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mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 09:34 AM

I just bought a D-link wireless router, a wireless PCI card for my Gateway running XP, and I have the main computer that's running Win98 hooked up to the router via ethernet cable. I now have these computers working fine and dandy, but I'm having problems connecting my powerbook to the network. I used DHCP to set up the connection on my PC's, but I can't seem to do the same on my powerbook. My router is 802.11b, while I have an airport extreme card in my powerbook, so I would think the powerbook would be able to see the network. If I choose to connect using DHCP from my powerbook, nothing comes up. I've tried pretty much everything I can come up with, and went to Apple's site but couldn't find much. I am a mac newbie however, so there might be something I'm overlooking. Any help is greatly appreciated!

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 09:44 AM

What happens when you try to connect?
Do you have any security features (WEP or MAC address filtering) enabled?
Can you see the network on your Mac?

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 09:53 AM

If I click on "Using DHCP", nothing happens. The IP Address and Subnet Mask fields are left blank. I can't see the network at all from my Mac, and I'm pretty sure that WEP is turned off. I can't seem to find out how to turn it on right now, but I know I turned it off earlier. I'm not sure about MAC address filtering though; is there an easy way to access this? Thanks for your quick response.

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 10:04 AM

Just to be sure... In Network pref pane, when you change to DHCP, you are hitting "Apply Now", correct? And Airport is turned on on the Mac?
Open Internet Connect in Applications. Switch to Airport, if internal modem is selected. Now look for your network there. Select it from the pop-up list. Go to a web site.

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 10:17 AM

Thanks for the tips, but they didn't help. Airport is on, I was hitting apply now for DHCP, and Airport is selected for Internet Connect. If I click on the network pop up list, it says No Network Selected. I also tried to create my own network through this, using the same channel that is broadcast from my router, but that didn't work either. I thought my Mac would be the easiest of all my computers to set up; do you think there's a problem with my airport extreme card?

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 10:23 AM

Try selecting Connect to Other (or something like that) from the network list. Sorry, I don't have an Airport Mac in front of me now.
When prompted, put in the name of your network and connect. D-Link may use an SSID, which is essentially the network name. Apple just doesn't use this terminology. Hopefully, you do not have WEP enabled. This way you will not need to worry about a password. If you get a message "There was a problem connecting to the network...", then you probably do have WEP on and will either need to disable it or get the password in correctly.

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 10:46 AM

I do not have WEP enabled, and my SSID is "default" according to the web based setup. When I try entering "default" without the quotes as the network, I get "An error occurred while trying to join the selected Airport network." So according to the web based setup, I do not have WEP enabled. Is it possible that I somehow have it enabled on my Mac? Is there a way to check this that you know of?

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 11:04 AM

Very strange. If you do not put anything in the password field, you should be fine. Try going to Keychain Access (Utilities) and deleting any D-Link items. Did you turn WEP off or was it already off? If you turned it off, did you save the change (and reset the router)? Did you install the Airport card? How many signal bars do you have? Maybe check to be sure it is seated fully. With the old cards, you had to plug in an antenna cord. Sometimes this didn't seat fully and caused problems as well. Check that out. Try creating a computer to computer network from your Mac. Then try joining it from the Gateway. This would be a good test of the card.

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 11:09 AM

Oh and keep looking for MAC address filtering. It may be called something else, but should say MAC address something. It may be under an "Advanced" or "Security" tab in the set up area. This allows you to only let certain computers connect to your network, based on an ID number of their network card.

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 11:18 AM

I did not put any password in, and there is nothing in my keychain. The router was already set to have WEP disabled. I ordered my powerbook with the airport card installed, so I guess I'll take a look at it. However, I've always had the Airport icon in the menu bar, so I assume my Mac has always recognized Airport. The Airport doesn't have any signal bars, so it's not connected to any network. As far as the computer to computer network, is there an easy way to do this? Sorry, but I'm really new to Mac's and I'm not sure of how to do this. Thanks a lot for the help.

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 11:21 AM

There is a section for MAC filtering, but it is set to disabled by default. I'll continue to look at these options.

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 11:38 AM

Is there any way to specify 802.11d or 802.11g on the Airport Extreme card? You'd want .11b, if there is.

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 11:55 AM

I couldn't find any way to specify 802.11g or b, but there may be a way. I found the Airport utility that I didn't know I had, and I tried to search for any base stations, and it didn't come up with any. I had my powerbook sitting right next to my wireless router, and nothing happened. I think I'm going to call tech support. Do you think I should call D-Link or Apple first?

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 12:04 PM

Have you tried to create a network? this would be a good test. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the router. I'm thinking the AE card is bad or improperly installed. Do you have an Apple store near you?

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 12:16 PM

HOLY CRAP, It's working now!

I shut the computer down, and took a look at the airport card. Everything looked okay to me, but I'm not really sure I knew what I was looking at. Anyway, I booted back up, went to sys. preferences, network. DHCP was enabled like it was before, but now my IP address and all that other good stuff was filled in! I opened Safari, and it worked! I'm in a different room from my router right now, but the airport display shows 5 out of 5 bars. So apparently, I just needed to reboot my Mac?!? I was never prompted to reboot, so I didn't even think twice about it. I am a happy man! Thanks a lot for the help, I feel like I kind of know what I'm doing now!

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 12:47 PM

Great!
Maybe you jiggled something on the card. Rebooting shouldn't be nec., but if it works...

mini-pbook · Mar 17, 2003, 01:00 PM

Ya, I didn't think rebooting was necessary either. I suppose that since I rebooted my other pc's a combined total of 7 times this morning to get them connected, a single reboot for my Mac really isn't that bad. You may be right, I might have jiggled something loose, but I really don't know. Also, I tried taking my powerbook with me down to my basement, and my airport reading was 5 bars out of 5! If I'm at the opposite corner of my house, it went down to 4 bars. I can't wait until it gets warm out, so I can try it outside!

aaanorton · Mar 17, 2003, 01:28 PM

Great reception. I have only one room here that isn't so good. It goes down to 2 bars sometimes, but fluctuates. Must be interference.
Now be SURE to re-enable WEP 128 and MAC address filtering. The Mac will require you to enter the password once, but will remember it in Keychain. If you have problems with the password, try putting a $ at the biginning. I think you'll be able to choose available MAC addresses from a list for filtering. If not, you can find yours in Apple System Profiler. Use the Airport one.