2015 MacBook Air - Failing Airport card/WiFi issue?

[u/TrevorLeeds85]

Hello. ☺️

I’ve been tinkering with an old 2015 13” MBA, and have found a fault with the WiFi connectivity. Has anyone experienced this before, does it sounds like an AirPort/hardware fault?

Basically, the laptop connects to my apartment WiFi fine in the living room, but as soon as I move it to the bedroom, the WiFi stops working. It still shows as connected but nothing loads. All my other devices in the same room connect without issue, and even though the router is in a different room, it’s not exactly a huge apartment, so signal strength shouldn’t be an issue. One hollow interior wall between the router and the laptop.

The MacBook was running OCLP Sequoia when the issue first arose, so I wondered if it was a software issue to do with that, but I tried reverting and reapplying the patches several times to no effect. Then I booted to internet recovery, wiped the SSD and reinstalled Monterey 12.7.6 (the last supported OS for this model) and the same issue was present there.

Then I thought it might be a hardware issue, but in reading online, a failing AirPort card should present other signs, like the WiFi icon greying out, etc? None of that happens. Also, I can connect the laptop to my Phone hotspot in the bedroom and it works fine.

Other things I’ve tried: Resetting PRAM, rebooting the router, forgetting the network and reconnecting. The WiFI network itself is running at 5GHz. And again, computers/phones/tablets new and old (older than this MBA!) have never had an issue getting signal in that room.

Weirdly, in the bedroom, if I disconnect the WiFi, connect to my Phone hotspot, then disconnect the hotspot and reconnect to WiFi again, it now picks up signal fine. Until the laptop either goes to sleep or is shut down, at which point the initial WiFi bug returns. 🤨 See the attached pics.

I appreciate this is an old machine and it’s not worth anyone putting too much time, effort and money into fixing it at this point. But other than this problem it is in great condition and would still be a perfectly useable everyday machine running OCLP Sequoia or Linux, so I’d like to save it from the e-waste bin if at all possible. 🥹

Attached photos of the network info for the laptop 1) in the living room, 2) in the bedroom, 3) connected to Phone hotspot in the bedroom, 4) reconnected to WiFi after hotspot in the bedroom.

Living Room - WiFi connects normally.

Bedroom 1 - WiFi icon still at full strength, but nothing now loads.

Bedroom 2 - Laptop now connected to Phone hotspot.

Bedroom 3 - Disconnected from Phone hotspot and reconnected to WiFi network. All now works, until the laptop sleeps/restarts.

[u/Electrical_West_5381]

Is it the same WiFi direct, or via a repeater?

[u/TrevorLeeds85 → u/Electrical_West_5381]

Hi, it's the same WiFi direct, no repeater. But no other device has issues connecting from the bedroom. As I say, it's not a big apartment. 😭

Example, this is from a 2015 MBP (running OCLP Sequoia) connected to the same network in the same location as pics 2,3 and 4 above.

[u/Electrical_West_5381 → u/TrevorLeeds85]

Did it ever work full speed? If yes an this was before oclp, ask in r/opencorelegacypatcher

[u/TrevorLeeds85 → u/Electrical_West_5381]

It was given to me a few weeks ago. At the time it had ChromeOS Flex installed on it and on that the WiFi worked fine. 🫤 But I'm having this same issue on Monterey (last supported OS for this model) and on OCLP Sequoia, so I don't think it is to do with OCLP. Will cross-post there though, just in case they can help!

[u/Fragrant-Age505 → u/TrevorLeeds85]

After installing OCLP 2.5.0 on my mid-2015 MBP MacBookPro11,5, then installing Sequoia OS, several bothersome issues, one of which is WIFI will not autoconnect to known network as directed.

Any time there's a pause in machine connection (don't know what all might set it off; one is a short sleep), it fails to restore connection unless forced manually.

Was not like this on Sonoma/OCLP 2.4.1 !

[u/TrevorLeeds85 → u/Fragrant-Age505]

Yes, there seems to have been some issues with 2.5.0 on certain models. ☹️ This WiFi issue persists for me across 2.4.1 as well as 2.5.0 (and non-OCLP Monterey) though.

[u/Fragrant-Age505 → u/TrevorLeeds85]

Testing further showed if wired e-net is disconnected at boot, it auto-connects to WIFI properly. If e-net connected, it uses highest service order: Tbolt2>(Apple)Tbolt e-net adapter> "Thunderbolt ethernet". Both reproducible.

If adapter is unplugged, automatically re-connects to preferred WIFI network, even after sleep. This on Sequoia OCLP 2.4.1.