Mac laptop keeps dropping off of the wireless network

Question

My sister has a MacBook Pro at work. We run a wireless network through Apple Time Capsule.

For some reason my sister's connection to the wireless always cuts out. It can happen several times a day.

I also have a MacBook Pro and we also run an iMac and a Windows machine and they don't have this issue; just my sister's.

Any ideas what could be causing it?

Answer 1

1. Which model of MacBook Pro? Or at least check System Profiler to see whether you have a Broadcom or an Atheros-based card.
2. What version of Mac OS X?
3. When her wireless cuts out, do the AirPort menu signal strength bars go to zero?
4. What is she able to get back on the network just by re-selecting it from the menu?
5. What kind of security are you running on that network?
6. Have her hold down the Option key while clicking on the AirPort menu while on the network. What channel does it say?
7. What RSSI does it say?
8. What firmware version do you have on your Time Capsule? (Check the actual number, don't just say "the latest". People who say "the latest" are usually wrong.)

What do /var/log/kernel.log and /var/log/system.log say when this happens?

Try turning on AirPort debug logging, reproduce the problem, and then see what the logs say:

sudo /usr/libexec/airportd debug +AllUserland +AllDriver +AllVendor

You can turn those debug flags off later by running the same command, but with the plusses turned in to minuses.