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Wireless keyboards and Mice - Why do they randomly disconnec


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I've had an ongoing problem with my mouse and keyboard randomly disconnecting. For months it will be completely stable with no issues then suddenly for several days to a week the keyboard and/or mouse will repeatedly and regularly disconnect. In the case of the keyboard if I press keys repeatedly for a bit the keyboard will reconnect. With the mouse I have to turn it off and then back on again for it to reconnect.

 

I don't think this is a battery issue because when I check the status of the batteries, according to the Bluetooth indicators the battery levels are fine.

 

Anyone else have this issue and know a solution for this problem?

 

BTW. I live next to an elevated train so I've considered the electromagnetic field possibility but since this is an intermittent problem have ruled it out as the issue. Also, I have multiple machines with multiple Bluetooth keyboards and mice and this does not affect all of them, just this one.

 

Puzzling!

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I am having issues with bluetooth keyboards and mice not connecting, or disconnecting as well. I just purchased 10 brand new iMacs for my training center and on 2 of them, the keyboards have never worked. I could never connect them. On a 3rd one, the keyboard kept disconnecting so I've had to use a wired keyboard from an older Mac instead.

 

EXTREMELY frustrating. :(

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Frustrating indeed.

 

I wonder what's behind the issue.

 

I have 2 iMacs and 2 Mac Pro's and it seems to happen to the iMac's most often (one more than the other). In fact, I don't recall it happening to my Mac Pro's at all yet. The only time I lose connection on the Mac Pro's is if the batteries are getting very low, like below 7%.

 

Have you had problems with your Mac Pro David or just your iMacs?

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David and Teddy!

Have you named each bluetooth device differently so that you can differentiate between them?

The problem could be that you are trying to connect to the "wrong" device.

 

If you walk into an Apple Store they have many bluetooth devices and they do not seem to crap out...

It could also be the antenna inside the computer that isn't working correctly. I know the Mac Pros had that problem:

 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2231119?start=0&tstart=0

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David and Teddy!

Have you named each bluetooth device differently so that you can differentiate between them?

The problem could be that you are trying to connect to the "wrong" device.

 

If you walk into an Apple Store they have many bluetooth devices and they do not seem to crap out...

It could also be the antenna inside the computer that isn't working correctly. I know the Mac Pros had that problem:

 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2231119?start=0&tstart=0

 

Hi Eric,

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

All of my keyboards and mice are named differently.

 

The problem isn't that I can't connect. It'll be fine for months then just out of the blue they will act up (on the iMacs). Disconnecting and reconnecting frequently. Then after a period of time everything will be fine again for a while. Then it happens again. On the iMac that I'm using to write this the keyboard has been disconnecting regularly. On another iMac sitting next to it, the keyboard needs to be reconnected after shutdowns when I start up again. The problem seems random. Sometimes it's the mouse for a while then other times it's the keyboard.

 

I have two iMacs and and a Mac Pro in the same room just a few feet from each other and the Mac Pro hasn't displayed this issue as of yet. And, this was happening before I added the Mac Pro when I just had two iMacs.

 

Also, the Mac Pro down in my music studio has never had this problem.

 

I'm a bit baffled.

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Thanks Eric.

 

I'll read through the relevant links in that article and see if any of it solves the problem.

 

One thing I can add is that my current problem with this keyboard, it will disconnect and then if I tap a few keys it will eventually reconnect. On my other iMac when the keyboard does not connect when I start up the machine I have to turn it off and back on, then it will find it and connect. In the case of when the mouse disconnects I always have to turn the mouse of and back on again to get it to connect.

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I added an additional link with some great info about trashing the plist.

Also something that sounds like your second problem:

 

...

8. Go to back to Bluetooth preferences and select the keyboard in the device list.

9. Press the gear icon and select 'Update Services'. Without this last step you may have to reconnect the keyboard from the Bluetooth menu after every startup.

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I added an additional link with some great info about trashing the plist.

Also something that sounds like your second problem:

 

...

8. Go to back to Bluetooth preferences and select the keyboard in the device list.

9. Press the gear icon and select 'Update Services'. Without this last step you may have to reconnect the keyboard from the Bluetooth menu after every startup.

 

Thanks Eric!

 

I'll give this a try when my other iMac doesn't connect when I restart it.

 

At this time, the one I'm using is working as expected. No intermittent disconnects.

 

After reading through all of the information in your links I still can't figure out why this problem comes and goes.

 

Again thanks for your input.

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  • 2 months later...

Just a note to say that after posting on another thread about this issue, I have decided that my problem with my keyboard and mouse disconnecting was caused by my third party blue tooth system. My Mac Pro did not come with blue tooth, so I had to by a third party setup. It was a D Link.

 

K

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