Lia L

Q: Can no longer connect to wifi network

My landlord controls our wifi and I assume he has the router or device somewhere in his apartment, as he lives adjacent to us. I used to be able to connect to our wifi network until yesterday when I came back after being away for a month. I expected this, as he had previously sent an email saying he changed the network password while I was away. When I tried to connect to the network, my MacBook recognized the network and tried to connect. Instead of connecting to the internet, the icon had an exclamation point in it and there was an alert that said something like "unable to connect to the internet." I figured this was because of the new password, so I went into launchpad > keychain access > and deleted the keychain that was attached to the wifi login for that specific network. I tried entering the new password but every time I try it says that I have the wrong password, even though I am 100% sure it is the right one. It still accepts the old password but it doesn't connect. I would normally assume that I'm entering something wrong, but the weird thing is my roommate is able to connect using the new password and my iPhone is also able to still connect, even though I didn't make any changes to the settings (I guess it's still using the old password). Does this make any sense? I can't seem to find any answers.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Jan 6, 2014 5:13 PM

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Q: Can no longer connect to wifi network

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  • by Melophage,

    Melophage Melophage Jan 6, 2014 8:11 PM in response to Lia L
    Level 5 (7,161 points)
    Jan 6, 2014 8:11 PM in response to Lia L

    Lia L,

     

    does your landlord use MAC address filtering to control which devices can use his router? If so, have you checked with him to see if he has excluded your MacBook Pro from his router’s whitelist of acceptable devices?

  • by Lia L,

    Lia L Lia L Jan 7, 2014 11:13 AM in response to Melophage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2014 11:13 AM in response to Melophage

    Hi, I'm not sure if he does, I will ask him about that. Though I don't think that's the case as I used to be able to connect fine with the wifi here, and so were all my guests and roommates.

    I've been connecting my laptop to my iPhone using it as a hotspot and just now I was having trouble with it - I was getting the wifi bars empty with the little exclamation point again with the "no internet connection" alert even though my iPhone is able to connect fine. Is it possible that the problem lies somewhere in my laptop?

    Also thanks very much for the help, I really really appreciate it

  • by Event Video Guy,

    Event Video Guy Event Video Guy Jan 7, 2014 12:15 PM in response to Lia L
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 7, 2014 12:15 PM in response to Lia L

    He may not be aware that there is a problem.  Are any other tennants having trouble?

     

    I would definitley check to see if he has Mac Address filtering enabled.

     

    Just FYI:

    If you type in the wrong password, your computer will let you know and tell you to try again.

     

    Usually if you get the little Exclamation point, it means you are connected to the router, but there is no internet connection.

     

    So maybe his cable modem is not receiving an internet signal.

     

    You definitely need to bring your laptop with you and go see him to get that thing connected.

  • by Baby Boomer (USofA),

    Baby Boomer (USofA) Baby Boomer (USofA) Jan 7, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Lia L
    Level 9 (57,623 points)
    Jan 7, 2014 12:45 PM in response to Lia L

    Try the basics first:

       Change your router channel number.  Most times this works & is all you have to do.

     

    Disconnect & reconnect your modem.  unplug it for about 10 seconds.  Plug it back in.  Do the same for Apple’s routers.  Wait for everything to reboot.

     

    System Preferences>Network

    Click the Assist Me button.

    In the next window that pops up, click the Diagnostic button & do the necessary.

     

    Research Knowledge Base for network problems that pertain to the OS that is currently installed on your computer.   See these basic networking KB Articles:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1401 AirPort troubleshooting guide

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4628  Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712 Using network locations in Mac OS X

     

    Manually provided DNS server addresses are higher priority than DHCP's

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1714 Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting

     

    ============================

     

    What to do when you can't connect to the Internet

     

    Also, run the Airport Utility app which is located inside the Utilities folder.

     

    =====================

     

    If using a  Linksys router, contact LinkSys Customer Support and/or post in their forums.

     

    If using Apple's Airport, please re-post over in one of the AirPort Forums.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by Melophage,

    Melophage Melophage Jan 7, 2014 7:22 PM in response to Lia L
    Level 5 (7,161 points)
    Jan 7, 2014 7:22 PM in response to Lia L

    Lia L,

     

    it is possible that the problem lies somewhere in your laptop, but it’s also possible that the problem lies with the router. There are many possible causes for the problem, as Baby Boomer (USofA)’s links will show. Since you were away for a month, my thoughts went towards “check that the router’s configuration hasn’t changed over the past month” first.