When the hell is Apple gonna fix the Wireless problem in Leopard?!

[HermanTheGerman]

We have been having trouble with our network dropping out randomly on us for the last couple of weeks. We have an iMac 2CD 10.5.2 and a trusty PBG4 10.4.11, both connected to an Airport Extreme.

The solution? Add OpenDNS server numbers to your set-up (someone has suggested a similar workaround, which worked for Leopard but not Tiger. This one worked for both).

System Prefs/Network/Aiport/Advanced/DNS

Then click on the + and type
208.67.222.222
Do the same again and type
208.67.220.220

Click OK. then Apply. If it's still dropping turn everything off and on and again. Let us all know if it works.

If you want to know who those numbers relate to, its all available here

https://www.opendns.com/

I have applied that about 20 minutes ago. Usually, I get a drop every second or third minute. However, everything has been fine. After five months there finally is light at the end of the tunnel.

You made my day, if not week, if not month. Your help is so much appreciated!

 

[thestaton]

This is driving me crazy, until 10.5.2 I never had a problem. Now I'm lucky if my MBP will stay connected for 10 minutes or more.

I have 7.3.1 on the APE. And all the updates on my MBP.

Please mother of god, fix this. Technically changing the dns server should not having anything to do with the connection dropping.

 

[HermanTheGerman]

This is driving me crazy, until 10.5.2 I never had a problem. Now I'm lucky if my MBP will stay connected for 10 minutes or more.

I have 7.3.1 on the APE. And all the updates on my MBP.

Please mother of god, fix this. Technically changing the dns server should not having anything to do with the connection dropping.

Did you give Matthew's advice a shot?

 

[JG271]

How long are the drop outs for you? Mine appears to stay connected, although pages lag up when loading and need to be refreshed.
Files just stop downloading but don't actually interrupt the download if you know what i mean; if anyone could respond, i'm trying to figure out if its just my awful internet or a leopard problem for me.
Thanks.

 

[HermanTheGerman]

How long are the drop outs for you? Mine appears to stay connected, although pages lag up when loading and need to be refreshed.
Files just stop downloading but don't actually interrupt the download if you know what i mean; if anyone could respond, i'm trying to figure out if its just my awful internet or a leopard problem for me.
Thanks.

I had both drops and lags. Internet would be fully accessible for a minute or two, then it would take the browser the double time to load a requested page. Eventually, I would get a time-out error message or a virtual drop.

 

[JG271]

Hmm, i don't get any time outs, but i have the other problems. I'll try directly connecting to my router and other things this weekend. Thanks for the reply.

 

[danieljoe]

this will be the second time i've written this message. first time, i did it on a PC and it crashed!

took my macbook down to the Regent Street Apple Store at the weekend. Spoke to a bloke called Steve. I sat there for 45 mins trying to get him to see that there was a problem with my computer however it performed like a dream. fastest i've ever seen it run and the wireless didnt drop once neither did I get the 'Connection Timeout' message once.

He said that he could take it off me and run it through a 'loop' diagnostics test to see whether it did it again but he wouldnt be able to fix something that wasnt broken. i even had to ask whether or not there was something in the macbooks that stopped them working correctly with other routers that aren't Apple. - i didnt want to do that but i have had to ask a similar question about ipod's that dont seem to last longer than a year...

when i went home, i tried different channels. Once i tried channel 7 it seemed to work okay. i could shut it down and it would restart fine and automatically connect fine... then it cut out again and has got worse.

i'm currently trying the 13 different channels for a day to see which one performs the best... cant believe i've come to this.

the guy also said that i wouldnt be able to downgrade to Tiger because the firmware in my computer is set for Leopard rather than Tiger. Anybody else gone from a leopard standard machine to a Tiger distro???

 

[stenosis.kill]

We have been having trouble with our network dropping out randomly on us for the last couple of weeks. We have an iMac 2CD 10.5.2 and a trusty PBG4 10.4.11, both connected to an Airport Extreme.

The solution? Add OpenDNS server numbers to your set-up (someone has suggested a similar workaround, which worked for Leopard but not Tiger. This one worked for both).

System Prefs/Network/Aiport/Advanced/DNS

Then click on the + and type
208.67.222.222
Do the same again and type
208.67.220.220

Click OK. then Apply. If it's still dropping turn everything off and on and again. Let us all know if it works.

If you want to know who those numbers relate to, its all available here

https://www.opendns.com/

Cant confirm that this work for me

 

[stvfisher]

I seemed to have fixed my wireless issues... I urge everyone to attempt this:

1. Turn your router off
2. Open Network inside System Preferences
3. Click on Airport, then 'Advanced' and delete all the Preferred Networks
using the "-" button.
4. Turn Airport Off in Menu Bar.
5. Open Keychain (Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access)
6. Find and delete all remembered passwords for your wireless network.
7. Trash com.apple.airport.preferences.plist & com.apple.network.identification.plist in Macintosh
HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
8. Restart Mac
9. Switch router on.

It's been 3 days and so far so good here!

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

My problems are worse than ever. Before the 10.5.2 update I would loose my connection once or twice a day. Now I'm not able to keep a connection for 10 minutes. iMac is about to meet iDumpster.

I think this proves it is software. There may be something hardware involved, but seeing as how the update is making things even worse for some people, while fixing it for others, shows that something is a little screwy in the software.

I posted that comment in February. The problem has been ongoing since the day Leopard come out and I upgraded to it. Strangely, though, the problem went away for a while and I thought it was fixed.

For the last three weeks I never had a single drop or slow down. Now, since yesterday, I get horrible slowdowns and drops. It has made WoW a nightmare to play since it started happening again.

My MacBook Pro, also running Leopard on the same network, has still never lost a connection since I bought it in December. At the times my iMac is struggling to finish loading a page or doesn't even see my network, the MacBook Pro is loading pages just fine.

Another strange thing, when my wireless drops on the iMac, I can't see any networks for a short period of time. It starts polling but doesn't show anything. Then finally the other surrounding networks show up, but my local doesn't. Then when I can finally see my local network I "time out" or "connection failed" trying to connect to it. Then when I can finally connect to it, I still can't load any pages. Eventually, it just starts working on its own. This is the routine that has happened about 5 times in the last 24 hours.

Considering that Apple has deleted or locked all of the posts on the topic on their forums, I am assuming the problem has no solution. At this point I'm not sure what to do. I'm not able to hook directly into the router due to the physical location of the computer. I can't take it to the Apple Store because I can't reproduce the problem on command. It sometimes works without issue for weeks at a time. What happens to throw it back into the pattern of drops is beyond my comprehension, and apparently Apple's. I was hoping the latest Airport update would fix it, but no deal. Also I installed the iMac firmware update today but the problem is still occurring.

 

[Benisio]

Strange things

So, I've D-link-624 at home and I also have problems with dropping internet connection there.
Two weeks ago I engaged in position of SysAdmin in a small company. They have a ZyXel Wi-Fi router there. It serves as access point. And I can't say, than I'd noticed connection's drop till the present tense.

 

[robotmonster]

aha a fix perhaps!?

I just upgraded to a Netgear WNR834B rangemax wireless N router. My wife is on pc I'm on mac. She thought it was great and worked perfect for her machine, my macbook pro wifi kept dropping out periodically. Ruined my skype connectivity and couldn't watch Hulu which I've just become addicted to. All the same problems I'm reading about. Did some research online and I found this link:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_...problems_using_Airport_in_OS_X_10.5.2_Leopard

Which had some interesting fixes including the first one which has you Log into your router and change the RTS (frame) and fragmentation threshold to 2306. The default setting is normally 2346.

I tried it and it fixed the dropouts but at 2306 I was getting abysmal speeds, So I tried a couple of different settings and finally I set it to 2335, now I've got pretty fantastic speeds and no noticeable wifi freezes or dropouts. And looking at activity monitor seems to be ok.

The router gave no information on the setting except that its an advanced setting and for testing purposes, but seems to have fixed the problem at least for now.

Anyone else play around with this setting have any better/worse success?

 

[darwinian]

Yet Another Fix (Your Furlonage May Vary)

Alright.

A lot of us, even in a Post-10.5.2 World in which wireless problems were in part or in whole alleviated, are continuing to struggle for whatever reason with dumb wireless problems. Here's my setup briefly and from initial testing, what looks to be a fix on my setup:

MBP 2.2 GHz 4 GB, 10.5.2 (9C7010)
D-Link DIR-615
-hidden SSID
-WPA/WPA2 Personal
-auto scanning channel
-MAC address filtering
-restricted IP space
-works fine with iPod touch, 1.1.3, connects automatically
-password required on login from sleep, screensaver, or initial boot

The MBP worked previously when I first upgraded to 10.5.2, but the problem returned when I recently did a clean install of OS X.

Particulars of the problem (briefly):
-Awaking from sleep/screensaver or logging in and no wireless network is automatically joined.
-Oh, that's pretty much it post-10.5.2, but it's terribly annoying.

The Fix For Me (courtesy of anonymous internet suggestion somewhere):
-Delete the Keychain Access item associated with the wireless network
-In System Preferences, delete the trusted network in question
-Turn airport off, give it some time, turn airport back on. It should not connect automatically to the problem network
-In System Preferences, make sure the lock is unlocked in the bottom left hand corner. Hit Airport and fin the Advanced ... button. Under here, find and add the network as previously (make sure the lock is unlocked, and make sure Airport is turned back on if this looks unavailable). Make sure to remember the network/password
-Press OK, apply all changes, and you should be connected again to the network.
-In Keychain Access, find the associated keychain item for the network. The kind is "AirPort network password." Right click it > Get info. In Get Info, go to the "Access Control" tab and allow all apps to access this item.

Restart, sleep, etc. etc. to see if the problem is reproduced or fixed.

NOW, the caveats. I don't know the full implications of this. I do know that I'd rather see a "proper" fix in which the applications that are granted access to this password are included automatically in that list. Originally was System Preferences and a nondescript item with a generic file icon called "Airport" which I suspect was improperly pointing to an abandoned item. Anyhow, if someone knows what the real item should be, I'd be happy to try and point the keychain access to that item specifically and not allow "all apps" access, unless of course it's your worm, in which case my password is "god" or "sex."

 

[robotmonster]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8130/4.3.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Follow up: still had the dropping out the next day.so I switched to wep and now it seems to be working properly.

 

[divacubed]

Thank you!

I seemed to have fixed my wireless issues... I urge everyone to attempt this:

1. Turn your router off
2. Open Network inside System Preferences
3. Click on Airport, then 'Advanced' and delete all the Preferred Networks
using the "-" button.
4. Turn Airport Off in Menu Bar.
5. Open Keychain (Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access)
6. Find and delete all remembered passwords for your wireless network.
7. Trash com.apple.airport.preferences.plist & com.apple.network.identification.plist in Macintosh
HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
8. Restart Mac
9. Switch router on.

It's been 3 days and so far so good here!

This seems to have done the trick, and thank you so much. This has been a nightmare, and my computers are crucial to my business right now.

Much appreciated, folks!

 

[tha80sbrat]

I read through the last four or five pages of the thread in the hopes someone found a solution.

My wireless connection started having problems this past weekend. It's totally weird. Before Sunday (had my blackbook since November), I have never had a wireless problem. Ever. Since then, I can't stay online with my home network.

It'll remember my neighbor's connection, but not mine. I get a connection timeout.

I even did a fresh install on Tuesday hoping it was an update that caused it...but it was a no go.

I was wondering, if I take it to an Apple store for them to try and fix, how much would they charge me??

It's that or I buy a new router and hope that fixes it.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

Consipracy Theory

tha80sbrat, I'm afraid that everytime a "solution" is found on this thread and others around the web it only seems to fix the problem for some people, not all. The more I read about this problem and people's various Mac and router configuration the more I'm convinced that there seems to be some kind of random element determining who will suffer the problem and who won't.

There just doesn't seem to be a pattern; people have talked about owning multiple Macs using the same router, same software and same settings. Yet one of them will work while the other won't. As for taking it into an Apple store, the inevitable thing that will happen will be that it will work perfectly well with their routers and hence they won't be able to diagnose a problem.

Unfortunately, the only guaranteed solution is to change routers (assuming you haven't tried different router settings as specified throughout this thread). Even then, what happens when you go to a public interent hotspot and you end up with the same problem - do you ask them to change their router as well?

Yes, it sucks cos we have to essentially pay to buy a new router and thus are paying for Apple's mistake. The worst thing though is that, as you may have heard, Apple have been shutting down threads on their own site talking about this problem. You have to ask yourself, do they even care or are they just trying to cover up this whole problem?

 

[fluidedge]

i wouldn't say changing your router was a sure solution at all. I've changed router, as have others, and it hasn't made a difference.

I think it's a bug thats really deep within 10.5 and probably won't/can't be fixed until 10.6

 

[tha80sbrat]

tha80sbrat, I'm afraid that everytime a "solution" is found on this thread and others around the web it only seems to fix the problem for some people, not all. The more I read about this problem and people's various Mac and router configuration the more I'm convinced that there seems to be some kind of random element determining who will suffer the problem and who won't.

There just doesn't seem to be a pattern; people have talked about owning multiple Macs using the same router, same software and same settings. Yet one of them will work while the other won't. As for taking it into an Apple store, the inevitable thing that will happen will be that it will work perfectly well with their routers and hence they won't be able to diagnose a problem.

Unfortunately, the only guaranteed solution is to change routers (assuming you haven't tried different router settings as specified throughout this thread). Even then, what happens when you go to a public interent hotspot and you end up with the same problem - do you ask them to change their router as well?

Yes, it sucks cos we have to essentially pay to buy a new router and thus are paying for Apple's mistake. The worst thing though is that, as you may have heard, Apple have been shutting down threads on their own site talking about this problem. You have to ask yourself, do they even care or are they just trying to cover up this whole problem?

Thanks for the reply.

I just thought it was weird that for the last five months I've had no problems, then all of sudden it no longer works.

I have a Dell desktop, PS3, 360, and Wii all using the router without any problems so I know it isn't really the router. Plus, my Macbook worked flawlessly with the same router until this past Sunday. I'm not sure whether I should just wait for 10.5.3 and hope for the best, or go out and get a new router now.

It's frustrating that I can't use the wireless connection...it's the reason why I bought a laptop.

Do you guys know when we should be expecting 10.5.3? I think the front page stopped reporting on the software updates.

 

[tha80sbrat]

i wouldn't say changing your router was a sure solution at all. I've changed router, as have others, and it hasn't made a difference.

I think it's a bug thats really deep within 10.5 and probably won't/can't be fixed until 10.6

I can connect to all other networks fine though. You don't think buying a new router will fix it?

 

[Neutral Gamer]

By the Eye of Thundera ...

i wouldn't say changing your router was a sure solution at all. I've changed router, as have others, and it hasn't made a difference.

I think it's a bug thats really deep within 10.5 and probably won't/can't be fixed until 10.6

Do you guys know when we should be expecting 10.5.3? I think the front page stopped reporting on the software updates.

Damn, I thought that by now there might have been at least one *semi* solution to the problem, looks like it was wishful thinking on my part! This is ridiculous, I remember when I first set this thread up and we were all sitting there waiting for 10.5.1 to fix the problem(!). Now people are waiting for 10.5.3!

I can't believe after all these months, people are still having issues. Seriously though, fluidedge, I hope people aren't gonna have to wait until 10.6 for the final fix. This whole problem started (for most of us) with Leopard's introduction, having to wait for the next big cat to turn up is a joke.

There's only one group of cats that can help us now ...

 

[bigcat318]

robotmonster's suggestions fixed my room mates wireless issues on his MBP.

 

[tha80sbrat]

Well, I bought a new router yesterday (Thursday) and I've been surfing for about two hours without any interruption (knock on wood). I would have had more time, but I had a hard time configuring my router (all I had to do was unplug my modem, but of course the so called setup didn't say jack about that).

Hopefully, my issue is resolved and that 10.5.3 doesn't break what I just fixed.

Hey and it only cost me 90 bucks to fix the problem.

 

[fluidedge]

i don't know what the problem is, but i bet a million dollars Apple do - but they can't fix it for some reason. It's like they're trying to fit too much carpet into room thats too small. You can flatten out the problem in one area and it just pops up in another corner - meaning whatever releases they put out work for some people but then break it for others. Trying one method might work for a bit but then the 'fix' exposes a hole somewhere else.

I really think it must be something fundamentally wrong with the fabric of 10.5 for them to have not completely resolved it after 6 months.

 

[tha80sbrat]

i don't know what the problem is, but i bet a million dollars Apple do - but they can't fix it for some reason. It's like they're trying to fit too much carpet into room thats too small. You can flatten out the problem in one area and it just pops up in another corner - meaning whatever releases they put out work for some people but then break it for others. Trying one method might work for a bit but then the 'fix' exposes a hole somewhere else.

I really think it must be something fundamentally wrong with the fabric of 10.5 for them to have not completely resolved it after 6 months.

After testing the new router with the Macbook for the entire morning, I've realized two things:

1. I can get a connection that doesn't dropout. So that's good news. I guess.

2. The bad news is...the signal from my Macbook isn't that great. I put my laptop right next to the router and the signal isn't full strength. My connection speed has suffered because of it. I can barely get download speeds of 10-20 kb/sec.

I'm just crossing my fingers that 10.5.3 is going to fix this problem for all our sakes. I've read in many places that it should resolve the airport issues once and for all.

For now, I'll take my 8kb/sec connection over nothing at all over wi-fi.