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I had an iMac....for a week!

3

38911

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
11
0
Bought my first iMac a week ago. Since then nothing but problems with wifi connection - intermittent dire slow internet, frequent disconnections etc.

I know this seems to be a very common problem but the wierd thing is that apart from the slow connection on the iMac, the Mac itself was trashing the connection on every other device on the network!

Seriously - my Lenovo Windows laptop that has worked fine for years just ground to a halt when accessing the internet. I setup a constant ping from the Lenovo PC to google.com and it was consistently either timing out or 3000ms+. Same on my other devices in the house. As soon as I turn the iMac wifi off, everything returns to normal.

I called Applecare several times and over the last 5 days I reckon I've spent 20+ hours trying to fix this :

Changed wifi channels
Turned everything else off (iPad, iPod, iPhone, PCs, printers etc)
Changed encryption
Turned encryption off altogether
Moved router to different part of the house
Moved iMac to different desk
Removed & recreated locations
Refreshed Network settings
Deleted System Preferences
Bought a new router
Tried iMac on a neighbors Wifi connection
Checked for interference (there is just three wifi routers in sight of the Mac, mine and two others which are across the street from me)
​
So...... as much as it pains me (because I really like the OS and the product) is that I've just called Apple and told them to come and collect it for a full refund. :mad:
 
Wow, all iMacs break the internet connection? I must have a bad/broken one, its not working.
 
What exact old router and what exact new router do you have, because some routers (or modem-router combos) don't work nice with Mac OS X, which sometimes can be bypassed with a firmware upgrade to the router.

Have you tried a LAN connection, or is that out of the question?
 
imahawki said:
Wow, all iMacs break the internet connection? I must have a bad/broken one, its not working.
Click to expand...

Did you even bother to read the OP? I never said all iMacs break the internet.... in fact I said "the wierd thing is..." which to any literate person implied it's an usual symptom.

But thanks for your constructive post all the same...

----------
simsaladimbamba said:
What exact old router and what exact new router do you have, because some routers (or modem-router combos) don't work nice with Mac OS X, which sometimes can be bypassed with a firmware upgrade to the router.

Have you tried a LAN connection, or is that out of the question?
Click to expand...

I tried two different types - a Zyxel b/g and a Netget n router. Both had latest firmware.

LAN connection worked fine as soon as Wifi was turned off on the iMac... but wired just isn't convenient.
 
38911 said:
Did you even bother to read the OP? I never said all iMacs break the internet.... in fact I said "the wierd thing is..." which to any literate person implied it's an usual symptom.

But thanks for your constructive post all the same...

----------



I tried two different types - a Zyxel b/g and a Netget n router. Both had latest firmware.

LAN connection worked fine as soon as Wifi was turned off on the iMac... but wired just isn't convenient.
Click to expand...

Did you think of trading it in for a different one? I have never heard of any computer making the network bad for other computers.
 
bri1212 said:
Did you think of trading it in for a different one? I have never heard of any computer making the network bad for other computers.
Click to expand...

No, whilst I accept it was probably a HW fault on the iMac wifi card, I was 8 days into my 14 day remorse return policy. By the time a replacement had arrived I'd probably be near the limit and didn't want to risk getting another machine with the same issue.

Having already wasted hours and hours, with AppleCare in complete denial ("it must be your router sir" - except I've tried two different routers and both work fine with other devices..... until the iMac is switched on!), my goodwill is now exhausted.

Shame because I love the hardware and OS :(
 
There is nothing wrong with your mac, why don't you change channels in the router
 
My father-in-law had a 802.11n router from Netgear that didn't play nice with Macs. Bought a cheap ASUS router, threw DDWRT on it and it worked flawlessly. Some wireless routers do not play nice with Macs.
 
paulrbeers said:
My father-in-law had a 802.11n router from Netgear that didn't play nice with Macs. Bought a cheap ASUS router, threw DDWRT on it and it worked flawlessly. Some wireless routers do not play nice with Macs.
Click to expand...

I like the way you phrase it "some wireless routers do not play nice with Macs" :) which implies it's the routers fault.

I tried a Zyxel 802.11b/g router and a Netgear 802.11n router. Both worked fine with iPod, iPad, iPhone, Lenovo Windows 7 laptop, an Acer netbook and a HP Vista laptop without *any* issues whatsoever.

So I think it's fair to say it's the Mac at fault not the router.

Whether it's a HW fault or poor design, I don't know (or care anymore!)
 
38911 said:
I like the way you phrase it "some wireless routers do not play nice with Macs" :) which implies it's the routers fault.

I tried a Zyxel 802.11b/g router and a Netgear 802.11n router. Both worked fine with iPod, iPad, iPhone, Lenovo Windows 7 laptop, an Acer netbook and a HP Vista laptop without *any* issues whatsoever.

So I think it's fair to say it's the Mac at fault not the router.

Whether it's a HW fault or poor design, I don't know (or care anymore!)
Click to expand...

If your so sure that it isn't the router, and it's the iMac, why post this? Why post and not take suggestions from other people?

I had this same problem with an old Netgear N router. I purchased a new dual band router and my iMac hasn't hiccuped on wifi since.
 
38911 said:
I like the way you phrase it "some wireless routers do not play nice with Macs" :) which implies it's the routers fault.

I tried a Zyxel 802.11b/g router and a Netgear 802.11n router. Both worked fine with iPod, iPad, iPhone, Lenovo Windows 7 laptop, an Acer netbook and a HP Vista laptop without *any* issues whatsoever.

So I think it's fair to say it's the Mac at fault not the router.

Whether it's a HW fault or poor design, I don't know (or care anymore!)
Click to expand...

Actually, it is the router.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3763

The more you know....

They clearly don't support Apple's required signaling. Which, based on this article, isn't really asking a whole lot. Those are pretty standard protocols.
 
jaikob said:
If your so sure that it isn't the router, and it's the iMac, why post this? Why post and not take suggestions from other people?
Click to expand...
Because it's quite apparent that the OP joined the forum just to post this rant, and is not asking for solutions. The OP has already made up their mind that the iMac was at fault and has returned it, so don't try to confuse them with facts. They just want to say how bad iMacs are, even though millions of iMac users don't have the same problems as the OP.
 
jaikob said:
If your so sure that it isn't the router, and it's the iMac, why post this? Why post and not take suggestions from other people?

I had this same problem with an old Netgear N router. I purchased a new dual band router and my iMac hasn't hiccuped on wifi since.
Click to expand...

So it seems it's not an isolated problem then? hmmmmm..... well at least it kind of confirms it's a design fault, not a duff wifi card.

My NetGear is a brand new dual band 802.11n that I went out and bought last night in desperate attempt to fix this issue. It still wouldn't work. I find it astonishing that a (supposedly) quality manufacturer such as Apple is pushing out hardware with such chronic compatability defects...

I'm not looking for answers - just sharing the issue because I thought it was an uncommon problem I was having.
 
38911 said:
So it seems it's not an isolated problem then? hmmmmm..... well at least it kind of confirms it's a design fault, not a duff wifi card.

My NetGear is a brand new dual band 802.11n that I went out and bought last night in desperate attempt to fix this issue. It still wouldn't work. I find it astonishing that a (supposedly) quality manufacturer such as Apple is pushing out hardware with such chronic compatability defects...

I'm not looking for answers - just sharing the issue because I thought it was an uncommon problem I was having.
Click to expand...

Wifi problems are common. Have you updated the OS?
 
bthrel said:
Had to laugh at this, I'm a 20+ year UNIX IT professional and we always blame it on the network guys...

Brian
Click to expand...

Another of of us - excellent. And yes - it's always the network guys' fault... :)

And FWIW, my iMac loves our Netgear dual band wireless router. If I had to wager a bet I'd bet on faulty wireless hardware in the iMac. Fire up wireshark on another system on your home network and watch traffic coming from the iMac.
 
Dweez said:
Another of of us - excellent. And yes - it's always the network guys' fault... :)

And FWIW, my iMac loves our Netgear dual band wireless router. If I had to wager a bet I'd bet on faulty wireless hardware in the iMac. Fire up wireshark on another system on your home network and watch traffic coming from the iMac.
Click to expand...

YAY! More UNIX guys!!! Damn... over... good grief 20 years here too... damn I am getting old...

Yeah and they NEVER changed anything!

Then, odd thing is, once you mention it, miraculously things start working again.

Of course they NEVER changed anything again...
 
Thanks for the post.

I, for one, appreciate it when we get data points about problems with machines. And I'd bet on the Mac. If a reasonably competent user (and the OP seems at least that) cannot get it to work with two routers I'd say that's an Apple fail. Not so robust; nobody has yet come up with much else he could do but ditch it. It worked with all the other Apple products.

I'm curious about what happened with the neighbor's connection.

Maybe it's Anonymous...sounds like this iMac is doing it's own DoS attack ;)
 
get a refund and get another iMac if that doesn't help you can refund it and don't worry about it don't let apple down :)
 
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