Q: Macbook won't connect to Internet over long cable?

Thanks so much!  I was able to connect at 10 Base t (10M) only when manually forcing it.

Oddly 100M doesn't connect but as I mentioned the Tivo Roamio works fins so it may be negotiating down to 10M too I suppose.

Here is the data you requested:

OS is 10.6.8 on one of the first Macbooks (Macbook 1.1 with 2 GHZ Intel Core due)

The AirPort is an old A1143.  I have a new Air Port but had to switch back to the old one because the range was too low for the old Macbooks. Apple says to buy new Macbooks but we have a couple that are only used for email and occasional Internet browsing so we can't justify replacing them.

I was actually using the Macbooks to test a problem I was having with another device and discovered the same problem on the Macbook.  The manufacturer of that product says they negotiate and use either 10 m or 100M but clearly their product does the same thing the Macbook does and failes to (AUTOMATICALLY) negotiate 10 M.

Is that something peculiar to the old Air Port router?  To work when MANUALLY forced to 10M but not to be able to negotiate 10M automatically.

I would also be surprised if all 4 of my cables (CAT6 about 125 feet long) are incapable of 100 Mbit and only work at 10Mbit.

Can you recommend a good wireless router that works well (good range) with the old Macbooks and might solve these other isues.

As mentioned I have the newest Apple Air Port router but had to remove it since it had dismal range for the old Macbooks. And by dismal I mean it wouldn't connect to a laptop 20 feet away (through a brick wall however) with an Apple range extender (the little wall wart thing I forget the name of)  less than 5 feet on the other side of it.  The old router connects fine through the same range extender. I can't afford for that to stop working.

Thanks again for such a great answer and if you have any other suggestions on how I might get that other device to connect over the long cable let me know.

It supposedly is negotiating for 10 or 100 M but I have no way to force it to use 10 as you showed me how to do on the Macbook.  I need for that negotiation to work and can consider another router.

Thank you for that solution.

To be sure I communicated my layout: My A1143 is on the opposite end of the house 80 to 90 feet from the room the long cable goes to. The location of one of the Macbooks is only about 20 to 30 feet from the A1143 - but through a brick wall.  If I move the A1143 to the end of the long cable it will be about 50 or 60 feet from the Macbook.  Actually there's a range extender a few feet from the Macbook that I had to use to get a signal around the brick walls.  Most other interior walls are Ok (not brick) but there is a massive brick fireplace directly between the Macbook and the room where the A1143 would go.

Since the new Airport Extreme would go where the A1143 is now (opposite end of the house) it would be 20 to 30 feet from the Macbook but we already know it won't work since Apple did not paln for it to support Macbooks this old.

I am not positive the old A1143 relocated 50 to 60 feet away will suppport that Macbook and also worry that when roaming that Macbook might attempt connection with the closer (albeit weaker) new Airport Extreme and of course if it does it will fail.

Do you think those concerns are valid?

As an alternative what if I kept the A1143 on the same end of the house as the new main Airport extreme so it would have the same distances to the Macbook 20 to 30 feet away and used the long cable plugged directly into the new Airport extreme to support the devices like the Macbook that won't currently connect to the A1143 and automatically negotiate a DHCP address.

Maybe I should ask if the Macbook would still have this problem connecting and automatically negotiating the right speed over a long cable if directly connected to a lan port on a new Apple Airport?  If so, and the negotiating problem isn't with the A1143, then my last alternative wouldn't work.

Plus it may also not work if the two Airport routers have to be far apart.  How far apart?  The other device I was using the Macbook to troubleshoot is a ZeeVee QAM modulator which uses its ethernet port for configuration via browser and for software updates so it really doesn't need speed. 10M would be fine but even though the A1143 does support 10M "when forced to" (as you showed me how to do above) it's automatic negotiation fails just like the Macbook's "automatic" negotiation does and I have no way to force it to use 10M.

Do you know the reason why the automatic negotiation fails to discover 10M works? When set on automatic it is "supposed to" try 1000, 100 and then 10M right?

Thanks again for sharing your vast knowledge.

Thanks again.

The long cables were installed by an electrician but I did have to correct a few RJ45 terminations.  They are solid core all the way - no terminations or wall plates or patch cords from the A1143 router to the ZeeVee modulator (and Macbook used for testing this).

As for not  "splitting the pairs" do you mean making sure the solid color and striped version of that color wires are kept adjacent?

I verified they are wired that way: blue then blue stripe, orange then orange stripe, green then green stripe and brown then brown stripe

That electrician does not have a TDR meter or anything to actually verify cable speed, however so i suppose it is definitely some punch down connections although making contact might have higher resistance causing reflections.  But all 4 cables behave the same so if the reason I can't connect is substandard cables that would mean every cable has at least one hgh resiatsnc crimped connection.

But even if that is the case - that the cables will only support 10 M - that doesn't explain why both Macbook and ZeeVee modulator fail to connect at 10M when set to "automatically" negotiate the speed.  Since the Macbook "will" connect at 10M when forced to MANUALLY it means the cable at least supports 10M but neither the Macbook nor ZeeVee modulator's AUTOMATIC "negotiation" with the A1143 finds 10M acceptable.

Also, I think I mis-communicated my "alternative" question above:  I was talking about placing both the old A1143 and the new Air Port router on the same end of the house and voiced the concern they may interfere with each other if close.  That solution was counting on the new router being able to support the long cable and allow automatic negotiation by the ZeeVee modulator.  I really wouldn't care if the speed were 10M for the modulator since I'm not doing any large transfers.

I can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge with me and hopefully it will help others too.

Looks like I've got some RJ45 wire termination to do!

After I corrected the RJ45 wiring order (to T568B as you suggested) the long cable now allows connection with no problems.

In fact even the old Macbook and A1143 Airport router connect at 1000BaseT!

Thank you again!

Your expertise was invaluable in solving this problem!!!

Because the TIVO worked over these incorrectly wired cables I'm not sure we would have ever suspected them.

Thank you for being so patient and providing such excellent advice!

LaPastenague,

I wanted to thank you again for taking your time to educate me on proper cable wiring solving my problem.

And to tell you that you solved "another" that would have been just as baffling if not more so.

To recap, I never suspected cable wiring "because" my Tivo Roamio had been working for over a year with these improperly wired cables.  After solving my problem we determined the Tivo was capable of connecting at 10 mb "automatically" whereas the Macbook couldn't do it automatically but could connect at 10 Mb when forced to manually.

After rewiring the Macbook connects at 1000Mb!

Being lazy I did not rewire the Tivo cable since it has worked over a year and 10 Mb didn't cause buffering.

Well, all of a sudden the Tivo can't connect at 10 Mb automatically either.  It lost internet connectivty yesterday and after rewiring the cable correctly (as you taught me)  it now connects fine.

Your patience in solving my previous problem gave me the solution to this one "before it happened".

Thank you again,

NIck