Dedo
Level 2 (211 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Unstable internet connection and Safari/Firefox do not load

I'm trying to help a friend who has an iMac G5 running OS 10.4. with an ethernet connection and a Netgear router.  AT&T/SBC is her ISP.  She had no connection to the Network at all but I've didled with the settings including re-installing the router software.  Now, she has an unstable connection to the Internet but neither Safari nor Firefox will load any site even when everything says it's connected. 

 

When I run Network, Assist Me, Diagnostics, all lights are green.  The modem will then occasionally flash red and lose the Internet connection even while I'm looking at Network Diagnostics showing all green and connected.  Then the modem will find and return to solid green for Internet.  Throughout all the solid green connections, Safari/Firefox will not go out and find and load any bookmark or new site.  I assume I've missed something in the Network settings that's causing the instability and failure to run a browser.

 

Any suggestion to correct the Network settings would be appreciated. I assume that will fix the browser problem.  Thanks.

 

BTW- She says it started when AT&T/SBC announced they were making email connection changes this month but I'm uncertain how that would change her ability to connect to the Internet.  I think they're separate issues.  Hopefully, I can fix the email problem (settings) when the Internet issue is resolved.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 16, 2013 8:43 AM

by BDAqua,Solvedanswer
BDAqua BDAqua
Level 10 (123,890 points)
A:

Good work, thanks for the report!

Posted on Jul 22, 2013 4:11 PM

Close
Dedo

Q: Unstable internet connection and Safari/Firefox do not load

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 18, 2013 10:18 AM in response to rccharles
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 18, 2013 10:18 AM in response to rccharles

    10.0.0.1 would likely be the Router/Gateway IP, not the Computer's IP... generally Apple Routers come set as 10.0.0.1

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 18, 2013 2:15 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2013 2:15 PM in response to BDAqua

    I'm referring to the 8 (sorry-not 9)

    IP address: 192-xxx-x-x

    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

    Netgear router: 192.168.0.1

    DNS: 68.94.156.1, 68.94.157.1

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jul 18, 2013 2:59 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 6 (8,522 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jul 18, 2013 2:59 PM in response to Dedo

    Dedo wrote:

     

    I'm referring to the 8 (sorry-not 9)

    IP address: 192-xxx-x-x

    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

    Netgear router: 192.168.0.1

    DNS: 68.94.156.1, 68.94.157.1

     

    I'm referring to the 8 (sorry-not 9)

    You should be referring to this as the IP Address. Using of a 8 digit number is ambiguous/meaningless to refer to an IP address.

     

    What is the question? You can see these numbers via the gui.

    blue apple > System Preferences... > network

     

    see above for screen shots.

     

     

    Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

    # press return to run the command.

    # setting for en0 etc.

    ifconfig

    # gateway address

    netstat -nr | grep default

     

     

    # the ethernet cable is generally en0

    example output.

    en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

            inet6 xxxxxxxxx en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4

            inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255

            ether xxxxxxxxx

            media: autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>) status: active

            supported media: none autoselect 10baseT/UTP <half-duplex> 10baseT/UTP <full-duplex> 10baseT

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 18, 2013 3:47 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2013 3:47 PM in response to rccharles

    I'm sorry, but my earlier posts (5:30 am, 8:30 am, 2:15pm) talked about needing to find her IP address.

     

    The network settings as I indicated above show

    IP address: 10.0.0.5.

    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

    Router address: 10.0.0.1

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 18, 2013 6:30 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 18, 2013 6:30 PM in response to Dedo

    OK, those should be good numbers.

     

    Open System Preferences>Network>Configure>Proxies Tab, make sure none are set, like for HTTP & HTTPS.

     

    And did you try those DNS numbers?

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 18, 2013 7:56 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2013 7:56 PM in response to BDAqua

    They should be but they don't work.  I want to try resetting it using her 8 digit IP, the same sub mask and the 8 digit Netgear router address with the ATT/SBC DNS server addresses.  But ... I don't know her 8 digit IP address

     

    192.???.?.?

    255.255.255.0

    Netgear router: 192.168.0.1

    DNS: 68.94.156.1, 68.94.157.1

     

    Is it likely to make a difference if I test the connection that way, or am I just spinning my wheels wanting to try it? 

    If it might work,

    Will running a terminal command give me her IP address?

    and if so,

    What specific command should I use?

     

    I was also thinking of resetting her email to reflect the July changes AT&T just made to see if I can connect her email.  If her mail works and she really DOES have an internet connection, (like the modem and the Network status both say) then Safari is a separate problem.

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jul 19, 2013 10:14 AM in response to Dedo
    Level 6 (8,522 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jul 19, 2013 10:14 AM in response to Dedo

    You were up early or very late.

     

    Soapbox.

     

    I'm confused.

     

    Solving communications is all about divide & conquer.

     

    My understanding was this configuration was working then it stopped.  This indicates a hardware problem.   I'd have called the ISP and saw what they had to say. I'd have avoided making software changes until talking  with the ISP.

     

    I've been here.  My dsl service went down in a snowstorm.  Phone worked but no internet.  I played around with my software & router.  made a mess. Had to contact isp to sort it out. messed up security setting on router doing a reset.

     

    More focus needs to be on finding the problem over making changes.

     

    Soapbox

     

    Lets get some more background info.

     

      What are all the devices in the communication path.  Device name & model number.

     

      This was working well in the past then stopped.

     

      What changed?

     

      What have you tried?

     

      What do you think the problem is.

     

    Overall solution.

     

    -- I recommend getting another computer that is working on the internet & try with the setup.

     

    -- I recommend doing the ping test.  See prior post.

     

    -- call isp.  Router setting could have gotten reset.  Have them verify that they are ok.

     

    -- take some screen shots or pictures & post here

     

        command + shift + 3

     

        click on camera icon to post.

     

    fyi:

     

    Sometimes Tiger generates the ip address.  I was wondering what this address was.

     

    ( Ok.  I dug my switch out.  Could not find it at first.  Searching revealed no switch.  Did see a yellow ethernet cable.  Followed it.  Found switch under external hd cover. )

     

    If Tiger has a working ethernet connection and configured to use dhcp, but doesn't find a dhcp server, Tiger will generate these addresses:

     

    ip address: 169.254.193.199

     

    mask: 255.255.255.0

     

    You have address.

     

    IP address: 10.0.0.5.

     

    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

     

    Router address: 10.0.0.1

     

    Why do you want to change the ip address to 192.162.x.x?

     

    The ip address must match router address. If you have a 10.0.0.1 router address, you need a 10.0.0..x ip address.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 19, 2013 11:10 AM in response to Dedo
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 11:10 AM in response to Dedo

    192.???.?.?

     

    it must match the Router's IP in the first 3 dots, 192.168.0., then the fourth number must be at least one higher than any other IP handed out, like 192.168.0.10

     

    In a browser's URL bar, put this & hit enter, does that get you to Apple?

     

    17.149.160.49

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 19, 2013 4:18 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2013 4:18 PM in response to BDAqua

    BD-

    I just tried this on my computer and got Apple.  Would like to try it on the other computer but what does it mean if it does connect?  And if it doesn't?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 19, 2013 6:20 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 6:20 PM in response to Dedo

    If it connects with that, but not with apple.com, then it's a DNS issue.

     

    DNS Servers are a bit like Phone books where you look up a name and it gives you the phone number, in our case, you put in apple.com and it comes back with 17.149.160.49 behind the scenes.

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 20, 2013 5:19 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 20, 2013 5:19 AM in response to BDAqua

    I'm sorry to be dense, BD.  If it comes back to that but not Apple?  That meaning it just reads 17.149.160.49?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 20, 2013 12:10 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 20, 2013 12:10 PM in response to Dedo

    On yours or their's?

     

    If their's, then it isn't getting out very far, open Network Utility>Traceroute tab & see haw far or the last IP...

     

    Traceroute has started ...

     

    traceroute to 17.149.160.49 (17.149.160.49), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets

    1  *****************************  4.145 ms  1.672 ms  3.003 ms

    2  * * *

    3  10.41.164.209 (10.41.164.209)  75.341 ms  73.243 ms  74.691 ms

    4  64.13.115.205 (64.13.115.205)  64.943 ms  115.843 ms  69.865 ms

    5  64-13-49-226.war.clearwire-dns.net (64.13.49.226)  66.521 ms  55.923 ms  55.008 ms

    6  xe-10-3-0.edge1.Seattle3.Level3.net (4.59.232.9)  75.033 ms  70.765 ms  124.984 ms

    7  ae-31-51.ebr1.Seattle1.Level3.net (4.69.147.150)  84.885 ms  70.792 ms  89.592 ms

    8  ae-7-7.ebr2.SanJose1.Level3.net (4.69.132.49)  85.195 ms  70.994 ms  89.746 ms

    9  ae-92-92.csw4.SanJose1.Level3.net (4.69.153.30)  90.244 ms ae-82-82.csw3.SanJose1.Level3.net (4.69.153.26)  81.077 ms ae-72-72.csw2.SanJose1.Level3.net (4.69.153.22)  86.548 ms

    10  ae-1-60.edge2.SanJose3.Level3.net (4.69.152.17)  76.063 ms ae-4-90.edge2.SanJose3.Level3.net (4.69.152.209)  76.333 ms ae-2-70.edge2.SanJose3.Level3.net (4.69.152.81)  75.121 ms

    11  APPLE-COMPU.edge2.SanJose3.Level3.net (4.53.210.46)  95.652 ms  86.799 ms  94.609 ms

    12  * * *

    13  * * *

     

    You can ignore ***

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 21, 2013 6:47 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 21, 2013 6:47 PM in response to BDAqua

    It was on mine as a test.  And I was not able to get back over there so she's having  a Mac tech from town work on it Monday afternoon.  She'll let me know what he says (if he writes it down for her) and I'll post back when I kear from her

     

    Thanks for all the help.  This is good info and I'm sure it'll solve someone's problem in the very near future.

  • by Dedo,

    Dedo Dedo Jul 22, 2013 2:44 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 2 (211 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 22, 2013 2:44 PM in response to Dedo

    Well, it was a hardware problem.  The modem was bad.  AT&T is sending a new one and the tech will be back Fri. to set it up and reset her mail.  Thanks again, for the help BD & Robert.  FOlks reading this will know the things to check ... including the hardware.  :-)

  • by BDAqua,Solvedanswer

    BDAqua BDAqua Jul 22, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Dedo
    Level 10 (123,890 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 4:11 PM in response to Dedo

    Good work, thanks for the report!

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