Internet attempts fail

When away from home I am UNABLE to connect to the Internet, however I CAN connect to the WIFI signal.
I have worked with Fairpoint.com till we have exhausted anything and everything that might work.
What is preventing this?

My iPAD connects in 5 seconds!
Thank you for any thoughts.
Sally T

Working on:
a Mac Air
OSX Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)
1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Let's start by making sure your firewall is turned off. Go to:
System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall
If it is on, click the lock below; enter password, and kill it.

If it is off, or if turning it off doesn't fix it, go to:
System Preferences > Network
With Wi-Fi selected, go to Advanced. Can you tell us what settings you have in TCP/IP and DNS? If you can post screen caps, that may be easier.

Fire wall is OFF.

TCP/IP settings Configure IPv4: (Using DHCP)

IPv4 address is correct numbers

subnet mask: more numbers

Router is also correct

Configure IPv6 (Automatically)

Router:
IPv6 Address:
Prefix Lenght:

DNS tab:

a bunch of numbers : actually 3 sets of DNS Servers:
Is this something I can post here?

Thank you for responding,
Sally T






Over to the right I Renew DHCP Lease

DHCP Client ID: blank



System Preferences > Network
With Wi-Fi selected, go to Advanced. Can you tell us what settings you have in TCP/IP and DNS? If you can post screen caps, that may be easier.

bythesea888 said:

IPv4 address is correct numbers

subnet mask: more numbers

Router is also correct

Click to expand...

The lack of actual details isn't helpful, but actually now that I think about it, assuming you are at home and everything is working now, then this doesn't matter since you are set to use DHCP. So don't worry about this part. BUT! What may matter is the DNS...

DNS tab:

a bunch of numbers : actually 3 sets of DNS Servers:
Is this something I can post here?

Click to expand...

It would help to know what they are. Your ISP at home may have you using DNS servers that can only be used while connected to their service. Or, instead of posting the numbers, change them to use OpenDNS's servers. It's what I and many of us use now. To do so, remove the existing DNS servers and add these:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

More details can be found on the OpenDNS website:
Internet Security or DNS Service for your Business or Home - OpenDNS

internet attempts fail

Yes, I am at home. I will change the numbers as you suggested. I would tell you that at home I use Time Warner High Speed and in two separate away from home areas the connections have been with fairpoint and DSL service.
I must be away from my computer now till two pm but will look for another message from you and/or respond to you as to where I am in this process. Thank you!
Sally T

Thank you lifeisabeach! I changed the numbers change as you suggested and deleted the others. When you speak of OpenDNS's servers it is just what happens with the set of numbers you gave me or is there a box to check [open DNS] that I couldn't find. At any rate they are in and I won't know if all is well till I get to the island where the fairpoint will be used instead of TimeWarner. Thank you again and thank you esp for answering me so promptly and so well-informed! Sally T

bythesea888 said:

Thank you lifeisabeach! I changed the numbers change as you suggested and deleted the others. When you speak of OpenDNS's servers it is just what happens with the set of numbers you gave me or is there a box to check [open DNS] that I couldn't find. At any rate they are in and I won't know if all is well till I get to the island where the fairpoint will be used instead of TimeWarner. Thank you again and thank you esp for answering me so promptly and so well-informed! Sally T

Click to expand...

There's no box to check. A DNS server basically aids in connecting you to the websites you visit. For example, if you try to go to mac-forums.com, the DNS sever gets that name, looks up the IP address for that domain, then routes you to it. More on that here:
DNS Servers - What Is a DNS Server?

The DNS servers that Time Warner operates are HORRIBLE! I used to have constant problems until I changed to OpenDNS. Hopefully this will prove to be the problem here.

It sounds to me like the OP manually entered the old DNS numbers, so of course whenever she left her home her machine would connect to networks but not go anyplace.

The actual solution to the problem is to remove ALL the DNS numbers in that section of Internet setup and let the local network "fill that in" when it connects (you'd see this as "grayed out" numbers) automatically.

The OpenDNS or Google DNS substitutions will solve the problem too, but that's not the "real" solution.

chas_m said:

It sounds to me like the OP manually entered the old DNS numbers, so of course whenever she left her home her machine would connect to networks but not go anyplace.

The actual solution to the problem is to remove ALL the DNS numbers in that section of Internet setup and let the local network "fill that in" when it connects (you'd see this as "grayed out" numbers) automatically.

The OpenDNS or Google DNS substitutions will solve the problem too, but that's not the "real" solution.

Click to expand...

Tell me what OP stands for and should this not work what are your ideas for the real solution. Thank you for this reply.

The DNS servers that Time Warner operates are HORRIBLE! I used to have constant problems until I changed to OpenDNS. Hopefully this will prove to be the problem here.[/QUOTE]

Thanks again and I will be back in touch when I am in fairpoint territory again. Thanks too for the DNS site. Another bit of information I NEVER wanted to know about computers. This computer is always making me dig deeper.

Hi bythesea . . . OP stands for "original poster"...the person who started the thread.

thanks!

chas_m said:

It sounds to me like the OP manually entered the old DNS numbers, so of course whenever she left her home her machine would connect to networks but not go anyplace.

The actual solution to the problem is to remove ALL the DNS numbers in that section of Internet setup and let the local network "fill that in" when it connects (you'd see this as "grayed out" numbers) automatically.

The OpenDNS or Google DNS substitutions will solve the problem too, but that's not the "real" solution.

Click to expand...

Road Runner's DNS servers are notoriously slow. This is something I can personally attest to and a casual Google search can confirm that. Changing to OpenDNS will be a better solution for her, at least at home. Not knowing what the state is of the DNS servers used by her connections away from home (presumably OK since her other devices are fine), changing to OpenDNS on the MacBook will be a very good way to eliminate the DNS settings as the problem, regardless of what service she is on.

If that does prove to be the culprit, then a long term solution at home would be to change the DNS server settings on the router so her MacBook will get them from there while at home, then it can get them from whatever servers her other connections use. Or just leave the MacBook to use OpenDNS permanently. There is no reason I'm aware of not to. If you know of a reason, feel free to elaborate.