Wi-Fi dropouts in OS X possibly from power conflicts

One of the ongoing problems that has affected some OS X users is random dropouts in their Wi-Fi connections. While Wi-Fi connectivity is not an issue with most Mac systems, for people experiencing it, once the problem starts it seems to persist. In some situations nearly identical systems on the same network will result in one system working fine and the other being regularly dropped.

Unfortunately Wi-Fi connectivity is difficult to troubleshoot, since there are many factors that play into a stable connection. These include drivers and other software configurations, the Wi-Fi card, the router, other computer hardware and components, and even environmental variables that cause interference. To tackle these problems, users can try a number of troubleshooting steps and settings for their routers and OS X, and also use Apple's built-in Wi-Fi diagnostics tool to diagnose and address signal quality problems.

While most of the troubleshooting steps for Wi-Fi problems revolve around the Wi-Fi configurations themselves, some recent discussions have outlined potential problems with power management being the root cause for at least some Wi-Fi dropouts. Apparently in many of Apple's systems, the Wi-Fi adapter may ... [Read more]