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Shocker: A new Apple product seems to have Wi-Fi issues

The new MacBook Air has Wi-Fi issues -- so say owners in Apple's support community. This wouldn't be the first time that a new Apple product had Wi-Fi hiccups.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
Apple's new MacBook Air comes with new 802.11ac Wi-Fi. 'Experience wireless performance up to 3x faster than the previous generation,' according to Apple.
Apple's new MacBook Air comes with new 802.11ac Wi-Fi. 'Experience wireless performance up to 3x faster than the previous generation,' according to Apple. Apple

New Apple products and Wi-Fi issues go together like, well, Apple pie and ice cream.

It usually goes like this. Apple announces a new iPad, iPhone, or MacBook, and within days users spawn long threads about Wi-Fi issues.

It's no different this time with Apple's new Haswell-based MacBook Air.

The thread on Apple's Support Communities page isn't actually that long compared with past product releases. But it's long enough to indicate that many new MBA owners aren't happy with their Wi-Fi connectivity.

"It won't [stay] connected to wifi" is a common theme among postings. Some posts in the Apple thread suggest fiddling with a router's "DHCP lease" and "MTU settings" as a solution. Again, this kind of solution has been offered in the past.

And -- like in the past -- others contend the router isn't the problem. There are a raft other suggestions too.

It may -- or may not -- be worth noting that the new Airs come with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which Apple describes as follows.

"MacBook Air now supports ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi. When connected to an 802.11ac base station -- including the new Airport Extreme and Airport Time Capsule -- wireless performance is up to 3x faster than with the previous generation of MacBook Air."

Apple has not responded to a request for comment.