MacBook Pro will not connect to Cisco Wireless Network

I am actually having this problem with my new home wireless router. It's a LinkSys WRT54G, and I can connect to it just fine using Boot Camp/XP, but OS X intermittently can't even see it. Sometimes it can see it but it displays "connection timeout" when it tries to connect. If I reboot then I have a 50% chance of it working.

IMHO, this confirms that this is a driver issue with OS X since it works just fine when I boot to XP on the exact same machine. This is a MBP that is <1 month old, with 10.5.1 pre-installed.

Considering the number of people who are posting about this problem, I'm disappointed there are no replies by Apple, and no acknowledgement of the problem. If a driver developer wants to, I'll send 'em my router so they can debug it.

Call linksys... or Cisco.. they can help. You can always try turning on Interfearence Robustness.. although for me my laptop when I open up the lid to wake it up or to turn it on.. the wireless won't connect so the I just dunno what to do but just restart my router so then everythin will work fine.. but then after that it keeps on doing that FOREVER... I might need to contact linksys again for the 25th time... yes I know

I might need to get a new router.

do you need something like the cisco clean access agent. here at my school we have to use that program and frankly it just makes stuff a lot more complicated, but without it we cannot get onto the system
-matt

There's a good discussion here of the ISa proxy thingy:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6467969

from what i've read (there are thousands of posts on this issue scattered across the internet), the current implementation of airport does not work with a non-broadcast SSID and it also has a lot of trouble with WEP. i have yet to find a solution. the only workaround that i've found is to use G (N doesn't work either), WPA, and broadcast the SSID...

I'm having a hard time believing this thread. I'm flabbergasted actually. Come on Apple! What's the scope here? Are thousands of people doing it wrong? I recognize that most organizations should be deploying WPA for security reasons. Having a non-broadcast WEP key is one way to properly secure a WEP network. At least it improves it. I need my Mac! I'm getting used to using it and love it. Don't make me switch back to my Lenovo tablet at work.

I don't know if this help but something similar happend to my in my University my airport shows full signal but it won't conect to the internet so the the tech guy tell me to write in:
system preference (panle)/network/airport/Tab TCP/IP in the DNS Server box this number 136.145.1.4 this is the number from my university ask for the same number to the tech guy in your work and then click on Renew DHCP Lease hoppe it helps

I am the IT Guy and I can guarantee you that this issue is not resolved by assigning static IP addresses. What is happening is the Wireless Network Card is unable to authenticate to the wireless network. Now I can go and instruct my Network Engineer to make a change to resolve this issue (by deploying WPA across the organization). It's a future project and takes time.

The irritating thing is that Fedora Core 8 had the exact same problem (I smell OpenSource code being used in OS-X which is what makes it cool) and it was fixed very quickly. The behaviour of the OS-X issue is more or less the exact same issue I was experiencing on Fedora Core 8.

I've got it! I could not add the Wireless Network in the Advanced settings of the Network Control Panel for the Airport so I clicked on "Assist Me..."

It walked me through setting up the wireless network BUT the prompts are different. I was able to properly enter the 128bit WEP Key and get connected. Le Voila! I'm happy now. They still need to fix the other menus. You can't just simply Join the network using the Airport Icon in the Menu bar. You have to use the Assist Me... feature in the Network Control Panel.

I spoke too soon! Using the Network Control panel's "Assist Me..." button works for setting up access to a 128bit WEP Enabled Wireless network. I click Assist Me... then Diagnostic. You click through for Diagnostics on the AirPort. Once you reach the add network location in Diagnostic I think click on the "Used Closed Network" button. Unfortunately it only works once! It does not save the settings so if I power down or close the lid I have to re-run "Assist Me..." The tool does not save the settings even if I tell it to. Come on guys and gals. This is just crazy. It's obviously not just me. It's a problem. Let's get it fixed!

I have had the same connectivity issues, which seemed to get worse since the 10.5.2 update!

I'm running XP on boot camp which could connect fine but when going back into Mac, it could connect to the network but no internet. There is no security on the network (not my network and we're out in the bush...).

Restarting back into PC, then restarting again into Mac would work sometimes (highly annoying...) but this morning it wouldn't budge...Self assigned IP, no internet...

After reading all the posts on the net about exactly the same issue with no fixes and almost breaking into tears, I finally got it working by plugging directly into the wireless re-broadcaster (may work by plugging directly into the router/modem), checking the internet through the plugged connection, worked ok. I then checked out the settings that were automatically produced for the Ethernet connection and replicated them into the Manual settings for the airport connection. Then hit apply, tested it with the ethernet still plugged in, worked. Unplugged ethernet and it kept working with the new settings...

I haven't re-started yet and am kinda afraid to incase it won't work on reboot...Will re-post once I've got enough guts together to do it...good luck y'all...

I'm having the same problem - I can connect to almost any network except my home network following a trip to Europe - nice coming home present. I can connect just fine if I boot up as Windows but all the suggestions haven't worked. Before I try to connect to my network the airport menu says "Scanning...", and then I get the connection timeout problem. Super frustrating but at least I can boot up as windows until they fix it. What a drag.

Better stick to the Windows because, for some reason, Windows is able to work with the onboard Airport while the Mac OS will not. I keep checking for a Mac OS update and it keeps telling me that I'm up-to-date but I can not establish a reliable a Wi-Fi connection (in fact, I'm using an office Dell laptop to make this posting). Based on all of the postings (and the huge number of views of those postings) there is a serious Wi-Fi connection problem with the MBP (I'm not sure if it is with all 10.5.X releases or just 10.5.2) but it appears to be real. I have stopped in at the "Genius Bar" at the local Apple Store and I have called AppleCare and neither of them could find anything in their knowledgebase on the issue - although the Genius did find a connectivitiy issue related 10.4.11.

I think it really sad that Apple is not acknowledging the problem and at least giving all MBP (suffering) owners a "feel good" statement that they are aware and that they are working on a resolution. At the end of the day, there will either be a fix or there will be a recall and in either case, Apple should be trying to position themselves on the high ground. At the present time, their strategy of ignoring the problem is only placing them in the lowest of low places. Arragonance might make them feel good but it never wins the end game. I've found similar postings on other, non-Apple, blogs and the frustration of all is apparent from the tone of the messages. Apple has managed to make a lot of customers very unhappy and their silence is doing nothing to make these customers feel better. This certainly speaks volumes about the QA testing at Apple - I guess we (the customer) are the doing the QA for them. Unfortunately, they (Apple) are not giving us any feedback that they feel (hear) our pain.

Better stick to the Windows because, for some reason, Windows is able to work with the onboard Airport while the Mac OS will not. I keep checking for a Mac OS update and it keeps telling me that I'm up-to-date but I can not establish a reliable a Wi-Fi connection (in fact, I'm using an office Dell laptop to make this posting). Based on all of the postings (and the huge number of views of those postings) there is a serious Wi-Fi connection problem with the MBP (I'm not sure if it is with all 10.5.X releases or just 10.5.2) but it appears to be real. I have stopped in at the "Genius Bar" at the local Apple Store and I have called AppleCare and neither of them could find anything in their knowledgebase on the issue - although the Genius did find a connectivitiy issue related 10.4.11.

I think it really sad that Apple is not acknowledging the problem and at least giving all MBP (suffering) owners a "feel good" statement that they are aware and that they are working on a resolution. At the end of the day, there will either be a fix or there will be a recall and in either case, Apple should be trying to position themselves on the high ground. At the present time, their strategy of ignoring the problem is only placing them in the lowest of low places. Arragonance might make them feel good but it never wins the end game. I've found similar postings on other, non-Apple, blogs and the frustration of all is apparent from the tone of the messages. Apple has managed to make a lot of customers very unhappy and their silence is doing nothing to make these customers feel better. This certainly speaks volumes about the QA testing at Apple - I guess we (the customer) are the doing the QA for them. Unfortunately, they (Apple) are not giving us any feedback that they feel (hear) our pain.

The thing about this situation is they are right. WEP is such a flawed security protocol that I really need to do away with it at my workplace. I'm the guy in charge of this sort of thing and we need to get moving on it. I've already done it at home and wherever I can make a recommendation (like family and friends). WPA with a pre-shared key works fine on OS-X 10.5.2. This is where I need to go at work as well.