Sharing is spasmodic

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kharisma Author

Level 1

106 points

Sharing is spasmodic

My equipment:

Mac Mini OSX 10.8.5 (primary computer)

iMac 2006 OSX 10.6.8

Brother printer (not wireless) - connected to the iMac. (When this printer dies, I'll get a network printer)

The iMac is set to share the printer.

Both computers are set up to share files.

Before printing from the Mac mini, I make sure the iMac is awake and that the printer is on.

Most of the time this works, but sometimes the Mini just sits there, saying it can't find the printer. Occasionally the iMac has paused printing for some reason, but mostly, I can't find any reason for the problem.

The iMac says the printer is on, and idle.

The Mac mini Sys Prefs (printer) says the printer is idle (so it knows the printer is there).

I set up a print job. Sys Prefs now says the printer is in use. The print queue says "Unable to connect to printer", and sits there until I delete the job.

So I thought - why don't I move a few documents (that I mostly just print from) over to the iMac?

... only to discover that neither computer can see the other - even though sharing is enabled on both, and Finder prefs are set up to display any shared computers. Finder on each comuter has no "Shared" computers displayed - in fact the "Shared" header isn't there at all.

???

I don't play with the settings, nor do I move the computers. Once it is set up, and working, I expect it to stay that way.

Why does the sharing keep randomly not working?

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Feb 10, 2014 8:55 PM

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Answer 1

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kharisma Author

Level 1

106 points

Feb 11, 2014 9:00 PM in response to kharisma

So, after an hour or two talking with Apple, it seems the modem is the central problem.

I'm with TPG, who sent out their stock standard modem when I signed up.

Lately I've been having more and more problems with my internet connection, so they sent out a technician, who ran some tests, then told me that it was not a good modem for my equipment. She said that Macs need a higher frequency for wi-fi.

NOTE: a technician (female) who knows what she is talking about!

I then rang NetComm, who told me that the modem I needed used a frequency of about 5 GHz, whereas my current modem is only about 2.4 GHz.

The current modem worked ok with my 2006 iMac (Snow Leopard), but since upgrading to a Mac Mini (ML) in October 2014, there has been a slow disintegration of the internet connection, with occasional drop-outs in sharing between my computers.

On NetComm's advice, I have now changed the channel on the modem, so the sharing has sprung back to life, but I will probably end up buying the modem suggested by NetComm.

For now, I'm waiting for TPG to get back to me with their view on the results of the tests.

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