How do I find out what an error is?

[scarlets knees]

I'm new to macs and to wireless connections so need some help. I am trying to set up wireless connection to a NETGEAR dg8342t adsl router, I can connect via an ehternet cable but if I try to connect wirelssly by slecting NETGEAR from the options on the wireless icon on the desktop I get the message "there was an error joining the airport network "NETGEAR" how do i find out what the error is so i can fix it or does anyone have an idea what the issue may be.

using a new pb, anything else you need to know?

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't know a good way to find out why specifically the connection was refused, in terms of an error msg, but I might be able to help you fix it. What kind of wireless security are you using? Have you tried the router in open/unsecured mode?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'm new to macs and to wireless connections so need some help. I am trying to set up wireless connection to a NETGEAR dg8342t adsl router, I can connect via an ehternet cable but if I try to connect wirelssly by slecting NETGEAR from the options on the wireless icon on the desktop I get the message "there was an error joining the airport network "NETGEAR" how do i find out what the error is so i can fix it or does anyone have an idea what the issue may be.

using a new pb, anything else you need to know?

I'd also check the MAC Address security settings. If there's anything set up there, make sure your own ID is in the allowed list. You can find it by opening the Internet Connect application, clicking AirPort, and noting the AirPort ID listed there.

 

[scarlets knees]

Thanks for the replies sorry for the delay in getting back, to answer your questions...not got the hang of quotes yet either.....

mkrishnan - I'm not using any security at the moment that i'm aware of on the router, it says none selected, is there an in built firewall in OSX that I need to disable?

wrldwzrd89 - my pb wasn't in the 'allowed' list, though the router is set to accept any wireless station, just in case I did add in the MAC address the ethernet connection is using as it suggested on another thread here. I assume the MAC address is the same regardless of theconnection type? I'm not at home so can't check.

Also I relaise it's a bit late to add it in now (sorry, my frustration got the better of me when I posted yesterday so I didn't put everything in) but I assume it's possible that the issue may be down to the fact I'm also connecting a PC to the same router and before it connected the wireless connection to the PB was fine......

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Thanks for the replies sorry for the delay in getting back, to answer your questions...not got the hang of quotes yet either.....

mkrishnan - I'm not using any security at the moment that i'm aware of on the router, it says none selected, is there an in built firewall in OSX that I need to disable?

wrldwzrd89 - my pb wasn't in the 'allowed' list, though the router is set to accept any wireless station, just in case I did add in the MAC address the ethernet connection is using as it suggested on another thread here. I assume the MAC address is the same regardless of theconnection type? I'm not at home so can't check.

Also I relaise it's a bit late to add it in now (sorry, my frustration got the better of me when I posted yesterday so I didn't put everything in) but I assume it's possible that the issue may be down to the fact I'm also connecting a PC to the same router and before it connected the wireless connection to the PB was fine......

Was the allowed list blank before? Was there a checkbox saying something like "Enable MAC address restrictions" that was unchecked before you added your PB? If either or both of these things are true, you've just restricted your wireless station so that only your PB, and no other computers, can use it. Is that what you intended to do?

EDIT: By the way, quoting a post is easy if you just want to quote a single post. Simply click the "Quote" button at the bottom of the post you want to quote. If you need to quote multiple posts, you can use the quote button for one of them - you'll need to insert the necessary vBcode yourself for the others. Just use the one that's there as a template, and you'll be fine.

 

[mkrishnan]

Also, make sure that both the Mac and the PC are trying to get IP addresses via DHCP, so that one of them isn't insisting on a particular IP address and preventing the other one from getting one.

 

[redeye be]

I assume the MAC address is the same regardless of theconnection type? I'm not at home so can't check.

The MAC address is specific for every network interface. Your ethernet and airport will have a different MAC address, as you will be able to see in the network preferences.

sidenote: Tighten the security of your wireless network once you get it working. You don't want passing or nearby wireless users leach on your internet connection .

 

[scarlets knees]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I am now sitting here typing this far away from any cables and a beautiful thing it is.

Thank you all for your help, in the end it was a mixture of the PC restricting access so I added access but had used the wrong MAC address.

Now I can sit back and really get to grips with this lovely OS and pb.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP and have suddenly run into the same problem. I have a Netgear router with mac filtering turned on. This setup has been working fine for both my Mac and PC for a couple of months now until a couple of days ago when the Mac suddenly stopped being able to connect to the Netgear network. It can still connect to other unsecured networks in my area, so hardware seems fine, and the Netgear network shows up in the network list on the Mac, but I get the rather uninformative error message that the OP was getting. My PC still connects fine. I temporarily disabled the Mac filtering on the network, but still no luck.

Any ideas on what to try next?

Dylan

 

[redeye be]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP...

... Have you tried the router in open/unsecured mode?

Always a good start

 

[dylanemcgregor]

Always a good start

Sorry I wasn't clearer. Yes I turned off all security and am running the router wide open. (Hello neighbors, here's your chance for free, unsecured wifi for the weekend)

And yes, both computers are set up to get the IP address via DHCP. As far as I can tell no setting has changed from when this worked last week and when it stopped working.

 

[mkrishnan]

So you can see the network and try to connect to it, but you get a failure to connect?

Try this: create a new "Location" by going to Network Preferences and clicking on the locations list box at the top and selecting new. I have no idea why this should work, but something similar happened with the network at school, and at the IT's behest, I tried this. It mysteriously resolved the problem.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

So you can see the network and try to connect to it, but you get a failure to connect?

Try this: create a new "Location" by going to Network Preferences and clicking on the locations list box at the top and selecting new. I have no idea why this should work, but something similar happened with the network at school, and at the IT's behest, I tried this. It mysteriously resolved the problem.

Thanks for tip. I tried this, but no luck. It's strange, when I try to connect to another open network, there is always a status update in Internet Connect that shows the steps (Connecting to network, renewing IP address, etc...) When I try to connect to my network nothing happens in the status update, until I get the error message.

Some further research shows that there is a known problem between my Netgear router and Airport Extreme cards that generate the same error I'm getting. I only have an older Airport card, but I'm trying to update the drivers for it to see if maybe that fixes my problem.

 

[mkrishnan]

Possible, but "known issues" are hard to blame when you had a working setup for two months.... You might also try resetting the router to factory defaults and setting up the network again, although that's a slight pain.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

Well it is back to working again. I downloaded the latest Airport Extreme software update and rebooted everything one more time and the Mac joined the network with no problem.

I have no idea why it stopped working in the first place, and even less idea why downloading software for a wireless card I don't own seemed to fix it, but it is working now.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Dylan

 

[barsad]

Thanks to mkrishnan for miracle router fix

I registered for this forum just to thank mkrishnan for this suggestion of creating a new location in Network Preferences (see below) on my Mac. I was pulling out my hair after my Linksys WRTG router would drop the connection (for both computers on the network) every 10 minutes, a problem some others have described. I have a Dell PC desktop and Mac TiPowerbook connected, and something just wasn't working.

Linksys tech support is useless on this, because they aren't trained in Macs (what kind of company ignores all of us Mac users?) After hours on the phone with them in two sessions, they gave up and told me to return the router. Instead, I simply read mkrishnan's suggestion about creating a New Location in Mac Network Preferences, and it miraculously cured the drop problem.

Thanks for saving me a lot of stress and extra time...

JG

So you can see the network and try to connect to it, but you get a failure to connect?

Try this: create a new "Location" by going to Network Preferences and clicking on the locations list box at the top and selecting new. I have no idea why this should work, but something similar happened with the network at school, and at the IT's behest, I tried this. It mysteriously resolved the problem.

 

[mkrishnan]

Awww...*blush* You're very welcome! And welcome to the family, Barsad! And hehehe, yeah, it drives me insane that I cannot understand why that trick works. But it does.

 

[barsad]

Back to Square 1!!

Mkrishnan -

Sadly, after working for a month this router conflict between XP and OS X is happening again, and this time no matter how many locations I delete or add from the Mac System Preferences - Network screen, it still hangs up. Any other possibilities here? I just don't see why this worked and then didn't work.

Awww...*blush* You're very welcome! And welcome to the family, Barsad! And hehehe, yeah, it drives me insane that I cannot understand why that trick works. But it does.