macbook doesn't connect intermittently to preferred network

My problem is when i'm home or at work my macbook sometimes intermittently doesn't connect to my preferred networking of choice... meaning on airport it will show it's connected with full strength i might add and i use firefox to access the internet i get a page cannot be displayed...

There will be times when i check to see if i have obtained an ip address and at times from the terminal it shows i do have one and sometimes i don't.. I know that if i don't get an ip address then there is something wrong with my router or modem..

The problem cannot be my modem or router because i have another laptop that i connect to my router hard wired and it always works and i can get access to the internet all the time...

The only way i can get internet when i have that problem is when the router has been power cycled...

The steps i have taken to try and resolve this problem is to use interference robustness, change the channels on my router from 6 to 11, even remove the ssid from my list of preferred networks and re-add it again with the pw making sure it's the right one... I've also change the order in which my wireless @ home is at the top...

Details:

Mac book intel core duo
router is a dlink dl710
location of router is in my room next to the modem where my laptop is most of the t ime

P.S Sorry about the long post however this problem has been happening to me for about a month now and i've had my laptop for about a month... The only thing i also haven't done is taking my laptop to a genius bar and ask them myself...

Please help as any comments and help is always greatly appreciated.. also i'm a switcher... :Blushing:

Do you have SSID broadcast disabled? If so, enable it.

What kind of encryption (security) are you using? If none or WEP, change it to WPA or WPA2.

Also, check the preferred network list under System Preferences => Network => Show: AirPort.

Also, try the Wireless Networking FAQ for more information and troubleshooting tips.

SSID is enable already
encryption is WPA2-Personal+ AES + PSK
my wireless ssid is at the top of the list as the preferred network to use

one other thing i just tried now to do because i use firefox is from the wireless faq page is to auto detect proxy settings for this network... hopefully this works...

BlackCivic said:

one other thing i just tried now to do because i use firefox is from the wireless faq page is to auto detect proxy settings for this network... hopefully this works...

Click to expand...

You only want to do that if the network you're using uses a proxy to relay information to and from the Internet. That might be the case at a business or retail establishment (like a Starbucks), but may slow your browsing down at home.

ok well then i'm not sure what else to try...

BlackCivic said:

my wireless ssid is at the top of the list as the preferred network to use

Click to expand...

I don't know why but I had a similar problem as you when using the list of preferred networks. Even though my network was at the top it would sometimes choose to use my neighbors unsecured network. I changed it to automatically choose a network and it now always picks the last network I used.

if it can't find the last network i was connected to, does it refer back to the preferred network list or the next available unsecured network?

problem still occurs... when i go to my preferred network @ home, i need to power cycle my router before i can even access the internet even though airport shows a full connection... Please let me know if i can do anything...

BlackCivic said:

problem still occurs... when i go to my preferred network @ home, i need to power cycle my router before i can even access the internet even though airport shows a full connection... Please let me know if i can do anything...

Click to expand...

Have you tried updating the firmware? What about doing a cold reset?

i've updated the firmware on the router a few months ago... as for the reset, i haven't tried that but if that's what i'm going to need to do from now on, then i might as well just go to the genius bar and find a permanent solution or call apple support... I can't keep restarting my machine just to get the wireless to work... I appreciate all your help though...

BlackCivic said:

i've updated the firmware on the router a few months ago... as for the reset, i haven't tried that but if that's what i'm going to need to do from now on, then i might as well just go to the genius bar and find a permanent solution or call apple support... I can't keep restarting my machine just to get the wireless to work... I appreciate all your help though...

Click to expand...

The firmware changes constantly. If you haven't checked in a few months, it would be good to check now.

When I used the term "cold reset", I don't mean to restart your machine. I mean do a hard reset on your router. This basically wipes all of the settings clean and puts everything back to defaults. You don't need to do this on a recurring basis, but on only one occasion. We've found this to clear up a lot of issues, especially if it hasn't been done since the router was new and the router has gone through a variety of different firmware versions.

Typically a cold reset is done by first unplugging the router. Then, locate a recessed reset button on the back. Press and hold the reset button and then plug the router in. Continue holding the reset button for about 10 seconds. When it comes back up, the router should be at factory defaults.

I'll try that tonight or tomorrow.... thanks for all the help and suggestions cwa

Alright CWA... i tired to update the firmware as you said and so far it works... i turn my laptop off turn it back on and it still connects to my wireless network... Right now i'm in the midst of connecting to another network, then trying to see if airport will see my network and connect it to it automatically... hope it works... post again later to let everyone else know if it works...

BlackCivic said:

Alright CWA... i tired to update the firmware as you said and so far it works... i turn my laptop off turn it back on and it still connects to my wireless network... Right now i'm in the midst of connecting to another network, then trying to see if airport will see my network and connect it to it automatically... hope it works... post again later to let everyone else know if it works...

Click to expand...

Good, glad to hear it. If it doesn't, don't forget to try a cold reset.

well guys i'm back to my network at home and unfortunately the firmware didn't provide me with a permanent solution... So far i've restarted the router back to the default settings, updated the firmware and re-configured my wireless... it's on wpa2 + tkip + psk... not sure what else to do other then that... i'm going to try and see if i can connect to another wireless network, and then try and see if i have any problems connecting back to mine...

well i've connected to another reseting my router to its default settings, and connecting to another network, then back to mine, it's finally picking up my wireless network and giving me an ip address and connection... finally is all i can say... thanks for your help cwa

BlackCivic said:

well i've connected to another reseting my router to its default settings, and connecting to another network, then back to mine, it's finally picking up my wireless network and giving me an ip address and connection... finally is all i can say... thanks for your help cwa

Click to expand...

OUTSTANDING! That's so good to hear.

Way back in the thread, I recommended setting Firefox to automatically detect a proxy server. If you still have that option enabled, don't forget to turn it off. I think we were thinking it was a different problem back then, and having that enabled always will slow down your browsing a bit.

hey guys, i'm still having the problem... so what i'm going to do is sometime this week take my laptop to apple or call apple support... what is the number for apple support... sorry guys, but problem still happening

ok guys i think my problem is fixed... I removed all my preferred networks, and re-added them one by one as i visited each network... The problem i think was a corrupted preferred network that was affecting all the other ones.. so far it's been two days and no problems yet... thanks for you help