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RitaMarri Author

Level 1

4 points

digital nomad wifi issues - os catalina

Hi all,

Ever since I updated to Catalina (10.15.5), I've noticed some issues connecting to wifi. I'm a digital nomad, so I don't have my own router. I'm on a new router every month to two months, as I move to different airbnbs.

In my new home, I'm having issues connecting to the wifi from my computer. It's either really slow, or I just can't connect. I can connect with my iPhone just fine and I'm getting fast internet on it- on my phone, the upload and download speeds are around 30 mbps. On my computer (Macbook Air 2013), the download speed is .02 mbps and the upload speed is 2mbps. And other times, my computer just won't connect to the wifi at all (I keep getting an error message).

Recently, I've also had problems connecting to wifi in other locations. Yesterday, I wasn't able to connect to the wifi in my partner's house, although he had no problems connecting on his computer. I also went to a cafe with his computer and my computer, and had the same issue - I could connect to the wifi on my iPhone and on my partner's computer, but not on my Macbook.

I've tried changing the location name of my wifi network and I've also tried resetting the router and my computer. Neither worked. I've seen a lot of suggestions to change my wifi router's channel or frequency, but unfortunately that isn't an option for me because this isn't my router.

Any thoughts on what else I can do? I'm thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling Catalina.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 8, 2020 7:52 AM

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Posted on Jul 8, 2020 8:24 AM

Try this: open Network Preferences and select Wi-Fi.

Under Advanced... you will find the names of all the wireless networks you have ever used. Delete all of them, including the one(s) you want to use. OK then Apply. The Mac's Wi-Fi icon will turn grey indicating it's not connected to anything. Click it and connect to the wireless network you want to use.

If you still encounter difficulties perhaps something is wrong with that Mac's wireless radio. Wireless Diagnostics may offer some suggestions: Use Wireless Diagnostics on your Mac - Apple Support. Under ideal conditions its Summary page at the end should have one and only one entry, "Review Wi-Fi Best Practices". Anything else needs to be considered as possible causal factors.

I'm thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling Catalina.

I sincerely doubt that will help, but reinstalling macOS is nondestructive and simple enough to try: Reinstall macOS - Apple Support

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