Access to wi-fi signal via Airport Extreme

[Jovian9]

Hello. I have a 17" AluPB with Airport Extreme built in. My local library and some other places offer free wi-fi in their buildings. My PB recognizes it and lets me connect to their signals via Airport but I cannot get any web pages to load. It says that I do not have a connection to the internet and times out trying to connect to a server. What do I need to do in my settings? Thanks!

[LeeTom]

Hmm... it should be pretty automatic. I would go up to the Apple -> Locations, and make sure Automatic is checked.
If it is, go to Network Preferences, choose Network: Automatic, and Show: Airport, and make sure that:
In the Airport tab, By default, join: Automatic
In the TCP/IP tab, Configure IPv4: Using DHCP

Sometimes I find just reselecting the location under the Apple, or turning the airport off and on again up by the clock seems to do the trick.

Lee Tom

[Jovian9]

LeeTom:

I tried that with no luck. In prefs it even says that I am connected to the internet via the airport and router but it tries to load a page for about 60 seconds and says it cannot connect to server.
I am running 10.3.5 with all updates current.
Thanks!

[LeeTom]

What IP address do you have in the TCP/IP part of Airport Network prefs when you try this?
Does it start with 169.? 192.? 10.?

Lee Tom

[Maxx Power]

Well, not to stab blindfolded in a dark room at a black cat which isn't there. But the airport extreme is released earlier than the 802.11g standard was formulated. You'll notice that APple does not claim g compatibility, which indicates there exists features or protocols that the airport extreme does not support and perhaps vice versa. I do not expect airport extreme to connect to every wireless router, unless you use the 802.11b transmission standard, which I'm pretty sure both airport and airport extreme are compatible with, though it is slower.

[Jovian9]

What IP address do you have in the TCP/IP part of Airport Network prefs when you try this?
Does it start with 169.? 192.? 10.?
Lee Tom

When I first turn on the Aiport signal it is 169.....and it has an orangish/reddish circle next to the Aiport in Network Preferences. It then changes to green automatically(states that it is connected to the internet via the router) and it switches to 192....

It's recognized
Theres a signal
It states it is connected
But no pages load
ahhhhhhh!

[Jovian9]

Well, not to stab blindfolded in a dark room at a black cat which isn't there. But the airport extreme is released earlier than the 802.11g standard was formulated. You'll notice that APple does not claim g compatibility, which indicates there exists features or protocols that the airport extreme does not support and perhaps vice versa. I do not expect airport extreme to connect to every wireless router, unless you use the 802.11b transmission standard, which I'm pretty sure both airport and airport extreme are compatible with, though it is slower.

Before my wife and I bought this PB we had a G4 iBook with an AE card installed. We were able to connect with the iBook. Also I had connected on several occasions at the library, a coffee shop, and a cinema cafe in town right after we got the PB.....but I cannot any more (well, I can connect but I can't load any pages).

Really I do not understand why I can't load any web pages. Perhaps the issue occurred after installing software updates from Apple.....but I'm not sure.

[Maxx Power]

Before my wife and I bought this PB we had a G4 iBook with an AE card installed. We were able to connect with the iBook. Also I had connected on several occasions at the library, a coffee shop, and a cinema cafe in town right after we got the PB.....but I cannot any more (well, I can connect but I can't load any pages).

Really I do not understand why I can't load any web pages. Perhaps the issue occurred after installing software updates from Apple.....but I'm not sure.

That could be... the updates quite frequently causes more problems than numbers solved. I heard the 10.3.5 update is terrible regarding PB performance, but they promised in .6 they will fix this up.

[LeeTom]

Here's a thought:
In Network prefs, Airport, TCP/IP tab:
Do you have anything in the DNS Servers space? It should be blank, that way it will fill it in for you. If you have something in there from one ISP, then go to another place, you may not be able to resolve any domain names, thus the inability to connect.

Let me know,
Lee Tom

[LeeTom]

Thought #2:
Check the proxies tab as well, and make sure nothing is checked or filled in.
Except for Use Passive FTP Mode, that can be checked.

Lee Tom

[Jovian9]

Thought #2:
Check the proxies tab as well, and make sure nothing is checked or filled in.
Except for Use Passive FTP Mode, that can be checked.
Lee Tom
Lee Tom,
I'm home for the evening and will not be able to check your suggestions until tomorrow. I'll post again early tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the help!

[Jovian9]

Nope. Still not able to load any web pages. Any other ideas anyone? This really doesn't make sense. Thanks for the help.

[Jovian9]

Nope. Still not able to load any web pages. Any other ideas anyone? This really doesn't make sense. Thanks for the help! I'll continue trying:)

[vraxtus]

Nope. Still not able to load any web pages. Any other ideas anyone? This really doesn't make sense. Thanks for the help! I'll continue trying:)

I've actually had notably similar problems with public wireless APs and I've yet to reconcile it as well...

[LeeTom]

Damn...
here's 1 more thing to try.
When you're 'connected', try this:
Open Applications->Utilities->Terminal

type:
ping 216.239.57.99

Do you get a response?
A response looks like:
64 bytes from 216.239.57.99: icmp_seq=0 ttl=240 time=31.631 ms

A non-response looks like:
ping: sendto: Host is down
ping: wrote 10.0.1.120 64 chars, ret=-1

This will narrow down the problem.
(if you get a response, it's a DNS problem; if you don't, it's a connection problem)

Lee Tom