Problems connecting to wireless network

Hi,
I am totally new to the Mac world. I just got a Mac Book Pro today. I have a unique problem - I am able to connect to the neighbour's wireless network, but am not able to connect to my home network. I have no WEP enabled. I have a Linksys Access point router - BFSW11S4.

Please note that I have a couple of Windows XP machines, which are working fine with my wireless network.

Any suggestions or advise to fix the problem?

Any help to this new Mac user will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mani

That is one OLD router, but one that I have personally used before and know to work with Macs. Are you running the latest firmware? Is it broadcasting SSID?

Well..I have not done any upgrades on the router since it was worked like a charm so far. I tried with both SSID being transmitted and not transmitted. The MAC does not connect in both cases.

Thanks,
Mani

Manikanda said:

Well..I have not done any upgrades on the router since it was worked like a charm so far. I tried with both SSID being transmitted and not transmitted. The MAC does not connect in both cases.

Thanks,
Mani

Click to expand...

Definitely give it a firmware update and we'll go from there. That router has got to be 6+ years old, so there's likely been a number of updates, patches and fixes.

Ok. I just upgraded my Linksys firmware to the latest that was available, still same problem. When I try to connect to the network, it says connection failed. All my other XP base laptops are continuing to work fine.

The macbook pro connects to a neighbour's network without any problems, or without any change in settings.

Any further advise?

Thanks,
Mani

Manikanda said:

Ok. I just upgraded my Linksys firmware to the latest that was available, still same problem. When I try to connect to the network, it says connection failed. All my other XP base laptops are continuing to work fine.

The macbook pro connects to a neighbour's network without any problems, or without any change in settings.

Any further advise?

Thanks,
Mani

Click to expand...

Very strange. Try this, go into System Preferences => Network. Click on the Airport device in the left window pane. Click the Advanced button (near the bottom right corner). Find your network in the list, highlight it and click the "-" (minus) button to remove the entry from the list. Then, restart the system and try to connect to it again.

I did what you said (removed from the list and rebooted). Still same problem
In parallel, I also downloaded updates for the MBP and installed them. Now, I get a message "connection timedout" when I try to connect to my home wireless network. The machine is still able to connect to the neighbour's network without any problems.

Thanks,
Mani

Manikanda said:

I did what you said (removed from the list and rebooted). Still same problem
In parallel, I also downloaded updates for the MBP and installed them. Now, I get a message "connection timedout" when I try to connect to my home wireless network. The machine is still able to connect to the neighbour's network without any problems.

Thanks,
Mani

Click to expand...

Is it possible that you have MAC filtering enabled in the router? This is a setting by which you specify which MAC addresses are allowed to connect to the network (a MAC address is a unique, 12-digit identifier that is assigned to every network adapter, be it wireless or wired).

Mac filtering is disabled on the router.

Thanks,
Mani

Manikanda said:

Mac filtering is disabled on the router.

Thanks,
Mani

Click to expand...

One other thing to try before I recommend looking into a newer router (which I do think you should consider as that particular unit is now quite dated).

On the back of the router, there should be a recessed switch, possibly labeled "RESET". Disconnect the power from the router. Use a pen point or a paper clip to press and hold the reset button in. Continue holding the button and plug the power cable in. Wait 30 seconds and release. The router will now be set to factory defaults. You will need to connect to the router via a hard-wired computer and set it back up the way you like (or use the setup disc to configure it as though it was a new router). With that done, attempt to connect again.