MacMini won't connect to the internet

Question

Level 1

8 points

MacMini won't connect to the internet

I wonder whether anyone has suggestions about other things I can do to resolve this internet connection issue.

I upgraded my Late 2012 MacMini to Catalina 10.15.2 today. I also installed Geniatech EyeTV 4 for Mac. Now it won't connect to the internet. I use the MacMini mainly to run the television through an EyeTV Diversity USB device and to watch movies/TV shows on various streaming services. Up until now it has been fine.

The MacMini identifies and joins various wifi networks but it doesn't reach the internet. It can send files via Airdrop over the network even though it doesn't identify the base stations.

My home network is an Airport Time Capsule 4th Generation attached to a fibre optic modem (NBN Fibre to the premises in Australia) and a number of Airport express units extending the network.

Other devices have no problem with connecting to the network and internet.

I have tried the following:

Shut down and restarted the Airport time capsule and fibre-optic modem
Restarted the MacMini
Shut down the MacMini and reset the NV RAM (twice)
Shut down the MacMini and reset the SMC
Deleted the network and guest network profile and reconnected
Switched networks
Hot-spotted the MacMini from my iPhone
Logged in with a different user account on the MacMini
I ran network diagnostics (it found no issues)
Turned off the Airport Express base stations

None of those things have enabled me to access the internet from the MacMini.

Cheers

Peter

PS. Here are a couple of screenshots from the Airport Express Utility:

Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jan 5, 2020 4:15 AM

Reply

Answer 1

StaplingKing Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 6, 2020 2:53 AM in response to garyfromrio linda

Hey Garyfromrio. Thanks for the tip. I did contact my ISP and got the settings to connect directly to the internet through the modem (aka NBN box) but that didn't work either.

As a last resort I called Apple support (expecting no help given this is a 7+ year old computer) and they ran through a bunch of tests. After chatting with a couple of product specialists it turns out that the computer is able to connect to the internet via Wifi and Ethernet when in Safe Mode. So it's some sort of software issue. I'm currently reinstalling Catalina to see whether it is able to connect normally. I'll let you know how that goes. If it doesn't work then there may be a MacOS programming error requiring a system downgrade.

Pretty great service from Apple. I doubt you'd get the same level of support for an obsolete computer elsewhere.

And thanks for your support. It feels so good to be part of a community that cares. Hopefully I can return the favour to someone one day. Maybe when I retire I can become a Mac online helper.

Reply

Answer 2

StaplingKing Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2020 4:41 AM in response to StaplingKing

I had a look at the Airport Utility on the MacMini and my MacBook Air and my iPhone and noticed that the Air and iPhone have the same router address and DNS servers as each other. The MacMini has different numbers. Maybe that's an issue.

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 6, 2020 1:28 AM in response to StaplingKing

Can you connect to the modem via ethernet thus taking the router out of the equation and then see if you can get internet? The router is giving your computer the IP address and there are no DNS servers. To change the settings you have to go into Advanced at the bottom right

Reply

Answer 4

Jan 5, 2020 7:35 AM in response to StaplingKing

Have you tried connecting directly to the modem via ethernet, then connecting to internet?

Reply

Answer 5

StaplingKing Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2020 1:07 PM in response to garyfromrio linda

No I haven’t connected directly to the modem by Ethernet. I’ll try that today and let you know what happens.

Reply

Answer 6

Jan 6, 2020 6:15 AM in response to StaplingKing

At least you have pretty much isolated the problem. Hopefully the reinstallation will cure it. As far as participating in the support communities your knowledge is accepted all the time. Good luck........

Reply

Answer 7

StaplingKing Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2020 11:32 PM in response to garyfromrio linda

I connected via ethernet to the router (Time Capsule) but could not get a connection to the internet. The weird thing is the IP Address, Router address and DNS server are all different to what they should be. I'm unsure how to modify the settings.

Reply

MacMini won't connect to the internet

Similar questions