weird problem--lost network connectivity wifi and ethernet. Intermittent

Question

weird problem--lost network connectivity wifi and ethernet. Intermittent

I'm posting to this board because my Time Capsule is my router and I suspect this is a router table issue since it affects both wifi and ethernet computers in my household. It only affects the two computers on 10.8.3 at the moment.

Either just after waking from sleep or after working for quite some time on either of these computers, web sites will stop loading. It gives an SSL error but they are not secure sites. Mail stops coming in as well. This is true for any browser. The network connections test as "green" with the built-in diagnostics tools. The only fix I have found is to either restart the machine or simply log out and log back in from the user account. It is very frustrating because we are often working in real-time online. Standard things we use that are affected are Google Docs for schoolwork etc. and my son's Minecraft playing. It is especially frustrating for him because he could be in the middle of a "project" with some of his friends online and this essentially crashes what they were doing.

I have called Apple but it is very hard to explain the issue in an effective manner.

Both machines are logged in as managed accounts but unrestricted access. I just don't like my primary account to be an admin account. I don't want my kids to install stuff without my permission and the managed user allows me to inspect the logs of sites they have visited at the system level, even if they turn on private browsing in Safari or incognito in Chrome.

Does anyone here have any ideas?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Apr 15, 2013 12:45 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Apr 15, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Linda Swenberg

Did the issue start when you updated the TC to the latest firmware.. ?

Check if the TC is running 7.6.3 which most people will have loaded as it annoys you to do so.

That new firmware could be the downfall of the system.. especially if it behaved fine up to then..

Simply go back to 7.6.1 and do a factory reset of the TC.. manually set it up again, unless you wisely recorded your configuration before the last upgrade.. (The airport utility allows you to export configuration and even store it in the TC). Downgrade firmware by holding the option key when you select version in the airport utility.

If that doesn't help then I suspect the update to 10.8.2 to 10.8.3 maybe the cause.. it is not really possible to downgrade that without huge amount of effort. My solution in that case would be line of least resistance.. buy a standard router.. eg Netgear WNDR3800, and relegate the TC to bridged for simple backup and wireless AP usage.

Nothing is accessible in the TC.. if something has gone wrong in the router table for instance.. the fact of the matter is, not only can you not fix it.. you cannot even find it. It is where the simple setup concept has gone too far.

Reply

Answer 2

Apr 15, 2013 1:58 PM in response to LaPastenague

I think the issue started with my updating one of the computers to Mountain Lion or the introduction of a new Roku box to the house, but I really think it was the Mountain Lion upgrade. Prior to this, I only had ONE Mountain Lion machine. Various other devices are not experiencing problems, including iphones etc.

It is possible that I upgraded the firmware on the router right when I upgraded the machine to Mountain Lion but I really don't think I did that. I also have a version of the OLD airport utility so I can see the Time Capsule in much more detail.

Linda

Reply

Answer 3

Apr 15, 2013 4:06 PM in response to Linda Swenberg

It is possible that I upgraded the firmware on the router right when I upgraded the machine to Mountain Lion but I really don't think I did that. I also have a version of the OLD airport utility so I can see the Time Capsule in much more detail.

Linda

If it hasn't reminded you to upgrade the firmware in the last day or so it is already on 7.6.3.. Apple stuff is very insistent on upgrades..

In the old utility (excellent) take it back to 7.6.1. And turn off weekly upgrade reminders.. this will reduce the instances of upgrade reminders to weekly instead of daily.

Reply

Answer 4

Apr 22, 2013 11:28 AM in response to Linda Swenberg

I tried downgrading and it didn't help at all. I had parental controls set up and set to unlimited internet access. I turned off parental controls and the problem has gone away. There is a bug in parental controls in Mountain Lion. I have reported it to Apple.

Reply