Hi
I have a problem with my MAC. The internet seems to be on and off. Serenak helped initially with my first query, but when I went to go apply his suggestions it randomly came back on again.
Initially it would go off and the port that I'd plugged into on the modem would not be lit up. And other ports would not work when I tried plugging into those too. After it stopped the other day I gave it a jiggle and the port light came on and the internet worked.
However, it has now again randomly stopped. One minute it was fine. The next it wasn't. The confusing thing this time is that my MAC is plugged in AND the port light is actully lit up indicating that the modem and mac are communicating. Also if I plug into other ports on the modem the respective light looks comes on. So the question is, why on earth won't my internet work??
Also strange is my Powerbook can use Airport fine with the modem but my mac computer can't....
Either way I really need to get this working as it affects my work.
I'm more used to PCs so doing stuff on the mac is not intuitive for me (I bought my macs recently for music). So if your suggestions involve detailed stuff please be descriptive as this would help.
Many thanks in advance to any advice that can be given....I can't tell you how much I would appreciate it
Warm regards
Tania
The intial thread is below but I've posted here as the ticket seems to be closeed:
*****************************************************************************
I have a Mac computer and Mac laptop.
The laptop airport is working fine however my computer has been having problems with the internet. Sometimes it works and then other times it won't.
I spoke with the Sky Broadband support team and after a few tests they concluded that I need a new ethernet port.
Does this sound correct and if so, is this a difficult / expensive thing to renew?
Also, my mac laptop airport is seeing the internet connection from my wireless modem and workinig fine however my other Mac (with the ethernet port issue) cannot. I thought airport and the ethernet were separate? Or is it possible that the ethernet problem is preventing my airport from working also?
Many thank in advance for any advice you can offer
Regards
Tania
Serenak - Jan 17, 2008 - 5:17 pm
Hello Tania
thanks for using Macosx.com and I will do my best to advise/assist you.
The laptop is working fine over Airport, which is good and as it should be... this also tells us that the Airport and the Internet connection are fine... this is good and helps narrow the search for "the problem" and "the cure"
On what basis did Sky tell you that the ethernet port was unserviceable?... I guess it is not impossible for an ethernet port to give up, but I must say it is pretty damn rare.
First of all check all the networking settings on the G5 - create a new "Location" and work through the settings from scratch if you like... If your G5 has more than one Ethernet Port change ports... if it doesn't then check the cable, even better swap it for another one. Make sure the cable is securely engaged at both ends... (yes it seems obvious, but you never know) try changing the port that it connects to on the router...
Airport is a completely different thing to the ethernet and to be honest there is no way that I know that having broken or failed ethernet port is going to have any affect on your Airport try only having one engaged at once though (as far as I know there is no reason not to have both active at the same time... but let's make life simple for ourselves by now and rule out ethernet/Airport interference)
As you are having problems over the Airport connection from the G5 too I would very much say the finger points to a software problem...
Repair Permissions, and do a disk verify/repair, check all the settings and cables, restart the Mac and see how it goes
Let me know if you have any luck or if you can think of anything that might help pin point the cause of this problem...
Tania - Jan 17, 2008 - 6:18 pm
Hi Serenak
Firstly, thank you for you quick reply - I really appreciated it!
Would you believe that as I type my connection is now working again?!
I'm glad this is the case as I've been pulling my hair out over it the last few days (especially as this is about the 5th time in a few months that it's randomly stopped working).
However, there still is the issue of why? To get to the bottom of it here is my response to your questions / points.
Yes I was fortunate that the laptop continued to work because as you said it confirmed that my modem and line etc was all working ok.
Despite this sky still went through with me to check everything (including changing the filter).
Whenever the connection stopped working I always tried the 3 other ports on the modem but none of those would work either.
The Sky person however also asked me to take my ethernet cable out (I think that's what it's called) from the computer to modem and put it into the modem from port 1 to port 4. Both ports lit up and they said this indicated that the cable was ok. So she concluded that the issue was not the modem or cable but the ethernet port.
What I didn't understand was why the airport was playing up also when as you say it's unrelated to the ethernet port. And it's also interesting when you say that the ethernet port is unlikely to be broken also.
Anyway......just after I read your response I tried putting the cable in again and jiggling it around as per your suggestion....and the port 1 light lit up immediately. So.....I'm thinking now that perhaps the issue was that the cables have been lose.
The modem is under my feet so I sometimes kick it about accidentally, so this could have caused the problem.
I guess I shall have to wait for the problem to appear again but for now I'm just happy my internet is working ok. Still not sure why this computer can't see my connection via Airport.....
Many thanks again for taking the time to help me!
Regards
Tania
Serenak - Jan 18, 2008 - 9:48 am
Tania
Glad it is working... just make sure the cables are securely snapped home... if the little clips on the plugs are broken off or a bit weedy consider a new cable... they are not expensive.
As to the Airport I would again suggest creating a new "Location" and working through the setup of the Airport step by step... I can only guess that is not correctly configured in some way, which not sitting at your Mac makes it hard for me to determine...
Thanks for using macosx.com anyway and we are happy to help
Tania - Jan 18, 2008 - 4:32 pm
Thank you so much for your help!
I will certainly try creating a new location as you suggest.
Thanks again
Tania
TechSupport - Jan 29, 2008 - 12:40 pm
We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.
Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:
http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298049
Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.
Tania - Jan 29, 2008 - 12:41 pm
Hello again!!
I can't believe this. The internet on my MAC has again stopped working. This time however (unlike with other times), the light for the relevant port on the modem is flashing, indicating that there is a connection with the computer.
Previously when it would stop working, the light for the port 1 I used would not light up (and wouldn't light up no matter which port I plugged into).
The cables must have been loose as jiggling them created a connection and I could see port 1 lit up and the internet would work.
Now however, the internet suddenly stopped working BUT the port is still lit up. So I'm really confused (although admittedly this is not hard).
I've tried jiggling many times just in case, but still no joy.
I also tried plugging into other ports too. The port light would light up as I did this but I still wouldn't have a connection.
I'm really getting so annoyed by this so any help would be very much appreciated.
I've also tried to get the airport to work on this computer too (it still works fine on my Powerbook) so steps on how to get that to work would be great
Many thanks again in advance
regards
Tania
Tania - Jan 30, 2008 - 3:01 pm
Hi
Just had a reminder email saying you hadn't heard from me.
I'm still very interested in any advice if available as the problem still exists.
Many thanks
Tania
I have a problem with my MAC. The internet seems to be on and off. Serenak helped initially with my first query, but when I went to go apply his suggestions it randomly came back on again.
Initially it would go off and the port that I'd plugged into on the modem would not be lit up. And other ports would not work when I tried plugging into those too. After it stopped the other day I gave it a jiggle and the port light came on and the internet worked.
However, it has now again randomly stopped. One minute it was fine. The next it wasn't. The confusing thing this time is that my MAC is plugged in AND the port light is actully lit up indicating that the modem and mac are communicating. Also if I plug into other ports on the modem the respective light looks comes on. So the question is, why on earth won't my internet work??
Also strange is my Powerbook can use Airport fine with the modem but my mac computer can't....
Either way I really need to get this working as it affects my work.
I'm more used to PCs so doing stuff on the mac is not intuitive for me (I bought my macs recently for music). So if your suggestions involve detailed stuff please be descriptive as this would help.
Many thanks in advance to any advice that can be given....I can't tell you how much I would appreciate it
Warm regards
Tania
The intial thread is below but I've posted here as the ticket seems to be closeed:
*****************************************************************************
I have a Mac computer and Mac laptop.
The laptop airport is working fine however my computer has been having problems with the internet. Sometimes it works and then other times it won't.
I spoke with the Sky Broadband support team and after a few tests they concluded that I need a new ethernet port.
Does this sound correct and if so, is this a difficult / expensive thing to renew?
Also, my mac laptop airport is seeing the internet connection from my wireless modem and workinig fine however my other Mac (with the ethernet port issue) cannot. I thought airport and the ethernet were separate? Or is it possible that the ethernet problem is preventing my airport from working also?
Many thank in advance for any advice you can offer
Regards
Tania
Serenak - Jan 17, 2008 - 5:17 pm
Hello Tania
thanks for using Macosx.com and I will do my best to advise/assist you.
The laptop is working fine over Airport, which is good and as it should be... this also tells us that the Airport and the Internet connection are fine... this is good and helps narrow the search for "the problem" and "the cure"
On what basis did Sky tell you that the ethernet port was unserviceable?... I guess it is not impossible for an ethernet port to give up, but I must say it is pretty damn rare.
First of all check all the networking settings on the G5 - create a new "Location" and work through the settings from scratch if you like... If your G5 has more than one Ethernet Port change ports... if it doesn't then check the cable, even better swap it for another one. Make sure the cable is securely engaged at both ends... (yes it seems obvious, but you never know) try changing the port that it connects to on the router...
Airport is a completely different thing to the ethernet and to be honest there is no way that I know that having broken or failed ethernet port is going to have any affect on your Airport try only having one engaged at once though (as far as I know there is no reason not to have both active at the same time... but let's make life simple for ourselves by now and rule out ethernet/Airport interference)
As you are having problems over the Airport connection from the G5 too I would very much say the finger points to a software problem...
Repair Permissions, and do a disk verify/repair, check all the settings and cables, restart the Mac and see how it goes
Let me know if you have any luck or if you can think of anything that might help pin point the cause of this problem...
Tania - Jan 17, 2008 - 6:18 pm
Hi Serenak
Firstly, thank you for you quick reply - I really appreciated it!
Would you believe that as I type my connection is now working again?!
I'm glad this is the case as I've been pulling my hair out over it the last few days (especially as this is about the 5th time in a few months that it's randomly stopped working).
However, there still is the issue of why? To get to the bottom of it here is my response to your questions / points.
Yes I was fortunate that the laptop continued to work because as you said it confirmed that my modem and line etc was all working ok.
Despite this sky still went through with me to check everything (including changing the filter).
Whenever the connection stopped working I always tried the 3 other ports on the modem but none of those would work either.
The Sky person however also asked me to take my ethernet cable out (I think that's what it's called) from the computer to modem and put it into the modem from port 1 to port 4. Both ports lit up and they said this indicated that the cable was ok. So she concluded that the issue was not the modem or cable but the ethernet port.
What I didn't understand was why the airport was playing up also when as you say it's unrelated to the ethernet port. And it's also interesting when you say that the ethernet port is unlikely to be broken also.
Anyway......just after I read your response I tried putting the cable in again and jiggling it around as per your suggestion....and the port 1 light lit up immediately. So.....I'm thinking now that perhaps the issue was that the cables have been lose.
The modem is under my feet so I sometimes kick it about accidentally, so this could have caused the problem.
I guess I shall have to wait for the problem to appear again but for now I'm just happy my internet is working ok. Still not sure why this computer can't see my connection via Airport.....
Many thanks again for taking the time to help me!
Regards
Tania
Serenak - Jan 18, 2008 - 9:48 am
Tania
Glad it is working... just make sure the cables are securely snapped home... if the little clips on the plugs are broken off or a bit weedy consider a new cable... they are not expensive.
As to the Airport I would again suggest creating a new "Location" and working through the setup of the Airport step by step... I can only guess that is not correctly configured in some way, which not sitting at your Mac makes it hard for me to determine...
Thanks for using macosx.com anyway and we are happy to help
Tania - Jan 18, 2008 - 4:32 pm
Thank you so much for your help!
I will certainly try creating a new location as you suggest.
Thanks again
Tania
TechSupport - Jan 29, 2008 - 12:40 pm
We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.
Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:
http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298049
Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.
Tania - Jan 29, 2008 - 12:41 pm
Hello again!!
I can't believe this. The internet on my MAC has again stopped working. This time however (unlike with other times), the light for the relevant port on the modem is flashing, indicating that there is a connection with the computer.
Previously when it would stop working, the light for the port 1 I used would not light up (and wouldn't light up no matter which port I plugged into).
The cables must have been loose as jiggling them created a connection and I could see port 1 lit up and the internet would work.
Now however, the internet suddenly stopped working BUT the port is still lit up. So I'm really confused (although admittedly this is not hard).
I've tried jiggling many times just in case, but still no joy.
I also tried plugging into other ports too. The port light would light up as I did this but I still wouldn't have a connection.
I'm really getting so annoyed by this so any help would be very much appreciated.
I've also tried to get the airport to work on this computer too (it still works fine on my Powerbook) so steps on how to get that to work would be great
Many thanks again in advance
regards
Tania
Tania - Jan 30, 2008 - 3:01 pm
Hi
Just had a reminder email saying you hadn't heard from me.
I'm still very interested in any advice if available as the problem still exists.
Many thanks
Tania