Slow To Pick Up WIFI Connection

[krawfo]

I have a mid-2011 Mac running Sierra and it's slow to connect to WIFI after coming out of sleep mode. It takes almost 10 seconds to establish a connection and the router is literally sitting right next to the machine. My iPad connects almost instantly. I have another Mac upstairs and it connects very quickly as well.
I realize the logical thing would be to connect via ethernet since the Mac is a foot away but my ethernet connection isn't working. When I plug a cable in (and I've tried several different ones and several different ports on the router) it still shows it as "unplugged".
Could this be causing my slow WIFI connection?

 

[SecuritySteve]

It's starting to become my standard response to these posts, but have you tried booting in diagnostic mode to see if there's any faults on the hardware? It seems likely that you may be having a network interface card issue.

 

[krawfo]

Thanks for the reply Steve. Roughly how long should a diagnostic mode scan take? I did as you mentioned and after an hour it was still running the test. My machine ran the internet diagnostics.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I'd start with System Preferences>Network>Wi-Fi>Advanced…(button)>Wi-Fi(tab). Remove any wifi networks with which you don't connect and move your network to the top of the list.

Use a can of compressed air on the Mac's ethernet port as it only takes a bit of debris to cause a bad connection.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I have a mid-2011 Mac running Sierra and it's slow to connect to WIFI after coming out of sleep mode. It takes almost 10 seconds to establish a connection and the router is literally sitting right next to the machine."

Does the router have ethernet ports?
Why not just connect via ethernet and be done with it?
After all, it's not like you'll be stringing cable across the room...

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Ten seconds?

Why worry. Just as well you were not using the 'net with the old 128k telephone dial up system.

 

[krawfo]

"I have a mid-2011 Mac running Sierra and it's slow to connect to WIFI after coming out of sleep mode. It takes almost 10 seconds to establish a connection and the router is literally sitting right next to the machine."

Does the router have ethernet ports?
Why not just connect via ethernet and be done with it?
After all, it's not like you'll be stringing cable across the room...

Read the 4th line in my original post.

 

[SecuritySteve]

Thanks for the reply Steve. Roughly how long should a diagnostic mode scan take? I did as you mentioned and after an hour it was still running the test. My machine ran the internet diagnostics.

It really shouldn't take that long. That's almost an indication that there is something wrong. However, before we jump to conclusions, I did run into a weird issue way back when I first bought my MBP with the diagnostic test and patching. Do you happen to have a firmware password on your system? For whatever reason, that capability seemed to have some conflict with the diagnostic test.

If not, take that baby to the Apple store. You've got a hardware problem.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Read the 4th line in my original post."

Heh. ok.
Well, if nothing else works, you might spend $10-15 and try a USB-to-ethernet adapter.

What does System Profiler say about the ethernet port?

 

[chabig]

In network preferences, is WiFi at the top of the list? That is a priority list and if wifi is down the list the machine might be trying to make other connections first.

 

[krawfo]

No firmware password. I'm hesitant to take a machine that's out of warranty in for repair and probably drop a couple of hundred when it still "works".

It really shouldn't take that long. That's almost an indication that there is something wrong. However, before we jump to conclusions, I did run into a weird issue way back when I first bought my MBP with the diagnostic test and patching. Do you happen to have a firmware password on your system? For whatever reason, that capability seemed to have some conflict with the diagnostic test.

If not, take that baby to the Apple store. You've got a hardware problem.

[doublepost=1516453217][/doublepost]Yes, WIFI is at the top of the list. I've also removed all wifi networks that I don't connect to.

In network preferences, is WiFi at the top of the list? That is a priority list and if wifi is down the list the machine might be trying to make other connections first.