Does forgetting and rejoining the network actually fix it?

It fixes the problem for many people because it clears a stored network profile that got corrupted during the update. Go to System Settings, Wi-Fi, click the info button next to your network, choose Forget This Network, then reconnect and re-enter your password.

Is this a hardware problem with my Mac?

Almost never. If the Mac worked fine on the same network before installing macOS Tahoe, the wireless hardware is not the cause. The update changed software settings around power management and network services, and those are what need resetting.

Why Does Wi-Fi Keep Dropping After the macOS Tahoe Update?

Your Mac was rock solid on Wi-Fi until you installed macOS Tahoe. Now it drops the connection every few minutes, shows the Wi-Fi icon with no internet, or reconnects on its own after 10 to 30 seconds of nothing. This started right after the update, and it is not your imagination.

Why Does macOS Tahoe Break Wi-Fi Stability?

macOS Tahoe changed how the system handles wireless power management, background networking services, and location-based network switching. On many Macs, these changes conflict with router settings or third-party software that worked fine on macOS Sequoia or Sonoma.

The most common triggers, based on what actually gets reported and fixed:

Wi-Fi power saving kicking in too aggressively and dropping the radio between packets
A corrupted network profile carried over from the update instead of created fresh
Background features like Handoff, AirDrop, and AirPlay Receiver competing for the same wireless radio
VPN clients, firewalls, or proxy tools (Little Snitch, Charles Proxy, Proxyman) that have not been updated for Tahoe
A router that is fine with older macOS but doesn't like Tahoe's new mDNS or Bonjour behavior

None of this means your Mac is broken. It means a software setting needs to be reset or turned off.

How Do I Stop Wi-Fi From Dropping on macOS Tahoe?

Start with the DNS and network cache reset. It takes 30 seconds and fixes a large share of drop-and-reconnect cases without touching any settings.

Open Terminal (Applications, Utilities, Terminal) and run:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Enter your admin password when prompted. Nothing visible happens, but this clears the cached DNS and network service records that macOS Tahoe sometimes carries over incorrectly from the update. Test your connection for a few minutes before moving to the next step.

Should I Forget and Rejoin the Wi-Fi Network?

Yes, if the cache flush didn't fix it. This is the single most effective fix reported after the Tahoe update, because it forces macOS to build a completely new network profile instead of reusing one that got corrupted during the upgrade.

Open System Settings
Click Wi-Fi in the sidebar
Click the info button (circled "i") next to your network name
Click Forget This Network
Wait 10 seconds, then click your network name again and enter your Wi-Fi password to reconnect

Do this on every network your Mac connects to regularly, not just your home network, if the problem happens at work or elsewhere too.

Which Background Features Should I Turn Off?

Handoff, AirDrop, and AirPlay Receiver all use the same wireless radio as your Wi-Fi connection, and on macOS Tahoe they've been reported to interfere with normal connectivity, especially on Macs that also have Bluetooth accessories paired.

Turn off Handoff: System Settings, General, AirDrop & Handoff, turn off "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices."

Set AirDrop to Receiving Off: Same AirDrop & Handoff pane, set AirDrop to "No One" temporarily to test.

Turn off AirPlay Receiver: System Settings, General, AirDrop & Handoff, turn off AirPlay Receiver.

Test your Wi-Fi for 15 to 20 minutes after disabling these. If the connection holds, turn features back on one at a time to find which one was the actual conflict, or leave them off if you don't rely on them.

Could a VPN or Firewall App Be Causing This?

If you run Little Snitch, Charles Proxy, Proxyman, NordVPN, or any tool that modifies your Mac's network or proxy settings, check for a Tahoe-compatible update before doing anything else. These tools install low-level network extensions, and an outdated one is a common cause of random disconnects after a macOS upgrade.

Quit the app completely (not just close the window) and see if the dropping stops. If it does, check the developer's website for a macOS Tahoe compatible build and update before reopening it.

Does Creating a New User Account Fix It?

This sounds extreme, but it points to the real cause in a specific case: a corrupted user-level network configuration that only affects your existing account. If Wi-Fi is stable in a brand new test account but drops in your main one, the fix is to reset your account's network preferences rather than start over completely.

To test this without committing to anything:

System Settings, Users & Groups, click the plus button to add a new user
Log out and log into the new test account
Connect to Wi-Fi and use it normally for 15-20 minutes

If it's stable there, go back to your main account and delete these two files (back up first), then restart:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.wifi.plist
~/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

Deleting preferences.plist resets your network configuration, so you'll need to rejoin known Wi-Fi networks afterward. This is normal and expected.

What if None of This Works?

Check for a smaller Tahoe point update first. Apple has shipped several since the initial macOS Tahoe 26 release, including 26.6.1 in early August 2026 with a security fix, and a 26.6.2 beta already testing. Go to System Settings, General, Software Update, and install anything available. Apple has patched wireless stability issues in past point releases without publishing full release notes for them.

If you're still stuck after updating, check your router next. Log into your router's admin page and disable any "smart connect" or band-steering feature that automatically switches devices between 2.4GHz and 5GHz. macOS Tahoe has been reported to handle these mid-connection switches poorly, causing a visible drop and reconnect every time the router hands your Mac from one band to the other. Splitting your router into separate "Home-2.4" and "Home-5" network names and manually connecting your Mac to the 5GHz one removes the automatic switching entirely.

Quick Checklist

Flush DNS cache with the Terminal command above
Forget the network and rejoin with a fresh password entry
Turn off Handoff, AirDrop, and AirPlay Receiver
Quit and update any VPN, firewall, or proxy software
Test in a new user account to isolate a corrupted profile
Install the latest macOS Tahoe point update
Disable band-steering on your router and connect to a single band manually

Most people fix this within the first three steps. The remaining steps are for cases where the first three don't hold up after a day of normal use.