Wifi switches my 2.4 ghz connection to ipv6

Question

Level 1

29 points

Wifi switches my 2.4 ghz connection to ipv6

I'm having trouble with my iMac's wifi connection to the internet.

My router works fine. I can connect to it with a hard-wired connection or by wifi on either the 2.4 or 5 ghz connection. However, when I try to connect my Mac to the 2.4 connection, it connects to the wifi but cannot get on the internet. My iPhone and Macbook can connect to the same router with no problem on either the 2.4 or 5, so I think the problem is with my Mac.

When I looked more closely, I noticed that the Mac is giving out the ipv4 address for my 5ghz but gives a ipv6 address for the 2.4 ghz (the one that doesn't work). On the Macbook, both these connections have an ipv4 address.

I tried changing the ipv6 setting to "link-local only" (from automatically), but that didn't work.

Any ideas on why this is happening and how to solve it?

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Jan 27, 2017 12:38 PM

Reply

Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Jan 28, 2017 8:51 AM in response to rich47

Hello rich47,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand from your post that your iMac connects to your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connection but does not connect to the internet while other devices do. I recommend using the steps from the following article to check for Wi-Fi issues:

Check for Wi-Fi issues using your Mac - Apple Support

Also, the article below has the recommended settings for Wi-Fi:

Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support

Best Regards.

Reply

Answer 2

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Jan 28, 2017 10:57 AM in response to rich47

Hi rich47,

The next step we would recommend would be to test the issue in a new user account on your Mac to determine if the issue is isolated to your user account or if it is a systemwide issue.
How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support

If the issue persists, you can create a new location using the steps from this article:
Using network locations (Mac OS X v10.6 and later) - Apple Support

Let us know how it goes.
Cheers.

Reply

Answer 3

rich47 Author

Level 1

29 points

Jan 28, 2017 9:36 AM in response to brenden dv

Thanks, brenden dv. I tried this, but it did not work.

My problem seems to be related to ipv6. When my Mac connects to the 2.4 wifi, it shows an ipv6 address, while the 5 ghz connection shows ipv4. My Macbook's connections to the same router show ipv4 addresses for both the 2.4 and 5. I can't figure out how to force the Mac to connect to the ipv4 address instead of ipv6.

Reply

Answer 4

rich47 Author

Level 1

29 points

Jan 28, 2017 3:01 PM in response to Teddy_B

Yes. I've done this and I also done it in recovery mode. No matter what I've tried, I get an ipv6 address on the 2.4 and an ipv4 address on the 5. And it only happens on my Mac, not on other devices connected to the same router.

Reply

Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,221 points

Jan 28, 2017 8:28 PM in response to rich47

Try System Preferences/Network/Advanced and set Ipv 6 to manually.

Reply