anna isabelle

Q: iMac cannot connect to wireless network anymore

Hi all. I know this question has been asked lots of times, but after browsing the discussions, I haven't been able to find a solution to my problem. And it's 4am already!

 

I'm sort of a newbie mac user. Bought my unit last september (the new 21.5-inch iMac) and I didn't have any problems connecting to our wireless router. Yesterday though, I had problems with the wireless network and called the service provider to fix the problem. The wireless network now works perfectly and all other devices in the house are able to connect except for my iMac. It's really frustrating.

 

I may have screwed up something with the network settings but I really can't figure out how to change it back. I keep using the diagnostics tool, but it doesn't solve the problem. I also tried deleting the connection and creating a new one, still won't connect. I tried both DHCP and PPPoE just to see which one would work, and nothing. Whenever I go to diagnostics though, I see the bars signal. When I finish the diagnostics, I get the question mark in the middle saying I have no network connection. The iMac recognizes the wireless network but won't connect. I have a WEP password, and I'm 100% sure I did not get it wrong. I also tried trashing the system config files from preferences and rebooting (as suggested in another forum), still the same result. I also checked Sharing in system preferences (suggested by another) and there's nothing wrong there too.

 

Please can someone help? Will try anything. I'm now using my flatmate's laptop (who has a connection) but she has to leave for work soon. I have too much work to do as well and I really need an internet connection.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Nov 16, 2011 12:24 PM

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Q: iMac cannot connect to wireless network anymore

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  • by Paul_31,Helpful

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Nov 16, 2011 12:56 PM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 6 (13,810 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 12:56 PM in response to anna isabelle

    The only suggestion I have is that you should change from WEP encryption to WPA/WPA2 - Macs don't like WEP, appaarently. I seem to remember a few posts on here where that turned out to be the problem. Also, WEP is the most insecure so it ought to be changed anyway. You'll no doubt need to go into the router settings to do this.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 6:30 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 6:30 AM in response to Paul_31

    Thanks for the reply Paul_31. Unfortunately, I am unable to change encryption because I am the only mac user in my flat. The laptops of my flatmates are on windows and I'm not sure if it's windows or the router but the only encryption option is WEP.

     

    I tried connecting directly to the dsl modem also, but I still cannot get a connection through the Assist button.

     

    Any more ideas? Anyone? Really getting desperate. :-(

  • by Paul_31,

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Nov 17, 2011 7:09 AM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 6 (13,810 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 7:09 AM in response to anna isabelle

    The encryption is set on the router - Windows machines shouldn't have any problem with WPA and it's more secure than WEP. Is it possible to speak to whoever is in charge of the router to see if they can change it, or maybe, just as a test, turn off any security for a few minutes just to see if you can connect.

    It's also possible that MAC address filtering is turned on on the router - another level of security - which normally means that you can only join if your MAC address is added to the list of allowed devices (on OS X 10.7 this address is found under System Preferences>Network>Advanced tab>Hardware - probably in a similar place for 10.6). Sometimes on routers there is an 'association button' that once pressed gives you a 3 or 4 minute window to connect to the network putting the router temporarily in an 'open mode' - this way your device gets added to the accepted MAC addresses list. You'll still need to input the wifi code, normally while a light flashes on the router indicating it's available for you to join the network.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 7:32 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 7:32 AM in response to Paul_31

    It can't be a filtering problem because I never had problems before with connecting with my iMac. This problem only occured 2 days ago. I may just have screwed up the configuration because our internet went down. But when the internet started working again, I was the only one who couldn't connect.

     

    I really think I screwed up something in the network settings, because even without the router (I tried connecting directly to the dsl modem) I still couldn't get a connection.

     

    I wish someone could take me through a step-by-step process of configuring my network settings. The diagnostics and assist don't help anymore as I have gone through them several times for 2 days already.

     

    Thank you for your patience. I'm really bad at technical stuff.

  • by Paul_31,

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Nov 17, 2011 7:42 AM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 6 (13,810 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 7:42 AM in response to anna isabelle

    OK, try deleting your wifi connection and starting again. I'm on 10.7, but I think the steps are the same/similar in 10.6, although I think Wi-Fi is called Airport in 10.6.

     

    Go to: System Preferences>Network, click on WiFi on the left and then at the bottom of the window click the 'minus' key to delete it completely. Then click on the 'plus' sign and from the drop-down menu 'interface' select Wi-Fi, give it a name, click on 'create'. Hopefully, with wifi turned on it will see the network you are trying to connect to, select it, input the WEP password and hopefully you'll be online. Good luck.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 7:43 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 7:43 AM in response to Paul_31

    I already did that (see 1st post) but did not work. I will try it again though. Thanks!

  • by Paul_31,Helpful

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Nov 17, 2011 7:49 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 6 (13,810 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 7:49 AM in response to Paul_31

    OK you could try adding these DNS numbers to your network settings.

     

    System Preferences>Network, select your wifi on the left, click the Advanced button and then select the DNS tab. On the left click on the 'plus' sign and type 8.8.8.8 then click the plus again and type 8.8.4.4

    Click on OK, apply the changes.

    Any luck?

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 8:23 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 8:23 AM in response to Paul_31

    still no luck. tried the DNS thing and it still won't work. i'm inserting screen grabs of what my network settings look like so you can tell me if there is anything wrong with it.

     

    01.jpg

    02.jpg

    03.jpg

    04.jpg

    i never touched the other tabs so i don't think there's any problem there. the first 2 tabs (pix 2 and 3) are the ones i usually tinkered with. the last one was upon your advice.

     

    i also tried inputing TCP/IP manually because there seems to be no value with the router address. but whenever i do it manually, i'm never sure if i'm putting the right numbers. what happens is i get full signal (as it appears on the signal bars) but am not really connected to the internet coz i can't open any browser.

  • by Paul_31,Solvedanswer

    Paul_31 Paul_31 Nov 17, 2011 8:53 AM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 6 (13,810 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 8:53 AM in response to anna isabelle

    The only one that seems to be missing something is the TCP/IP tab where the router is missing an IP address. Here's mine:

    Screen Shot 2011-11-17 at 17.43.37.jpg

     

    Your router IP address is likely, although not definitely, the same. All this detail should be filled in automatically and I'm afraid I'm running out of ideas.

    Although it shouldn't be necessary you could try setting it up Manually from the drop down Configure IPv4 Address menu. Make a note of the numbers that are there now and for the router use the 192.168.1.1 just to try your luck. If that doesn't work try 192.168.0.1

    Other than that I hope someone else drops in with some other ideas for you. Very frustrating.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 8:56 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 8:56 AM in response to Paul_31

    Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 17, 2011 11:40 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 11:40 AM in response to Paul_31

    about to give up now. nothing seems to work. even when i input router and ip address manually.

     

    if someone knows why Using DHCP cannot automatically provide ip address and router address, please help. or at least figure out why i sometimes get the message self-assigned IP which cannot connect to the internet.

     

    been up for 2 days already trying to figure this out.

     

    on another note, can anyone advise me which router to buy? that would be my last resort. i have a D Link router (recommended by internet provider) and we never had problems with it until now. we've had the router since 2004. and now that i switched to mac, i'm having connection problems while everyone else's devices work perfectly. i heard from someone, mac computers really encounter connection problems when using a D Link router. is this true?

     

    anyhow, thanks. hope someone else can offer ideas on how to solve my problem. now i seriously need to get some sleep.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Nov 17, 2011 1:00 PM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 7 (25,381 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 17, 2011 1:00 PM in response to anna isabelle

    I had (and still have) the same problem, trying to connect two brand new iMac's, one running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, the other one Lion 10.7.2. Connecting via Ethernet no problems, but using Airport gives me the same "self assigned" 169.xx addresses, no matter what I do. Been through a lot of posts and did not find a solution that worked for these iMac.

    Just to make things better, I had no problem connecting my MacBookPro 10.6.8 to the same router. It has never been connected to this network before and worked right away.

    I'll call Apple support tomorrow and see what they can do about it and post back the results.

  • by anna isabelle,

    anna isabelle anna isabelle Nov 18, 2011 4:38 AM in response to Ingo2711
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 18, 2011 4:38 AM in response to Ingo2711

    Please let me know if you've found a solution. I've been compiling the solutions found in the discussions and have tried all of them (except the one which asked me to go to Terminal because it suddenly gave a warning and I was afraid it would cause more trouble) but none have worked for me so far.

     

    Now I've resorted to borrowing my flatmate's laptop whenever she's home or plugging directly to modem when she's not.

     

    Thanks so much. Hoping I'll hear some positive results soon.

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Nov 18, 2011 7:19 AM in response to anna isabelle
    Level 7 (25,381 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 18, 2011 7:19 AM in response to anna isabelle

    After more than 2 hours on the phone with Apple Support, the last advice did the trick.

    The router was set to 802 b+g+n protocol. My MacBookPro could log in without problems using only b+g protocol, the iMacs were set to use "n".

    After manually setting the router to use b+g only, the iMacs connected at once.

    Problem solved on my side

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