Connection problems. Apple and WiFi

I'm spending a good deal of time each day hauling my PowerBook all over this city I'm currently in, in order to find a working WiFi connection. All in all, maybe one in five places I try let me actually send an email or open a web page.

It is not just my PowerBook because I have an iPod Touch as well and it has the same problems in the same places. What happens is that I connect fine, then get a max signal strength (no matter how weak the signal seemed before connecting), and yet the line itself is completely dead.

All around me other people are surfing merrily on their PCs.

Is there anything I can do to improve the network compability on these toys? On the PowerBook I have installed Leopard and pretty much done nothing else. The help files are no help.

#485044

The people on PCs might be on protected WiFi networks which might have way, way stronger signals. Also, they might be on 802.11N networks (your PowerBook and iPod Touch both can't connect to "n" signals).

#485079

Like nicholasheer said, the network the other people are on might just be protected and require a password or key. first, find out wether the place you're trying to connect to the network at has open wifi

#485112

Yes, we are in every case either talking about an open WiFi or one to which I do have the password.

One example case... The "Extreme Zone" internet/gaming café one block from where I am now have a password. I connected just fine the first few days. Then after that the line has been dead. I have been in there almost every day. Their password is the same, I have tried both with my iPod and Mac, but nothing. I am connecting. I get a max signal strength. But no data is sent or received.

That symptom of connecting but not getting anywhere is very typical.

#485388

Possible problems:

DCHP / fixed IP configuration.

In the case of Extreme Zone, maybe they are blocking by mac address... maybe, can't tell. I had exactly the same: max signal, no data; when trying to connect to my university wi-fi network, then I contacted the administrator and told me he needed to add my mac-address else I wouldn't be able to connect, ok this was not a Mac/Airport specific problem, I had a Compaq PC notebook and SiS wi-fi dongle but maybe this helps.

#485476

Thank you everyone for your input! The last couple of days I have begun noticing a pattern of which locations work and which that do not. Generally speaking, the bigger more official places seem to be the way to go, such as libraries, museums and such. I just have to move around a little more.

Matonga, the mac-address theory is interesting. I may not be able to follow your example, but at least now I know that I'm not alone.

At the moment I'm writing this in a café belonging to one of the most impressive museums here in Santiago de Chile. Here everything works perfectly. But there was a time last week when I had so great troubles finding a place to connect that I seriously thought that my computer didn't work properly.

Thanks again people!

#485492

Later:

Ok, now I have a more clear overall picture. The problem is with nearly ALL password protected networks! (WEP and WPA at least). Some have worked the first time and then never again.

Problem still persists both on iPod Touch and laptop. There HAS to be a way to configure a Mac running Leopard so that it will work on any ordinary WiFI network! The one place I now use where connecting works usually requires them to reset the router first. Then it works. That may be a clue, I don't know.

Out of around 30 WiFi cafés I have found this one place only where they understand what I say when I ask them if it's possible to restart the router. The problem is that they never do that. They just have the system installed and that's it. All the PC users get through and they hardly ever see anyone with a Mac anyway, so to them it seems like there is no problem.

#487396

I honestly don't get the problem. Simply because my MBP will run on any wireless network you throw at it (well, all the ones that I know the password to, anyway). Would you mind giving a run-down of your settings? Just to double check. I mean, it's weird that it's not connecting. Are you sure you're close enough to the base station, but without being right beside it (oddly enough, reducing your range that little reduces performance)? What type are the Wi Fi networks? Are they 802.11 a, b, g, or n-draft? This question is particularly key one. If you have any other info you think might be relevant, please post.

Cheers

#487417

I have no way of ascertaining what type of WiFi all the various cafés have.

My settings at the moment are as follows:

Location: Automatic

Airport tab:

------------

Ask to join new networks: yes

Remember any network this computer has joined: yes (although this feature does not work! If I turn it off and delete the networks in the list of preferred networks, the Mac automatically logs back in anyway without asking me. If I uncheck remember password, it remembers it anyway and automatically logs me in)

Disconnect from wireless networks when logging out: yes (used to be no. No difference)

TCP/IP tab:

-----------

Configure IPv4: Using DHCP

Configure IPv6: Automatically

DNS tab:

-----------

A greyed out list of DNS servers. Never touched that

WINS tab:

------------

Netbios name: My network name, no spaces

Workgroup: (blank)

WINS Servers: (blank)

Apple Talk tab:

--------------

All inactive and blank

802.1X tab:

-----------

802.1X login: Disabled (I've tried enabling it. No difference. Turns itself back off upon restart.

Certificate: Unknown

Wireless network: a dropdown list currently dispkaying another network than the one I'm connected to now. The one I'm on is also on the list, further down.

Athentication:

TTLS: on

PEAP: on

TLS: off

EAP-FAST: off

LEAP: off

MD5: off

Proxies tab:

-----------

Configure Proxies: Manually

Nothing else is configured or selected here.

Security preference panel:

------------------------

Firewall: Allow only essential services

Enable firewall logging: yes

Enable Stealth Mode: yes (used to be no, no difference)

------------------------------------------------

That's about it I think. Thank you for reading this far. Like I said before, the same problem persists on my iPod Touch as well where there are fewer settings possibilities. I tried going through DNS but that didn't do anything.

#487462