WiFi on MBP with M1 Pro periodically disconnects

OK, more updates.

I ran without safe mode for a while, and the problem started happening again.

It's now consistently at 2 bars wifi signal.

Switched back to safe mode, and ran for 2 days. And now it's happening. I haven't used my VPN in that time, on purpose, so it's not the VPN.

Here is a screenshot of it when it's doing its search:

And here is when it's connected:

BTW, my phone hotspot is off, I think it's just showing up because my phone is nearby and it has the same apple id (must be a bluetooth thing).

Would appreciate any further help. I'm to the point where I might just reinstall the whole thing, and restore from backup...

BTW, I have a suspicion why it started trying to find another wifi. I used to have both the 2.4G and the 5G bands as "auto-connect". but I would find my internet would start working poorly, so I would switch back to the 5G.

Finally, I disabled the 2.4G as auto-connect. What may have been happening is:

1. signal goes below -65dB
2. Mac wifi searches for a network that's better
3. Sees the 2.4G at -58dB
4. decides to try switching, but finds that the auto-join is off
5. After giving up, goes back to the 5G

Just a guess though.

Oh! uhhh... that's my fault actually. My router doesn't do automatic channel switching on the 5GHz band. I was kind of desperate to try other things, so I switched to something high thinking it would be less crowded. I didn't realize that was going to cause issues.

These are my choices, which should I pick? Honestly, I can't remember what the default was.

Thanks for your help.

If safe mode fixes the issue, what is the answer? How do I tell which 3rd party app is causing a problem? I have a VPN I need to use for work. I'll have to run it like this for a while, but can't do it forever.

It would be nice to see some message as to why the wifi disconnected.

One thing I have noticed pretty quickly -- the WiFi signal seems HIGHER with safe mode (consistently full fan vs. only 2 bars most of the time before). No change in physical position or anything else. Does safe mode do something different with the wifi?

Still no dropouts. I'll run like this for the rest of today, and then switch back tomorrow to see what happens.

Thanks for the explanations! Indeed, next to the router, it's -33 dB, and I also double checked the antenna are all connected.

Something I don't know how to explain is that my laptop has been in this same spot for a year, the router has been in its same spot for longer, and I've not had these disconnection problems. Switching to the 2.4Gz, I get better RSSI (-57 to -62 dB), but slower speeds (and I believe I have some rogue device or external interference on that band, because the Internet will just stop working on that band sometimes).

What I don't know is, why would it try switching when there's nothing else to switch to? Is it something that's different in the new version of MacOS? Perhaps there's a wifi that spikes occasionally and it thinks it will try that? I just cleared out all "known" WiFi logins so maybe that will help.

Looks like I need to find a USB ethernet port now! Or get a closer access point.

Thanks again!

The 2.4 GHz has an auto selection; the 5Ghz doesn't. That's the list I posted.

I selected 104 (DFS) and I got these warnings:

"You select a DFS channel, the channel will be changed automatically if any Radar is detected."

And then:

"To get the best wireless performance, NETGEAR recommends that you set the router to a high channel number (between 149~161). Are you sure you want to continue?"

So I guess I should pick 149?

Wow, so many hidden nuggets!

OK, so my scan report is suggesting channels 165 or 136, neither available on my list!

I appreciate your feedback and expertise. I think I'm going to have to just wait for the ethernet port from Amazon to arrive!