This morning the WiFi connectivity problem had spread from iPhones and iPads, which couldnt connect at all (but could connect using a phone personal hotpost from cellular sourced data), to our Macbooks, which could connect to a few websites but not all (error server not found on Safari or site unreachable on Chrome).
I phoned Apple and eventually determined that the phones and Ipads had self assigned IPs (the laptops didnt). They told me to phone my ISP and get them to refresh the modem remotely (we had already tried that multiple times at home with no effect. Also tried all the suggested fixes on this thread: "Forget this network" and re-joining, toggling airplane mode on/off, turning off "private connection"--all with no impact). After the IPs were reset by the ISP, problem was solved on all devices.
I still dont know if this problem originated with the ISP or was an Apple software update issue--but I find it odd that it happened precisely when all our devices updated (Big Sur 11.1 and iOS 14.4).
But anyway click the (i) by your wireless connection and see if the IP address starts with 169.254. If it does, it is self assigned (no idea why or why that matters) so try calling your ISP and asking for a refresh.
Good luck. Literally a full 2 days of my life that I will never get back working on this.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Core OS
Tags: