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tsurikomi
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Q: Airport connection on Macbook

My son is having a strange problem with his macbook. It was working fine and sometime last week (he didn't tell me exactly when), he lost connectivity to the home wifi n/w through Airport. We have 4 other macbooks in the house that are working fine so I know it's not the n/w that's at fault. Just in case, I've rebooted the router/modem/etc. He swears he didn't change anything or install anything and an examination of the system seems to support this assertion.

Here's how it's acting right now: Network diagnostics show that it's seeing the n/w (and neighbour's networks) and show's that the Airport and Airport Settings are working (they're green) but the Network Settings are yellow. I've no idea why.

Strangely, he took it to another location and he said he was able to connect to their n/w fine.

I've tried the Ethernet connection and it works fine.

I reinstalled Snow Leopard just in case as I feared something got mucked up but that hasn't helped.

I ran the complete h/w diagnostics and they came back clean.

I'm at a loss as to what to do next.

Ideas?

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 17, 2009 6:09 PM

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tsurikomi

Q: Airport connection on Macbook

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  • Helpful answers

  • by William Boyd, Jr.,

    William Boyd, Jr. William Boyd, Jr. Oct 17, 2009 8:03 PM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 6 (10,529 points)
    Oct 17, 2009 8:03 PM in response to tsurikomi
    tsurikomi wrote:
    My son is having a strange problem with his macbook. It was working fine and sometime last week (he didn't tell me exactly when), he lost connectivity to the home wifi n/w through Airport. We have 4 other macbooks in the house that are working fine so I know it's not the n/w that's at fault. Just in case, I've rebooted the router/modem/etc. He swears he didn't change anything or install anything and an examination of the system seems to support this assertion.

    Here's how it's acting right now: Network diagnostics show that it's seeing the n/w (and neighbour's networks) and show's that the Airport and Airport Settings are working (they're green) but the Network Settings are yellow. I've no idea why.


    In the Network panel of System Preferences, try (a) deleting and re-adding the AirPort connection item or (b) creating and using a new location.

  • by donv (The Ghost),

    donv (The Ghost) donv (The Ghost) Oct 17, 2009 8:40 PM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 5 (4,608 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2009 8:40 PM in response to tsurikomi
    And, you can try:

    Go Finder > Your HD > Library > Preferences > SystemConfiguration.
    Move the SystemConfiguration folder to your Desktop.
    Restart.
    Try your browser.
    Keep your System Configuration folder for a while just in case.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 18, 2009 10:31 AM in response to William Boyd, Jr.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 10:31 AM in response to William Boyd, Jr.
    I tried it and it didn't work.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 18, 2009 10:33 AM in response to donv (The Ghost)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 10:33 AM in response to donv (The Ghost)
    There isn't a file or directory called SystemConfiguraton in the Preferences subdirectory.

  • by William Boyd, Jr.,

    William Boyd, Jr. William Boyd, Jr. Oct 18, 2009 11:02 AM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 6 (10,529 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 11:02 AM in response to tsurikomi
    tsurikomi wrote:
    There isn't a file or directory called SystemConfiguraton in the Preferences subdirectory.


    Did you look in <youraccount>/Library/Preferences or <yourharddrive>/Library/Preferences ? It should be in the latter.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 18, 2009 11:24 AM in response to William Boyd, Jr.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 11:24 AM in response to William Boyd, Jr.
    Sorry -- you are right --- it was in the <HD>/Library/Preferences directory.

    I moved it but the problem still persists.

    I've checked the console and can't see any obvious errors.

    Any more ideas??? I'm really stuck and he needs this for school.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 19, 2009 6:40 AM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2009 6:40 AM in response to tsurikomi
    So, I took the macbook to work and it connects to the WiFi n/w without issue.

    Anyone got an idea as to what might be wrong that would cause a WiFi connection failure but it's not at the AirPort level (that is, the password works, etc)? It appears, from what I see, to be at the "layer" above the AirPort/WiFi connection.

  • by donv (The Ghost),

    donv (The Ghost) donv (The Ghost) Oct 19, 2009 7:06 AM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 5 (4,608 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 19, 2009 7:06 AM in response to tsurikomi
    I am not sure why the solution below has worked for some, but if your network is configured to use DHCP, try removing the DNS settings in Network > Advanced > DNS. Then click OK, Apply. Doing so should reset the DNS. Try your browser.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 24, 2009 9:43 AM in response to donv (The Ghost)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2009 9:43 AM in response to donv (The Ghost)
    Given it can't connect to the DHCP server, it has no DNS. Therefore, this won't work.

  • by tsurikomi,

    tsurikomi tsurikomi Oct 24, 2009 10:12 AM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2009 10:12 AM in response to tsurikomi
    I figured this out (inadvertently). I was trying to delete the password for the WiFi n/w in question. Went into Keychain Access. Saw two entries. Deleted both. Restarted AirPort. Reentered password. All is working again.

  • by William Boyd, Jr.,

    William Boyd, Jr. William Boyd, Jr. Oct 24, 2009 8:11 PM in response to tsurikomi
    Level 6 (10,529 points)
    Oct 24, 2009 8:11 PM in response to tsurikomi
    Thanks for the feedback. That advice may help someone in the future.