WiFi Disconnection Issues on MacBook: Understanding Power Nap and Energy Saver

Modified on Mon, 16 Jan 2023 at 10:34 AM

MacBooks have a feature called "Power Nap" which allows them to perform certain tasks, such as backups, updates, and syncing, while they are in a low-power sleep mode. This can be useful for keeping your MacBook up to date and saving battery power, but it can also cause disconnections from wifi networks if the MacBook goes into sleep mode while it is connected to a wifi network.

Additionally, MacBooks have a feature called "Energy Saver" which allows you to set the time intervals for your MacBook to go to sleep automatically. This feature is intended to save battery power, but it can also cause wifi disconnections if your MacBook goes to sleep while it is connected to a wifi network.

To troubleshoot these issues, you can try the following steps:

Go to "System Preferences" > "Energy Saver" and check the settings for "Computer sleep" and "Display sleep". If they are set to a short time, you can increase the time to prevent your MacBook from going to sleep too quickly.
Go to "System Preferences" > "Energy Saver" > "Power Nap" and make sure it is turned off.
Go to "System Preferences" > "Network" and make sure "Wake for network access" is checked.
Try using the "caffeinate" command, "caffeinate" is a command line tool that can be used to prevent your MacBook from going to sleep or starting the screensaver. It can be useful when you need to keep your MacBook awake for a long time, such as when you are downloading a large file or running a long-running task.
To use the "caffeinate" command, open the Terminal app on your MacBook and type the following command:
```
caffeinate
```

This will prevent your MacBook from going to sleep or starting the screensaver until you end the caffeinated process by typing "control + C" in terminal.

By following these steps, you may be able to prevent your MacBook from going to sleep quickly and disconnecting from wifi networks. However, if the problem persists, it may be caused by a hardware issue, and you may need to contact Apple Support for further assistance.