[Raidiant]

I live in a place where there are many 802.11b servers, however only half of them work. and the one at work doesn't work which puts me off badly.

Because all the other pc laptops can connect, when I asked the help desk they told me macs are incompatible with the PC network and it is a known problems so nobody uses any macs like me and that there are no proxies or DNS servers in our network..

I would always get " {ip address} here is in use by {network address}. DHCP server }ip adress}

I tried using it at one huge mall as well, though it connected it simply didn't work either however I was given an IP by DHCP and many times I have been given an IP on a public DHCP server but it simply didn't work, full signal, connected.

both of these I managed to get connected, but when I use any sort of internet program like safari it would go "server not found"

"some" 802.11b servers work like a dream, but most just turn me down cause i'm a mac, oh yeah and still ahte other pc laptops work.

can any genius internet mac guy, suggest what problems may I be having?

btw the 802.11b server in the work is a 3com.

[cpac]

wtf?

Could you please take a moment and put together a coherent question?

Your first issue seems to be that some networks are PC only. You need to find out why - there's nothing inherent in a wireless network that makes them PC only, so you'll have to ask for more information from its administrators.

If you just took a little time and re-explained your problem more coherently some here might be able to offer suggestions.

[Raidiant]

ok..

I have an ibook..with airport equiped, there is this 802.11b server in the place I work in.

I can connect to the server, but I won't get assigned an ip, instead I would get a dialouge box popping up saying.

{random ip address} is in use by {random network id}. DHCP server { DHCP ip number here}.

though it seems like I am connected I am assigned no ip, and of course my I cannot use any sort of internet function. My browser would simply say "page not found"

however since my office doesn't use any macs the administrators can't help me cause thye don't know how to resolve the problem. most of the administrators here think macs are old fashioned and use backward technology, which doesn't help at all.

I checked the apple support site they said it would either be the DNS or a web proxie, which didn't help because the DNS didn't change anything and the administrators said there were "no" web proxies.

There should not be anything wrong with the server,beause all the other pc laptops can connect with the network and 802.11b should be standard with DHCP, so I am confused.

would be nice if anyone can help.

[dfiler]

More coherency please.

But seriously... we need to know exactly what you are trying to do and what you've been doing to produce the error.
'I can connect to the server, but I won't get assigned an ip...' isn't really enough info for anyone to begin to help.

[cpac]

Originally posted by Raidiant:

I can connect to the server, but I won't get assigned an ip, instead I would get a dialouge box popping up saying.

{random ip address} is in use by {random network id}. DHCP server { DHCP ip number here}.

though it seems like I am connected I am assigned no ip, and of course my I cannot use any sort of internet function. My browser would simply say "page not found"

Thanks - this is a vast improvement over your first post.

Normally just choosing DHCP gets you an IP even on Windows wireless networks (i'm connected to one right now).

What seems odd is that you are given an error message that a specific IP is in use - are you sure you haven't attempted to manually select and IP?

Couple of things to check:

(1) Do you need to have a DHCP client ID entered for that network?

(2) Do the network administrators need your MAC (airport) address in order to allow you to use the network properly? (The network I'm currently on wont allow non-registered MAC addresses to access the network).?

give it a shot and let us know what happens.

[aaanorton]

I don't know what you've tried so far, but do this:
set iBook for DHCP in Network pref pane
leave DNS address field blank (make sure nothing is there)

That really should be it.

[wulf]

Something you might try is getting on one of the PCs which are working and having a look at their network settings, see if there's anything which differs from your machine, like if it is requesting from a different router address.

Also, this probably doesn't apply to your situation, but I have had a problem before with an NT network where it expected to have a machine name registered for every PC, and as there wasn't one for the Mac it wouldn't get assigned an IP address. Once the 'computer name' (in Sharing panel) was registered by the network admin, everything worked fine.

As cpac said, there isn't anything which should make the network inherently PC only, so it could be a slightly weird configuration somewhere, which is not yet reflected on your machine...

[ratlater]

Originally posted by Raidiant:
ok..

I have an ibook..with airport equiped, there is this 802.11b server in the place I work in.

I can connect to the server, but I won't get assigned an ip, instead I would get a dialouge box popping up saying.

{random ip address} is in use by {random network id}. DHCP server { DHCP ip number here}.

though it seems like I am connected I am assigned no ip, and of course my I cannot use any sort of internet function. My browser would simply say "page not found"

however since my office doesn't use any macs the administrators can't help me cause thye don't know how to resolve the problem. most of the administrators here think macs are old fashioned and use backward technology, which doesn't help at all.

I checked the apple support site they said it would either be the DNS or a web proxie, which didn't help because the DNS didn't change anything and the administrators said there were "no" web proxies.

There should not be anything wrong with the server,beause all the other pc laptops can connect with the network and 802.11b should be standard with DHCP, so I am confused.

would be nice if anyone can help.

This is a DHCP conflict message. This could mean a couple of things, the IP that the DHCP server is trying to give you is being squatted on (someone has statically assigned this IP to their machine even though it is in the DHCP pool) or the DHCP server is malfunctioning and is offering out IPs that it has already leased. Is it always the same IP that shows up in the error message? Sometimes DHCP clients will keep attempting to use the same IP. Also, is it always the same MAC address that shows up in the error? You should take this information to your network administrator and have them find out which machine is associated with the MAC address you are conflicting with. They should also look at the DHCP logs and see what is happening with your requests.

802.11b networks are standard and Macs will work just fine on them. The only way to make it PC only is to use some strange authentication scheme. If you can't figure out the DHCP error you are getting, have your Network Admin assign you a Static IP for testing purposes. If they don't want to help you because you are using a Mac just tell them it's FreeBSD and to deal with it because it's their job and should be an easy problem to fix.

-matt

[aaanorton]

I could be wrong here, but this doesn't really sound like a MAC address thing to me. I've never seen an error message like that from MAC address filtering. Usually you just don't get on line with no explanation.
I suspect this is just getting over thought. Just set the thing on DHCP and let the computer do the rest.

[cms]

Under the Airport tab in Network Preferences, ensure that your TCP/IP is set to configure using DHCP. Under the Airport tab (furthest right) ensure that you select Join a specific network, then enter your office network name and password. It should work no problem.

The previous poster's suggestions are worth looking into, since a MAC address (not to be confused with the IP address of your Mac!) might well be required by your network admin for security purposes.

I install mixed PC/Mac wireless networks for a living and have never encountered any problems with Macs joining supposedly PC-based networks, or vice versa, for that matter. Wi-fi is, by definition, completely non-platform specific.

You can tell your network admin staff that this is definitely not a compatibility issue -- more like a configuration glitch, which they are actually perfectly capable of helping you with, if they can be bothered to think outside the (Pee Cee) box for more than five seconds.........

Good luck!

[Raidiant]

Originally posted by cpac:
Thanks - this is a vast improvement over your first post.

Normally just choosing DHCP gets you an IP even on Windows wireless networks (i'm connected to one right now).

What seems odd is that you are given an error message that a specific IP is in use - are you sure you haven't attempted to manually select and IP?

Couple of things to check:

(1) Do you need to have a DHCP client ID entered for that network?

(2) Do the network administrators need your MAC (airport) address in order to allow you to use the network properly? (The network I'm currently on wont allow non-registered MAC addresses to access the network).?

give it a shot and let us know what happens.

I don't have a DHCP client ID, i don't know about the mac airport address, what exatcly is this.

As for the error message, the IP and address is use flips different every time.

I ensured all setting in system preferences are like what u guys suggested.

I checked the pc laptops they had DHCP and thats all, no specific ip address.

I think I have to look into the mac airport address, but what exatcly do I have to check or ask about?

Thanks for the warm responses.

[dfiler]

Originally posted by Raidiant:
As for the error message, the IP and address is use flips different every time.

Another remote (extremely remote) possiblity. Every single ethernet device on the planet is supposed to receive a unique MAC address. (not Mac) This code can be found on a sticker on the airport card. It is possible for another computer on the same network to already have your MAC address.

If possible, try to borrow another card to see if your problems are related specifically to your airport card. Or... have you confirmed that your hardware works elsewhere?

[dfiler]

Originally posted by Raidiant:
I checked the pc laptops they had DHCP and thats all, no specific ip address.

I think I have to look into the mac airport address, but what exatcly do I have to check or ask about?

Another theory...

Many wireless networks are configured to only talk to 'authorized' wireless cards. This is usually accomplished by your system admins maintaining a list of MAC addresses allowed on the network. By 'MAC' we aren't refering to anything related to the 'Macintosh'; its just an unlucky coincidence. This number can be provided in a hex or decimal format so don't worry if they're looking for a different grouping of letters and numbers. Almost all access nodes will convert them automatically. Your airport card has a sticker with its MAC (airport ID).

(but i'm not sure this is even related to your problem)

[Raidiant]

that might help, so what is a client id, and where do I find my MAC address?

[cpac]

Originally posted by Raidiant:
that might help, so what is a client id, and where do I find my MAC address?

Like they said, you can find it on a sticker on your Airport card (which necessitates opening up your iBook to look at the card)

OR

You can find it by opening the Apple System Profiler and looking in the System Profile tab -> Network Overview -> Airport -> Ethernet Address.

The number there is (at least one format) of you MAC address.

Finding this number will only help you though if your network administrators restrict access based on MAC addresses and since you said in your original post that you could connect to the server, I'm not sure this is really your problem...

[aaanorton]

The MAC address of your Airport card and ethernet port are listed in the Apple System Profiler (Utilities folder). Each address is a string of letters and numbers grouped like this:
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Make sure to use the one under Network Overview > Airport.
Ask the admin there if he has MAC address filtering enabled. If so, give him this address and you should be good.
Are you sure you set your iBook to DHCP with no DNS info?

[Raidiant]

thanks i'll try dat

[ratlater]

Originally posted by aaanorton:
The MAC address of your Airport card and ethernet port are listed in the Apple System Profiler (Utilities folder). Each address is a string of letters and numbers grouped like this:
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Make sure to use the one under Network Overview > Airport.
Ask the admin there if he has MAC address filtering enabled. If so, give him this address and you should be good.
Are you sure you set your iBook to DHCP with no DNS info?

Having DNS servers entered won't affect DHCP in any way.

The easiest way to find your MAC address is to open up the Network System Pref panel. Select Airport from the Show pop-up and it is listed at the bottom, called AirPort ID:

-matt