urgent help please - problem with aiport and internet

[iminimac]

Hey
I have a problem with my internet when using our airport extreme base station. I set it up a while ago and ever since we have had big problems with it. The network appears to work normal but the internet doesnt.

The problems with it I have are:

1. The iTunes store wont connect

2. I have many problems on safari. Some websites take about 3 minutes to load. Some websites dont work atall. Many websites have faults and images do not load.

The most common problem is that the page takes about 3 minutes to load (myspace in paticular). It presents me with a white screen but infact sometimes infact if I press reload i get a second or 2 of the correct page so something is wrong.

Talking on MSN works fine but it is just the internet.

I am not sure if it is a simple setting or not. Any ideas?
I am able to post pictures of the settings for the airport but I do not know if it is safe to put up those settings?

Thanks, David

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I have had this problem before. The fix I use is unplugging the AirPort Extreme base station, waiting a few seconds, and plugging it back in. It keeps coming back, though. Highly annoying, but at least there's a workaround.

 

[iminimac]

I have had this problem before. The fix I use is unplugging the AirPort Extreme base station, waiting a few seconds, and plugging it back in. It keeps coming back, though. Highly annoying, but at least there's a workaround.

Yes, whenever my internet stops working I do that, but unfortunately it doesnt fix the internet problem.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Yes, whenever my internet stops working I do that, but unfortunately it doesnt fix the internet problem.

Sounds to me like the issue is with Safari, and not with your AirPort connection. Do you have any Safari extensions installed (Saft, PithHelmet, etc.)? Those could be part of the problem.

To test this, try two different browsers:

Shiira (or any other WebKit browser, using the same engine as Safari)
Firefox or Camino (or any other non-WebKit browser)

Do things work any better under an alternate browser? If they do, then either Safari is messed up somehow (if both tests work) or WebKit (if only the second test works).

 

[iminimac]

Sounds to me like the issue is with Safari, and not with your AirPort connection. Do you have any Safari extensions installed (Saft, PithHelmet, etc.)? Those could be part of the problem.

To test this, try two different browsers:

Shiira (or any other WebKit browser, using the same engine as Safari)
Firefox or Camino (or any other non-WebKit browser)

Do things work any better under an alternate browser? If they do, then either Safari is messed up somehow (if both tests work) or WebKit (if only the second test works).

I've tried it before on omniweb and internet explorer. Both had the same problems.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I've tried it before on omniweb and internet explorer. Both had the same problems.

Hmm... how good is your AirPort connection? Poor connection quality can be a cause of these sorts of issues.

To check this, open Internet Connect in your applications folder and check the number of bars in the AirPort tab. More is better.

If it's low, or fluctuates, consider enabling Interference Robustness or getting an AirPort Express and setting it up as a repeater. I got an AirPort Express, and it solved my connection quality issues. My Internet connection also was better behaved after that change, and didn't take ages to load pages or randomly drop content.

 

[iminimac]

Hmm... how good is your AirPort connection? Poor connection quality can be a cause of these sorts of issues.

To check this, open Internet Connect in your applications folder and check the number of bars in the AirPort tab. More is better.

If it's low, or fluctuates, consider enabling Interference Robustness or getting an AirPort Express and setting it up as a repeater. I got an AirPort Express, and it solved my connection quality issues. My Internet connection also was better behaved after that change, and didn't take ages to load pages or randomly drop content.

my internet connection is fine, about 3/4s at the moment.
I may consider setting up an airport express for that but i still have the feeling it has to be some sort of setting because of the fact the pages actually load i think, but the screen still appears white.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

my internet connection is fine, about 3/4s at the moment.
I may consider setting up an airport express for that but i still have the feeling it has to be some sort of setting because of the fact the pages actually load i think, but the screen still appears white.

Alright, your connection is fine - that clearly isn't the problem. Nor is it your web browser, since you said that other browsers experience the exact same issues. That leaves two possible causes:

• Other traffic using your wireless connection slowing things down
• Your internet connection is slow or unreliable, due to issues that aren't on your end

I'm not sure what the best way to investigate the first cause is, and for the second, you'll have to contact your Internet Service Provider.

 

[iminimac]

Alright, your connection is fine - that clearly isn't the problem. Nor is it your web browser, since you said that other browsers experience the exact same issues. That leaves two possible causes:

• Other traffic using your wireless connection slowing things down
• Your internet connection is slow or unreliable, due to issues that aren't on your end

I'm not sure what the best way to investigate the first cause is, and for the second, you'll have to contact your Internet Service Provider.

Hmmm. Its confusing. Im only 14 so most of these things are a bit out of my level. I dont know if it is something about my isp because of my router. The router is connected by ethernet to a desktop of ours and it works perfectly with the internet. So I am really not sure. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[jsw]

If you plug the laptop into the ethernet cable that currently is used by the desktop, do speeds increase?

If so, then you know it's not your laptop. It might be the AirPort, it might be a bad cable, and it might be the router failing to send traffic to the AirPort properly.

Also, you probably want to make sure that the following settings are used on your AirPort (use Applications->Utilities->AirPort Admin Utility, pick the AirPort, and click the Configure icon):

AirPort tab:
* Wireless mode: create a wireless network (home router)
* you might also want to change the channel its using

Internet tab:
* connect using: ethernet
* configure: using DHCP (you might need to set it up manually, but that's unlikely); be sure the DNS settings point either to your router or known DNS servers
* WAN ethernet port: default

Network tab:
* everything unchecked

If none of that works, you might need to set your DNS settings differently on your Mac (System Preferences...->Network->Airport->TCP/IP).

 

[iminimac]

If you plug the laptop into the ethernet cable that currently is used by the desktop, do speeds increase?

If so, then you know it's not your laptop. It might be the AirPort, it might be a bad cable, and it might be the router failing to send traffic to the AirPort properly.

Also, you probably want to make sure that the following settings are used on your AirPort (use Applications->Utilities->AirPort Admin Utility, pick the AirPort, and click the Configure icon):

AirPort tab:
* Wireless mode: create a wireless network (home router)
* you might also want to change the channel its using

Internet tab:
* connect using: ethernet
* configure: using DHCP (you might need to set it up manually, but that's unlikely); be sure the DNS settings point either to your router or known DNS servers
* WAN ethernet port: default

Network tab:
* everything unchecked

If none of that works, you might need to set your DNS settings differently on your Mac (System Preferences...->Network->Airport->TCP/IP).

Yey, I changed the network tab setting as I had distrubute IP address or something. Now pages have no errors and the internet is quicker. Thank You