Macbook Connection Timeout?

canucks-17 said:

This seems to be a common problem among Macbook users.

Click to expand...

Really? This is the first I have heard of this problem. Mine in connected to a network 24 hours a day, it is very rarely shutdown, it just goes to sleep, and I wake it when I need to use it. I have never encountered this problem.

Do you have other devices connecting to this wireless router?

I ask because I had this exact same problem with my MB and I have an interesting hypothesis on this, mine started after an 10.4.x update (I thought that 10.5 fixed it but found out otherwise) but I think I have finally solved it. I found that I'd be fine working until something else connected wirelessly to my router, so what I did was turned my Airport Express into an extension of my network and an individual access point that only my MB uses, it fixed the problem and my assumptions were proven correct (in my case) when I tried attaching something else wirelessly to the Airport Express and my MB immediately disconnected.

Is it ideal for everyone to set up a second wireless network? Not really but if you happen to have a AE or any other wireless router sitting around give it a shot and see if it works for you.

@Bobioden head on over to the official Apple support forum and you'll see how common this is.

yes i get it too.

In fact, sometimes I have to keep rebooting the Macbook, and after a while it'll finally connect.

Have you tried changing the channel, maybe something else is temporarily bumping you off that channel. Download iStumbler and see if you have a bunch of routers using your particular channel.

As I stated above I was having the exact same problem and it was with a D-Link.

Good Luck.

Big Problem

This seems to be a HUGE problem. I have been trying to get my wireless connection stable since I purchased the Airport Express. I finally took if out of the network loop and everything is fine. Set it up it up again and my ibook network connection drops out.

There are at least 12 forums I have visited and literally hundreds of posts and answers about this problem. Not one solution is definitive. It took my brother in law quite some time it was a DNS problem that was not allowing any connection whatsoever to the internet.

I love my Mac, it is the first one I've owned, and by this time next year there will be no more Mr Gates in my house. However I find it startling that there has been no Apple release at least acknowledging that there is a massive problem here.

Regards. Iain

Snorsh said:

However I find it startling that there has been no Apple release at least acknowledging that there is a massive problem here.

Click to expand...

Apple almost never openly acknowledges anything. They simply ignore bugs until enough people complain, and then release quiet fixes while continuing to pretend problems never existed. To the OP, try downloading the latest software updates if you haven't already. Sometimes they cause kernel panics. Sometimes they fix things.

I have done my due diligence, I believe I have all the latest updates. It is only on my home network that I am experiencing problems.

It is the only problem I have found with Apple. Oh well, I'll wait until my kernel stops panicking.

I've heard this is a pretty prevalent problem.

1) Upon waking from sleep, Macbooks (and MBP's too I guess) have difficulty getting online via wireless network.

2) Macbooks (MBP's too I guess) have difficulty staying online via wireless network with certain routers (e.g. Linksys)

I was all set to purchase a MBP today but these two issues scared me off.

What was particularly problematic is the 10% reboxing fee. (I understand Apple needs to do this to protect itself but since I'm purchasing this laptop to use in 2 locations, 1 which has a Linksys router and 1 which has a notoriously touchy wireless network, I didn't want to pay $200+ to try and make this work.)

Does anyone have a completely error-free wireless experience? Both arising from sleep and just in terms of maintaining solid connection?

2) Macbooks (MBP's too I guess) have difficulty staying online via wireless network with certain routers (e.g. Linksys)

Ah, this is the first time I've seen somebody point to this part of the equation. I will borrow a D-Link router and see if this is the solution. Thank you

Macbook Connection Timeout?

I have similar - or the same issues. I just upgraded from a MBP Core duo to a MBP Core 2 Duo. (April 08 - purchased). Anyway the MBP core duo connected nicely to my Billion wireless router. I never did get the Core duo to work with WPA2, but it worked quite nicely with WPA encryption. With WPA2 there were frequent drop outs but Rock solid with WPA.

Now the new one is giving me so much trouble i'm tempted to buy the old one back! I can't work it out. I can eventually get it to connect, however, when it goes into hibernation thats the end of it. It will no longer connect to the network when it comes back up.

For what it's worth here is what I have.
Billion 7404VGP -
WPA Encryption
MAC address Lockdown
MBP should get Statically assigned IP via MAC address association.
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B00

Here is the Console output when it tries to connect - but fails time and time again.

Yes I am running VMware fusion. So was my Old MBP.

***** Console Extract *****

14/04/08 7:10:05 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en1
14/04/08 7:10:10 PM airportd[153] Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
14/04/08 7:10:10 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error: airportd MIG failed = -6 ((null)) (port = 52955)
14/04/08 7:10:10 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error joining Team Owned: Connection timeout (-6 timeout connecting)
14/04/08 7:10:11 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet8(7) Flags 8863 Family 2 172.16.160.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:10:11 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet1(8) Flags 8863 Family 2 192.168.12.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:10:11 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:10:11 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:11:02 PM SCHelper[144] no command
14/04/08 7:11:02 PM com.apple.launchd[113] ([0x0-0x11011].com.apple.systempreferences[138]) Stray process with PGID equal to this dead job: PID 144 PPID 1 SCHelper
14/04/08 7:11:57 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet8(7) Flags 8863 Family 2 172.16.160.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:11:57 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet1(8) Flags 8863 Family 2 192.168.12.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:11:57 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:11:57 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:12:13 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet8(7) Flags 8863 Family 2 172.16.160.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:12:13 PM mDNSResponder[23] getifaddrs ifa_netmask for vmnet1(8) Flags 8863 Family 2 192.168.12.1 has different family: 0
14/04/08 7:12:13 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:12:13 PM mDNSResponder[23] SetupAddr invalid sa_family 0
14/04/08 7:12:25 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en1
14/04/08 7:12:30 PM airportd[168] Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
14/04/08 7:12:30 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error: airportd MIG failed = -6 ((null)) (port = 52955)
14/04/08 7:12:42 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en1
14/04/08 7:12:48 PM airportd[168] Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
14/04/08 7:12:48 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error: airportd MIG failed = -6 ((null)) (port = 52955)
14/04/08 7:12:48 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error joining Team Owned: Connection timeout (-6 timeout connecting)
14/04/08 7:12:58 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en1
14/04/08 7:13:03 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error: airportd MIG failed = -6 ((null)) (port = 52955)
14/04/08 7:13:03 PM airportd[168] Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
14/04/08 7:13:03 PM SystemUIServer[125] Error joining Team Owned: Connection timeout (-6 timeout connecting)
14/04/08 7:13:14 PM kernel WLC_E_COUNTRY_CODE_CHANGED
14/04/08 7:13:14 PM kernel en1: 802.11d country code set to 'X1'.
14/04/08 7:13:14 PM kernel en1: Supported channels 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 149 153 157 161 165 40 48 56 64 153 161 36 44 52 60 149 157

********

If anyone has some idea's I"d be glad to give them a go. There does appear to be many similar posts on the internet - but im yet to find a solution.

Thanx

for what it's worth. i have recently gone apple from all my life as a windows user. love the new iMac and things worked perfectly until this week. i get a connection timeout when i try to connect to my airport express router. i live in a high rise building so I can connect to other networks but my airport express router recently has gone bad... it has a green light so it's not an obvious problem. oh well maybe i'll just cancel my broadband and use this unsecured linksys router i can connect to for free... or is this a conspiracy to convince me to get an apple tv!

Must be a router problem, b/c I have my BlackBook Penryn 2.4 hooked-up while I'm at home utilizing my MagicJack phone adapter for long distance and local calling, and I've never been disconnected from my DSL/WiFi at home. But, while on campus I get disconnected all the time, when BlackBook goes to sleep.

I just started having this problem. Up until Saturday my internet connection was perfectly fine. Then I tried connecting on Sunday after updating and I'm having problems connecting to my home network. I'm leeching off my neighbor right now.

Is there a way to rollback updates?

I've been having this same issue. I thought it was my router at first, except my iBook running 10.4.11 has no problems, and I've had the same issue with connecting to other wireless routers.

Additionally, a couple days ago when this issue reared its ugly head a "network" named "No Connection" in bold text appeared in the Airport menu. I put "network" in quotes because no such network exists around my home, and also because it appeared in bold while all other networks listed were not bold.

Differences...

Im am too plagued by this annoying problem although just at work with our WPA2-Enterprise network. I work in the IT department at a college. Ever since I got my new 4th gen macbook pro the wireless has been flaky with timeouts and performance on the network. We got a new (1 month newer) macbook pro with the same configuration as mine and it work perfectly. I tried everything I could think of (even rebuilding the OS from scratch) and I have not been able to make it work. The only noticeable difference between mine and the slightly newer macbook is the ROM version. There are no firmware updates for the 4th gen macbook as of posting this however.

My Boot rom : MBP41.00C1.B00
Newer(working boot rom): MBP41.00C1.B03

I spoke with an apple rep that swore the problems were with the network and not with the machine even though the settings on both machines were identical. Being the the network administrator at the college I can rule out the network as the problem. When will apple release a firmware update to fix this problem?!?

Make sure the automatic connect option is unchecked on ethernet
connection. Simple, but it was what was disconnecting me from the internet
after switching to wireless.

asmallchild said:

I've heard this is a pretty prevalent problem.

1) Upon waking from sleep, Macbooks (and MBP's too I guess) have difficulty getting online via wireless network.

2) Macbooks (MBP's too I guess) have difficulty staying online via wireless network with certain routers (e.g. Linksys)

I was all set to purchase a MBP today but these two issues scared me off.

What was particularly problematic is the 10% reboxing fee. (I understand Apple needs to do this to protect itself but since I'm purchasing this laptop to use in 2 locations, 1 which has a Linksys router and 1 which has a notoriously touchy wireless network, I didn't want to pay $200+ to try and make this work.)

Does anyone have a completely error-free wireless experience? Both arising from sleep and just in terms of maintaining solid connection?

Click to expand...

Yes, I use the Airport Extreme N, but it is completely dedicated to my MacBook from the cable modem. I have a second wireless router - but this is running as a bridge off the Airport extreme that I connect with my other laptops and iPhone/iPod Touch's. I had the same problem and had the cable company here working on it, they could not find the problem... This is the only solution that compensates for the problem... Hope this helps?

I have this same problem. It started back in February, and after a week of it taking around 30mins to connect to my network it got so bad that I connected about once in six weeks. Then I went away for a while and used my macbook on a different network, when I came back it was all solved until a couple of days ago when it started again. I guess its just gonna keep getting worse over the next few weeks. 10.5.3 can't come around fast enough (assuming I'll still be online to download it).

I think this problem may be specific to Airport Extreme cards. My iBook G3 recently died and was using a regular old Airport card and it never had this problem. I bought a circa 2004 iBook G4 with Airport Extreme to replace it and I have been struggling with this ever since. According to what I've read, this has been an issue since 10.4.10 (heckuva job, Apple!) I'm running 10.4.11 and I've seen lots of posts about how downgrading to 10.4.9 will solve the problem. I may try that next although I've been hoping to avoid that, if not step up to Leopard where this issue (from what I've read) still exists.

Other suggestions from Apple's support forums that I've tried have failed to work:

- Set up a script to ping the router every 15 seconds. I set up such a script and it did not work at all.

- Change energy saver settings. No particular settings seem to fix it.

- Trash the network preferences file in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/. Didn't do squat.

- Change router channel. Does it on every channel I've tried so far.

- Leave the laptop plugged in (suggesting a power management issue may be to blame.) No difference whether it's plugged in or running on battery power.

- Switch from WPA to WEP. Not a bit of difference other than making me far more vulnerable to hackers.

- Turn on SSID broadcast (I tend to leave mine off.) No difference.

I've checked the system log after these disconnects and there is nothing being logged. It's literally like the Mac doesn't realize the connection is gone. I've left a ping running during these disconnects and the funny thing is that the ping times get very long just before the disconnect (up to 6000 ms.)

The only consistent thing I've noticed about this is that if I let the laptop sit long enough (say 10-12 minutes) the connection will come back on its own. I'm not sure what to make of that, but when I leave the ping running through the disconnect, the first few pings when it comes back are very high (again up to 6000 ms.) They settle back down to a normal ping time after the first dozen pings. Weird.

[edit: to add two other tests I did that I forgot to list.]