claybear
Level 1 (4 points)

Q: Lost Ability to Connect to WiFi

Hi Everyone:

 

There have been lots of discussions about not being able to connect or losing connection to WiFi routers with very few solutions. Here is my saga, so far:

 

Took delivery of an iMac 27 with OSX 10.6.4 in September 2011. Connected it to my home network, 802.11 b/g with WPA. Worked fine for a week then wouldn't connect. Didn't recognize the known network even though that network was in the know networks list and was the only one. Rebooted a couple of times and cycled the router. Started working again.

 

Another week passes and the same thing happens but this time couldn't get it to recognize the network. Tried lots of things, some suggested by some of these discussions. No luck until I disabled the WPA protection. Now, it connected.

 

Fast forward to last night. Everything was working fine then I decided to try to protect the network again so I enabled WPA. The iMac wouldn't connect. Removed the WPA and still wouldn't connect. Tried more stuff like deleting the known network from the Airport preferences and rebooting. Nothing. Cleared the PRAM. Nothing. The iMac won't connect.

 

I have a Macbook Pro, 2009, OSX 10.6.8 that connects to the network with no problems. I have two iPod touches, a 2G and a 4G that connect to the network with no problems. I even have an iMac G3 that has no problems connecting.

 

Any ideas?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.4), iMac 27

Posted on Nov 3, 2011 6:40 AM

by claybear,Solvedanswer
claybear claybear
Level 1 (4 points)
A:

It's been a week now with the new modem/router combo and I have had no connection issues so I'm going to say that this problem is fixed. Won't ever really understand the intermittent nature of the problem though.

Posted on Nov 29, 2011 1:22 PM

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claybear

Q: Lost Ability to Connect to WiFi

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  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 3, 2011 7:28 PM in response to claybear
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 3, 2011 7:28 PM in response to claybear

    Here's an update for anyone that might be interested or have a similar problem. Recycled the wireless router turning on and off WPA security and also restarted the iMac a couple of times. At some point, the iMac connected to the router with WPA on. So, it is an intermittent problem. Talked to an associate at the Apple Store here tonight and he said that they had had some issues with a version of 10.6 connecting to the wireless out of the box. He couldn't remember which one though. I decided to upgrade to 10.6.8. We'll see how this goes. Stay tuned. . . .

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 6, 2011 7:12 AM in response to claybear
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 6, 2011 7:12 AM in response to claybear

    OK. Since the last post I upgraded to 10.6.8. Was working fine for awhile. Then two days ago the iMac failed to connect again. The message is "none of your preferred networks is available" even though the network is stored in the network preferences. Haven't been able to get it back even after numerous restarts of the router and computer. All my other devices still connect with no problems. Going to the Apple Store sometime soon.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Nov 6, 2011 7:27 AM in response to claybear
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 6, 2011 7:27 AM in response to claybear

    Have you checked the firmware on the router to see if it's up-to-date? If you are using an Apple router (Airport Extreme, Airport Express or Time Capsule) then simply run Airport Utility and check the firmware. If you are using a third party router then refer to the owners manual for instructions. 

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 6, 2011 10:03 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 6, 2011 10:03 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    No. That might be a good idea. The router is ancient by electronics standards, about eight years old. The odd thing is that my 2009 MBP running 10.6.8 also has had no problems connecting, ever. So, I'll look into thi but I don't have much confidence that the router is the culprit.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Nov 6, 2011 10:07 AM in response to claybear
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 6, 2011 10:07 AM in response to claybear

    After updating if you still have problems try using the suggestions in this CNET article:

     

    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20117247-263/fixing-airport-problems-in-os- x/?tag=mncol;txt

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 7, 2011 7:14 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 7, 2011 7:14 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks for the tips rkaufmann87. Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far. I tried the tips on the CNET site first with no luck, removing preferences and all then I just now upgraded the router firmware. It's an Actiontec GT704WG. Nothing has changed. The Macbook Pro that I'm currently writing on is still connecting fine through wireless and so are the iPods but the iMac isn't. I'll try some of the tricks on CNET again but I'm not having a lot (any) confidence in this approach.

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 9, 2011 6:44 PM in response to claybear
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 9, 2011 6:44 PM in response to claybear

    To continue the saga. Haven't been able to connect for awhile. Went to the Apple store tonight and had a genius appointment. From my description of the problem he was inclined to believe nothing is wrong with the iMac. Even though the other devices I own connect and the Macbook Pro runs the same version of the operating system, they have different hardware for the 802.11x and so may react differently to the router. I was going to take it to work tomorrow but when I fired it up tonight and turned Airport on, guess what, it connected.

     

    Earlier in the evening, I had to recycle the router for some unknown reason and its stability during the power on/off cycle is questionable. It sometimes has to be shut off twice to restart, so I am now thinking that our modem/router is a prime suspect. This thinking is in direct opposition to what I have posted earlier.

     

    The intermittent nature of the problem bugs me though. We'll see.

  • by Glo Waves,

    Glo Waves Glo Waves Nov 12, 2011 7:19 AM in response to claybear
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2011 7:19 AM in response to claybear

    For what it's worth, my particular situation with my 2011 iMac's constant connection dropping was solved when I upgraded from a Netgear G/B router to a Netgear N model (both inexpensive base models). 

     

    I never thought this would work, because my MacBook Pro and iPhone never lost their connections with the old G router. 

     

    My new iMac seems to like only N however; YMMV.

  • by amigon,

    amigon amigon Nov 13, 2011 10:48 AM in response to Glo Waves
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 13, 2011 10:48 AM in response to Glo Waves

    I have a similar problem. I have just bought my Imac 21.5 and  i have founded that it has problems with some pages. When i try to enter to  espn or facebook many times i just can`t do it. I installed the actualization  10.7 and it`s still not working(Well at least it is not freezing again in this case it improves). I am very dissapointment, Apple says that they have the most advance system in the world, but now i am  thinking that is  worst than windows 7.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Nov 13, 2011 11:47 AM in response to amigon
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 13, 2011 11:47 AM in response to amigon

    amigon wrote:

     

    I have a similar problem. I have just bought my Imac 21.5 and  i have founded that it has problems with some pages. When i try to enter to  espn or facebook many times i just can`t do it. I installed the actualization  10.7 and it`s still not working(Well at least it is not freezing again in this case it improves). I am very dissapointment, Apple says that they have the most advance system in the world, but now i am  thinking that is  worst than windows 7.

    You seem pretty quick to throw in the towel and blame it on Apple. Why not troubleshoot your router & your modem and see if those are the problem first. I'd recommend checking to see if you have the most up-to-date firmware on your router and if you haven't considered it I'd also recommend upgrading to wireless N router if you haven't already. Don't assume that because your other devices may work that the problem is with your Mac.

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 13, 2011 11:49 AM in response to Glo Waves
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 13, 2011 11:49 AM in response to Glo Waves

    Yes Glo Waves. I pretty sure it's router related. All my other devices connect all the time but the iMac is 'pickier'. Lately, it's stayed connected for 4 days straight now. Intermittent problems are very hard to diagnose correctly. I haven't bought a new DSL modem and router yet but I plan to get a dual simultaneous 2.4/5 GHz router. The N runs at the higher frequency and thereby has less chance of interfering with the B/G side. Also, you can't the full throughput of N without moving to the higher speed. It's nice that the iMac is connected now though. I'm actually typing this on it.

  • by claybear,

    claybear claybear Nov 13, 2011 11:54 AM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 13, 2011 11:54 AM in response to rkaufmann87

    Yes  amigon. I think that is your best strategy. Borrow someone else's newer/different router and try it out. I think that you will find that your computer is probably fine. And really, who wants to give up OSX for Windows 7 anyway. It's really just not as well thought out as Apple's system. And it's definitely more secure on the internet and especially the WWW. If ProE and Solidworks were written natively for OSX I wouldn't own Windows anything.

  • by amigon,

    amigon amigon Nov 13, 2011 4:55 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 13, 2011 4:55 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Ipod, Ipad and another computers does`t have this problem, so the router is ok.i don`t understand  why i have to buy another router just because apple is doing a bad job with his new system, sorry but this is ridicolous. If there isn`t another way to solve this problem of course i will buy another router but  if it happens i will lose all my  confidence in apple.

     

    Claybear belive me  i woud be happy with the system, is really nice, more secure and is very useful for my work(i am systems enginner) but i can`t stand that i have many problems with internet, is something basic in a system and is not working good.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Nov 13, 2011 4:59 PM in response to amigon
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 13, 2011 4:59 PM in response to amigon

    amigon wrote:

     

    Ipod, Ipad and another computers does`t have this problem, so the router is ok.

    An incorrect assumption. First check to see if your router has the most up-to-date firmware, if it does then borrow another router and see if the problem persists. If you get an 801.11N router that works then you have solved the problem.

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