Airport DHCP fails to get address (Mac on Windows Network)

[markogier]

Please help!
I am a comitted Mac switcher trying to put my lovely new MacBook onto the office Windows network. I can connect to the office wireless network (WEP key etc) and the little radar Icon in the menu bar lights up. However, I cannot get the MacBook to obtain an IP address via DHCP. I just keep getting the default self assigned address (169.....).

However, when I connect to the network via a cable using the built in ethernet connector, I get the DHCP address just fine and everything works OK.

Also, if I assign an IP address manually to the wireless card (checking it is a free address!) it accepts the settings but I cannot network, not even a basic ping of another machine on the local internal network (all our internal machines are using 10.0.0.x addresses and 255.255.255.0 sub net)

The DHCP server is not in the wirless router but is a Windows server machine.

This is driving me crazy. I have called Apple care and they just dont want to know because there is a Windows machine in the mix. I expected better from them, particulalrly as I have paid for Applecare!!


Many thanks
Mark

[mad jew]

Open up your Network section of System Preferences and match the settings for the ethernet port to the settings on the Internet pane of AirPort Admin Utility. Is there any discrepancy? :)

[markogier]

Hi there
Thanks for your interest. I may have confused things a bt here. I do not have an Airport base station just a wireles card in my MacBok (which I assumed is called an Airport). The wireless base staion is a Netgear Wireless router. The Netgear is not providing DHCP, that is being done by a Windows server.

As I said, I can connect to the Netgear router wirelessly using the WEP key etc, but when I do I do not get passed an IP address from the Windows server.

However, if I connect to the lan with a cable, it all work s fine and I get an IP address etc.

Also, I can connect to my DLINK wirless router at home (which is set to give DHCP IP addresses) and it all works perfectly.

If you are thinking the Netgera could be faulty, I doubt that as my Windows laptop connects fine and gets addresses.

This is driving me nuts!

Thanks
Mark

[mad jew]

Ah, my bad. Okay, match the AirPort card settings with the ethernet settings. Notice any differences? :)

[maxvamp]

How is your network wired to the NetGear? Is your DHCP server plugged into the LAN ports or the WAN Port?

I suspect that if your network is plugged into the WAN port, that the Netgear, with DHCP turned off, may be blocking, at some level, communications to the WiFi.

Max.

[tmtracy]

I had this same problem, but it was because I was entering the wrong key on the wireless network. OS X won't tell you if it's wrong, it will just connect and not do anything. Contact your sys admin and see if the router is seeing your macbook, if it isn't, that's prolly your problem. tripple check with your sysadmin that you have the right key as well.

[markogier]

Thanks for the replies to this. To respond to the suggestsions

1. I have quadruple checked the WEP key for the wireless router and it is correct. I am connecting to the router. When viewing the list of connected clients from the router admin console my MAC address is listed. But I d not get an IP address.

2. The wireless router is on the LAN side of the network. It is not actually used to route to the internet, it is just used as a wireless access point. It has a 10.0.0 address the same as all the other devices on our internal LAN. We do have another rouer which is used to connect the LAN to the internet. DHCP is turned off on that device.

Just to be clear
1. This works fine if I connect an ethrnet cable to the MacBook
2. The DHCP over the wireless works fine on my Acer PC laptop running XP and other people using Sony or Dell PC paltops and XP are fine too.
3. The MacBook connects wirelessly to my (D-Link) router at home perfectly and I get the IP address no problem. (At home I am using 192.168.2.x addressing)

I guess having the ethernet cable trailing across my desk is not too much to deal with, it is just frustrating that I cant get wireless to work!!

Pleae keep the ideas coming, and thanks!
Mark

[jsw]

As mad jew mentioned, please be sure that when you go to System Preferences...->Network and choose Show->Airport in the second drop-down, that, in the TCP/IP tab, you have DCHP selected. In fact, for each of the relevant tabs "TCP/IP","PPPoE", etc., toggle between the Airport and Built-in Ethernet selections in the "Show" drop-down to, as mad jew suggested, make sure they're the same.

Edit: other suggestion: I'd click on the "Location:" drop-down and choose "New Location..." (after clicking the lock on the bottom left to unlock things), then create a location called "Work" or whatever, then set it up there. That way, you can also create a "Home" or whatever location to change the way things network when your laptop is there (and so on, for other places you want to connect wirelessly). Then you can toggle network selection with the "Location" menu item under the Apple menu (the one on the top left of the screen). I use a manual address at home (with no proxies) and DHCP at work (with proxies), and this shortcut comes in handy daily.

[garfield2002]

Are you using the ASCII WEP key or the whole hex number? I had a similar problem with my TiBook and a Linksys router. Even though my computer gave me the option of 128-bit ASCII, the router would not recognize the key, I had to type in the whole 128-bit hex key.

[Sesshi]

I haven't even ventured doing this on the Mac yet (never had problems with DHCP assignations) so I'm not sure if it's possible, but have you tried setting a valid IP address manually on the wireless network?

[sfmacguy]

is access control happening on the wireless router?
you might need to add the mac address of the airport card to the router.

rick

[rdepom]

I think you guys are assuming some kind of hardware problem when I disagree. I've had exactly this issue with my iMac G5 connecting to our Belkin router, only occasionally and usually when signal strength is poor. I've just gt a MacBook and am having massive problems with this on my University wireless network. I am pretty sure that the problem is OS X's DHCP timeout. Basically it requests an IP address and if the server/router is too slow to respond it gives up and assigns itself one. The issue is that it's giving up too fast. Windows DHCP isn't exactly snappy which would explain Mark's problem, and I know damn sure my Uni's servers are sluggish at times (to be fair they're handling hundreds of wireless roaming connections at any one time plus thousands of wired ones). My big problem is, I have no idea how to change this timeout value! It seems to be about 5s and I think it needs at least doubling. The value must be in a config file somewhere but not sure where, and I can't track down a GUI control for it. Ideas anyone?
Cheers
Rowan

[markogier]

Hi there all.
Thanks for the interest in this post. To update, I still cannot get the wireless airport to get a DHCP IP address from the office netgear router. But the DLink wirelss router at home is perfect and the macbook happily gets an IP setup via DHCP.

I have tried all the suggestions given
1. Manual address
2. Copying settings form the (working) cable connection
3. Setting up a work location (nice feature this, makes moving around a breeze)
4. I even tried changing the channel number on the router (to 5) as Iread somewhere that interference can cause problems.
5. Triple checked the WEP key and it i correct (same key in my PC laptop works fine)

This is driving me nuts!! Any more ideas.

BTW. V disappointed with Mac support. I have paid £199 for apple care support and just got some indian guy who could hardly speak english telling me that nobody knew anything about MacBooks and even if they did, because I am trying to connect to a Windows network they were not allowed to help. So much for encouragng people to switch!

Thanks
Mark

[Eraserhead]

Insist on speaking to someone more senior at Apple if you call them, the problem could well be an OS X/Windows incompatibility, you don't normally use a windows server to give out DHCP.

For the WEP key have you tried getting the Hex version? That might help. (someone else should be able to tell you how to find what this is)

The other thing you could try is switching the wireless network security to WPA instead of WEP as that is a lot more secure (and trouble free) it should work fine with OS X or XP SP2.

[bokdol]

ok so i am going to try to figure out your settings.

1. you have cable internet
2. plugged into a windows server. (which is set to dhcp) out into...
3. a wireless router.
4. the wireless is just bridging the dhcp numbers to the wireless?

now this is what i suggest. change your wireless router settings to give out dhcp numbers. so the wireless becomes another dhcp server. (not just a bridge)

i have my cable going to a wired router. that give out dhcp. and my wireless is conected to that. and gives out a different range of dhcp numbers for wireless.

[stevep]

Is the Windows server dishing out the ip addresses? Do you need to put in its' address in the proxy server settings, maybe????
System prefs> Network> Airport> Proxies> then choose Web Proxy HTTP and type in the IP address and port number (eg 10.22.8.53 and 8080).

[jtown]

Just saying this because I haven't seen it mentioned by many of the responders. He's not using the router as a router. What he's attempting to do is use the wireless portion of his router like one of these (http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=333), eleminating the physical wire. The router may simply not be capable of functioning like this. It's a software issue and it may not be designed to provide that function.

Getting mad at Apple is pointless. The OP is attempting to set up a non-standard network, using a router in a role it wasn't designed to perform. Please stop wasting Apple's time. Not only did they not sell him this setup or promise him that it would work, nobody would sell him a router and guarantee it could be used like this. It's not Apple's fault he's having trouble with this and it's not their responsibility to fix the problem.

Now, for the issue at hand...

The easiest solution would be to obtain the right tool for the job. Remove the "router" from the setup. If you're going to use a router like a switch, don't. Just get a switch. They're $10. Get a wireless "gaming" adapter, configure it, plug it into a switch attached to the network. Yes, they're generally used to attach a wired device to a wireless network and this is going the other way around but it really doesn't matter which end of the link it's on.

If you don't want to buy new equipment (those adapters are kinda spendy for what you get), you'll have to hope your router can be configured to do what you want. Some can, some can't. If your router's wireless side can be set to "client" instead of "AP", give that a shot. That might let it bridge the wired and wireless connections inside the router. BTW, WPA won't work with this kind of setup. You'll be limited to WEP.

This is, of course, assuming you absolutely must use the windows server as the DHCP server and router.

[Moe]

Here's your problem (http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/2193031) (as said above the router turns what you think of as your network (singular) into two networks (plural) and your DHCP client and server are on different networks).

[Demoman]

Here's your problem (http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/2193031) (as said above the router turns what you think of as your network (singular) into two networks (plural) and your DHCP client and server are on different networks).

That is exactly what I think too. You need to be connecting using a wireless Access Point, not a Router, connected to your main network. Then you will probably have success. I am running this at work without a hitch.

[trainguy77]

Almost all wireless routers have settings designed to do exactly what he is doing, and it works for the PC. So what I think he should try is enter those manual IP addresses and then try to ping the wireless routers address. This way you having nothing to do with that extra DHCP server. Also make sure the routers IP your pinging is in the same block as your manuel IP. (ie 192.168.1.X) If this ping does to go through then you know your not connected to the wireless part of the network. If that is the case make sure there is no MAC filtering turned on, on the router. If it is add your macs MAC address to the list and things should be good.

Post a response of what happens with what I mentioned here, and then we can continue troubleshooting. And the router should work just fine. By the way what is the model number of this router?

[trainguy77]

Here's your problem (http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/2193031) (as said above the router turns what you think of as your network (singular) into two networks (plural) and your DHCP client and server are on different networks).
This should not be the problem if the router has been configured correctly from what I can tell with his network NAT, and DHCP has been disabled on the wireless router. Which turns it into a switch. And besides that is beside the point as its all plugged into the LAN ports not the WAN. If it was plugged into the WAN port then it routes traffic and blocks traffic.

[markogier]

Hmmm, seems like I rattled JTown's cage a bit. Sorry about that. But lets just be clear about Apple support.

1. I crossed over from being a long time Windows user on the basis that Apple claim Mac work fine in a windows network environment and do everything (OK most things) better.

2. I PAID £199 for Apple Care support. I had to before they would discuss this issue with me. Only then to be told, in badly spoken english, that a) nobody has had any training on the MacBook and b) even if they had they were instructed not to support Mac issues if the machine was used in a Windows environment. This is not really following up on the marketing hype they put out about being better and integrating fine.

3. There are dozens (even hundreds) of articles on the net on various newsgroups, including Apples own forums, about this EXACT problem. Firstly on the MAcBook Pro and now on the MacBook. So much so that there are published articles describing the wireless networking woes users are having and that they are being given full refunds by Apple. They dont do that lightly.

So am I fed up with Apple. Yes.

So please understand my frustration JTown.

To get back on topic, JTown suggested it was my own fault for trying to use a router etc in the wrong way. I use the term router purely because that is what it says on the box. It is not routing, NAT is turned off, it is not connected to a WAN, it is not serving DHCP, it has a local (10.0.0.x) IP address and is used ONLY as a wireless access point. Trainguy77 descirbes it perfectly in his subsequent post (thanks guy).

All the evidence points to something inherently wrong with the MacBook firmware/software/hardware (who knows, Apple dont seem to!).

1. Cable connection works fine (DHCP or manual)
2. Wireless connects fine (with DHCP) to my router at home set up in exactly the same way (except that one IS routing as it is my broadband connection)
3. My windows laptop can connect wirelessly without a problem
4. Entering a manual IP address does not work. I cannot see the network.
5. All other wireless machines at the office work fine
6. I do connect to the wireless box as when you look at the connection status on the wireless boxes management page, my MAC address is in the list.

Just to re-cap my setup

1. Netgear wirless box, not doing DHCP, not routing, no NAT, MAC address filtering, my MAC address in the list, WEP password (10 digit text), connects OK, does not give IP address.

2. Windows network with a Windows server dishing out DHCP stuff. Can use it perfectly with cable (drives, printers, databases, proxy server for internet etc, etc.). NOTHING with wireless connection, not even ping, even if I type in a manual IP address (valid, in-range, unused etc.)

Have tried just about evrything mentioned in the many posts I have read. These include

1. Change channel number of wireless box
2. Remove network from mac, remove password from keychain and start again.
3. Try entering exact same details as cable connection manually.

I am at a loss now. Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Mark

[trainguy77]

Is there any chance there is any other type of security you don't know of? RADUIS? anything like that? Captive portal?

[brbubba]

Hmmm things that come to mind.

Are you running the latest firmware form netgear, never hurts.
Is the netgear in some special rangemax or enhanced network speed mode. This could screw with things as most of those enhanced speed modes are not common protocols.
I am not too familiar with server 2k3, but I am sure it has a DHCP log, you should be able to view it and see the request from the mac to the server for an address and then you should also be able to see the server offering an IP to the machine. Any kind of errors in that log might give you some clue as to what is happening.
Also I would think the DHCP server has an option for creating an IP reservation table based on MAC address. Try putting an entry in for your mac, maybe you will get lucky.
When you enter an IP in manually, including DNS, Gateway etc, what happens? Can you ping other computers on the network, can you ping external IPs? Are you sure you are not running a proxy?

[markogier]

Hi there

Thanks to Trainguy and brbubba for your input. As far as security goes, the only security setup on the netgear in WEP and MAC address table. I am 1000% certain I have the correct WEP password (10 digit text) and that my MAC address is in the table on the wireless box (I can see it connected from the management console).

As for the Netgear firmware it has been updated to the latest version. It is not set for any speed/range boosting settings, just straight g standard.

I have not tried 'reserving' a mac address on the dhcp server, I will try that.

As for putting in a manual IP etc, I have tried that. It goes in OK but I cannot get on the network, no ping etc.

Still driving me nuts!!!!

Thanks for the input
Mark

[ObbieZ]

This is partly a "me, too!" response, but I think I have a tidbit of new info that might be useful.

On an Al-G4, just out of warranty, I got bit by the "self-assigned IP address" bug. I'm connecting to a Netgear 801.11b router (w/ 4-port switch), but it's set up for standard DHCP... no fancy hoops of going to another server for dhcp, etc.

A few nights ago, we had a storm, so everything was unplugged overnight. In the morning, the wireless worked! Five days later, it's gone again.

I find it interesting that you can connect to other routers... I haven't tried that. My Ti-book G4 connects fine to my router, so it's not a Mac-specific issue (but maybe an issue with the Mac 801.11g cards... the b-card in the Ti-book is ok).

And sometimes (not all the time), taking all power off the system for a long enough time gets something to reset that isn't resetting on its own.

(BTW, FWIW my battery's worthless... pulling the plug with the system on and awake means instant shutdown. Just felt the need to respond to the instant "take your battery out" messages.)

Hope this helps. It's driving me nuts, too.
----
Obbie

[trainguy77]

hmm I only have a couple other ideas I really don't think they will help but why not. :D Try zapping the PRAM. If that does not do anything try permissions. But I can't think of anything else:eek:

EDIT: And also try connecting and then look in the event viewer on the server. Look for a failed lease or something like that. Also check the lease time on the 2k3 server, maybe its set to a really short time or a very long one and for some reason the mac does not like it.

[benthewraith]

Please help!
I am a comitted Mac switcher trying to put my lovely new MacBook onto the office Windows network. I can connect to the office wireless network (WEP key etc) and the little radar Icon in the menu bar lights up. However, I cannot get the MacBook to obtain an IP address via DHCP. I just keep getting the default self assigned address (169.....).

However, when I connect to the network via a cable using the built in ethernet connector, I get the DHCP address just fine and everything works OK.

Also, if I assign an IP address manually to the wireless card (checking it is a free address!) it accepts the settings but I cannot network, not even a basic ping of another machine on the local internal network (all our internal machines are using 10.0.0.x addresses and 255.255.255.0 sub net)

The DHCP server is not in the wirless router but is a Windows server machine.

This is driving me crazy. I have called Apple care and they just dont want to know because there is a Windows machine in the mix. I expected better from them, particulalrly as I have paid for Applecare!!


Many thanks
Mark

You know Mark, I just read through this, and several things hit me...are your wireless network settings (the IPs that are assigned different from the IPs for the ethernet lines?)

Such that the lined network is 10.0.y.x and the wireless is 10.0.0.x?

Also, I happen to know with crappy Wintel laptops, you have to manually assign a DNS server along with a manual IP, so I'd look up an open DNS server, preferably a DNS server nearby, say a local university and add it in alternative DNS's. :)

[trainguy77]

Also, I happen to know with crappy Wintel laptops, you have to manually assign a DNS server along with a manual IP, so I'd look up an open DNS server, preferably a DNS server nearby, say a local university and add it in alternative DNS's. :)
But that is design. The DNS server is assigned via DHCP after you get your IP from the DHCP server which means manual IP and most DHCP server will not hand out the DNS. :) Second, DNS would not change a thing as when you ping and IP DNS is not used.

[markogier]

Hello again

Been away for a while but now I am back and yes, the proble is still there!

I have looked in the DHCP log on the windows server dishing out DHCP and there is no sign of my machine at all. Not surprising really as I think it is a wireless issue not an IP one. I think this because if I manually assign a vlaid IP address I still cant get on the network, not even ping another machine.

Just to answer the question re. the wired and wireless networks being different IP ranges. No, it is just a flat network with the range 10.0.0.x throughout. It is not a large or complex network. One flt range with an ADSL router connecting to the net. Simple really and thw ored connection works fine.

Still nothing from Apple (couldnt) Care (less) support. I never had this trouble or lack of support from Uncle Bill!

BTW, has naybody with this problem tried using WPA instead of WEP security? Wondered if that might help.

Keep the ideas coming
Thanks
Mark (still being driven nuts)

[maxvamp]

Hello again

Been away for a while but now I am back and yes, the proble is still there!

I have looked in the DHCP log on the windows server dishing out DHCP and there is no sign of my machine at all. Not surprising really as I think it is a wireless issue not an IP one. I think this because if I manually assign a vlaid IP address I still cant get on the network, not even ping another machine.

Just to answer the question re. the wired and wireless networks being different IP ranges. No, it is just a flat network with the range 10.0.0.x throughout. It is not a large or complex network. One flt range with an ADSL router connecting to the net. Simple really and thw ored connection works fine.

Still nothing from Apple (couldnt) Care (less) support. I never had this trouble or lack of support from Uncle Bill!

BTW, has naybody with this problem tried using WPA instead of WEP security? Wondered if that might help.

Keep the ideas coming
Thanks
Mark (still being driven nuts)


You know, I just went through this the last few days...

I started off by getting a new router, and then my TiBook 550 running Panther would, more often then not, not be able to get a DHCP address.
I upgraded to a D-Link 54G card, and the problem did not go away.

Ultimately, upgrading to Tiger solved the problem.

In short, there was something that went wrong in the OS. I wonder if simply re-installing the OS ( over the old one ) would fix the problem.

On a side note, The TiBook 550 runs much faster on Tiger than it did Panther. I did not upgrade for a long time, because just the opposite was true when performing the same task with an iBook 600.

Max 499.

[valor]

If it's not absolutely essential that you access other machines on your intranet via their usage names (i.e. server instead of 10.0.1.2), then you should be able to manually set your Airport settings to a static IP so that it works. You need the following information:

IP address
Subnet Mask
Default gateway (most likely your Windows Server)
DNS entries. Like someone else said, you should try to enter ones that are close geographically to you: http://80.247.230.136/dns.htm

If you choose to go this route, be sure to exclude the address from distribution in your WinServer DHCP setup--found in Computer Management/Services/DHCP/Scope/Address Pool

You can manage this static setting using the "Locations" feature in Mac OS fairly easily. You can access locations from the Apple Menu directly.

All that being said, however, statically assigned IPs are a pain in the butt. A couple more things to try:
-try creating a DHCP reservation on your WinServer machine for your AP wireless card
-try the above with "DHCP with manual address" setting in your network settings control panel
-make sure the firmware in your router is up to date
-Reset your router to factory defaults, then manually redo the settings
-Trash your Airport setting files
-and last but not least USE WPA WITH WIRELESS NETWORKS. It's a LOT more secure, a LOT easier to setup, and just has fewer headaches all around. True, it requires more overhead than WEP, but WEP is just an overall pain in the ass. Also, if you happen to have an "b" only clients, it will still work with them. There's no real reason for you to stick with WEP over WPA.

I hope this helps!

[DiGiTY]

Was there ever a solution or fix found for this problem??? because I'm having the same exact problem

So far, I've went through two usb adapters (Sagem USB adapter and now a AirPort Extreme card) and two routers (NetGear and now Linksys) and I still can't get on network nor Internet. I get no IP address from router and when i assign a IP, i can't ping anything including the router. it use to connect with no problems before and all the other devices (PCs) connect with no problems. it also connects to neighboring wireless networks with no problems... there's just something about this iMac (not the wireless card) connecting to my specific WEP router (need WEP because other devices on network don't support WPA yet)

this has been driving me nuts for weeks now... any new ideas???

TIA

[Hathaway]

I'm also encountering this problem and can see no way around it (besides switching to a PC or buying a new mac). Anyone know how to fix this yet? I've just about given up.

[trainguy77]

Has anyone tried a unix/linux system? Does it act the same way. One thing that just came to mind. Does the DHCP server have the option to only dish out IPs to authenticated/known hosts? I don't know where that option is but maybe thats doing it.

[azmacman]

I agree with rdepom. I have the same problem with my intel imac 20" about 25% of the time when it boots up and needs a DHCP address from my Belkin wireless router which is set to grant DHCP addresses and it does not rely on a Windows PC. 7 other computers I use on this wireless network ever have a problem. It did the same thing when I used a Linksys router too. I have all of the updates, and excellent signal strength. The only thing that seems to help some, is to have the airport as the first entry in the port configurations list. Even then, I sometimes have to disable and re-enable the airport from the icon at the top of the screen, to"wake up" the airport and get it to retrieve a valid DHCP address.

This sounds strongly to me like a timing issue of the airport not waiting long enough before auto-assigning its own bogus IP address. It also seems to help if you let the imac do the network assistant and do all of the configuration for you. But even then, about 1 out of 4 times when it is turned on, you'll see "network not found" errors and you'll have to toggle the airport on and off to wake it up and get a good DHCP address.

[linuxophile]

OObvious

[linuxophile]

Obvious (naive?) suggestion that I tried and worked in a similar deadlock:
trash some relevant preference
go to your keychain and erase the entry corresponding to the WEP password; it will ask you again next time.
This seemed to solve my issue (not sure which of the two, probably the second).

Sorry for the previous post; got sent by accident.

try as a newly created account so that you are sure that some badly set preference are not the problem.

[geralpizar]

Hi guy. I have gotten the airport work in a windows network. Use the next procedure, I hope is useful for you:

1.- Turn off your MAC BOOK
2.- Access the Gateway (router), as you now using
the internet exploirer and http://192.168.0.1 or something
3.- type the user and paswword
4.- change the SSID for your wireless network
5.- Save and apply the change, and reeboot the router.

6.- Turn on your MAC BOOK




Please help!
I am a comitted Mac switcher trying to put my lovely new MacBook onto the office Windows network. I can connect to the office wireless network (WEP key etc) and the little radar Icon in the menu bar lights up. However, I cannot get the MacBook to obtain an IP address via DHCP. I just keep getting the default self assigned address (169.....).

However, when I connect to the network via a cable using the built in ethernet connector, I get the DHCP address just fine and everything works OK.

Also, if I assign an IP address manually to the wireless card (checking it is a free address!) it accepts the settings but I cannot network, not even a basic ping of another machine on the local internal network (all our internal machines are using 10.0.0.x addresses and 255.255.255.0 sub net)

The DHCP server is not in the wirless router but is a Windows server machine.

This is driving me crazy. I have called Apple care and they just dont want to know because there is a Windows machine in the mix. I expected better from them, particulalrly as I have paid for Applecare!!


Many thanks
Mark

[geralpizar]

Hi guy.

Here you are a temporal solution for this:
1. Turn off your MAC BOOK PC
2. Change the SSID name for the wireless network
3. Turn on your MAC BOOK PC, this time the MAC BOOK should be
recognize the new wireless network, and should be working on.

As you know, for changing the SSID you must access your gateway (router)
just in your internet navegator type: http://192.168.0.1 or the IP for your
router, and follow the steps for setup. You must change all the SSID names in all the PC of the LAN, also.

I think, the real solution must be emited for the MAC people, because this
problem generate troubles and the clients became ungry sometimes and they
are right. This solutions just are like an aspirine, but they are not the final solution. Please MAC (apple) send the final solution. Maybe the problem is the airport hardware, or maybe the MAC OS X system, and don't know.

I hope this is useful for you.

[usmc58xx]

I have a problem with a D-link router at work and my mac and although I've yet to figure it out, I do have a helpful idea that might be able to find out what exactly your problem is. My mac tries to get an IP through DHCP and the d-link tells my mac that the addy that IT gave is already in use by another mac address, and lists it, although there is no computer on there, and we don't see the mac addy anywhere.

In any case, even trying a static IP won't work. If I try just to use my wired card, it still will not work. I have to connect with my wired card AND airport card at the same time, for the same IP and THEN it will connect. It's totally crazy.



1. Download Ethereal(wireshark for mac)

2. Install it

3. Set it up on a PC that can easily connect to the network.

4. Configure it for promiscious capture.

5. Capture packets from your ethernet.


Watch the sever and your mac, if it's too spammy you can add a filter on IPs , it will tell you what your mac is requesting and what the server is responding with. It's a bit more complicated, but it does help.

[craigchapman]

I have an ADSL2 connection with wireless access point (WEP Encryption). I've had the set up for a while with both my macbook and windows laptops connecting without any issues. I took my mac on holiday with me to an area that had no wireless networks and I did not connect to the internet at all for 2 weeks. When I came home, my mac would connect to my wireless but assigned it a default invalid IP address as it wasn't retrieving one via DHCP. I tried everything possible on the mac to get it to work to no avail. The only thing that fixed it was resetting my modem and wireless to default factory settings and reconfiguring with a new SSID and Channel number.

I've no idea what caused this issue but very frustrating and appears to be common from the number of threads on various forums.

HTH

[y0jeremy]

Try disabling encryption on the WAP; reconnect and see if you can surf/ping. Try process of elimination.

[xraydoc]

You could always try using the hex WEP key as the password (and not the ASCII). Make sure to add a "$" to the front of the hex key, though.

[craigchapman]

My connection is fine now that I reset the wireless access point. Just letting others know how I resolved the problem as it seems common.

[spammage]

This post does not solve everyone's problems within this thread as there would seem to be at least 3 problems described. This post stays on topic and addresses only markogier's specific problem.

For possible solutions see list at bottom of this post.

I have had some 20 years experience as an I.T. professional so these facts are not opinion. Just facts.

The problem is due to the DHCP timeout in AirPort. Basically it doesn't wait long enough to receive an IP address so instead it does the most useless thing it can: make one up and pretend all is well.

I have experienced this problem now in two separate instances on two separate unrelated networks with entirely different configurations. In each case the industry leading technologies work fine, but the Macs don't.

The problem is seemingly due to network traffic at the DHCP server end (or some busy point in between the MAC and DHCP server more precisely). The DHCP server is unable to response within a timeout (which seems to be around 2-3 seconds) and thus the MAC assigns itself an IP address. The problem is predictably reproduceable.


Getting mad at Apple is pointless. The OP is attempting to set up a non-standard network, using a router in a role it wasn't designed to perform. Please stop wasting Apple's time. Not only did they not sell him this setup or promise him that it would work, nobody would sell him a router and guarantee it could be used like this. It's not Apple's fault he's having trouble with this and it's not their responsibility to fix the problem.

This is a typical example of useless, uneducated nonsense. There are clues contained within one of markogier's previous posts which clearly show that hardware (ie. the 'router' or 'AP') is NOT AT FAULT. Observe;


Just to be clear
1. This works fine if I connect an ethrnet cable to the MacBook
2. The DHCP over the wireless works fine on my Acer PC laptop running XP and other people using Sony or Dell PC paltops and XP are fine too.*
3. The MacBook connects wirelessly to my (D-Link) router at home perfectly and I get the IP address no problem. (At home I am using 192.168.2.x addressing)

[*emphasis added]


After reading point 2 above, the obvious question would be; If the 'router' is being used in a way in which it wasn't designed - why then would the Acers, Sonys or Dells of this world have no trouble accessing it? This point alone negates jtown's entire post. Suggesting the purchase of additional hardware for no good reason is just odd.

The actual problem being experienced would seem to be as described by possibly the only logical person in this particular forum, 'rdepom' who correctly describes an observed, real-world, recreatable problem. I'll reiterate his words for clarity (the entire post is well worth a read);

I am pretty sure that the problem is OS X's DHCP timeout. Basically it requests an IP address and if the server/router is too slow to respond it gives up and assigns itself one. The issue is that it's giving up too fast.

Interestingly this was rdepom's single and only contribution to this forum. He probably left because nobody else was on his level.

Funnily enough I came to find this thread/forum due to the google search "mac airport dhcp timeout" as I'd already come to this as the correct diagnosis. If one wishes to continue using MacOS is would appear your only solutions would be points 1 or 2 below. Unless of course you decide to create a different subnet on your network or start buying more hardware just to connect your Mac which of course is silly for so many reasons I shall not even start to list them.

The wireless connectivity problems are compounded with the inconsistent nature of the AirPort configuration panel itself. It has three bugs that I have found which involve not saving settings or retrieving settings which I've tried to delete. You may therefore find your problems are in both pots.

To solve the problem here, I simply waited until my colleague had finished copying files over the network. Once he had finished, I turned the airport off and then on. Problem solved for me. Although in the real world, one cannot rely upon this - in a corporate/work LAN for example there's always network traffic and you may not have sufficient authority to do anything about the topology of the network. If however I was in a high enough position of authority in the company I'd do one of two things (and have done):

1. Remove the Apple computers
2. Create a separate network not using DHCP and assign each machine manually (good solution actually).

I wish you all the best of luck with your continued support of Apple.

Problem: A bug in MacOSX/Airport
Solutions:

1. Use a network cable, not wireless
2. Locate where the DHCP timeout is specified (perhaps in a config file) and change it.
3. Wait until no network traffic exists and then connect.
4. Sometimes it's possible to specify your own DHCP + manual address but in practice it is not a solution but a workaround.
5. Use Windows or Linux.

[Mr. EMan]

The problem is seemingly due to network traffic at the DHCP server end (or some busy point in between the MAC and DHCP server more precisely). The DHCP server is unable to response within a timeout (which seems to be around 2-3 seconds) and thus the MAC assigns itself an IP address. The problem is predictably reproduceable.
...

Thanks. I believe that's the cause of the problem whenever I've run into this.

This happens quite a bit with Apple products here at work connecting to our public network. I usually come in early, and have no problems getting an IP assigned. If I have to connect in the afternoon, I'm fighting with everyone's smart phone or personal laptop. Sometimes I click "Renew DHCP Lease" under the TCP/IP tab, or sometimes it just eventually connects.