. @gosmom I’m hoping it’s just due to the fires. @anomander she talked with tech support at Apple and they had her try a few things. The person thinks it might be the wifi chip or card. I can’t recall what she said he called it. That means a trip to the Apple Store which isn’t so close to her house. Anyone been to the Walnut Creek Apple Store? Her other option is to go to Sacramento. They are about equal distance.
Have your daughter ‘renew DHCP lease’.
System preferences-Network-Advanced-TCP/IP-Renew DHCP Lease
And/or try resetting the NVRAM https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
@mom60 for some reason my post didnt work from my phone. This is quite the coincidence! My daughter is also in the Bay Area, with a 4 year old mac, which wouldn’t connect to the internet last week!
She took it to the Apple store on Monday, and they either reset/updated something on her computer, and it works fine now.
She could connect to the hotspot on her phone, but not wifi, but working like a charm now.
Also had connectivity issues here in Walnut Creek, CA for the past week or two!
I’m glad to hear that others in the area have had connectivity issues this week. She can’t get to the Apple Store till Monday and maybe in the meantime the issue will clear up on its own.
@jshain is the Walnut Creek Apple Store busy all the time?
mom60, Yes a busy store just like most of them. Parking is a pain downtown. There is a large parking garage at Broadway Plaza Shopping Center but then you walk several blocks. Since I live 2 miles from that store, I will usually drop my wife (the IT person of our Apple household) and then go pick her up when she’s done.
The Genius Bar takes appointments online now, so be sure to make one well in advance.
My internet connectivity is finally acting “normal” again!
Tech support had her do an update and it seems to be working. Keeping fingers crossed that it’s working on Tuesday when she has her proctored exam.