Resolving Wi-Fi Issues on Mac when you have an Exclamation Mark on your Wi-Fi by Turning Off Randomized MAC Address for "Every Home" SSID
If you are experiencing Wi-Fi issues on your Mac and see an exclamation mark on the Wi-Fi icon, it may be due to the randomized MAC address feature. Here’s how you can resolve this issue by turning off the randomized MAC address setting:
Steps to Turn Off Randomized MAC (Media Access Control address) Address on Mac Computer
- Click on the Wi-Fi symbol in your Menu Bar
- Click on Wi-Fi Settings
- System Settings will open on the Wi-Fi screen
OR if you don't see the Wi-Fi symbol with an exclamation point in your Menu Bar then you should Open System Preferences:
- Click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
- If the "Every Home" network is selected at the top (trying to connect)
- Click the Details button on the right
- In the Private Wi-Fi Address section select Off from the drop-down menu
- You will be prompted for the username and password of an administrative level account. If you do not have one please connect with a member of the Technology team.
- Click OK and within a few seconds your network card will successfully re-connect to the Every Home staff Wi-Fi network.
OR if the “Every Home” network is not connected find it below in the Known Networks list
- Click on the three dots to the right of the “Every Home” network and choose Network Settings
- In the Private Wi-Fi Address section select Off from the drop-down menu
- You will be prompted for the username and password of an administrative level account. If you do not have one please connect with a member of the Technology team.
- Click OK and within a few seconds your network card will successfully re-connect to the Every Home staff Wi-Fi network.
Background information:
This advanced setting is Wi-Fi network specific. Meaning that changing this to OFF for the Every Home network does NOT disable this for other Wi-Fi networks that you connect your computer to. This is a setting that enhances your security when connecting to airport, coffee shop, or hotel Wi-Fi networks. However, in our building, where we own the computer and the W-Fi network, this setting needs to be turned OFF.
We set it to OFF manually, but it appears that Apple patches keep changing the setting.