# Network Problems



## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

Hi, 

My wife has a mac G4 1.25 GHZ, 768 MB DDR SDRAM, OSX 10.3.4 and she is connected to my PC via a router.  Recently, the connection to my computer and the internet has been acting strangely.  Often the internet won't connect at all, at other times it connects, but the web pages load slowly and with many errors.  Images are in the wrong place, and are warped, javascript can be read all over the screen.  It's basically unreadable.

Also, when connecting to my PC it sometimes works, then cuts in and out.

This is the only thing wrong.  I've tried restarting the router, we haven't had problems before (had this setup for quite a while now).  I don't use a mac myself and this is a problem I've never seen before.  Anyone out there had this problem?

Thanks for your $.02

Slammin


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Hi Slammin and welcome to the forum.
What router are you and your wife using? This doesn't sound like a client problem. So, the problem lies on the router and the cables plugged to it. Did you ever recheck the cables? Did you look for a new firmware. Maybe something got messed with your current one. When the internetconnection is lost, do you still have a lan connection between the two computers? Are you using any wireless connection?
Let us know and I am sure we'll help you out.


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

Thanks for the reply

The router I am using is a wired InexQ, and it works great, my PC is plugged into it and has no problems, I even tried switching ports, but the mac still has trouble.
The internet connection and the LAN connection are on and off , one minute they both may be partly working, then next they both are not.

I will check for new firmware now and let you know.

<<<no firmware upgrade>>>


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Oh, I missed the part that your pc works fine. That changes the story..
On your wifes mac, is the network configuration on auto? If so, then do a simple test to see if anything is wrong with her settings: setup a new useraccount if there isn'T already a second account. Howto? Open System Preferences -> Accounts -> under Login Options click on "+" -> use "test" in the field of name -> logout and login into the new account. Test the internetconnection. Any problems?


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

HI,

yea, still get the same thing.


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Ok, one more idea:
take the panther DVD; put it into the drive and boot the system; hold the "c" key while booting so it will use the DVD; open the Disk Utility from the menu on top (do not proceed with the installation); choose your volume/disc and click on "repair disk permissions". If errors are reported, repeat this step as long as repairing the permissions runs without any error report. Try again and see, if the connection works fine. 
But this wasn't my last idea.


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

cool, I will try that.....as soon as my wife gets home and tells me where the disc is...lol
thanks for all your help


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

You could also use the Disk Utility that is running on macosx. I am just used to boot from the DVD, since it wasn't possible to repair the permissions of the system volume. Simply open Disk Utility and choose the volume where macosx is installed. Men simply shouldn't be dependant on women.


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

OK, I repaired the disk permissions, but I am confused, I thought the disk permissions on the startup disk couldn't be repaired this way..  Anyway, same thing..

One interesting note I failed to mention previously:  Upon trying to load a web page with internet explorer, I get three diff results in random order 1) "Internet explorer doesn't know how to handle the type of file you have selected", 2) "The specified server could not be found", and 3) a scrambled web page

Should I still try to repair disk permissions after booting from the Panther disc?


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Since panther (10.3.x) it is possible to repair diskpermissions from the system volume. If no errors are reported, then we can process to the next steps:
Is it a problem with the browser? Did you try safari or any other web-browser?
And while you test those browsers, open the terminal.app and type 'ping www.test.com'. Does the ping-list show any losses during the time you test your web-browsers?


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## bobw (Oct 28, 2004)

When repairing permissions, it should always be done using Disk Utility in your Utility folder, not from booting from the OS CD;

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

Yea, I've tried Safari, but same thing.  Ok, I did the ping test, just get "unknown Host"
.  In Network Utility I can choose the Ethernet Interface, it is defaulted to fw0, but when I select en0 I see the info for my router.  Is thins important? is the default set wrong?


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

fw0 stands for your firewire connection. en0 is your ethernet connection. You can manually setup a connection to see, if that will fix the problem. Open Network Preference Panel. Double click Built-in Ethernet and click on New location. Make sure the device under Show is Built-in Ethernet. 'Using DHCP' and in the field of your DNS-Servers put the ip of your router (192.168.0.1 ?). 'Apply Now'!
Let's see..


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

done, but I get exactly the same thing as before.


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Did you try to ping to the ip of the router and see, if that connection is disturbed?


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 28, 2004)

Sorry dude, but I will go to bed now. It's half past midnight here and I have to lecture tomorrow morning. I will think of something so we can fix your problem. Good night..


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

OK, I pinged my router. First time with 0% Loss, then varrying degrees of loss, 40%, 70%, 50%


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## bobw (Oct 28, 2004)

What does it say in the System Profiler under Network when nothing loads?


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

Hi bobw,
It has all the network info, the ip assigned by the router, the subnet mask, the router address etc.  that doesn't seem to change


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## bobw (Oct 28, 2004)

How are you connecting to the Internet? Cable, DSL?

 Cab you connect the Mac directly to your internet connection and try.
 Disconnect the router and connect the Mac directly, or are you sharing the connection from the PC?


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

yea, I'm sharing the connection with the PC, but I can try it, it's DSL. Hold on


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

OK, connected the Mac directly to the Modem, it detected the internet connection cuz it displayed the IP address and my ISP, but when I tried to open a page it just stayed at loading and nothing appeared, no error messages, but no content.


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## bobw (Oct 28, 2004)

On the Mac, in the Network PreferencePane under PPPoE, do you have that checked to use? If not, check it and restart and try.


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## slammin007 (Oct 28, 2004)

Hi, k, tried that , but it wan't able to connect at all.   I have always used TCP/IP.


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## Zammy-Sam (Oct 29, 2004)

Can you connect your mac to your pc and see, if you get the lan work? You won't even need a crosslinked cable.


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## slammin007 (Oct 29, 2004)

k, did that, and I still got the on and off connection.  sometimes it let me connect and browse, other times it wouldn't connect.  I did a ping test (mac to pc) and got diff results, 30% loss, 10%loss, 20%loss, then did a ping test while trying to connect and got 80% loss.  Hope that helps.


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## bobw (Oct 29, 2004)

Sounds like you may have a hardware problem in the Mac. Do you have an Ethernet PCI card you can try on the Mac?


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## slammin007 (Oct 29, 2004)

could there really be a problem with the hardware? I mean it's only about 4 or 5 mos. old.....hmm, I don't have any other cards, but I'm guessing the computer is still under waranty, so maybe I'll just take it back where I got it.


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## bobw (Oct 29, 2004)

If you can take it back to the dealer, do that. They can test it.


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## slammin007 (Oct 29, 2004)

cool, thanks for your help, I'll post the results


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