Mid 2012 Macbook Pro losing internet connection

I just got a Mid 2012 Macbook Pro a few days ago and I'm loving it, except for a few things which I'm worried about.


1. The laptop seems to lose internet connection from time to time even though it shows full bars on the wifi icon up top. I have to disable wifi and re-enable it and wait a few minutes for the internet to come back. All my other devices run fine and I have the latest, and fastest Linksys wireless router. This didn't happen on my older Macbook pro that I sold, or my girlfriend's.

2. Occassionally, especially right when I turn it on, the laptop fans seem to make a fluttering noise, kind of like what a fly trying to get out through a window sounds like (you know, wings hitting the glass). It only happens for a few seconds at a time, and very rarely. I cleaned the inside and so far haven't heard it, but I haven't done much since then on the laptop.


The WIFI thing concerns me because I'm not sure why anyone would sell an excellent condition 2012 i7 Quad 2.6 with 16 gigs of ram and a 500 gig SSD... unless something was wrong with it. Also, I see the seller is now selling his Apple Wifi router, possibly meaning he was trying different things to fix the wifi on his laptop and then gave up and sold both of them.


Any ideas?

AddictedtoMac said:

The WIFI thing concerns me because I'm not sure why anyone would sell an excellent condition 2012 i7 Quad 2.6 with 16 gigs of ram and a 500 gig SSD... unless something was wrong with it.

Click to expand...

I could give you lots of reasons why someone would be selling a 2012 MacBook Pro. All being perfectly normal & legit.

AddictedtoMac said:

Also, I see the seller is now selling his Apple Wifi router, possibly meaning he was trying different things to fix the wifi on his laptop and then gave up and sold both of them.

Click to expand...

Maybe…never know.

Whenever I purchase a previously owned laptop computer. I always meet the seller at a place that has free WiFi (McDonald's, Panera Bread, Starbuck's, etc.).

Why?:

- It's a relatively safe place to meet.
- Gives me a chance to comfortability & throughly check out the computer.
- Prevents "snatch & grab" episodes when the cash comes out of my pocket.
- Double & triple check that the WiFi is operating properly (topic of most concern in this thread).

At this point the computer is yours. So the first thing I would ask or suggest is…have you completely wiped the hard drive…and performed a fresh install of the OS? If not…this is where I would start.

- Nick

I bought it on eBay, and the seller lives on the other side of the country.

I have wiped the hard drive and installed a fresh copy of Mountain Lion as well as did all the updates. I am not a noob on computers. I do my own upgrades, repairs, etc. Just never ran into anything like this before. I have no problem replacing the WIFI card, but it seems to work fine most of the time. I am going to continue trying other downloads to see what could be the issue.

I did an SMC reset, and I'm not sure whether SMC was reset, as the computer didn't give me any indication, and the LED on the magsafe chord did not change color.

AddictedtoMac said:

I bought it on eBay, and the seller lives on the other side of the country.

Click to expand...

Great…even better (better than Craig's List in terms of return options).

If the computer is not performing as advertised…then contact the seller about returning it. And if the seller is not cooperative…then open up a eBay or Paypal dispute.

AddictedtoMac said:

I have wiped the hard drive and installed a fresh copy of Mountain Lion as well as did all the updates. I am not a noob on computers. I do my own upgrades, repairs, etc. Just never ran into anything like this before.

Click to expand...

Again great that you know how to work on your computer.

AddictedtoMac said:

I did an SMC reset, and I'm not sure whether SMC was reset, as the computer didn't give me any indication, and the LED on the magsafe chord did not change color.

Click to expand...

As far as the SMC Reset…did you follow this procedure?:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Also…regarding the WiFi problems. Be 100% sure there is not a problem with your home network. You don't want to confuse a home network problem as being a computer WiFi card problem.

The bottom line is. If this eBay computer is giving you problems…be very careful about what you try to fix. You don't want to do any additional damage that could comprimise a return of the computer. If the problem does not seem to be solvable…just return it.

- Nick

Yes, I followed those instructions. My battery is screwed in and I don't have the right sized torx bit head so I assume this is what they mean by Macbooks that can't have their batteries removed.

I just installed Mavericks and I'm updating to the latest version, and I'll post back here to let you know what happened. Hopefully it's just a stupid software issue. As a last resort, I'll change the port number on the router. (Probably should have done that before installing Mavericks, oh well).

AddictedtoMac said:

Yes, I followed those instructions. My battery is screwed in and I don't have the right sized torx bit head so I assume this is what they mean by Macbooks that can't have their batteries removed.

Click to expand...

Very easily solved. Just need to get a tri-wing screwdriver.

AddictedtoMac said:

I just installed Mavericks and I'm updating to the latest version, and I'll post back here to let you know what happened. Hopefully it's just a stupid software issue.

Click to expand...

Fingers crossed. Hopefully it is something silly.

I've only purchased used Mac's for approx. the last 17 years (1997). Before that I always bought new. Whenever I purchase a previously owned Mac…the first thing I do is reformat the HD…and do a fresh install of the OS.

It's amazing the number of times a previous owner had an issue…sold the computer due to the issue…and it turned out to be a bad HD, bad ram, or a messed up OS.

Good luck,

- Nick

Everything seems to be running smooth on Mavericks, just had to do some disk permissions after updating.

I use my computer for music production and, now I remember why I bought an iMac. Around the top left of the laptop, this thing gets hot.

I think this laptop will be one of the last upgrades, until a new technology comes out that outputs much less heat or is more efficient.

AddictedtoMac said:

Everything seems to be running smooth...

Click to expand...

Fingers crossed that everything is stable.

- Nick