Filed under: Hardware, Troubleshooting, Apple
Apple Support doc on Intel Macs and 3rd party routers: "just restart it"
Well this doesn't sound like any fun: enough Intel Macs running 10.4.8 must be having a problem connecting wirelessly to some 3rd party routers that Apple had to publish a support doc on the topic. As icing on the cake, Apple's solution isn't a pretty one either. If your Intel Mac is having this problem, here's Apple's solution: restart the router. If that doesn't fix the problem, Apple then recommends calling the router's manufacturer to spend 45 minutes on hold, getting tossed around between operators who probably dish out the same troubleshooting technique, just like the books taught 'em.Not exactly the most effective solution I've ever heard to a problem like this, but I guess one must take what one can get - at least until one can download Mac OS X 10.4.9.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tony said 11:44PM on 11-30-2006
I had this issue with my C2D (in fact I called Apple today) and they're going to take it in for service. I am not sure what they're going to do, but they didn't tell me to reset my router.
I also found http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303712 document on apple.com/support which suggests, ultimately, calling Apple.
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Tony said 11:49PM on 11-30-2006
On second thought, this appears to be a seperate issue.
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adamvansmack said 11:52PM on 11-30-2006
Go figure - my MacBook Pro running 10.4.8 connects just fine and my Intel iMac running 10.4.7 is the one experiencing this problem. Router is DLink DI-524.
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Bryan said 12:12AM on 12-01-2006
I've had this problem connecting to my friend's Linksys WRT54G using WPA. I can't even connect like the support article says. What makes this especially odd is that I can connect to my WRT54G using WPA just fine. I figured it was just a weird problem with their router.
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Joshua Ochs said 12:11AM on 12-01-2006
Meanwhile, I have constant problems connecting my MacBook Pro with 10.4.8 to an Apple Airport Extreme, but he iBook on 10.4.8 has no such problems. Not to mention, the Airport Extreme must be rebooted every few days when it simply stops working with wireless. Plenty of discussion on Apple's boards about that, too.
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Samual Icky said 11:07AM on 12-01-2006
I have one of the rest Intel iMacs and from day one I've had wi-fi issues... if I put my iMac to sleep the wi-fi crashes... and yes apple suggest I replace the linksys box with an base station just to see if the problem also exist... yes the router will crash the wi-fi drivers... yea right.
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Gandhi said 12:29AM on 12-01-2006
I have the Buffalo MIMO router, and I have not had any problems connecting to it on my MB CD1 running 10.4.8. Only problem is that the MB does not automatically connect to the roter after a restart, though it has no such problems when coming out of sleep after a log off. But no biggie - I just connect to my network, and dont have to worry about re-entering the WPA password.
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Matt said 12:38AM on 12-01-2006
not having any problems with my Rev A MBP 1.83 on my Belkin Pre-N using WPA2, and the same goes for my PBG4 12in 1.5... the odd thing is my self-built business PC running Vista Corporate RTM is having some disconnecting issues... nevertheless, I will be purchasing an AirPort Extreme no later than the release of iTV - I just like the Apple name :D
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Daniel said 12:38AM on 12-01-2006
I have a MacBook Pro and a Linksys router and have this problem occasionally- I'd say once every few weeks. In fact it just happened last night. Unfortunately, for some reason, WPA won't even work longer than 5 minutes or so. Then I have to re-select my network and re-enter the password.
So right now I'm stuck with WEP.
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derek said 12:44AM on 12-01-2006
and you posted this... why? why don't you go ahead and post every other Apple support doc, why don't you?
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Jack said 1:13AM on 12-01-2006
Same thing happens in my dorm. My room-mate's MBP has real trouble connecting to our access point (DWL-G700AP) after going to class and falling asleep without an access point connected. A restart of his MBP usually reconnects him, but he's given up on that and is really lazy about restarting, so he just uses straight ethernet and/or connects to a neighbor's AP.
On the other hand, every-body else's laptop, a mixed variety, including my PB and a friend's iBook, have no trouble what-so-ever with the thing.
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Mark D. said 2:18AM on 12-01-2006
derek: Because this is one issue that has been rather notable, like the whine that came from early MBPs or the fan/heating issues with MBs, only this one has a wider base of systems affected.
As for the issue in the support doc; I've never had issues getting an IP from the router, the issue is with saying connected and though 10.4.8 reduced disconnects it didn't fix it totally. I still think it has some bug with properly attempting to reconnect since in XP it does fine for hours upon hours at a time. I've switched to ethernet to end this issue temporarily (and it makes my rdesktop and TightVNC speeds phenomenally smooth, which is great for freeing up the second monitor for the MBP.)
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Steiner said 3:19AM on 12-01-2006
I got a C2D MBP, and could connect to the AIRPORT base station with no problem, even with all security measures in place.
But at home it was a different issue, I have a belking 54g wieless router and could not get as connection. My G5 iMac was fine though.
I called belkin and they said to restart the router but that did not help. Then they asked me to use a fixed manua address and specific DNS addresses specified in the network prference and suddenly all is fine on a basic connection but both WPA and WEP as well as MAC address filtering are not functioning at all. I havenow manully assigned a few open DHCP clients to get the minimum security I could.
Well at least I can connect to the net at home again. I hope this gets sorted in 10.4.9 and we don't repeat this in Tiger!
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LittleJoe said 3:40AM on 12-01-2006
I myself had huge problems connecting my MBP to a linksys router. And of course the linksys support was total crap.
Ive got it going now but it won't let me use WAP... only WEP.
GRRRRRR
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Matt A said 6:30AM on 12-01-2006
a lot of Wireless routers with broadcom chips, or the Atheros chipsets are just being updated. In fact linksys have only just updated their drivers for the WRT45G in the past month, and netgears WPNT834 finally got its firmware upgrade at the beginning of november - after 7 damned months of trawling the forums.
Your best bet is to keep a solid eye on your routers firmware page.
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Kenny said 3:51AM on 12-01-2006
I had this problem with an Intel iMac and the Netgear router pictured- WPA drops out frequently (once a day at least), whereas WEP seems to work ok.
Apple should address this, it's obviously a widespread issue.
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Hessi said 4:28AM on 12-01-2006
hmm, interesting, I seem to be the only one having problems with MBP and WRT54G using WEP. The MBP drops the connection sometime between one minute and 1 day (more often in the minute range, unfortunately). Since changing to WPA, no problems whatsoever.
Unfortunately, both my Zaurus and my Palm need a WEP network, so I bought a second AP. :-(
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Micha10589 said 4:36AM on 12-01-2006
I'm not affected by these problems yet - have an iBook G4 with a Draytek router (wireless works flawlessly) - but I'm thinking of buying an iMac today, as we're having the Apple special sale today in Germany. I have to say I'm very concerned about this problem, the easy connections to wireless networks always was one of the magical Apple capabilities.
My question is - didn't these problems start when Apple shipped the new Airport card with unofficial support of 802.11 n? I'm thinking that could be the responsible party. I'm thinking if it were a problem with 10.4.8, they would have offered an update by now, at least with the security update just days ago. So I guess it is a hardware problem.
In that case I guess I should hold off with my acquisition plans.
What do you think?
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PM said 4:46AM on 12-01-2006
I've have mixed results with my MBP.
At home, no problems at all with my Netgear router and WPA. At a friend's place, no problems with his Airport router. No problems at McDonalds. But another friend has a really high end Netgear box (over a grand) and the MPB has major issues. It connects fine. But if it goes to sleep, it loses the entire settings for that wireless network. I have to reboot as an admin, reenter the network name and password, and then it works again until the MBP goes to sleep again.
None of that happens anywhere else; just with that one high-end Netgear.
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Matt said 4:54AM on 12-01-2006
This really is sub par for apple.
I was running 10.4.7 and everything was fine for my intel mac.
Along comes 10.4.8 and it breaks my wireless.
Dont get me wrong it still works but after booting or being on standby it wont connect automatically etc even though i have specified it to.
Whats worse is i am using the exact router pictured above.
This is the kind of sloppy behaviour i expect from a bug ridden microsoft product.
I expect better from apple.
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