Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

jbleisure · Dec 21, 2008, 06:52 PM

not even recognising the network.

I have a netgear router. Which I recently replaced and has been working fine. I am connected at the moment with an ethernet cable. wifi is not connecting. In network preferences it shows as on and my iPhone is connected - however my iMac will not connect sometimes the network is not shown in the drop down box by the wifi signal in the task bar and then it appears but I get told I have to use a password - which of course I am doing but it does not recognize it.

I have double checked the password and tried configuring the router to not have password. Same problem.

I've also run disk utility.

Any help out there?

jbleisure · Dec 21, 2008, 06:57 PM

[IMG]

[/IMG]

Here's a pic

Cold Warrior · Dec 21, 2008, 07:01 PM

change its SSID and give it a simple password. See if that works.

jbleisure · Dec 22, 2008, 10:20 AM

change its SSID and give it a simple password.

Thank you - I am away now for the Christmas break but will try this when I'm back.

2 questions: What is the SSID and how do I change this?

I did configure it so that there was no password but this didn't help.

ghporter · Dec 22, 2008, 11:44 AM

The SSID is called the "network name" by Apple. Go into the Netgear router's configuration system (use your browser) to access the setting and change it. A word of warning: USE A CABLE to connect to the router to change its configuration.

jbleisure · Dec 22, 2008, 12:24 PM

USE A CABLE to connect to the router to change its configuration

Yes, I've been caught out by that before

Why would changing the network name make a difference?

ghporter · Dec 22, 2008, 05:37 PM

Changing the name will make sure a number of things happen. The most important is that it will look like a brand new network to your AirPort card. That'll make it establish a whole new set of prefs, which is often the problem area to begin with. Changing to a simple password (for now) ensures that there isn't some mistyping or transposition in your password entry causing the problem.

jbleisure · Dec 26, 2008, 06:05 PM

Thanks. I'm back there tomorrow and will be trying thisthen.

jbleisure · Dec 28, 2008, 06:59 AM

OK - so I'm back at the iMac. Initially the old named network was not showing... so I went into the router and changed the name of the SSID and set a simple password.

It shows up in the list of wifi networks available but when prompted to give the password the same thing happens.

I get:

And then this:

Repeatedly.

I'm really frustrated. Any ideas for what could be the problem and how I can fix it?

Simon · 10:44 AM

MAC address filtering?

Also, try setting up a new location on the iMac. Then, within the new location, set up wireless prefs from scratch.

For some mysterious reason going from automatic to a new location or from an existing location to a new one seems to help with these kinds of problems. Obviously there is some kind of caching going on in the background and this caching sometimes goes berserk.

jbleisure · Dec 28, 2008, 08:48 AM

Mac address filtering

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If you mean is the router set up to filter Mac addresses, then no it's not.

Also, try setting up a new location on the iMac. Then, within the new location, set up wireless prefs from scratch.

Done - and I get this telling me the password is not recognised. It is a really simple password which I copied and recopied extremely carefully several times.

jbleisure · Dec 28, 2008, 08:57 AM

Also, I just tried with no password. when I click on the network once I've applied no password, finder hangs for 20 seconds or so and then does not register the wifi network!!

ghporter · Dec 28, 2008, 10:39 AM

This is probably a really silly question, but have you unplugged the power to the router and left it unplugged for 10-20 minutes? It sounds like there's something amiss with the router itself, and even if you've "reset" it, a good cooldown followed by what is essentially a "cold boot" may make a difference.

Simon · Dec 28, 2008, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by jbleisure

Done - and I get this telling me the password is not recognised. It is a really simple password which I copied and recopied extremely carefully several times.

The screen shot you included shows you're still set to automatic. So it's no surprise it's still not working.

You have to set up a new location and hit the "apply" button first. Then once you see that the new location is selected, in the left pane you hit airport, and select your network from the list in the right pane, etc. Also, do this stuff manually, forget the stupid Network Setup Assistant. You want to exclude as many sources of error as possible. (The assistant sucks anyway.)

And why is Ethernet connected?

jbleisure · Dec 28, 2008, 11:11 AM

The screen shot you included shows you're still set to automatic. So it's no surprise it's still not working.

I just uploaded the wrong screen shot. I have tested it with a new location. Same result.

And why is Ethernet connected?

Because the wifi connection is NOT WORKING!

This is probably a really silly question, but have you unplugged the power to the router and left it unplugged for 10-20 minutes? It sounds like there's something amiss with the router itself, and even if you've "reset" it, a good cooldown followed by what is essentially a "cold boot" may make a difference.

I've reset the router and also unplugged it but not for more than a minute or two. Besides my iPhone is receiving the wifi from this router.

I'm back out for more family christmas fun now so will have to pick this up in a day or so.

Simon · Dec 28, 2008, 11:30 AM

I wouldn't be surprised to see the router not handing out a wireless connection if the same client is already connected through Ethernet. Pull Ethernet and set up things manually. Make sure to reduce the number of unknowns to a minimum.

Big Mac · 01:04 PM

Intermittent password acceptance is often caused by old client drivers. My Dell was having difficulty with my newer Linksys router, but after upgrading its WIFI drivers I haven't had a single authentication issue. If it's happening all the time, though, you've got to check your encryption strings and settings.

Cold Warrior · Dec 28, 2008, 11:38 PM

Another thing that works sometimes for airport issues is to delete and then re-add the airport service itself. Name it something like airport2.

jbleisure · Dec 29, 2008, 03:39 PM

Pull Ethernet and set up things manually.

Done - no change

If it's happening all the time, though, you've got to check your encryption strings and settings.

delete and then re-add the airport service itself.

How would I do these two things?

Big Mac · Dec 29, 2008, 05:32 PM

Here's the way to do it:

If you have multiple computers connected through WIFI and only one is giving you trouble, then concentrate on troubleshooting that machine. However, if you can't get any of the computers to reliably connect to your WIFI network, go into your router's configuration pages or to your configuration manager if you're using an Apple router and start with the basics. First make sure the firmware of the router is upgraded to the latest version. Then start at the beginning by resetting the router so that it just runs with the default settings. Once you verify that your computers can connect without encryption enabled and you have the other settings to your liking, only then put on encryption and start testing it out. The tricky thing with WIFI configuration is that one wrong setting can lock everyone out of the network, so you've got to be methodical in the way you set things up, taking it step by step.

jbleisure · Dec 30, 2008, 02:45 PM

It is only this iMac that can't get on the network. But check this:

I spent the night at my in laws last night and on the way home now, just bought a 15 metre ethernet cable so at least I can have this iMac connected where I want it to be whilst I figure out the wifi issue. I just got home, spent 15minutes fixing the cable from the router around door frames etc - plugged it in to the iMac, wake the machine from sleep and the wifi IS WORKING

I haven't done anything else except the things mentioned in this post.

Simon · Dec 30, 2008, 03:14 PM

You see, it did change.

ghporter · Dec 30, 2008, 07:14 PM

When you left your in-laws' place, did you sleep the computer or turn it off?

jbleisure · Dec 30, 2008, 07:48 PM

When you left your in-laws' place, did you sleep the computer or turn it off?

Sleep.

Also, I just watched a movie on the iMac and now a couple of hours later the wifi is NOT connected again and I'm getting a connection timeout box when I try to reconnect (which I have tried 3 times now).

I'm glad I got the ethernet cable and it is also really bugging me now that I cannot figure out what this problem is.

matts360 · Jan 25, 2009, 05:36 PM

JB

Did you resolve this? I have had similar problem, tried all the advice, and have at the moment found this. When A Express set to 2.4Ghz n only, all computers find network, password work and all is well.

When I tried changing to n Only with 5ghz, the main Imac and TC worked first time, but the MBPro didnt see the AX anymore, could see the network, but when asked for password, timed out like yours. Also said invalid password.

Sent me crazy, been to apple discussions, no good there, so used imac ot rest to 2,4ghz and resolved the fact that will not be able to use 5ghz on network.

unless anyone knows any different??