iMac not keeping airport connection...what's up?

I've got a 24" aluminum iMac (2.4GHz, 2GB, 500GB, 256 ATI, etc.) that I got at the very end of 2007. Never a single problem, really, until now.

In the middle of doing something, surfing the web, playing a game, etc., it will simply lose the connection to the internet. After a few moments, it will connect again.

The big problem is, I have 4 other computers, an Apple TV, an XBOX 360, and a couple iPod Touch's connecting simultaneously (give or take a couple devices), and they can all retain a connection just fine. No skip in the 360 games, etc. No problem streaming video, either. Just the darn iMac has the problem.

What might this be? It's quite frustrating, as it's my main computer!

Might be interference = Cordless phones, microwave ovens, neighbor's network.

Why does it only effect the iMac? Probably because of that nice aluminum case...

You might try setting your router to a different channel to see if it is interference. For example: If you're broadcasting on channel 11 (very common) switch to channel 7.

Regards.

I have 5.8GHz and Dect 6.0 cordless phones. wifi is generally around 2.4GHz, isn't it? I don't use the beamer, and both of my neighbors are 100+ ft. away.

I'll check it out, though. I don't know why it's just the iMac...that's what's baffling me. So many other devices working just fine.

Same issue for me....

Mac support asked me to check with my ISP.

ISP told me to check with the Router company (Linksys)

Linksys got me to upgrade my firmware.....but still the issue remains.

The funny thing is that my Dell laptop works perfectly fine.......

This is really frustrating.

I'm still having this problem...anyone else have a possible solution?

I have a similar problem with my aluminium 17" PowerBook G4. It kept dropping the WiFi connection while other computers in the house had no problems and far greater distances.

When I moved the router further away from the PowerBook it became almost impossible to use the Internet. At that point the router was about 14 inches away from the Mac.

My solution was to buy a newer computer! It hasn't arrived yet. In the meantime I found a Linksys WREG54G range extender that I was no longer using. I plugged it in and placed it right next to the PowerBook. No more problems with WiFi connection.

It's not exactly what you might call a convenient arrangement for a laptop but at least it works - WiFi strength meter is showing full strength.

Still looking forward to the new MacBook arriving, though.

That's great and all, but my 24" iMac isn't even a year old! I will NOT be buying another! Not for a good couple years, anyway.

No solution, I'm afraid, just a 'me too' post. I've got a Mac Mini sitting next to a Windows PC, and a Linux PC and am having exactly the same issue.

The signal on the Mac starts at 4 bars, then over the course of maybe 30 mins the signal slowly drops to zero, jumps around between 1 and 4 for a few more minutes and then dies completely.

All the while, the PC and the Linux box retain full-strength signal.

My iPhone connects (and remains) at full strength, my daughter XP box does the same, so does my Asus EEpc. Its only the Mac that's affected.

I thought I'd found the solution when I ran NetStumbler on the PC and saw that a couple of my neighbours were using the same (router) channel as me. I changed mine to one that wasn't in use anywhere near me, and it worked for a day, but then returned to normal. (A guy at work with a Mac book pro was having the same issue and this solution seems to have provided a permanent fix for him)

I've moved my cordless phone well away from the router, but this had no effect.

Like you, I am at a loss!

I've just posted this on Apple Discussions as several people seem to be having similar issues and this worked for me:-

Airport signal constantly dropping out and web pages taking an age to load?

INSTANT SOLUTION (Well it worked instantly for both me and one of my friends with the exact same issues anyway!)

Simply add the following to your DNS Servers

4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2

No more constantly dropped airport signal and no more waiting for pages to load. Internet now working as fast or even faster than ever!

I'll admit that I had little confidence in this working myself (Found an old article on the web ages ago that suggested this for a similar problem but cannot for the life of me find the article now!) but was completely blown away when it actually worked a treat!

For anyone who does not know how to add DNS servers:-

Open System Preferences/Network/Airport (In left hand pane)/Advanced (Button at bottom)/DNS (Tab along top)/Click plus sign and type in (Do this for both 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2)/Click OK/Click Apply

Hopefully you should now have a solid connection!

iMac 20" 2.4Ghz Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Made no difference here, but I didn't expect it to - I can't see how DNS settings would affect the wireless signal that the Mac receives.

Thanks for the response though

I'm thinking I might just get a wireless network bridge and use the ethernet port on the Mac. Makes sense as I regularly transfer files between the Mac, XP, and Linux boxes and ethernet would be far faster than wireless.

npc100 said:

Made no difference here, but I didn't expect it to - I can't see how DNS settings would affect the wireless signal that the Mac receives.

Thanks for the response though

I'm thinking I might just get a wireless network bridge and use the ethernet port on the Mac. Makes sense as I regularly transfer files between the Mac, XP, and Linux boxes and ethernet would be far faster than wireless.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean, that's why I was sceptical when I tried it myself but apparently the Airport card (Especially on aluminium iMacs) can sometimes behave flakily with the DNS server automatically assigned by some ISPs.

All that the numbers I listed do is that they will automatically connect you to the DNS server that it physically nearest to your location.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work for you as, as it worked instantly for 2 of us, I genuinely believed that this could be solution for a fair number of people with this issue.

airport signal not found, not keeping connection, or weak

Try changing the airport extreme channel, and keep changing until you find one that's free.

I was having the same problem as you with my 20 inch iMac, and I did some research and read that it could be that there are too many wireless devices on the same channel. I switched channels and it made no difference. I tried the suggestion here of adding another number (4.2.2.2) to my DNS list and it made no difference. So then I went back tried changing channels again, and this time it worked. Now my iMac is picking up the wireless signal without any problems. The first time I must have changed to a busy channel.

I have a laptop that was picking up the AES signal so it was easy to change the channel. I simply went into Airport Utility setup in my laptop. If you don't have an addition computer, you will have to hook your computer directly to the Base Station. Either way you can follow the instructions below.

1. Open Appliances folder.
2. Open Utilities folder.
3. Open Airport Admin. Utility.app
4. Select Base Station
5. Select Configure and enter base station password.
6. Under the Airport panel go down to channel.
7. Select a different channel.
8. Select Update.

The airport will reset, and if the channel is free then you should have a strong uninterrupted signal. If not, try a different channel.

Hope this works!

MacBook Pro Airport Issue

I have a MacBook Pro 13.3" 2.26GHz. It's approx. one year old. It's been a great laptop for my daughter.

Recently the Airport just loses and drops the connection to the router after the screen saver turns on or if I reboot the computer. After every instance, I have to manually establish the connection to our network. We are doing this 5 - 6 times a day. I can't figure it out. Since I purchased a service agreement with Fry's, I took it to their service center. They have run diagnostic tests and have not found any problems. I insisted that it must be a hardware issue with the "airport" and it's need to be replaced. However, the diagnostics test prove otherwise.

I also have two PC's and an iMac set up on our ATT U-verse network, but we can all surf the internet and print to our networked printer - no issues.

Any suggestions? Is there anything else I can check or verify?