A technical Mac problem - WPA2 password request.

[TomGW]

I know that there are a number of Mac users here and hoping someone can help. We have a number of MacBooks and a couple of iMac in the house. A fairly recent issue has arisen that isn't confined to any particular MacBook. It's a recurring problem with at least two MacBooks, one running a recent SSD upgrade and clean install of High Sierra and the other the original El Capitan setup. Obviously totally different in terms of the version of the OS, free storage etc. Also the upgraded MB had the same issue before the upgrade. Our broadband provider is BT with fibre and a Hub5 router/modem.
The problem is that they frequently drop the wifi connection, ask for a WPA2 password (which I haven't got) faff about for a few mins, reconnect and carry on. I've Googled and got lots of suggestions (so apparently a common issue), none of which make an iota of difference.
The iMac gets used fairly infrequently so I can't be certain whether it's similarly affected. FWIW, it has ever happened with an iPad.
Can anyone identify what the problem is and advise how to resolve it? Many thanks.

[cbh]

I'd suggest it's a router issue, rather than the assorted Macs, I have to turn mine on/off every week or so otherwise I have problems, i occasionally reset it to factory settings

BTW unless you've changed the password it should be the one that's printed somewhere on your routers base/back.

Worth having a look here: https://setuprouter.com/router/bt/home-hub-5/login.htm

[Tokyo Tokei]

If you haven't already, try the wireless diagnostics on the Mac:


(Hold down the Option key while clicking on the wireless icon to see this menu)

Other things it might be:

- Country code is wrong, or someone nearby has setup a wireless router with another country code. The diagnostics tool above has an option to Scan networks - this will show if any exist. This issue sometimes happens when someone imports a router from another country, and will cause issues as you describe. (iPads and iPhones deal with this better, as they set their country code using GPS, but desktops don't have this capability)

- Password has been typed wrongly on another device, and the password shared using Apple Keychain in the Cloud. Go into settings and forget the network, and re-login. (But you'll need the password!).

- Some other wifi is nearby that the Mac sees as stronger and tries to connect to it, or an older network is higher in the priority list of networks. Go to wifi settings and remove (hit the "minus"sign) all unused networks. There may be loads in here - all the ones you have ever connected to (including on other devices) are remembered.

Last resort: try an SMC reset https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201295 or NVRAM reset https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204063

[TomGW]

Thank you both. I'll work my way through the suggestions and see what happens. I'll take it one step at a time, so that I will hopefully isolate the issue. Thanks again.