iMac mid 2017 is my wireless card shot?

[mikehende]

So guys the wifi connection was working fine then stopped all of sudden, I reinstalled Monterey but it still does not connect. When I try to click on my network to re-enter password in the wifi options it's just a spinning wheel so design;t allow me to do so, is my wireless card shot please? the Ethernet connection works fine.

 

[MacInWin]

Is the router working? From the screenshot, the WiFi in the Mac is ON, but it's hard to tell unless you know the router is working and transmitting properly. Perhaps an on/off cycle on the router would restore connections?

 

[mikehende]

Umnn, we had already tried that step with Apple support and did not work. This is my son's pc, Apple had scheduled an appointment but since we do not have the funds right now to pay for the repair I am trying to see if anything I might be able to do on my own.

All of our other pc's have no issues so router should be working fine.

I guess I can use a wireless USB adapter but was first trying to see if I can get it going.

 

[MacInWin]

Ah, it does help to tell us what you've already tried so we don't waste our time typing it out and you don't waste time reading and responding.

What are his settings in System Preferences if you click on "Advanced" and then "TCP/IP?"

And just to verify, you DID cycle the router on/off, not just turn the WiFI on/off on the Mac, right?

EDIT: Oh, and what Mac, what macOS version?

 

[MacInWin]

Do you have an iPhone? IF so, will the WiFi connect to it as a hotspot?

 

[pigoo3]

Just to be 100% sure your WiFi router & home WiFi network is working ok...try connecting to your WiFi network with a 2nd device (computer, tablet, or cellphone).

If this 2nd device connects fine...then we can focus more on the iMac with the issue.

Nick

 

[mikehende]

Yes router and home network ok on 4 other pc's here.

No need to use phone as hotspot as we can then just run it wired if no way to use wifi.

I just tried a tp-link Nano USB adapter and that didn't install so will contact the manufacturer as might be a driver issue.

Sorry for this blurry pic:

 

[mikehende]

Oh tp link says they don't have a driver for Monterey so pointed me to this:

GitHub - chris1111/Wireless-USB-Big-Sur-Adapter: Drivers for Realtek 802.11n and 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi adapters. Packages for macOS

Drivers for Realtek 802.11n and 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi adapters. Packages for macOS - GitHub - chris1111/Wireless-USB-Big-Sur-Adapter: Drivers for Realtek 802.11n and 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi adapters. Pack...

github.com

 

[MacInWin]

No need to use phone as hotspot as we can then just run it wired if no way to use wifi.

The point was to test to see if the WiFi card in the Mac worked or not. But I see you have moved on, so I'll drop out.

 

[pigoo3]

There's always a possibility of a file corruption issue. Try booting into Safe Mode or the Recovery Partition.
If WiFi works in either of these cases...then the issue could be a missing file, misplaced file, or file corruption issue.

Missing file or misplaced file are highly unlikely...only mentioning these for completeness in case someone was moving a lot of files or folders around recently.

Nick

 

[mikehende]

Ok I will try on the morning and get back to you but since this is a new fresh OSX install shouldn't that rule out any file corruption issue?

 

[pigoo3]

...but since this is a new fresh OSX install shouldn't that rule out any file corruption issue?

Apologies...I forgot you mentioned fresh OS install in post #1.

Assuming nothing went wrong with the fresh install...and even better if the drive was completely erased before the fresh install...yes I would think a fresh OS install would eliminate any file corruption issues.

Nick

 

[mikehende]

Ok so I just got off the phone with Apple Support, the tech had me join to my iPhone using it as a hotspot and it works fine so he said the wireless card is fine and this has to be a router issue. Thing is when my son had called up Spectrum they had spent a long time having him reset the router and whatever else and still could not solve this problem and they had said since the other 4 pc's have no issues then it has to be something on this iMac which is causing it not to join the network.

So I don't know what to do now or which one of them to believe?

 

[pigoo3]

The important thing is you know the iMac's WiFi hardware is working (much harder to replace).

You mentioned that there are other devices connecting to your WiFi router just fine...thus probably not a router issue.

The last thing to investigate is a settings issue on the iMac. Ideally you want everything on the default settings (at least to start with).

If the iMac is connecting to the iPhone via hotspot just fine...and not to the router...gotta be a settings issue.

Nick

 

[mikehende]

Yeah, I am going to call Apple in a short while and this time ask to speak to a senior tech who hopefully will be able to solve this iMac's issue. One thing I can expect he will tell me though is since the iMac connects easily to my iPhone via hotspot then it has to be a router issue, will report back.

 

[pigoo3]

One thing I can expect he will tell me though is since the iMac connects easily to my iPhone via hotspot then it has to be a router issue, will report back.

Make sure you mention:

1. Other devices connect to your router just fine.
2. This iMac connected to the router just fine before the Monterey reinstall.

I'm assuming no settings changes were made before/after the Monterey reinstall.

Lastly...I know this may sound silly...but are you super-duper 1000% sure you're using the correct password for the WiFi network?

Nick

 

[mikehende]

Yes, I use the "show password" option so 1000% no mistake there.

 

[pigoo3]

Yes, I use the "show password" option so 1000% no mistake there.

Assuming the correct password is being entered...Great!!!

Just trying to be sure we're not missing something easy.

 

[ferrarr]

Create a new user account and test if the new "clean" account can connect to Wi-Fi.