Airport Wireless Connection Help

[augustb]

The airport connection to my DSL modem on my PowerMac desktop computer suddenly stopped working last night. When I try to reconnect it says there's an error joining the network. It worked perfectly until last night and the password is entered correctly.

So I assumed the dsl service was down, but my Powerbook connects with no problems and operates at full dsl speed, so the problem is clearly with the desktop machine itself, not the dsl service.

I have tried over and over again to connect the desktop to the wireless network, but it just says "There is an error in connecting to the network."

I can see all the networks listed (mine and my neighbors), just can't actually connec to mine.

Is it possible that the airport card in the desktop machine just suddenly went bad? Any suggestions on things to try, or do I need to replace the airport card?

I’ve tried rebooting the computer and restarting/resetting the dsl modem with no luck.

Thank you.

 

[mad jew]

Can the Mac see the wireless network? What sort of security do you have on it? Maybe try changing the security settings on the router.

 

[augustb]

Yes, th mac can see my network and some other networks around me. it has the normal security (enter pw), but that's not the problem -- it is now occasionally connecting but at very slow speeed (slower than dial-up).

At the same time the connection on my PowerBook is very fast (like it was on the PowerMac until a day or two ago). Often times I still just get the "cannot connect to network" message.

It's really odd, I can't figure out the problem. Any thoughts?

 

[mad jew]

Do you have any file sharing apps open? Even if they're not downloading terribly much, they can bring a wireless network to its knees. Also, have you tried changing the broadcast channel on the router? You may have spot interference near your Power Mac.

 

[augustb]

Also, have you tried changing the broadcast channel on the router? You may have spot interference near your Power Mac.

Now that sounds like a promising theory. There are no switches to change the broadcast channel on my wifi dsl modem, could that be doable by software? I'll investigate that.

I have discovered that not only is there nothing wrong with my modem/wifi/web service (since three other machines work fine using the setup in the same room), but there is also nothing wrong with my PowerMac or Airport card (the machine/card work fine when I take them to another environment with another DSL wifi setup).

So the problem is with how this particular Mac connects with this particular dsl/wifi modem. Very strange.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, it's a software-side alteration. It should tell you in the manual how to change it. It's slightly different depending on the brand of router but if you know how to get to the configuration page, you should be set. Good luck.