Help for a recent switcher... please! Airport/internet

[andis]

Hi, I've just made the switch from PC to Mac, and I'm getting really frustrated. Up until tonight, internet was working perfectly... I have no idea what changed, but now it drops out continually, and I bumble my way throught the Network Assistant until it comes back on. And incidentally, the network assitant tells me it couldn't connect, even though the status for the airport says otherwise (and I can browse). It works fine for a while and then is unbelievably slow..... any advice would be so greatly appreciated, and I hope I'm explaining myself well enough!

Thanks,

Andi.

 

[thewhitehart]

Are you running 10.4.8 on an intel mac? There are serious problems with airport and intel macs that apple hasn't fully addressed yet. Their solution for deleting networks from the preferred network list and re-adding them is not satisfactory.

What kind of mac do you run? Under what circumstances does airport disconnect?

 

[andis]

Thanks for your reply. Yep, I have 10.4.8 and an Intel processor... but it was working perfectly up until now. We did turn both the dsl modem & the router off for a brief period earlier, would that do it? Airport hasn't disconnected me in the last half hour or so, but performance is still cr*p!!

Andi.

 

[thewhitehart]

The suggested solutions are to go into Network Preferences (the "light switch" application", go to "Network", and go to "Airport" from the drop down menu. Unclick the lock with your password if you're not running as an admin, and change "By Default, join:" to "Preferred Networks". Delete all the wireless networks in the list, and then re-add your network, supplying the password if necessary. Quit System Preferences and restart the mac - it should join your airport network automatically now and not time out or disconnect randomly after waking from sleep.

It'll work for a while, but it may fail as it has in my case, and you'll have to try it again. I'm afraid this is Apple's solution, and while it doesn't entirely solve the problem, it abates it for a while.

 

[aswitcher]

Yeah, this flaw really is annoying.

 

[andis]

Ok... sorry to sound like an idiot... but I've followed those instructions - and each time I restart it loses the settings.... what am I doing wrong???

 

[apb3]

Ok... sorry to sound like an idiot... but I've followed those instructions - and each time I restart it loses the settings.... what am I doing wrong???

That is odd... Are you making sure you hit the "Apply Now" button before closing System Prefs(as a new switcher, you also need to make sure you are really closing the app and not just the app's window)?

I've not had the "airport drop," issue with either of my intel macs myself, but I've read about many who have/are. This would really annoy me so I feel for you.

There is a hint (having todo with selecting a "better" channel on your wireless network) and am Applescript (to scan and, when necessary, restart the wireless connection) here:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060626224134955

and some other suggestions here:

http://forums.macnn.com/92/networking/317147/airport-driving-me-crazy-intel/

and, finally, a few good suggestions to try out (re: IPv6, power supply issues, etc...) here:

http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-51425.html

Oh, you might also try to isolate whether it is indeed the computer with the issue or the base station/router by testing the transfer of a file wirelessly without the internet - i.e. from one computer to another directly; trying to connect to a different wireless network to determine if the issue(s) persist; using the Airport Admin Utility to mess around with the settings of the base station -like toggling back and forth "Interface Robustness," wireless network type, channel, assigning a static IP to the computer, etc; reverting to an earlier Airport driver on the computer and/or just restarting the base station itself manually/properly. Any one or a combination thereof might just help...

I just realized I've been assuming that you are using an Apple Airport and not some other wireless router, so post exactly what you have as it relates to my and the linked hints/suggestions.

Good luck!

 

[JulesNYC]

My first ever imac is being delivered to my house today. I really hope this problem doesn't happen to all imacs. I'm so excited...and nervous.

Good luck Andis!