Chosen Solution
Hello community! I have a very serious problem with my late 2009 iMac. Its a bit hard to explain, but i’ll try, It has very strange Wi-Fi problems. Most of the time WiFi is not working it’s just permanently showing “search of network”. At first I considered it to be a software problem, and decided to wipe the system. The first interesting detail was that in the Recovery Mode, WiFi was working like 5 out of 6 times, which was a great result (in the regular state, 5-6 reboots were needed for WiFi to start to work. But I was unable to complete an internet recovery, because each time I tried, the WiFi died after 20-30 minutes of download. So, my queastions are - whats going on with my iMac, and will it be enough just to replace the WiFi card (Atheros ar5bxb92)?
It sounds like an issue with the Wi-Fi device and it will need to be replaced. Take a look at this guide for the repair procedure: iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 and 2374 AirPort Card Replacement I would also double check that the antenna are okay. It’s un-likely that they’d be damaged, but it is possible.
Had a customer that reported slow internet on a 27” 2009 iMac i7. After the usual diagnostics, took a spare Apple 820-2566-A card and replaced the one in the iMac. Worked fine. Note that they just got the new AT&T Fiber installed. The card is an older 802.11, AT&T says their service is backward compatible, however they were using a WiFi booster in an adjacent duplex. While my newer MacBookPro worked fine, the older WiFi was not as “speedy” but the new card solved the intermittent and low, connect problem. AT&T is replacing the router.
