I connect to the same wireless network every day, it has worked fine for months. Now for no apparent reason even though I can still connect, no pages load in any browsers. My Mac thinks it is connected to the network, but nothing loads. It is not a problem with the network as my phone and other work laptop connect to it just fine, so it is a problem with my Mac. I have tried removing the network in preferences by pressing the minus button, but no different. I can still connect to other networks with the Mac. I have also tried renewing the DHCP lease, also no difference. Any idea why this could be happening?
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Weird wi-fi issue
- Thread starter eddjedi
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Do you control the network? Or is it a public or work network?
If it is your network, reboot everything, router, modem, Mac.
If it is work or public, find out if the network admin is blocking your Mac for some reason, like MAC Address filtering. Check to see if the IP Address is valid (not 169.x.x.x), if it is 169.x.x.x, then your Mac is being prohibited from access to the network. Either you visited the wrong sites, or some IT guy is messing with you.
Also, make sure the DNS servers in the Advanced WiFi settings are not populated manually with something the network blocks.
If it is your network, reboot everything, router, modem, Mac.
If it is work or public, find out if the network admin is blocking your Mac for some reason, like MAC Address filtering. Check to see if the IP Address is valid (not 169.x.x.x), if it is 169.x.x.x, then your Mac is being prohibited from access to the network. Either you visited the wrong sites, or some IT guy is messing with you.
Also, make sure the DNS servers in the Advanced WiFi settings are not populated manually with something the network blocks.
Thanks for the suggestions. It is a public wi-fi spot so sadly no access to the router (it is on the train I get to work every day.) Strangely some websites do work, others part-work (eg load without images) and some won't load at all. The ones that don't work include Google and work on my phone, so I'm sure this is related to my laptop rather than the network. There is nothing strange looking in my DNS settings.
On the Mac, you can create network profiles (Locations). When you are connected to the train WiFi, try manually setting the DNS to known good public DNS servers such as Google (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), Comcast (75.75.75.75 and 75.75.76.76), or Open DNS (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220), or whatever DNS servers your home network uses (such as Charter, Verizon, etc). If one of these works on the train, save the Location as something like Train. Whenever you connect the Mac on the train, select that location if Automatic doesn't detect it.
Locations are created in Network Preferences, instructions here.
Hmm, any DNS server that is legit should work. Where are you located?
DNS is used to resolve host names, www.google.com is a host name for a server with the address of 74.125.28.99. But, it is far easier to remember the google.com than the actual address. Without DNS, nothing works unless you know the numeric addresses, DNS does the work for you.
Start with the IP Address you get when you connect to the train WiFi. If you are getting an address like 169.x.x.x, then the DHCP server on that WiFi network is not giving your Mac a valid address. If it is something close to the address you get on mobile devices, then it is something else.
Your Mac's WiFi Advanced Settings should have the IPV4 and IPV6 (on the TCP/IP tab) set to Using DHCP and Automatic. On the DNS tab, remove anything in the DNS Server list and toggle WiFi off\on to retry if you make any changes. With DHCP enabled, the DHCP server should be giving your Mac at least one DNS server in the negotiation. Go back to these settings to see what the DHCP server gives the Mac and then open Terminal and type "ping [DNS Server IP]" (for example, ping 75.75.75.75, if successful, then "ping www.google.com". If either ping test fails, you cannot connect to anything on the web.
Does the Train WiFi require you to go through a web page when you first connect? If so, maybe try turning off pop up blocker on your default browser before connecting, to ensure the WiFi authentication page displays properly. Many public networks have these authentication pages just to make you acknowledge terms of use if not use an actual signon.
Next, on WiFi Advanced Properties, click the Proxies tab and make sure it is either set to Auto Proxy Discovery, or everything unchecked. If proxies are required at some locations like work, you will fail if it is used on public networks as they will be unable to reach the proxy server. This is when Location profiles are useful, they allow you to have different settings for different environments.
Finally, if you can ping www.google.com but can't connect with your browser, check your browser network settings. Safari and Chrome use the Mac Network settings, but Firefox can be configured with it's own Proxy settings. So, try another browser if ping works but your default browser doesn't.
Thanks again for the detailed reply. I'm in the UK. Here's the address it is assigning itself: 10.101.2.1
I've tried just changing the last number but that doesn't work either. Yes it does require authentication via a pop-up, that works fine. I have also tried different browsers (Safari, Chrome.) It just seems to have stopped 'liking' some websites, but I find it hard to believe they would be deliberately filtering Google and the BBC, two of the most popular sites. At least Mac Rumors works though
I've tried just changing the last number but that doesn't work either. Yes it does require authentication via a pop-up, that works fine. I have also tried different browsers (Safari, Chrome.) It just seems to have stopped 'liking' some websites, but I find it hard to believe they would be deliberately filtering Google and the BBC, two of the most popular sites. At least Mac Rumors works though
Is the address the DHCP server is giving you (10.101.2.1) the DNS or the IP for your Mac? If it is DNS, can you ping it?
I think you said you have no issues with your work laptop and phone? Try comparing IP Address and DNS servers on these devices to the Mac to see if there is a difference.
What macOS version are you running? Try updating if not current, there were some network issues with some of the DNS related packages on recent OS versions.
I think you said you have no issues with your work laptop and phone? Try comparing IP Address and DNS servers on these devices to the Mac to see if there is a difference.
What macOS version are you running? Try updating if not current, there were some network issues with some of the DNS related packages on recent OS versions.