[whgiii]

All of a sudden, I am getting the error message, "There was an error joining the AirPort network 'xxxxx'," on my G4 PowerBook (OS 10.4.4) whenever trying to connect to ANY wireless network, either my Airport Express or places where I have previously had no connection problems. The network is recognized in the Airport menu, but does not show up in Airport Setup Assistant or Airport Admin Utility so I cannot configure or even install firmware upgrades. The problem started while trying the new "multiple speakers" feature on Itunes 6.0.2. It worked for a few minutes, then sound stopped at the Airport Express connected speaker. Since then I cannot access any wireless networks.

[fesdds]

I had a Netgear 802.11b router that was working great, but I got a D-Link 802.11g to try and get quicker networking. It worked ok the first day but since then I gett the same message. I not sure what to do. I have restarted the network several times to no avail. I'll keep and ear out for some answers.

[tooki]

I've gotten this now and then, with any of the routers I've used over the years.

1. Restarting sometimes fixes it.

2. Sometimes, turning AirPort off and back on is enough.

3. If not, try choosing "Other..." from the AirPort menu and enter the network name and password manually.

4. If not, go into your keychain (/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access). For each of the keychains (the top-left box), select it and then choose Keychain Access -> Keychain First Aid and do a repair.

5. If that doesn't fix it, look in both your "login" keychain and the "system" keychain and delete all the keys whose kind is "AirPort Network Password". Then restart and try to connect.

tooki

[yticolev]

Hi Tooki,

I'm having the dreaded "error joining" dialog box on connection attempts to open otherwise working networks including the local library which previously worked. Although I do not use any networks with passwords on my Aluminum G4, I tried all of your suggested solutions ("None" under wireless security when entering network name in "Other"). I've also tried every other solution in this forum including deleting all network and airport plists where ever found.

Other attempts to find a solution included running fsck -fy (clear), and all of ONYX's routines including cache clearing (an impressive 400MB).

Some networks continue to work, but two that work on other laptops return this error. No recent changes in software, only previous similar error messages are under certain circumstances: low signal, noise (as reported in iStumbler), or the router active but not actually connected to the Internet. My laptop will ask me if I want to join the network when I'm in range but does not connect. Manual attempts return the dialog even though the network appears in the Airport menu and iStumbler with excellent signal strength.

Any thoughts? I'm at a loss and considering reinstalling the system. Please save me from that! Everything is up to date except for the last security update.

[yticolev]

OK, I've done a lot of research and mostly what I've discovered is that there are a fair number of people with this issue and no definitive fix. I went to the library yesterday, and lo and behold, my Albook now connects to the network. However, there was an old gentleman there with his 17" who could not connect. Just like me, the library network showed up on his Airport menu but error connecting. And his, just like mine, was working the day before.

So there we were, one working and one not and no idea why for either one. Anyone have any ideas?

[jdu]

Hi! Just got my macbook a bit over two months ago, along with an airport extreme base. a couple of days back, my internet connection just conked out. first, i would be able to enter my network then 5 minutes later, i'd lose it. then when i try to reconnect, i just receive the error message "there was an error joining the Airport network...". I restart my computer and I'm connected but 5 minutes later, it's gone again! I didn't change any settings at all and my friend, who is also on the same network with an ibook, has no problems at all. i called apple for help and spent 2 hours with them but they couldn't help! they said once i update to 10.4.8, i should be able to fix the problem. so i patiently started and restarted my computer, just so i can update it before the 5minute internet connection ran out. i finally did, but lo and behold, I CANNOT CONNECT at all!!! i tried using the network from uni and i got that 5 minute connection again but lost it. is there perhaps a glitch in my airport card? just switched to mac and i invested so much in it. can anyone help? i tried all the troubleshooting tips but nothing worked. i'm just so frustrated because i need my macbook for uni and the service centre said they wouldn't be able to check my mac until late next week. thanks!

[Ryanhdd]

Im having the same problem. It does not change no matter what i do. Im really getting sick of it. I can see it and everything but it just will not connect. Im sooooo pissed. Dont know what to do.

[ghporter]

Do ALL the steps tooki listed in February-ALL OF THEM. If that doesn't fix it, try deleting the AirPort keychain and then rejoin the network by re-entering the passphrase.

This is a common set of symptoms, but not a "common problem" because there are a number of mechanisms involved that can cause an "error joining..." problem, including the AirPort base being goofy, YOUR COMPUTER being goofy, and simple chance. If you follow these steps every time, you will at least narrow down what is actually happening and with that information, you can start looking for a real cause.

[jdu]

Thanks! I tried all of that, one at a time, and still nothing. I was comparing my settings to my friends ibook, which can connect properly, and this is the only difference:

Network > Airport > TCP/IP tab > Configure IPV4 is set to Using DHCP and the fields for IP Address, Subnet mask and router are filled. She also has an IPV6 address. When I select "Using DHCP" in mine, nothing happens. I tried selecting "manually" instead and copying her settings but still won't work. I'm not that techie but is this perhaps where the problem lies?

Weird thing is, I can connect whenever I restart my computer. Then no matter what I do (if I open another program or not), I just lose my connection 3 to 10 minutes after. Then my mac can't detect the network at all. Will it help if I reformat my mac? Since I'm not that good with macs, I don't want to try anything that will make the situation worse. I just feel so bad since i love my mac, it's new BUT I've had more problems with it than i ever did with my pc.

[buffalolee]

I am in process of downgrading the firmware from v5.7 to v.5.51 because of these problems you stated.

[jdu]

Thank you! What does a firmware do? Sorry. I'm quite new here. Also have a new problem. When I started my macbook earlier, I was not able to connect at all, not even for a second. In fact, my airport icon in the taskbar is missing. When I checked for my airport card in the system profiler, it said "No hardware found" :O I tried restarting and same thing. For some reason, my mac
cannot detect my airport card...

[jdu]

Hi buffalolee, everyone! Was able to solve the problem - brought my mac to next byte service center and they finally realized my airport card was malfunctioning and replaced it. Thanks for your help!

[wubrew]

I just activate the " Use Interference Robustness' from the drop down menu ofthe signal strength and solve that problem everytime.

[ghporter]

Interference robustness is only effective when the problem is (or is related to) interference. It doesn't sound like this is the case in the OP's problem. Wubrew, when you have this kind of problem, does it present in exactly the same way-particularly do you get a good signal level with the correct network name?

[sohailamir]

If the AirPort still doesn't work, the other things you could do is turn off the fire wall or accept the desired ports just like I said in Reiders thread. Also make sure you have a static IP instead of a dynamic IP - If you don't know what this is then you could research it on google.

[cwurld]

I feel your pain....my wife just got a shiney new Macbook Pro and was having the symptoms you all describe. She even reinstalled the OS a few times. Things would work for a while then all of a sudden, for no obvious reason. she got the dreaded "...error joining..." message. I tried all the tricks above and none had any effect.

Lucky for me, we still had an old Airport Extreme Wireless Router. I plugged it into wireless router that came with my DSL service and viola...success (for now).

It seems kind of silly to have two wireless networks in our house. If this works, I might try to see if I can turn off the wireless part on the router that came w the DSL package. I have never had any trouble connecting my wintel machines to the Airport base.

[acorder]

Good evening all. I've been having these same intermittent symptoms for the last two months or so, with three or four bars of signal strength when working, and error trying to connect when not. I happened to talk to a neighbor of mine who is a teach for the local school district, and he said that he currently had a Rev. A Intel iMac being repaired because of bad Airport antenna cabling. It was having the same issues as my 20" CD iMac. Anyone know if the Genius Bar folks will be able/willing to check this cabling on my computer if I take it in to them?

[Blasphemy]

I have intermittent problems with my WRT54G, MBP C2D & macbook CD. The connection drops and it can be minutes to hours before I can reconnect to the linksys router over wifi. A wired connection works flawlessly at any time.

[iceclone]

I'm a new mac user and it disappoints me that I'm having a lot of problems already in just a few months of having it (imac 20"). I'm sure that my airport express is working fine because two of the laptops in my house connects perfectly OK. There's got to be something wrong inside the iMac. I will call customer care tomorrow for help. They need to fix this before I change my mind on going back to using a PC.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by iceclone 

I'm a new mac user and it disappoints me that I'm having a lot of problems already in just a few months of having it (imac 20"). I'm sure that my airport express is working fine because two of the laptops in my house connects perfectly OK. There's got to be something wrong inside the iMac. I will call customer care tomorrow for help. They need to fix this before I change my mind on going back to using a PC.

If you posted some details about your particular setup and the issues you're encountering, we might be able to help you...

[leakbox]

All,

Brand new here....

After too long having issues, problems, viruses, and adware related to my son's PC, we "upgraded" to an iMac at Christmas.

His setup went flawless, and all was fine since Christmas. We moved his PC to my daughter's room. There were no problems whatsoever until last night, when suddenly he was disconnected. He was getting the dreaded "There was an error joining the AirPort Network XXXXX". We gave up after trying over and over last night. I had called Time Warner, and verified that the modem and wireless router were working fine. Both our PC and the one in my daughter's room worked fine.

This evening, after restarting, he was able to connect several times, only to find that it would lose its connection after a few minutes. Eventually, there was no way to connect at all. I shut down and re-started the modem (Arris model) as well as the router (Linksys 2.4 GHz -G model, 54Mbps, model WRT54G), to no avail.

As before, both other PCs are connecting fine. I don't buy that there's an obstruction or distance issue, as the distance from the router to his iMac is about 50 ft max, and it is seeing the router from next door!

I have been frantically searching the web, and there's more fixes and workarounds than the pope has hats. Telephone support is down until tomorrow...regardless, I need to try and find a fix, as he has finals this week, and needs to have a connection to keep his school work going.

From what I'm reading, he has done nothing wrong. I spent big money to "upgrade" to Apple, and now I'm finding heartache after only a few weeks of ownership. Can anyone provide advice to someone not overly savvy?

Thanks,

Greg