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Every few minutes my internet connection drops on my MacBook Pro 15" Mid-2015, running macOS Catalina 10.15.5.

It stays connected to wifi, at least it indicates as such in the menu bar and System Preferences.

However, I can't use the internet again until turning off and on wifi.

Also, I can't connect to my router's webpage itself (normally http://192.168.1.1/ is my router's config pages) when this issue happens.

However, from the terminal ping continues to work, for my router's IP and for names like google.com.

This issue breaks: Safari.app, Discord.app, wget, curl, dig, Firefox Developer Edition.app, Chrome.app, Folx.app, Mail.app, .... almost everything internet-related I can think of testing except ping. ping times don't even increase while the rest of the internet "drops".

This doesn't happen on any other device in the house.

How can I stay connected to the internet all the time without having to worry about needing to reconnect like this?

My MacBook, like all other devices the problem doesn't happen on, gets its IP address using DHCP.

While the wifi is working:

enter image description here

While I can't connect to the internet:

enter image description here

According to support.apple.com/kb/SP719, your Mac supports "802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible", is the wireless router configured accordingly?

I'm not sure how to check... but I found on one page of my router's settings "Generic MAC80211 802.11bgn (radio0)" this text.

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  • How does your Mac get the IP address, over DHCP or is it static? According to support.apple.com/kb/SP719, your Mac supports "802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible", is the wireless router configured accordingly? When you lose your Internet connection, which are the RSSI and Noise values displayed for your wireless network when you Option-click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar?
    – jaume
    Commented Jul 28, 2020 at 20:54
  • @jaume i added info to the question. ping continues to work for some reason
    – user150109
    Commented Aug 4, 2020 at 23:44
  • If you can ping Google, you didn’t lose Internet. It appears to be an issue with browsing. It might be s DNS issue as well. Start with a different browser first and let’s go from there.
    – Allan
    Commented Aug 4, 2020 at 23:49
  • @Allan it breaks: Safari.app, Discord.app, wget, curl, dig, Firefox Developer Edition.app, Chrome.app, Folx.app, Mail.app, .... almost everytihng internet-related I can think of except ping. ping times don't even increase.
    – user150109
    Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 10:36
  • ping allows you to get out, but everything else fails? What about traceroute? Let's try something different. Issue the command traceroute -d bing.com and let me know what you get. (Google might be cached in DNS, so I figured Bing would force a DNS lookup)
    – Allan
    Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 10:41

3 Answers 3

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A recent article on Cult of Mac entitled How to fix Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interference on a Mac may give some insight. In your screenshots, your wifi is running on 2.4GHz which is the same as Bluetooth according to the article.

If a wireless connection is a must, you may find that a change in router settings is what you need. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices use the 2.4GHz band as standard, but modern routers also support the 5GHz band.

I was about to ask about my audio skipping that is playing over Bluetooth. I noticed that my router does have 2.4GHz running. I am currently testing to see if my problems are resolved.

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    Well, it doesn't happen on any other device in the house, and ping times don't increase, so I don't think it's due to interference.
    – user150109
    Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 10:25
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I had the same problem and after a couple of unsuccessful hours with Apple support I was ready to send my new MacBook back for a warranty repair. The 'fix' in my case was easy: I STOPPED USING FOLX! I've not had this problem for 2 weeks now. I now just need an alternative to Folx, compatible with Catalina (10.15.5)

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  • This is very interesting. I actually have Folx installed, so maybe this is what causes it. I'll have to check next time I'm on that network.
    – user150109
    Commented Nov 25, 2020 at 21:54
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After upgrading my MacBook Air to Sequoia 15.0, I experienced quite the same: while the connection to the router seemed fine (and apparently also the connection to the internet), internet access got lost after about 30 seconds after boot. Rebooted several times, reconnected to the router - but nothing changed. The router and internet were obviously fine as all other devices had no troubles at all.

Finally, found a solution on discussion.apple.com: remove VPNs from System settings > Network > VPN. I had remainders from an old little snitch install and once removed, the internet connection was up again. :)

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