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mayfi944 Author

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

AMelillo

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Feb 21, 2017 3:26 PM

I just purchased a brand new MacBook Pro today and spent my first four hours with it struggling to connect to wifi. After trying every solution I could find, this one finally worked. The solution I found (https://community.bt.com/t5/Connected-Devices-Other/BT-INFINITY-wifi-loss-on-Mac Book-Air-ready-to-quit/m-p/1160960#M7876…) noted that Macs often run in to trouble connecting to wifi when there are identical names assigned to 2.4ghz and 5.0ghz frequency bands.

To fix this problem: access your wireless gateway (For Xfinity users: go to 10.0.0.1 by typing it into the browser of a connected device, enter username: admin pwd: password <-defaults for all xfinity customers) and modify the SSID for the 2.4ghz frequency (e.g., add an 's' to the end of the network name). Then, restart your computer and voila, you should be able to connect. (I still can't access the original network name—the 5ghz frequency—however, I'm able to access the newly named 2.4ghz variation of the network, and it works perfectly).

Hope this saves someone else the headache!

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211 replies

Jarosims

Level 1

4 points

Feb 21, 2012 3:07 PM in response to Drk_Mtr

I had the same good luck. I shut off Norton and immediately got on. Updated Norton completely and so far no problems. Makes one wonder what firewall all these Mac book pro folk are using ...

anok goh

Level 1

6 points

Feb 22, 2012 1:30 PM in response to mayfi944

I have the same exatcly problem.

What i do is go to network...

And u will see the "assist me" button. Click on that one and it will pop up another windows. In that windows u will see the "diagnostic" button. Click on that button. Let it run...

Problem will solve...

condie1

Level 1

15 points

Feb 25, 2012 5:31 PM in response to mayfi944

I have a similar baffling problem.

New Mac mini with Windows 7 and XP on Parallels.

Invariably when I click a link, after a Google search for example, I get the cannot connect error.

But copy and paste the link into IE I connect!

Could it be a Lion glitch?

ViccaBoy

Level 1

0 points

Feb 25, 2012 8:56 PM in response to roguedandelion

Thanks for ur info i also do it wrongly.. but now it work just fine.. i LOVE U!

carbon1

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2012 1:31 PM in response to Rigelface

Rigelface you are a winner thank you so much for saving my marriage. your solution worked

Mar 18, 2012 8:35 AM in response to mayfi944

I did not read all of the posts to see if this solution has been posted but I was having the same issue and tried EVERYTHING on here. NOTHING worked. finally all I had to do was go to the apple icon and click on "software update" I had two updates available. I updated everything and once it was done I had no issues connecting. I put it in sleep mode, closed out of things, and shut my computer down (when I did any of these before I would run into issues conecting) I did all of this with not one problem connecting. Hopefully it's that easy for you too!

Mar 19, 2012 6:59 PM in response to mayfi944

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

BDAqua

Level 10

245,417 points

Mar 19, 2012 7:08 PM in response to SocialGen

What version of OSX was that?

Mar 20, 2012 8:27 PM in response to Rigelface

Beautiful! Worked perefctly after your fix. Thanks very much.

zacharee

Level 1

0 points

Apr 10, 2012 5:41 AM in response to mayfi944

Here's a solution:

try disconnecting from the network and then go to "join other network" in the wi-fi menu. type in the name of your wi-fi network and type the password (you also need to tell what type of network security your wi-fi has). Hit the connect button and it should work.

Apr 12, 2012 1:14 PM in response to Rigelface

Awesome. Such a simple fix. Why didn't I think of it. You sir, are the genius here.

Apr 18, 2012 11:49 AM in response to zacharee

Another MBP with sleep = can't connect to wifi. Usually when I have this problem I can get back to my network after attempting to connect to others in my list. Today, it didn't. Neither did trashing preferences, networks, nothing. It finally just came back after numerous restarts and letting the computer "rest" ... so in other words magic. This has been a known issue with MBP for many OS updates, why has this problem not been fixed!?

Maff48

Level 1

0 points

May 15, 2012 10:46 AM in response to mayfi944

Watch this YouTube and it will be fixed. Just type it on the search bar, first video and it will be fixed

"NJ Mac Magic helps Elaine with her MacBook Pro Wireless problem"

Sep 3, 2012 2:32 PM in response to SocialGen

Thank you so much for sharing your workaround SocialGen...

Followed your posted steps and it finally works, thanks!!!

Wilsuma

Level 1

8 points

Sep 17, 2012 1:01 PM in response to Rigelface

This worked great for about 30 seconds. Over and over again. Now I find that I must renew the DHCP lease ( System pref/Network/Advanced/TCP/IP/ ) every 10 - 30 seconds. Very strange.

17" MBP 10.6.8

MacBook won't connect to the internet!!!