Two new Macs can't connect to wireless at same time

[jimbobaggins]

Hi,

Got two brand new Macs yesterday - a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, both Core 2 Duo. Only problem is, they can't both connect to our Netgear DG834G wireless router at the same time. We go through the channels, and some of them one can connect to, some the other can, but never at the same time. Haven't changed any settings, both connected at work to a different router (Linksys) - is there something obvious I'm missing? When one connects, it works fine, instantly pops onto the router without having to do anything. I realise the DG834G is quite old now, and the Linksys at work is a recent model, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Cheers,

James

 

[JNB]

Hi,

Got two brand new Macs yesterday - a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, both Core 2 Duo. Only problem is, they can't both connect to our Netgear DG834G wireless router at the same time. We go through the channels, and some of them one can connect to, some the other can, but never at the same time. Haven't changed any settings, both connected at work to a different router (Linksys) - is there something obvious I'm missing? When one connects, it works fine, instantly pops onto the router without having to do anything. I realise the DG834G is quite old now, and the Linksys at work is a recent model, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Assuming you're assigning addy's via DHCP, how many is the router handing out? Did you sometime in the past restrict the number of addresses available? (I always do that on my routers as another layer of defense).

 

[jimbobaggins]

Assuming you're assigning addy's via DHCP, how many is the router handing out? Did you sometime in the past restrict the number of addresses available? (I always do that on my routers as another layer of defense).

Yup, DHCP, but I didn't restrict it. Had two Macs connected before at the same time, an iBook G4 and Powerbook G4, sometimes a third. It's all completely open, no security now, I even tried turning off MAC address filtering.

 

[JNB]

Yup, DHCP, but I didn't restrict it. Had two Macs connected before at the same time, an iBook G4 and Powerbook G4, sometimes a third. It's all completely open, no security now, I even tried turning off MAC address filtering.

Hmm. This is going to sound bizarre, but it's late. Look at the network settings for both Macs and make sure the MAC address on each adapter is different. In theory, they can't be duplucated at the manufacturing level, but it has happened. They normally can't be altered through built-in utilities, but they can be altered, nonetheless.

BTW, are you connecting them both wired, both wireless, or mixed?

 

[jimbobaggins]

Hmm. This is going to sound bizarre, but it's late. Look at the network settings for both Macs and make sure the MAC address on each adapter is different. In theory, they can't be duplucated at the manufacturing level, but it has happened. They normally can't be altered through built-in utilities, but they can be altered, nonetheless.

BTW, are you connecting them both wired, both wireless, or mixed?

Different MAC addresses, I had to type them in several times so I remember Both are wireless, haven't tried wired. The two older Macs were wireless too.

 

[JNB]

Different MAC addresses, I had to type them in several times so I remember Both are wireless, haven't tried wired. The two older Macs were wireless too.

Try one wireless/one wired, and both wired. Brain's a little foggy and I sense an obvious solution, but it's just out of reach. I don't know that router at all, but they're all relatively the same.

It does sound like you've eliminated the most apparent stuff: DHCP limits, MAC cloning, MAC filtering.

You could reset it to factory defaults & reconfigure - just copy or save the config you've got & blow it out. I have heard of a few other posters complaining of similar issues replacing machines on an existing network. I'm just guessing now.

 

[seanf]

Try resetting the router to factory settings (either press and hold the little button on the back for a few seconds or through the admin software) and see if you still get the same problem. If you do still get the same problem, are you able to connect the laptops at the same time if you connect one via wireless and one wired?

[EDIT]Or read the post from JohnNotBeatle that appeared whilst I was writing this [/EDIT]

Sean

 

[jimbobaggins]

Thanks for these, I'll try them both. Just discovered also that the router needs a firmware upgrade, it's still on its original firmware... Been working fine until now, so it never occurred to me. I'll give the reset and one wired one wireless things a go first, see what happens.