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Only specific OS freezes on certain internet connections

Everyone - I know this question has been posted by a few others but the fix is specific to a users computer. My issue is happening on more than one mac. So here is the deal:


I work for the local ISP. We have a large wifi network where customers can connect to and get a login screen where they have to enter their information (standard hotspot scenario).

We also have an adsl network which all works on dhcp. The customer receives an adsl wireless modem configured as a router. We have multiple model modems.


Windows OS connects to both networks fine without a problem. Linux OS connects to both networks without a problem as well.


The newer Mac OS 10.7 connects to both networks fine as well however 10.5 as well as 10.6 is having issues connecting to both networks. Whenever connecting to either network with a mac running 10.5 or 10.6 (have not tried previous versions) any mac running this version freezes (colorful ball keeps turning). The only way to get out of this is to hold the power button and shut down. If I turn off the airport so that the mac does not connect to any internet connection it is fine. It freezes on both ethernet and airport connection. Again this does not happen to a specific computer but yet to multiple clients. More and more arising each day. At the moment I have 5 different clients with the same problem.

The one thing I have noticed from troubleshooting is that on our older version modem this does not happen. I am not sure what the difference is in the config of the old and new model modem though as they are both configured the same, only difference being that the wireless security is wpa2 instead of wep however this should not matter as the freezing still happens when using the ethernet connection. I stil have some more testing to do with the modem but this still does not explain why the same is happening on the wifi network. Wifi network is open and authentication is done by a radius server. IP is all dhcp.

Each network wifi and adsl is also on a seperate vlan. Only thing they have in common are the dns servers.


Hope someone can help out with this one. Thanks and let me know if there is additional info required. I will continue to troubleshoot and note my results. Thanks again for any help.

Posted on May 3, 2012 9:20 AM

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28 replies

Sep 23, 2017 2:53 AM in response to Rasstarr

I solved this issue the following way: (On Sierra 10.12.6 Macbook Air mid 2013)


0. As soon as your computer restarts from one of the freezes, disable the Wifi so it doesn't freeze while you do the following steps.


1. Disable the Wi-Fi ipv6 -> This seemed to work, but as soon as I enabled my VPN connection it was back to freezing.

networksetup -setv6off Wi-Fi

(See this for details: http://osxdaily.com/2014/04/18/disable-ipv6-mac-os-x/)


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2. I realized I also needed to disable ipv6 from the VPN. For this, I looked up the name of my VPN in System Preferences > Network


In my case:

networksetup -setv6off ExpressVPN


User uploaded file

User uploaded file



During the whole process I was able to use the internet via Ethernet and iphone tethering. I didn't need to disable ipv6 from those options, only the connections going via Wifi needed ipv6 disabling.


After this, Wifi was back to work and I got no more freezes.


Note (Don't do this!): I tried the approach of deleting /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration folder I found in some other places, but this didn't work for me. Instead, it made Finder crash continuously and I had to restore from Time Machine.


References: wifi - Macbook freezes when connected (connecting) to new wireless router - Ask Different

Apr 3, 2017 11:54 AM in response to Rasstarr

Rasstarr, I can't tell you how pleased we were to find this answer. I'm embarrassed to tell you I've been to the MAC repair store 7 times in the last month, trying to remedy this problem; only to end up doing my work while connected to their problem-fee network. I was about to buy another computer after paying AT&T $45 for a diagnostic fee (of course they didn't solve it). THANK YOU ! ! !THANK YOU ! ! !THANK YOU ! ! !THANK YOU ! ! !THANK YOU ! ! !

Jul 16, 2017 8:03 PM in response to Rasstarr

Thanks very much for this. I have been suffering with my old (2008) MacBook Pro freezing on both wifi and ethernet at various locations for several months, also turning wifi on or off made it freeze. Usually necessitated an SMC reset each time.


I even went to the trouble of replacing the RAM. But having switched both Ethernet and Wifi IPv6 to link-local, all the problems have gone away. At least I now have some spare RAM and a Mac that works!

May 21, 2012 1:00 PM in response to Rasstarr

Everyone I have found the fix for this problem in case anyone else comes across it. There seems to be a conflict with ipv6 on the network and this is causing the mac to lock up. The easy fix is to go in network preferences then either on your airport or ethernet settings click on advanced and then go to the tab tcp/ip. Here you turn the settings for ipv6 to off instead of automatically. If you airport is on and automatically connecting to the network it is locking up on turn off airport as soon as you boot your computer. Then you can go ahead make the changes and turn back on your airport.


The alternative fix which we will use as the ISP instead of having customers change settings on their computer, is to turn off ipv6 in the modem or router.


Hope this helps anyone that has run into the same issue as myself.

Oct 25, 2012 8:35 PM in response to Rasstarr

Thanks for confirming this issue. I recently was learning IPv6 and practicing to setup IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling. I happen to find my mac freeze sometime when I plugged in the cable. Finally I narrowed it down to my new setup of IPv6. I got IPv6 working but still it is annoying it might locks up my mac. I am running 10.6.

Feb 25, 2014 9:34 PM in response to Rasstarr

Brilliant! I spent the last week going crazy trying to fix the spinning beach ball but couldn't understand why it only happened when I was at home. I was drinking too much coffee in Starbucks just so I could get online without my computer freezing and the Local Apple shop must have thought I was stupid to keep taking my 'frozen' computer to them only to have it restart in the shop with no problem. Thank goodness I don't need to buy a new computer ...... yet!

Dec 3, 2014 11:23 PM in response to Rasstarr

Ok, question. Setting the ipv6 to off & turning airport off worked; however, when I turned airport back on it did the freezing thing again. I had to power down my Mac & turn airport off again to get it to work right again. Is there a way to stop the freezing with airport on?


I would like to give a big thank you as we were driving ourselves crazy over here for 3 weeks trying to figure out what was wrong. i had to carry my iMac through the mall to the Apple store, which got heavy I must say, just for them to then hook it up & whammo, it works with no problems. I was all happy thinking I had my Mac back, get home, plug it in, & nada. I could have screamed. Hubby is a windows kinda guy & Macs are foreign to him, but he still drove himself crazy trying to figure this out. Phone/internet company had no clue. The computer repair guy around the corner wanted over $100 just to come out. In the end it was two simple steps. Are you freakin kidding me? Hubby is going to flip. Very happy I have it back though, at least partially.

Dec 13, 2014 1:10 AM in response to Rasstarr

I want to thank you so much for this! You have saved me much frustration! I came back from the US a couple of weeks ago, turned on my computer when I arrived back at my apartment and my computer started to freeze continually every time I opened the internet. For a few weeks I thought my computer had gotten damaged on the flight. I continued to test out my computer with other internet connections and every time it worked perfectly, thus leading me to this thread. The problem is now fully resolved! Many thanks! 🙂

Only specific OS freezes on certain internet connections

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