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Mmorg

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 19, 2020
1
0
I spilled a bit of water on the upper right side of my laptop (pro, 13in Retina early 2015) and now I cannot access WiFi. The icon reads “no hardware installed.” Bluetooth still works, and several hardware tests show no issue. I’ve opened the case to clean, the only water damage indicators that have changed colors are the few next to the airport board/wireless card, nothing past that or the fan.

When the water spilled it made a quick crackle noise, and I noticed at the base of one of the 3 wires connected to the airport board (where they all meet and curl into the outer corner) has a bit of damage possibly? It seems to be slightly deteriorated, it’s a bit rough but no inner wiring is exposed.

Given the circumstances, I cannot take it to an Apple store. I’m a college student now taking all online classes, and there isn’t another computer in my house. I’ve never worked on computers, but my only option (physically and financially) is to work on it myself. I’m thinking it’s just the wireless card that needs replaced? But I’d like to be sure before going through with ordering a new one. If you have any advice please help lol
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,279
13,377
Cheapest solution is to buy a USB wifi adapter and plug it in.
Make sure you get one that you KNOW works well with the Mac.
Take the time to read the user reviews to check it out...
 

lagisibuk

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2013
335
11
I spilled a bit of water on the upper right side of my laptop (pro, 13in Retina early 2015) and now I cannot access WiFi. The icon reads “no hardware installed.” Bluetooth still works, and several hardware tests show no issue. I’ve opened the case to clean, the only water damage indicators that have changed colors are the few next to the airport board/wireless card, nothing past that or the fan.

When the water spilled it made a quick crackle noise, and I noticed at the base of one of the 3 wires connected to the airport board (where they all meet and curl into the outer corner) has a bit of damage possibly? It seems to be slightly deteriorated, it’s a bit rough but no inner wiring is exposed.

Given the circumstances, I cannot take it to an Apple store. I’m a college student now taking all online classes, and there isn’t another computer in my house. I’ve never worked on computers, but my only option (physically and financially) is to work on it myself. I’m thinking it’s just the wireless card that needs replaced? But I’d like to be sure before going through with ordering a new one. If you have any advice please help lol


I suggest you to browse at : ebay or aliexpress, maybe your problem just airport card.
maybe USB wifi is another option.
 
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