Chosen Solution
Hi, I’m having problems with wifi connectivity. Recently i’ve swapped out the logic board which seemed to work fine, I reset SMC and NVRAM to bring it back to speed (it had slowed considerably after the swap, but a reset of the NVRAM fixed this issue) but now have run into a problem I don’t know how to take any further: with the swap the serial number as well as the mac address have changed, but the problem is that in my home network I cannot connect to the wifi any longer. I do not have problems connecting to a new wifi network, but it seems the mac address change is causing issues with known networks. So far i’ve tried only my home network as a known network. Now, I’ve deleted all login info for the network and rejoined it a few times now but no joy. I’m thinking there is a possible conflict with the old mac address. But why would there be? The router is not set filtering mac addresses, nor should the ISP be. I read about changing the mac address manually, i guess i could give this a try, but it would only make sense with the old number…wich i don’t know where to find anymore. Hm. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks Update (06/23/2018) OK, so, replacement board is in, all working fine… except the WiFi connection at home. I’m a little bit stumped on how to proceed. Wifi DOES work at other location. What I’ve tried so far is: On the Mac: Created new LocationDeleted wifi home connection in the network settings and keychainsCleared out SystemConfiguration files / rebooted* updated to latest OS High Sierra (was not working in previous Sierra after board swap, still not working)Renewed leases on every step On the router: Changed SSID & PasswordSet no passwordChanged DHCP number (because i can)Different devices connect fine to the same router (iphones & macbook)Can not change wifi channel its a 2,4 GHZ model only / its a provider branded router with minimal configuration options (o2 6341 - germany) When trying to connect i get two types of messages: WiFi requires WPA2 password / invalid password (password IS correct / also changed it as a test)Something like move closer to router (I’m sitting right next to it) So, all told, I don’t know what else to try. My hunch is it has to do with the changed board (mac address) as it occured at the same time, which might be a coincidence, but then it might not. I guess the next thing I could try, do a complete new install without a restore and test it that way. Any other suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks! Update (06/08/2018) Meanwhile, after a re-install of the os and some more fiddling (adding these proxy settings *.local, 169.254/16) and AGAIN editing ’locations’ today i had some connectivity to the home router but it would drop continuously and re-assign itself. Pings would take a very long time and browsing the internet was not possible due to dropping connection. Where can i go from here? Not having much luck so far. What is odd i think is that my mac address only has numbers, no letters. Could that make the router reject the connection? Hmm. I’ve reset the router, no joy.
Changing the router resolved the issue for me.
@cito I think you’re now facing a pinched or bad antenna cable. Take a look at your antenna connections, are the connectors loose either on the board or the crimped on connection to the wire (shielded) also check the location where the cable passes under the logic board as well as where they are routed as seen here:
Update (07/05/2018) At this point I think you’ll need to get a replacement AirPort board to see if thats bad. Otherwise the only thing left is something is bad on the logic board connections to the Airport board. While not obvious the Bluetooth part of the board connects to the logic board via an internal USB bus and the WiFi part connects using a PCIe lane directly to the PCH chip.
An easy way I would check if its your WIFI or a problem with the machine is try to boot into network recovery using your home WIFI. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204904 When you see the spinning globe it will give you a list of networks, select your home one and enter the passwords. if you eventually see the recovery screen then your laptop is fine and I would recommend a reinstall. A change in mac address etc shouldn’t mean a problem at all at the end of the day its technically just a “new mac” and should connect to your WIFI straight away all I can think is there is some software issue.
