Mac shows wireless internet connection, but Safari says "computer isn't connected to the Internet"

Question

DCam581 Author

Level 1

0 points

Mac shows wireless internet connection, but Safari says "computer isn't connected to the Internet"

Situation:

Computer shows internet connection (full bars), but won't actually connect to the internet and load webpages

Attempted Fixes:

Reset Safari

Quit Safari

Restart the computer

Turn off the computer with router unplugged

Turn off Airport

Swear at the computer

Swear at the internet

Unplug the router and turn the Airport off too

Additional Info:

Second computer (mac) connects to the internet so it's not an internet problem.

Last few days the internet has been slowly dying on the computer (Mac OS X) in question. Meaning that the internet asks me for the router password constantly, which was a new development.

I have seen information about reseting Plists and a few other weird things, but I didn't want to do anything drastic based on someone elses issue. I figured it's best to bring my specific issue to the forum before destroying my Mac by randomly deleting Plists.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Dan

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jan 24, 2013 4:28 PM

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Answer 1

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Jan 24, 2013 4:35 PM in response to DCam581

Swear at the computer

Swear at the internet

Excellent troubleshooting solutions which usually works. 😉

Which os version are you using?

First contact your ISP. You need to confirm that the issue is not on their end.

Change your router channel. Sometimes this is all you will have to do.

Power cycling the router. Read the router's user manual or contact their tech support for instructions.

System Preferences/Internet & Network/Network

Unlock the padlock

Locations: Automatic

Highlight Airport

Click the Assist Me button

In the popup window click the Diagnostic button.

System Preferences/Network- Unlock padlock. Highlight Airport. Network Name-select your name. Click on the Advanced button. Airport/Preferred Networks-delete all that is not your network.

Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined." Click the OK button and lock the padlock. Restart your computer.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1920 Mac OS: How to release and renew a DHCP lease

No internet connection (wireless)

Check to see if an extra entry is present in the DNS Tab for your wireless connection (System Preferences/Network/Airport/Advanced/DNS).

Delete all extra entries that you find.

Place a check mark next to "Remember networks this computer has joined."

Other resources to check into:

Troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues in OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6

Configuring 802.1X in Mac OS X Lion and Later

Non-responsive DNS server or invalid DNS configuration can cause long delay before webpages load

Netspot

How to diagnose and resolve Wi-Fi slow-downs

Pv6 troubleshooting

Mac OS X 10.6 Help: Solving problems with connecting to the Internet

What Affects Wireless Internet?

Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting

If using one of Apple's Airport routers, read its user manual or post in its forum area. If using a 3rd party router, read its user manual, contact their tech support department/website or post in its forum area.

Thank you for listing all the troubleshooting you have tried. Makes it so much for the users here in trying to help.

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Answer 2

DCam581 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 24, 2013 5:20 PM in response to CMCSK

Excellent answer. I appreciate your help. I mistakenly clicked on helped me, but this actually solved my issue:

System Preferences/Internet & Network/Network

Unlock the padlock

Locations: Automatic

Highlight Airport

Click the Assist Me button

In the popup window click the Diagnostic button.

Not sure why but it reset something basically. I had previously ignored this option on my internet page because my wifes computer works, so I figured I didn't need to diagnose a network problem when I know the internet isn't the problem. My mistake I guess.

If you re-post the above network diagnostic info, I will hit you with the full points (sorry).

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Answer 3

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Jan 24, 2013 6:36 PM in response to DCam581

Happy to hear one of the suggestions worked out for you.

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