Intermittent Internet Access on MacBook

I am using a netgear wireless router. I will be able to get on the internet for about 15 minutes and then, all of a sudden I will try to navigate to a new page and it will say that I am not connected to the internet. I will not be able to get on the internet for about 15 minutes, and then all of a sudden I am connected.

Now, I know it's not the router because when I get disconnected, I have gotten on the internet on my iPhone via WiFi. So, it is definitely not the router. It has to be my MacBook.

Can anyone help?

Just because you can access the net via your iPhone, doesn't necessarily mean the router is setup OK. Your MacBook may or may not be at fault.

As a test, run an ethernet cable from the router to your MacBook. If the connection holds without disconnecting, then you know that it's definitely wireless related.

The intermittent connection problem can be due to interference from another local network operating on the same channel as your router, or even something as simple as a 2.4 GHz phone being used in and around your home.

Try going into the Netgear router menu and changing the channel it's broadcasting on. Most routers default to channel 11. If after doing that the connection is still intermittent, go back into the router and temporarily remove all security (WEP, WPA, WPA2). See if that helps.

If everything fails, you may have a problem with the wireless setup or even the airport card in your MacBook. As a final test, take your MacBook to a place that has free wireless - StarBucks, Library, etc and see if the same thing occurs.

Regards.

hi, i got the same problem but with imac when connected through ethernet. im using linksys router with voip support. any one could help me? thanks.

Thanks

Thanks for the help CHSCG. i'll give those a try and see what happens and let you know if it works.

Thanks again.

i also have the same problem with the netgear router. however, it's happening both on my macbook and iphone and the WiFi connection would last for about 8-12 hours or more, then it gets disconnected. this isn't true for the my other family members' PCs which have stable WiFi connection. so what i do is power off/on the router each time to restore my internet connection. but i don't want to do this regularly because it affects the connection of the PCs and i don't want to bother them each time i do it just to restore my connection. please help. thanks!

i finally found the solution. i didn't realize that my router's security was changed from WEP to WPA. after that, i started experiencing intermittent connections. when i reverted to WEP, my connection normalized. i just wanted to confirm one thing though. does this mean that the macbook is selective or not compatible with other security configuration except for WEP? hope somebody can enlighten me on this one. thanks!