10-04-2010, 07:55 PM

Hi all. Today got my first mac and simultaneously got my first problems! I've been hunting around the net for ages for a fix but there seems nothing exactly like my problem and if i'm honest i don't understand a lot of fixes or suggestions - a lot of abbreviations seem to be used which i don't understand or know where to find! So, apologies in advance if this has been covered in laymans terms hundreds of times previously, but...

I'm having problems with my wireless network. I have a brand new iMac 21.5" and a netgear wgr614 v5 i believe. I have been a pc user for years with the same setup with no issues and my pc is still working fine and reliably over the network so no obvious problems with the network itself. However, my iMac is connected to the network and is working fine but is unreliable and unstable, especially when i try to do something substantial! Sometimes it's fine but then for no reason, say i try to open youtube, it just takes forever to connect and sometimes even fails!

I am connected with good signal strength to my network and am typing this message from the mac, so it works, it's just unstable! Is there anything obvious i should be looking for or any known issues?

One thing i've noticed is that when i click on the airport icon on the menu bar at the top of my screen and watch it, where it says 'airport: On' it will regularly change to 'Looking for networks' for a second or so. Is this normal? It doesn't drop the connection when it does this, it seems to be constant though.

Many thanks in advance - i hope i can resolve this soon as it's really ruined the whole experience!

Cheers, and hello!

Toby

10-04-2010, 08:02 PM

How close is the router located to your new iMac? And are you using any form of encryption in your network? If not, you should be. And, are you broadcasting the SSID (network name) from your router?

Also, run a test by hooking your new iMac to the router via ethernet cable to be sure that everything is working OK software wise. You can switch back to wireless afterward.

10-04-2010, 08:17 PM

The router isn't exactly close, i'ts upstairs and i'm downstairs. I'm getting a good signal strength on screen though - 3 out of 4 bars on the airport icon.

I have a password set up yes - WEP i think?

I'll have to give the ethernet cable a try tomorrow - not much up for it tonight! Good call though, should really have been my first port of call to help eliminate possibilities i guess!

As for broadcasting the SSID from the router - is this literally the network name, as in how it appears to devices? If so, yes, i see it as my second name which is how it appears on the PC!

Thanks for the snappy response!

10-04-2010, 09:23 PM

Ok, i plugged the mac into the router using ethernet and no change, updated the router firmware, no change.

What i have noticed is that it is always reliably connected but what seems to be happening is that sometimes when i type in an address or click a link, there seems to be nothing happening with the router at all, as if there is no communication between mac and router! Sometimes it works fine and you can see the lights on the router and modem start to flash instantly as the webpage loads, other times nothing hapens on either, other times it starts to load then stops half way through and the router and modem lights stop flashing - any thoughts?

Thanks again

10-04-2010, 10:49 PM

OK, thanks for posting back and hooking up the ethernet cable. That eliminates a lot of other issues that could be possible. You may be experiencing slow or unresponsive DNS (resolving web page addresses). PCs (Windows) seem to be less effected by DNS problems than the Mac.

Open System Preferences, Network. Click on the advanced tab at the bottom right. Now click on the DNS tab. You might have an address there that's in gray. That's OK, it'll be the router address. Leave that alone.

If there are other address under that copy them down on a piece of paper. Now highlight them and press the minus button at the bottom of the dialog. When the DNS box is cleared, press the plus button and add these two addresses, one at a time:

208.67.220.220
4.2.2.4

Press OK and OK your way out of System Preferences. Reboot your router by turning it off and on again. Now try the iMac to see if that has improved it or not. Go to wireless and try it there also. Let us know.

10-05-2010, 04:55 AM

Have done all the above - no change!

There was only my ip addy of my router listed in there - should i have cleared this or left it and added the two you've listed? Also - what exactly is this doing, out of interest?

Really appreciate your time!

10-05-2010, 03:19 PM

The address in gray that was already there is your router IP address. As I stated above, leave that alone. If you added the other two addresses and experienced no change, that means the DNS is probably OK. What you did by adding those two addresses was to tell the network to use those DNS servers instead of the default used by your ISP. You can remove those two addresses if you like as it appears it makes no difference.

The only other thing I can think of is that your iMac needs to be closer to the router. Maybe you can relocate the router. Remember, you're actually sharing bandwidth with the other machines that are on the network in your home.

One thing i've noticed is that when i click on the airport icon on the menu bar at the top of my screen and watch it, where it says 'airport: On' it will regularly change to 'Looking for networks' for a second or so. Is this normal? It doesn't drop the connection when it does this, it seems to be constant though.

This is usually the symptom of a weak or intermittent signal. Experiment with moving the router and see what happens.

10-06-2010, 02:35 AM

Thanks for all your input. The wireless signal seems fine and my old pc worked fine from where i have the mac so i wouldn't have thought range was an issue, besides it did the same when i was literally right next to the router! Also, there are never really any other machines running for me to share bandwidth with. Maybe there is an issue with my machine then with what you've said about my machine checking for networks all the time!

I'll have to take my computer to a friends and see if it is the same on their network - if it is i'll get it into a genius bar, if not i'll get an airport extreme!

Thanks again!