Preferred Wi-Fi Order Issue

[Eclipse@Mac]

I'm frustrated with my MBP preferred Wi-Fi order issue where the priority that I preferred is not saved. Whenever I close the network advanced setting windows, the priority ordering messed up again. I tried to turn off all the keychains on all my Apple devices to rule out the possibility that the keychain is not being synced between devices, yet the result is the same.

I only face this issue after I upgraded to macOS Monterey. The priority order was just fine with BigSur.

 

[jcscol]

Yes, I reported this bug to Apple from 12.1. Unfortunately, it's still not fixed in the latest 12.3 beta. Please send feedback to Apple, as it's still sitting on 'no other similar reports'

 

[Eclipse@Mac]

Yes, I reported this bug to Apple from 12.1. Unfortunately, it's still not fixed in the latest 12.3 beta. Please send feedback to Apple, as it's still sitting on 'no other similar reports'

Ok, I will file a report also. Thanks.

 

[gregconquest]

This is the same for me. I just posted a thread on the official Apple forums about this:

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discussions.apple.com/thread/253758044

Wi-Fi AP order not accepting change - "Drag networks into the order you prefer" not working across both my Macs​

My MBP16 and iMac 27 running 12.3 are both connecting to one Wi-Fi network, when I need it to connect to a different one. So,
1) I open System Preferences
2) click on Network
3) select the Advanced button in the lower-right corner
4) select the Wi-Fi tab at the top
5) grab and drag one access point/SSID to a different spot on the list
6) click OK
7) click Apply
8) then click the Advanced button once again just to check that the order has changed -- AND IT HAS NOT! The network order cannot be changed by dragging the networks into the order I prefer.

A reboot does not affect this. (How could it? The list isn't even changed before a reboot.)
It happens on both my Macs.
It happened prior to 12.3 as well.
Changing both Macs at the same time doesn't work either.

One partial workaround is to remove a network and then to re-add it. That one network is then moved to the top of the list, but I can't do that with all my networks. I see some of them only once a week. It would take me months to get them in the order I prefer.

I think this is clearly a bug as it is a simple operation and it is happening across two different Macs.

Even if this were to work, the list shows only 5 networks at a time, and trying to drag one more than four spots results in the list quickly scrolling to the end. That is broken as well, though with enough time, you can work around that.
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I'll submit a bug report to www.apple.com/feedback/ as well.

 

[gregconquest]

12.3.1 has fixed this problem on my iMac.

It is still near impossible to move one SSID down more than a few spots without zooming all the way to the end of the list, but at least the important problem appears fixed.

 

[idark77]

I had the same issue but when I turned off iCloud->Keychain in my MBP the problem disappeared, I was able to order my preferred Wi-Fi networks.

 

[Eclipse@Mac]

12.3.1 has fixed this problem on my iMac.

It is still near impossible to move one SSID down more than a few spots without zooming all the way to the end of the list, but at least the important problem appears fixed.

Yes! I can see the problem is fixed with my MBP on version 12.3.1 as well.
Finally~~

 

[ds234858y27]

Not fixed in 12.3.1 on 2021 MacBook Pro 14".

 

[Eclipse@Mac]

I see the issue was coming back after a few days. It's not really fixed on my M1 MBP also.
Sigh... 😭

 

[gregconquest]

Same for me. I thought it was working. The order does change now when I move the SSIDs around, but it seems the changes don't persist. Before they wouldn't change at all. I even tried simultaneously changing the order on both of my Macs this morning, but now it seems the order has reverted back to what it was before the attempted change.

So, this is definitely still broken, though now it seems like it might be a keychain problem. I'm really not sure.

 

[ds234858y27]

What does Keychain have to do with WiFi preference order?

 

[gregconquest]

What does Keychain have to do with WiFi preference order?

Other commenters had speculated that the keychain was overriding settings entered locally. Before 12.3.1, even immediately after changing the order and applying the settings, the change did not register. After 12.3.1 the order could be changed, but then it would later revert. Hence the idea that keychain was overwriting local settings.

 

[myoo60]

Just upgraded macbook to macOS ventura 13.0 and the preferred wifi network ordering has disappeared. This is really annoying to say the least. Everytime I turn on my machine, move to new location, etc., I have to manually switch the wifi connection to the one I want... Actually, this isn't an annoyance. It is down right a security risk!!!

 

[ds234858y27]

Not a fan of Apple completely changing MacOS Prefs to harmonize with iOS and iPadOS Settings. That said, as long as MacOS remembers my preferred network at each location I am OK with that. The WiFi Ordering never worked for me (I use iCloud Keychain).

 

[nmt1900]

What does Keychain have to do with WiFi preference order?

There is one thing how it affects this - if you have multiple macOS/iOS devices with iCloud Keychain sync to same Apple ID, then reordering networks does same to other synced devices as well - which can be real annoyance if you want to have different order on your Mac and iPhone. Only thing that saves the situation somewhat is "Auto-join" preference option...