[aadfadsfa38]

Here's what happens:

1. Clean boot, restart or wake from sleep of Macbook into OS X.
2. Connects to my wireless network but uses a self-assigned IP address.
3. Refuses to renew DHCP lease. Static IP does nothing.
4. Power cycling the router fixes the issue without touching OS X, until next sleep or reboot.

Some searching pulled up this post at Apple's forum: http://discussions.apple.com/thread....2&tstart=0. I followed these steps but to no avail. I didn't have the exact same problem though, as my wireless network is unencrypted and open. I've had the same issue with other wireless networks (none of those were secured).

Windows XP under Boot Camp on this same MBP connects flawlessly with the same wireless network in and out of sleep, reboots, no problem. No other wireless device has an issue with this router, nor do any devices connected by wire (this is the only device with OS X however). Both DHCP and static IPs work for other devices and in Windows on the MBP.

Various stats: MBP 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM, OS X 10.4.6. Router: Linksys BEFW11S4, open network (no WEP or WPA).

If anyone cares, I've been very happy with this laptop. Works great, no other complaints (no whines, damage, other issues with either OS X or Windows), and games look great in Windows. First Mac I've ever had; the dual-boot made the deal. I use OS X for everything but games.

Thanks in advance,
-chowdere

[Gavin]

Does it work if you plug in with an ethernet cable?

Is there another wireless router nearby that it might be trying to connect to instead of yours?

maybe try turning off ipv6 - network control panel under the tcp/ip tab - click configure ipv6

[amazing]

Welcome to the Forums and thumbs up on your first Mac!

One suggestion: Does your Linksys have a firmware update that you could download and install? That's quite often the problem. Firmware was mentioned in the thread you linked to, so I'm wondering if you checked that.

Also, under Network System Prefs, choose "network port configurations" from the "show" menu and make sure that airport is dragged to the top of the list and that everything else is deselected except perhaps for ethernet. I sometimes recommend setting up different locations, one solely for airport, another solely for ethernet.

And lastly, enable WPA or WEP and see if you can connect at that point (you can always disable it later.) Make sure you don't have MAC address filtering setup on the router.

Lastly, this question does belong in the networking forum, where you might receive better answers. Good luck!

PS: Did you repair permissions?

[aadfadsfa38]

Thanks for the quick replies! In true unscientific fashion, I did a few things at once. First, to Gavin: ethernet works fine on both Windows and OS X. I turned off IPv6, but as I said above, I did more than one thing, so I dunno if this fixed it (or if it's truly fixed at all). There are a few wireless networks in range, but the only network visible from the basement is my own, and the problem happens there too. To amazing: the router did indeed have some updated firmware available; reading through the list of fixes, it seems some may apply ("fixed wireless client compatibility issue", etc., etc.). Applied said update. Reordered the list in network port configurations as well, and there is no MAC address filtering on the router. If the problem crops up again, I'll try enabling WEP or WPA.

Looks to be working after a few sleeps and reboots. Thanks again for the help. I'll be back if it happens again.
-chowdere

[aadfadsfa38]

So I thought wrong; DHCP has reared its ugly head once more. Following yesterday's post, OS X decided to switch to an automatically assigned IP while I was using it, the first time I've seen that. One second, I'm online, next second, pages refuse to load and I'm tossed off IM. After that happened, I decided to follow through with the remaining advice in amazing's post: I repaired permissions and set up WPA. Wireless worked fine and dandy for some time, then today I turn on the MacBook and I'm back with no DHCP.

Any other tips anyone can give me? Another tidbit: once OS X decides to go without DHCP, it will under no circumstances decide to try DHCP again until the router is reset.

I'll post in the networking forum too, see if anyone over there knows what's up.
-chowdere

[MrNo]

I had the same problem with mine.
Delete the keychain password (if you have saved one) and delete the list of preffered networks.
That did it for me.

[amazing]

The fact that wireless access fades in and out, this seems to indicate it's a signal strength problem. Especially down in the basement, since the other neighborhood wireless stations fade out, that's where you might lose connection to your Linksys and receive a 169.xxx IP.

So, if you wander back closer to the Linksys, does DHCP resume?

The wireless bars up in the menubar, these no longer indicate reception strength. Apple changed that to indicate some that's more akin to "reception throughput." Not quite the same thing as indicating a strong signal, and somewhat deceptive in my opinion.

Anyway, use iStumbler (or whatever stumbler software works the best with the MBP) to find out what wireless channel the other routers in your neighborhood are using, then change your Linksys to an unused channel (1, 9 or 11 are good choices.) See if that helps with staying connected. Also, try moving the base station around a bit to see if that gives you better reception in the basement or elsewhere--including changing the antenna from vertical to horizontal.

Finally, be sure that you've changed the Linksys station name and password. Since you've left the Linksys open in the past and since many people know that default Linksys password, that should always be changed so that people can't idly inspect the Linksys and mess things up.

[aadfadsfa38]

Poor communication on my part: my router's in the basement. Easier for wiring. In response to your question, I can be right beside the router and get no DHCP, while sometimes I'm a couple floors away and DHCP works great. I didn't realize what the bars in the menubar actually represented--I agree, that's misleading. It seems natural to assume that's signal strength. Anyway, it's working right this second, but when it dies again I'll try switching channels. After that, I'll move the router around and fiddle with antennae and positions.

I have indeed changed the SSID and password for the router, and did so the second I hooked it up. I don't have any concerns about people using the network (ISP can't be bothered to charge for or even notice excess bandwidth use anyway), but messing with the router isn't kosher. For the record, iStumbler works fine on the MBP. Thanks for the help amazing.

MrNo: I've done those two things several times, and the problem keeps cropping up. Thanks though.

[goanidea]

I have the same problem. I haven't tried restarting the router. Perhaps I'll do that. I thought it was a DHCP issue so I set my computer to have a static IP address and when I try to ping the router I get "no route to host" it says it's connected just fine.

Apple's discussion groups are all down right now or else I'd be on there searching. This is starting to anger me.

I changed the channel and it came up but it probably only came up because the router reset.

[paul_edmo]

I had the same problem with my 15" Powerbook when I bought it at xmas time. it wouldnt connect to by bt voyager router. DHCP could not be found. All it needed wasa firmware upgrade.