Airport Extreme not recognizing Internet for only One Computer

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Level 1

4 points

Airport Extreme not recognizing Internet for only One Computer

I've had an Airport Extreme hooked up to my Motorola 6120 Surfboard in my girlfriend's apartments for a couple of months. It's been running fine, connecting iPhones, iMacs, MacBooks, MacBook Airs, everything, lots of devices. I just moved my own iMac into the house and on my machine the Airport Utility shows that there's no Internet connection from the Airport Extreme. All other machines and devices recognize it and work perfectly.

What's going on here? I've reset power multiple times. Reset all devices to defaults. Changed wireless network names. Can't think of what else to do...

Airport Extreme / iMac-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on May 2, 2012 3:43 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

May 2, 2012 4:00 PM in response to cartoondoor

Try the following, in order, until (hopefully) resolved on your iMac:

1a. Delete Preferred Network(s)

System Preferences > Network > AirPort > Advanced > AirPort tab
Under "Preferred Networks," delete the network(s) you regularly use from the list.

1b. Delete AirPort Keychain Entries

Launch the "Keychain Access" application located in Applications/Utilties.
Click on the "Kind" filter at the top, and look for any "AirPort network password" entries...and delete them.

1c. Add Preferred Network(s)

System Preferences > Network > AirPort > Advanced > AirPort tab
Add the preferred network(s) using the "+" button.
Restart or log out then back in.

2. Move System Configuration Files

(Note: You will have to reestablish your network connections settings.)

Go to /Library/Preferences
Move the SystemConfiguration folder to the desktop.
Restart your Mac. (Note: OS X will rebuild the files that are now sitting on your desktop. If this doesn't resolve the issue, you can move the folder back to it's original location.)

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Answer 2

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2012 4:17 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for the tips. I went through all these steps and no luck. The only variation was that for step two, there was no folder for "SystemConfiguration", but I did find two files labeled similarly with apple in the title as well and moved those. They were rebuilt after startup, but still showing an amber light next to Internet on the Airport Utility.

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

May 2, 2012 4:26 PM in response to cartoondoor

The only variation was that for step two, there was no folder for "SystemConfiguration", but I did find two files labeled similarly with apple in the title as well and moved those.

I just double-checked my OS X Lion directories and confirmed that the SystemConfiguration folder does exist. Are you sure you are looking from the System directory level and not from your user level folders? That is, Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences, NOT Macintosh HD > Users > [Username] > Library > Preferences

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Answer 4

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2012 4:42 PM in response to Tesserax

I used the "Go To Folder" prompt, searched for ~/Library and didn't find that folder. I've tried deleting other files in the directory as advised here, also without luck.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1161156/view_library_folder_in_lion.html

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Answer 5

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2012 6:35 AM in response to Tesserax

Last night I tried reinstalling OSX Lion, but that didn't fix the problem either. Would a total reformat of the hard drive solve things any better?

Any other ideas?

If it helps, I have a 24-inch iMac. I found lots of other users with iMac wifi problems, but none with my specific problem.

To clarify my problem:

My iMac wireless worked fine just two weeks ago in its previous location, however I was dealing with an all-in-one wireless modem for DSL.

Now that I'm connecting to the Airport Express network, it can connect to the network, but thinks the modem isn't supplying an Internet connection. So, I'm seeing an exclamation point in my wireless status, and when I go to Airport Utility, it shows an amber light next to Internet and green next to Airport Express. All the other devices on the same network show a green light in both locations.

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Answer 6

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2012 6:37 AM in response to cartoondoor

PS - my 24inch iMac is the model just before they abandoned 24in models for the larger 27inch. So, it has the silver and black accents and glossy display.

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Answer 7

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2012 7:40 AM in response to cartoondoor

If I had port forwarding set up on my last network setup, and I am using an entirely new network and hardware, would that be making this problem happen?

Does anyone suspect this could be a hardware problem in the iMac and not a problem with software?

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Answer 8

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

May 3, 2012 8:47 PM in response to cartoondoor

I used the "Go To Folder" prompt, searched for ~/Library and didn't find that folder.

Sorry, but this takes you to your User Account Library folder. The correct path is: Go To Folder: /Library/Preferences

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Answer 9

cartoondoor Author

Level 1

4 points

May 4, 2012 6:10 AM in response to Tesserax

Well, truly, what you propose is the exact same thing that I did, except you subtracted ~ and added Preferences. I used both with and without the ~ and no folder you described appeared within the Preferences folder.

I went ahead and reformatted the drive completely, as a clean install of Lion didn't work, and it seems to be working now. Hopefully that stays the case.

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Answer 10

Tesserax

Level 10

148,453 points

May 4, 2012 10:48 AM in response to cartoondoor

Sorry, I'm not sure why the SystemConfiguration folder does not appear for you. I'm glad you got it working though.

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Answer 11

Aug 31, 2012 2:32 PM in response to Tesserax

Just wanted to let everyone know I had the same problem, and Tesserax solution resolved my issue.. thanks

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