No Airport Card Showing Up

[Daniel Phelps]

I have a 17" MacBook Pro Mid 2009 (A1297) running El Capitan. Had an older OSX version (maybe Lion) on it when I got it, so I did a clean install of Yosemite, then an update to El Capitan.

Problem is, I never have been able to get the built in WiFi to work since I got it (used, not working). Bluetooth works fine, but as shown here and here no airport card seems to be installed. I have tried everything I can think of such as PRAM, NVRAM, etc. resets and more. I also tried using the Wifi in recovery mode, with not option for Wifi.

Should I just get a replacement, or is there something I can try to fix this?

Thanks,
Daniel

 

[DeltaMac]

You might need to reseat the connections on the Airport card.
It is located in the hinge area, at the bottom of the screen. Not a simple job to get at.
But, the power/data connection runs very close to the hinge, and over time, the connection might work loose.
Reseating that internal cable may get your WiFi working again.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If cracking it open scares you there are some low-profile USB wifi options that work well...but you may already be doing that.

 

[Daniel Phelps]

OK so I decided to open it up and reseat all the connections, but that did nothing for me.
And yes, I was using a $10 USB WiFi adapter until that broke.

Can we entirely eliminate software as being the issue?

 

[BrianBaughn]

OK so I decided to open it up and reseat all the connections, but that did nothing for me.
And yes, I was using a $10 USB WiFi adapter until that broke.

Can we entirely eliminate software as being the issue?

I'm pretty sure that's a "yes". The Airport card is replaceable but I've seen, in a different MBP model, a situation where replacing the card didn't work leading us to believe it was something wrong with the motherboard.

Go for one of the AC-capable USBs.