Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

problems with wireless internet access in OSX

L

loztheguru

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 7, 2006
86
0
Im having trouble connecting to my wireless internet connection. I can connect to the wireless network in my house fine, but im being assigned an incorrect ip. My network status tells me this is a self assigned ip, however the settings are set to DHCP. Even if I click renew lease, it doesnt change. Im getting an IP beggining with 169, whereas all the other windows users in the house are getting ips of 192. Ive reached the end of my tether with this, ive no idea whats wrong. Its not hardware related, as I can connect fine in windows (which i am using now).

Anyone out there got any tips? Ive never had this sort of problem before in os x.
 
The "169" is just a default. Also used for computer to computer.

What kind of router? Is it possible that it has exceeded the number of IP's it can distribute? Depends on the range the DHCP server has been give. One cause for the could be leases not expiring, leaving old IP's in the list.

If you have access to the router, you should be able to look at the current DHCP server IP asssignment list.
 
That is a self-assigned IP address. The NIC assigns it when there's either no response from the DHCP server, or no timely response from the DHCP server. So, there's a couple of things to try.
Is it your wifi in the house or does someone else manage it?
Is it possibly filtering by MAC address? (MAC = Media Access Control)
Are you using a firewall on the Mac that might be blocking the DHCP reply to port 68?
 
ive got access to the router, its a linksys if that makes any difference. Its not exceeding teh number of IP addresses, up to 50 can be assigned. The starting ip on the router is 192.168.1.100. mac address filtering is off. Ive fiddled around with the router and it doesnt seem to be a problem there, especially as I can connect in windows. As for firewall, ive not installed one, so unless osx comes with one as standard?

I used this laptop before to acces the internet on this router, so i really cant understand the problem. Im at my wits end!

BTW: is there a better section of the forum for this?
 
loztheguru said:
As for firewall, ive not installed one, so unless osx comes with one as standard?
Click to expand...

It does, but it's off by default.

What do the logs say about the issue? Use /Applications/Utilities/Console.app to look at them.

Are there any logs on the router (unlikely) that might lead to a resolution? Are you using WPA or WEP?

loztheguru said:
BTW: is there a better section of the forum for this?
Click to expand...

Meh, maybe https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/78/

Private Message a mod and ask them to move it if you want.
 
no wpa or wep, and i cant see anything on the logs. Ive even tried assigning 1 static ip to the router, and entering it manually and yet still no joy.
 
its a core duo macbook running 10.4.8, and yep, the ssid is in the menu bar.
 
loztheguru said:
and i cant see anything on the logs.
Click to expand...

Litterally or nothing stands out?

As a longshot, give us the results of:

sudo ipfw list

Code: 
yellow% sudo ipfw list
65535 allow ip from any to any

It will ask for your admin password (don't worry, nothing will show up when you type it), hit return and check the results.

If it looks the same as above, "65535 allow ip from any to any" then the built-in firewall (ipfw2) is not an issue at all.
 
yep, allow from any to any. my friend had a similar problem with windows and suggested clearing the winsock. what do people reckon? is it even mac applicable?
 
Am i at a dead end here? is a format the only option left, as my mac is basically uselss if i can only get online via windows!
 
Have you tried deleting the WEP/WPA key/password from your keychain and re-entering it very carefully? I had a router one time that, if you typed the WEP key wrong, it'd let you connect, just wouldn't give you an IP. That was very confusing to me too—I assumed if you got the key wrong, it'd just kick you off. I actually had to call tech support, embarrassingly enough. :p
 
alas never used a wep or wpa key, its a relatively new setup. What i dont understand is why I can connetc in xp but not osx. Surely this points to the problem lying with osx and not my router?
 
killmoms said:
Have you tried deleting the WEP/WPA key/password from your keychain and re-entering it very carefully? I had a router one time that, if you typed the WEP key wrong, it'd let you connect, just wouldn't give you an IP. That was very confusing to me too—I assumed if you got the key wrong, it'd just kick you off. I actually had to call tech support, embarrassingly enough. :p
Click to expand...

I've had this happen to me. It took me about 2 hours to find my mistake!
Although the Airport icon in the menu bar says you're connected, the Mac can't connect to the DHCP and so assigns itself a default 169.… address.

I also have a related problem. At home I can connect without problem to the wireless network on my POwerbook, but when my girlfriend uses her Windows laptop then every so often, perhaps once an hour, my Mac will loose it's connection and revert to a self assigned IP address, ie 169.etc. Again, strangely, the Airport icon in the menu bar shows the Mac is connected. Most times I can fix this by turning the Airport off and on then hitting renew lease etc, but sometimes it can take a lot off attempts. I think these problems started since a neighbour's LiveBox network has appeared. It's only visible on the Windows laptop though, my Mac doesn't see it for some reason.

Anyway I've solved the problem for now by putting her laptop on an ethernet connection to the router ... ha!

b e n
 
No security on the router, ive connected to other wireless networks and also to this one before. Ive not tried with an ehternet cable on this particular network yet.
 
I don't think a reinstall is necessary as a step just yet.

You never answered this question:

yellow said:
Litterally or nothing stands out?
Click to expand...

What is in the logs? There has to be some indication of it attempting to connect to the wireless connection. Have you tried creating a new location document?
 
You say you have in the past connected to another network using wireless on the Mac, can you re-try on that other network. If successful that would indicate the problem is not on the Mac side.
Try changing to a different channel on the router then rebooting with no other PC connected.
Try to get close to the router for maximum signal strength.
On the Mac try disabling Bluetooth and rebooting.
Are there any other wireless networks in the vicinity?
As 1. it *may* cause interference 2. if it's open you could try a test connection.

Apple has info here on Airport troubleshooting http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106879
And here is a good procedure for connecting to a Linksys router http://homepage.mac.com/car1son/initial_linksys_setup.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back