Internet connection lost after sleep - Ethernet

Added info to my previous post. I don't have an iPad, iPhone or anything other than my iMac (I know I am behind the times) nor do I have any non-Mac software installed on my computer. This computer is 2 years old and the problem just started.

Something that I have done (if you review what I said above) has made some difference.

Right now my system preferences for the energy saver are set to NEVER put the computer to sleep. That saves a lot of aggravation during the day, presumably, as I was constantly having to reconnect to the internet when I had it set to put the computer to sleep after an hour of inactivity.

My habit is still to put the computer to sleep at night. In the morning, most times recently I find that it is still connected, though sometimes not. I can live with that. (Well, it looks as if I have to live with that.)

I can see no difference between the times that the iMac wakes up with internet connected and the times it does not. But just setting the energy saver to put the computer to sleep NEVER might be what helps, what has made it the case that it doesn't always lose the connection, which is what it was doing for weeks and weeks.

I hope that someone figures this out!

Ok this was driving me crazy today , all of a sudden my MBP was not connecting after waking up from sleep. I know it isn't the router, have 2 other MBP's in the house connecting just fine. So, poured over the forums. Alot of convoluted solutions offered up and I tried a few things to no avail.

This is what worked.

Unchecked the box for " Wake for network access" in the Energy Saver.

Presto. It now connects promptly and perfectly upon waking.

An easy thing to try, so give it a shot!

justjodi,

glad that worked for ya. my "wake for network access" has never been checked.

By the way, I think we may have two different problems being discussed in this thread which may make resolving either difficult. This thread originally started as a loss of "wired" ethernet connectivity and slowly migrated to a discussion of loss of "wireless" connectivity. Could we possible start a new "wireless" loss thread?

I'm still losing ethernet connection (see previous posts, same ol', same ol') after the computer goes to sleep and would appreciate anybody's thoughts.

I have been having this issue of losing my internet connection after waking my iMac. Searching around I found this issue discussed elsewhere, and the issue seems to be cause by Apple using two different methods for resolving domain names in Snow Leopard: (1) the UNIX way and (2) Apple's own lets-be-really-smart-about-it-and-out-smart-ourselves-way. Apple's headline software (Safari, Mail, iTunes, etc.) uses this new "smarter" way, while non-Apple software and including the Network Diagnostics use the UNIX way (which is why Network Diagnostics tells you nothing is wrong with your internet connection, while Safari says you're not connected). The issue is caused by Apple's way getting out of sync with the UNIX way. The fix I've seen in these other discussions is to shutdown and restart this "smarter" service using the following terminal commands:

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist
sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist

This "fix" (until it happens again on a wake from sleep) has kept me from having to reboot my iMac every other day.

Completely resolved the problem.

Forced Apple to send me a replacement iMac.

Now have absolutely no problems with network connectivity - the new iMac does not lose connection either wireless or ethernet. It just works!!!

jjgaz,

Good for you. However, not to rain on your parade, but my iMac was just past it's warranty date before it began behaving badly. No connection problems in warranty; constant connection problems post warranty. It continues to be a thorn in my side that has made enjoyment of the Mac experience less than ideal. I've had Mac's for over 20 years and have always had Mac Pros, but decided to try the "all-in-one", since Apple feels that only "low end" users (MacMini) and "high end" users (Mac Pro) should be able to select their own monitors (and have their string of cables dangling elsewhere rather than off the back of their desk top) and I felt I was a "mid end" user. I have to say, it's been more problem plagued over the past year than the combined twenty before. Admittedly, part of the problem is Snow Leopard and not the hardware itself, but it's really hard to separate out which is which, since I got them both at the same time. I cross my fingers that Lion will resolve some of these issues. Does anyone have an opinion on whether or not the next OS update will improve connection problems (or pixilated icon problems, or slow performance, etc., for that matter)?

Couchcowboy

I agree the problem is snow leopard. I have no network problems with any other macs or pcs. However it wasn't just losing the network connection. A lot of other things that use a network connection didn't work either. It's a huge shame but it really does look like Microsoft have overtaken Apple as far as reliability and range of useful features are concerned. In the 80's we did spend a huge amount of time setting up windows computers. Apple seemed to not require any of this time wasting. What hacks me off is the general feeling nowadays in these discussion forums that we should be messing about with the operating system to get our macs to work properly and the attitude from Apple that it's the customers job to get the product to work. I don't like to say it but at the moment Microsoft have the better product.

This thread started Dec 8 2009 ...

It is now Jul 1 2011 and we're all still getting problems ...

Any chance of a fix soon'ish?!?!

Maybe in this decade?

Have read all this post and can confirm the following:-

1. I have a 2009 iMac 27 inch, a 2011 Macbook Pro, 3 ipods, an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and an iPad 2. All connect via a Timecapsule to the internet over wifi. Yes I am a bit of an apple fan

2. Keep all software up-to-date and have one rule - NEVER install non-apple products unless you have to. That way you can be sure Apple cannot blame other 3rd party products on any failures.

3. I started to experience this internet dropping out after sleep about 2 weeks ago on the iMac 27inch. I am currently running 10.6.8 software on all computers. ALL OTHER DEVICES ARE FINE.

4. The symptoms are the same as this thread - ie the one non-apple product I do run (Skype), connects fine. Safari, Mail and iTunes - no connection. Timemachine fails too - cannot mount volume. When I go to Finder to view other devices on the local network - forget it - cannot see the local network. However wifi is showing as connected - and skype still works through internet. Go figure.

3. The only fix seems to be to reboot at present. Very frustrating.

4. All other devices work fine.

Apple - would be great to get a comment from you on this thread.

.

Apple Mad

I also have a large variety of Apple equipment and it all connects to the network without any problems.

I have a large amount of non Apple software (including skype) and this doesn't cause any problems.

Only the 27" iMac had any problems with the network. I spent six months trying all the suggestions I got from Apple support and they could not solve the problem. They insisted it must be my phone. In the end I went to customer services and insisted they replace the iMac, which they have done. The new replacement is fine, no network problems at all. By the way, the senior customer service manager I dealt with said that she had never heard of this being a problem and that I must have a faulty computer, hence agreement to a new replacement. I suggested she look at this thread.

I don't think there is a single cause for all these users having connection problems.

It may be non Apple software for some, it may be corrupt software, it may be users tinkering with the operating system and it may be faulty hardware. In my case it was clearly faulty hardware as that is the only thing that was changed and now I have no problems.

Apple aren't commenting or coming up with a fix because they don't know the answer, there isn't one.

Thanks jjgaz,

It is strange though that it works fine after a reboot. This suggests it is NOT a hardware problem?

Not sure if apple would agree to swap over my 3 year old mac to fix this.......!

Thanks for the reply.... I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed ......

I too disagree that this is a hardware problem. I have tried the "Repair Disk" function and that worked for about a week. Then I erased my hard drive and reinstalled everything (just like the old days with Windows!) and that worked for about a month. My problem started 2 months after the warranty expired. I have a 27" IMac.

If I remember correctly, this problem (or these problems) have appeared at about the same time on both old and new iMacs. (Mine is about three years old, but just developed this annoying tic.) That seems to me to imply that it's not hardware to blame.

But I am aware that two people now have said that exchanging their iMacs has fixed their problem(s).

My hope is that Snow Leopard is at the root of it and that Lion will cure it. I don't think I had any such problem until Snow Leopard padded in.

Moreover, the problem has been lessened by some of the adjustments that I've made. In particular, I don't have the energy saver put the machine to sleep. When I do that, I do it via the keyboard or a menu. Usually, but not always, the internet connection survives.

There are too many variables to fiddle with when it comes to figuring why it stays connected when it does and why it loses the connection at the other times.