Level 1

12 points

MacBook won't connect to the internet!!!

I recently switch wireless service at home to At&t.

Since, my computer "connects" to my network, accepts my password, and shows full signal, but when I open Safari, or any other app that requires internet, I just get the "failed to open page because you are not connected to the internet" page.

My roommates connect to use our wireless network with their PC's just fine, and my Mac connects to other wireless service at school and work and works just fine.

I have been on the phone with At&t many times trying to troubleshoot and fix the problem. No success.

Apple charged me $49 to talk to them, with no success.

I HAVE ALREADY TRIED RESTARTING both my Mac and my router, I have reset the router, I have restored original settings in both Safari and my router, I have tried removing the security from our network in order to connect without a password, I have tried re-configuring the router to work with Macs....all no success.

I am very frustrated with the situation as I, like most people, require internet access for both school and work.

Any help, tips, or advice on the situation would be grateful.

Thank you.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jul 10, 2010 9:39 AM

Top-ranking reply

SocialGen

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Mar 19, 2012 6:59 PM

Wow. Same problem. Like often happens when a Mac quirk shows up I just wasted hours of my life and finally got it to work. I'll share the steps I took. First it worked two days ago at the same coffee shop, the only thing that had changed was the password, however no matter how many times I entered the password in the different forms. Nothing. All I got was a not connected... due to the "self assigned IP address" message. I attempted the tricks that people posted here: 1) Turned off and back on the wi fi ... nothing 2) restarted the computer... nothing 3)I went into System Preferences > under TCP/IP I changed the Configure IPv4 to "Using DHCP Manually" and used an IP address close to the one from my other mac which was connected just fine... almost nothing... the green light went on and it said connected under wi fi in the left panel of the preferences... but no actual connection 4) I changed the Manual IP address to Match my working Connected Mac... almost nothing... the green light again went on and it said connected under "wi fi" in the left panel of the preferences... but no actual connection 5) I deleted "Wi Fi" from the left panel and recreated it using the + and - buttons on the bottom of the left pane and hit renew DHCP address, but it recreated the same 162... IP as before and still not working 6) I changed the from a 162... to a 192... nothing 2) I hit Renew DHCP Lease... nothing same IP.

Then...

Here's what finally worked: Again in System Preferences>Network> I turned Wi-Fi off, Went to Advanced>TCP/IP>Configure IPv4 and changed it to off, hit "OK", Highlighted Wi-Fi in the left column, hit the - sign on the bottom left, deleting it, then hit the + and created it. I got a message saying there is no assigned IP address so I went back into >advanced>TCP/IP and turned on Using DHCP, Hit "Renew DHCP Lease" and it finally created a brand new IP address 10..... and if finally F'n worked.

Jeez Apple get it together. This is a ridiculous problem.

I hope my struggles actually help someone

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211 replies

BbBbBbEb

Level 1

4 points

Aug 8, 2017 7:53 AM in response to mayfi944

Someone said early on in this thread "what happened to Apple" and "get it together Apple". I agree. I switched from PC to Apple because of issues like this. I can switch back too.

Why can't Apple fix this issue and get us functioning? Why have millions of us waste many millions of hours stumbling around when one tech with Apple could do it?

Steve.B

Level 1

0 points

Jul 10, 2010 3:39 PM in response to mayfi944

Hi,

I have suffered the same problem after waking the imac from sleep mode, it seems to forget how to link with the web, I can see my wireless router in safari which tells me there isn't a problem with my network or internet connection. I've tried restarts and shutdowns then after a about 2 hours with no obvious outcome by checking settings etc., things return to normal as if nothing had gone wrong.
It's happened twice in the last 24 hours, started up when I got in from work read emails etc. about 6pm left it to go to sleep 7.30, then woke it up 3 hours later. Spent 1.5 hours trying to figure out what went wrong before giving up and going to bed.
This morning got up started machine 8.45am no problem with internet connection on safari and itunes. Put it to sleep at 10am and woke it 8.30pm up pressing the space bar with no connection again went through all the same procedures of checking and double checking settings. Then about 11pm it springs back to life enabling me to write this.

I have no idea what stops and what starts the problem.

(connection error's affected safari, mail, backup, firefox, intego-netupdate)

mayfi944 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 12, 2010 7:06 PM in response to andyBall_uk

No, no green indicator.

It's just read and says not connected...then when you go to connect it, it doesn't connect.

When I try and do a network diagnostic on it, I go through all the steps with all the correct info provided and setup and at the end it still says cannot connect.

mayfi944 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 12, 2010 7:08 PM in response to mayfi944

I thought it might be doing the same thing as the previous problem with it going to sleep and waking back up because mine use to that but it would only last a few minutes. Mine doesn't connect at all, not with mulitple reset, restarts, sleeping, waking, different times of the day, for almost two weeks now.

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Jul 12, 2010 7:25 PM in response to mayfi944

mayfi --

Was it originally set up for your school network?
Or your Home network?

When you select the Airport icon with the fan-shaped bars (which I have in my menu bar above)
Does it have suggestions for which network to join?

Jul 21, 2010 6:34 PM in response to mayfi944

Same problem here.

Full bars, but no internet connection (even after multiple start ups).
Seems to happen mostly when I'm at the coffee shop using their wifi, but also periodically at home on my own modem.

I have also tried using network diagnostics and assist and nothing is working - searched the internet and can't find any remedies there either.

This is so frustrating.

Aug 6, 2010 7:13 AM in response to haffajappa

Not only do I have this problem with my 17" mac book pro, but i've seen many mac users experience the same problem.

I have an iPhone 3Gs with OS4 on it and it will connect to any WIFI, but at the same location my mac book pro will not connect to the internet at all. the mac book pro will handshake with the wireless modem and give full signal indication but will never allow internet access.

no matter how many restarts, or new location settings/create new location... nothing works.

databank

Level 1

0 points

Aug 6, 2010 9:22 PM in response to mayfi944

same problem here!

full bars wifi on the menu bar with a tick on my network but it just doesnt go onto the internet at all. Safari, Firefox, Messenger and skype, nothing works. While my iphone and another PC worked just fine.
It happened a couple of time before with it going back to normal after a few minute. However, it's getting serious this time, it's been 3 days already. Tried the network diagnosis but didn't help.

Really getting frustrated.

Aug 7, 2010 10:14 AM in response to mayfi944

THIS IS SERIOUSLY JACKED. ***!!!!!!

Clearly there's a ton of us out here with the SAME PROBLEM. A month ago, I installed an ATT Microcell (VERY cool if you live in the country) and all was ok until about 2 weeks ago. I've spent so much time on this...I went through the same steps as Mayfi. I've tried EVERYTHING. Setup, reenter password, look online for help, reboot, restart, delete profile and start all over again.

And I can't get online on anyone's wireless at this point. Not friends, not the coffee shop, NADA.

As for the Apple no-support support, I can't afford to pay Apple a one time fee of $49 bucks. (BTW, Mayfi, I hope they didn't actually charge you since they didn't fix anything.) We all know that PCs suck but is Apple going to be as bad??? Funny that I've got 2 PCs, one on VPN, that's working fine. BUT THE APPLE IS DEAD IN THE WATER.

Get with it, Apple Genius people. FIX THIS. You have a loyal following who needs YOUR HELP. Real help. Not just discussion boards full of people complaining about the SAME problem with no real solutions that I can find.

Seriously...HELP...

Drk_Mtr

Level 1

9 points

Sep 7, 2010 12:08 PM in response to Rigelface

I seem to be having the same or a similar problem. I just started to experience this issue about two days ago, but had to wait until today to call my ISP because of the holiday. They indicated that the problem was with my computer because my IP isn't reflecting the change from wireless to ethernet connection. Unfortunately, the fix detailed here didn't work for me. Any other suggestions? I'm currently using my phone as a modem to connect and even that is acting a bit dicey now. Thanks in advance.

Litlhorn

Level 1

0 points

Nov 7, 2010 5:12 PM in response to mayfi944

Me too Me Too!!
My IMac Flat screen G4 is having trouble with it's reading of the wireless signal.. Every morning when I log on and try to open the Net, although I have full bars registering on my airport and it shows it is connected to the proper network, I get an error saying "Server not found." I have a pc sitting right next to it that logs on fine. The only way I have found around this is to unplug the modem and negear Router downstairs, and then replug and it seems to be fine until I shut down and then the next morning the same drill. Tried all the above mentioned Fixes and it seems to be something in the Way the Airport extreme card is reading the signal. Am at a loss and very frustrated with this. Does anyone know what is really going on with this since it seems to be happening to so many?
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Aug 23, 2011 9:03 AM in response to mayfi944

I've been having this same problem for almost a week now! Everything else in the house is able to connect to the internet wirelessly...PCs, iPhones, iPad, but my macbook won't connect. Removing and adding Airport worked for me temporarily but I've had to do it 5 times since yesterday and it doesn't even work every time. When I open network preferences Airport is green and says "connected", but I can't open any webpages or anything else. This is so frustrating because this happened out of the blue. I didn't touch any preferences or my router and modem, didn't update anything or install anything new, so I don't understand why this suddenly started happening!

Any other solutions??

Aug 28, 2011 12:03 PM in response to BDAqua

I can ping both IPs and URLs from terminal. Safari and Firefox status bars will say they're connected at certain points. But neither ever bring up a page (have even waited 30 min.)

I hadn't changed any browser settings when the trouble started, but I did check to make sure the method of connection is right, and even troubleshoot with manual vs. automatic vs. proxy settings in conjunction with my router.

Aug 28, 2011 2:43 PM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua - thanks for your time and interest.

In sys prefs> network I have only my router address 192.168.2.1 for the DNS entries. No proxy protocols are selected/configured, FTP is set to passive, and I'm set to bypass *.local, 169.254/16

Sep 19, 2011 5:47 PM in response to mayfi944

I am having this same problem and have tried almost all of the suggestions on here. My macbook will not connect no matter what I do, not even for a minute. But we have a netbook that connects just fine to our wireless network. I don't know what this ping business means, but I have tried deleting and adding airports, moving the system configuration folder to the trash and restarting, and I don't know what else to do! Does anyone know anything else about this issue?

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MacBook won't connect to the internet!!!