First hardware problem in iMac

As far as my sodden brain can recall, this mid 2011 iMac has performed flawlessly since new, hardware-wise, which includes the original HDD (boot drive is an external SSD). All of a sudden, wi-fi isn’t entirely reliable! It still works most of the time, but will inexplicably drop the signal and can’t reconnect through the usual troubleshooting until I reboot. Geez, it can’t even last 10 years??? :wink:

I’ve really been wanting to upgrade at least for a nicer screen and beefier CPU for faster video encoding etc, but this old workhorse still does its job. (Un)fortunately, sporadic wifi reception isn’t reason enough, and our new house has an ethernet hub that makes it quite easy to plug in without needing wi-fi. So I can’t really justify buying a new one at the moment. Still what are the chances that a new one will last this long?

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Check your WiFi for interference. One of your neighbors may have chosen the same channel(s) as you.

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Wifi on my 2010 iMac recently failed completely. Ethernet is fine though.

This is a friendly question… How long should a wireless card last???

You have a 9 year old computer. Apple stopped supporting hardware repair on that model 2 years ago. Since you have Ethernet access (and it’s faster than wifi anyway) to keep you online, it is a moot point. I think most of us here realize that a 2011 iMac is living on borrowed time. I’m using a 2012 15" MBP Retina model still, so I understand the “use it till I can’t” thought process. My opinion of current Apple products is one should expect 5 years of usefulness. Longer than that is just a better return on investment.

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