My girlfriend recently bought a mb and is not able to connect to the internet using the ethernet cord. The Toshiba her family has at home is able to connect to the internet using the cord. Is there any restriction on the mb that would prevent it from connecting to the internet right out of the box? Is this possibly a hardware issue?
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Not able to connect to the internet
- Thread starter jnguyen
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More information would help us diagnose the problem. If she goes to System Preferences --> Network and chooses "Network Status" from the "Show:" drop-down menu, what does it say under Built-In Ethernet? What color ball does she have there, does it say she's connected to the Internet and does it list an IP address?
Is she using the same ethernet cable that the family PC is using, meaning she disconnects the Toshiba and plugs in the Macbook?
If she is and the ethernet cable is coming directly from the cable modem (I'm assuming cable ISP), then that's the problem. You need to power off the modem and turn it back on after every change. This will release the IP address and renew it when turned back on. The IP lease is tied to a specific device, so it needs to reset after changing the device (in this case, the Macbook).
ft
If she is and the ethernet cable is coming directly from the cable modem (I'm assuming cable ISP), then that's the problem. You need to power off the modem and turn it back on after every change. This will release the IP address and renew it when turned back on. The IP lease is tied to a specific device, so it needs to reset after changing the device (in this case, the Macbook).
ft
I'm not quite understanding what you're saying. You say that she "has excellent connection" and then you say that she can't connect. Can you provide a bit more detail about what's happening?
thats exactly what's going on, she'll have excellent conneciton to the router within the home, however the mb will respond saying that you're not connected to the internet. is there a software restriction similar to a firewall?
Okay...you originally said she couldn't connect to the wireless router (after saying that she could), but now you say that she can't connect to the internet. That makes more sense. 
I'm not an expert in diagnosing these things, but I've found that DNS issues are often the source of things like this. Go to System Preferences --> Network, then choose AirPort from the "Show:" drop-down menu. Then click on the TCP/IP subpane. Does she have stuff listed in the "DNS Servers" field? If yes, make a note of the addresses (in case you need to put them back later), and then try deleting them. See if that allows her to connect to the internet.
If that doesn't work, I'll have to leave further troubleshooting to someone else.
I'm not an expert in diagnosing these things, but I've found that DNS issues are often the source of things like this. Go to System Preferences --> Network, then choose AirPort from the "Show:" drop-down menu. Then click on the TCP/IP subpane. Does she have stuff listed in the "DNS Servers" field? If yes, make a note of the addresses (in case you need to put them back later), and then try deleting them. See if that allows her to connect to the internet.
If that doesn't work, I'll have to leave further troubleshooting to someone else.