1. Aggressive 802.11r roaming is the most common culprit
What's actually happening here is that macOS Ventura introduced a more aggressive 802.11r (fast roaming) implementation. If you're on a single-router home network — not a mesh system — your Mac keeps scanning for a better access point that doesn't exist. It disconnects to "roam," fails to find anything, then reconnects. That's the 5-second drop you're seeing.
The fix is to disable fast roaming at the router level. But since that's not always possible (ISP-locked routers, rental gear), you can also force macOS to stop being so aggressive.
Fix via Terminal (no router access needed)
sudo /usr/libexec/airportd en0 --set80211r=0
That's the en0 interface — your built-in Wi-Fi. If you use USB Wi-Fi, it's probably en3 or en4. Check with ifconfig | grep en.
The reason this works: setting 802.11r to 0 tells the macOS Wi-Fi stack to stop proactively scanning for neighboring APs. It still honors roaming requests if the router actually signals one, but it won't initiate pointless disconnects. Reboot after running it.
If the command gives you a permissions error, you need to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) temporarily — or use a different approach. Most people on Apple Silicon can skip this and use the router-side fix below.
Fix via router settings
- Open your router's admin page (usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).
- Find the Wi-Fi settings, look for "Fast Roaming," "802.11r," or "Roaming Aggressiveness."
- Disable 802.11r. On some routers it's labeled "Enable Fast Roaming" — uncheck that.
- Apply and reboot the router.
I've seen this fix work on Netgear Nighthawk and TP-Link Archer routers specifically. On Google Nest Wi-Fi, you can't disable it, so you'll need the Terminal fix instead.
2. Stale DHCP lease is causing IP conflicts
Another reason Ventura drops Wi-Fi: the DHCP lease renews, but your Mac gets a different IP than before, or the router responds slowly. Ventura seems to have a shorter timeout for DHCP handshakes than Monterey did. If the router doesn't reply fast enough, macOS assumes the connection is dead and drops it.
Force a fresh DHCP lease
sudo ipconfig set en0 DHCP
This renews the lease immediately. Don't use the GUI "Renew DHCP Lease" button — it often just echoes the same request. The command-line version actually kills the old lease and asks for a new one from scratch.
If you're still dropping after that, the problem might be that your router's DHCP pool is nearly full. Check the router's DHCP client list. If you see 20+ devices, increase the lease time from the default 1 hour to 24 hours. This gives your Mac a stable IP longer, so it doesn't have to renegotiate every time you walk out of range for five seconds.
I had a client whose Wi-Fi dropped every 45 minutes on the dot. Turned out his ISP router's DHCP lease was set to 30 minutes. Doubled it to 2 hours — problem gone.
3. Corrupt Wi-Fi preference file (the nuclear option)
Sometimes the issue isn't a setting — it's a corrupted com.apple.wifi.plist file. Ventura's Wi-Fi stack reads this file on every connection attempt. A single bad byte in the saved network list can cause a crash loop, leading to repeated disconnects.
You'll know this is the case if your Mac asks for the Wi-Fi password every time it reconnects, even though it's saved. That's the giveaway.
Delete the plist and rebuild
sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.wifi.plist
After deleting, restart the Mac. macOS will regenerate a fresh plist on boot. You'll need to re-enter your Wi-Fi passwords, so have them handy.
This fix is the nuclear option because it wipes all saved networks. Don't do it first. Do it only if the roaming fix and DHCP renewal didn't stick.
Important: If you use a VPN or have custom DNS settings, note them down first. They're stored separately in com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist, but the plist deletion can sometimes mess with associated configs. Better safe than sorry.
Quick-reference summary
| Probable cause | Diagnosis | Fix | Takes effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive 802.11r roaming | Drops every 1-5 minutes, reconnects fast | Disable fast roaming (Terminal or router) | Immediate after reboot |
| DHCP lease renewal issue | Drops at regular intervals (e.g. 30 or 45 min) | Renew DHCP via Terminal, extend lease on router | Immediate |
| Corrupt Wi-Fi plist | Asks for password repeatedly, drops erratically | Delete com.apple.wifi.plist, restart | After reboot |
Start with cause 1. It's the most common on Ventura 13.0 through 13.3. If you're on 13.4 or later, Apple quietly tweaked the roaming logic, so the DHCP fix might be your best bet instead. Either way, don't waste time with "reset SMC" or "delete all network settings" — those are generic advice that doesn't target the actual Ventura change.