Not getting wireless

Recently my mac and ipad are no longer receiving a wireless signal in our house. My husband's Dell is having absolutely no problems. Took them both to Apple Store and tech said they were fine. Ordered a new modem from AT&T and worked for about 4 days.
Now, back to the same issue. I'm picking up a strong wireless signal, but can only use internet when I'm wired.

Any thoughts? A new wireless router too?

Hello

My iMac began to struggle out of the blue a couple of weeks ago but since realising there was a wireless firmware update that I had not downloaded - once I did, and installed it - my machine's wireless internet performance has been flawless. No more disconnects, long page loading times or buffering YouTube videos.

If it isn't that, or even if it is, those who can help you will ask you for details of your machine type, specs etc. If you put those in your signature, it will save you time because before you get an answer they will likely ask you first for model details before proceding with possible answers.

The first thing to check, as David says, is to make sure you have all the system updates etc. (It may also be handy to post which Mac and iPad you have and which OS versions they are using).

Changing your modem rather than the router will have no effect on the wireless part of your network. Those 4 days of it working are likely coincidence. Changing the router will effect your wireless network - one way or another - but before we go down that route I'd suggest checking for interference.

As it's an issue that's only just started, and can be intermittent, I'd suggest something has changed and that's not necessarily something in your control.
A neighbour may well have another device or network using a similar channel to your network and causing signal loss/degradation.

Grab a copy of iStumbler (whichever version is appropriate for your version of OSX) and let it run. You'll get to see all the wireless networks in range and the channels they are broadcasting on.

Once you have that information you need to log into your router and change your wireless channel to a fixed channel as far away from the surrounding networks as possible. You may not find an empty channel depending on what's around you. In this case pick a channel that's got a competing device with the weakest signal. This will become clearer once you run iStumbler.

Once you've made the change, reboot your router and devices and try again.

Thanks very much for your replies and your tips on working better with the forum. Much appreciated.