One router - Mac can't connect, PC can???

karavite

karavite

Registered
I have a really weird problem. I have a NetGear wireless router connected to my Comcast cable modem. There are 3 computers on this router - a G4 DP, an iMac and a Windows 2000 machine. While the Windows machine hums along connected and happy as a clam (wireless or with a cable), the G4 seems to lose its connection over and over. I get about 3 pages on the web or checking my mail, then bam, it is unable to connect (find google for example) until I restart it - and then the whole thing starts over again. Sometimes the G4 can't connect to a page, mail, software updater, but then if I start a different browser (like IE vs Firfox) I get a few pages I can connect to, then it fails to connect again. All the while System Preferences Network shows I am connected and I can connect to the routers browser control page.

Things I tried:
1. Repairing permissions.
2. Reparing the drive.
3. Booting off another drive with a backup of the same 10.2.6 system from 2 weeks ago - same connection problem happens here too.
4. Changing the ethernet cable between the router and the Mac.

This is so weird. It worked perfectly up until last night and I haven't changed anything that I think could be causing all this. Any ideas? It is driving me nuts!
 
More weirdness - okay, I can load google, enter a search and I get a new page - over and over it works. However, if I click on any link in those google results it will not load - "page not found." The same thing happens with my bookmarks - none will load including the New York Times, Amazon... anything. Even Macosx.com!!! (I am using my PC to write all this).
 
Hey karavite ;)
So, your iMac is just connected over the ethernet plug, right? Any chances to get a wireless connection between your router and the iMac? If not, did you try to have two parallel pings?
Open two terminal windows. In one type: ping router and in the other ping www.macosx.com.
Now try your browsing and watch the ping list. Any packetloss?
Another thing: make sure no firewalls are active and also try to reset your router. Maybe your ethernet card is damaged?!
 
Hey Zammy! I actually have 2 macs - a iMac g3 connected via Airport and a G4 connected via a cable. Both are having the weird problems while my PC is fine. I tried a few pinging exercises and here is what happens:

Ping www.google.com - okay sometimes, but other times unkown host
Ping www.macosc.com - unknown host
Ping router (192.168.0.1) - unkown host

However, using the G4 I can log into the routers control web page at the same darn address!

When I ping to google successfull and load it on my browser, there is no packet loss in the terminal window.

One thing - I got a weird message the first time I tried to launch the router page - the browser told me javascript was disabled, but then it worked the second time around with no change in browser settings. Some times when I can get a page to load, it is VERY slow. Meanwhile, my PC hums along like there is nothing wrong.

No firewalls or blocking are on in the Mac or router.

I'm thinking I will try completely resetting my router - just afraid to lose my one remaining connection! :)
 
can you directly connect your macs to your comcast modem? Is that working fine? If you have probs even pinging the router, there might be a local problem rather than something with the router. Do you have your network settings on automatic? If so, try to setup a "location" with the router ip. Right now it is hard to reduce the problem. It seems too much messed..
Btw, did you use ping www.macosX.com or ping www.macosC.com? :)
 
Hi Zammy - I am writing to you from my Mac connected directly to the cable modem and it is zooming along like always. All before reading your last message! :) See, I am learning! So, it seems the problems, as whacky as they are/were, are confidently isolated to my router. I am going to reset the darn thing completely and try again. Oh, I did ping macosX.com - I just can't type.

Its funny - we had really rough winds last night and Comcast is "experiencing higher than normal call volumes" yet they said everything was fine with my connection. My first reaction was to not believe them - can you blame me?! Though I have everything plugged into good surge protectors, maybe the router got zapped? I have no idea and am not relishing the idea of a trip to Compusa or BestBuy to get a new one with holiday crowds - I mean, I finished all my gift shopping early! It isn't fair! :)
 
Hey Sammy - or anyone else - is this a sure sign my router is messed up? Get this - when I did a simple reset on my router (uplug for a bit) it did not fix any problems. When I did the more extensive reset (unplug, press the reset button and hold for 20 seconds while powering back up) it completely fixes my issues with my ethernet connected Mac. However, after doing that, 2 weird things happen:

1. Cannot connect to the browser page for the router - 192.168.0.1 - NOT a password issue - it just will not connect. Tried 3 different browsers on my mac and 2 on my PC.
2. Wireless connection is gone - no computers with wireless see the router any more.

Then - get this, I unplug the router for a few seconds and plug it back in. Now I can load the browser page for it, but my old settings are there even though I did the clear thing. In addition, the wireless connection is back, but all the failed page issues return.

One more thing - seems the Windows machine experiences the same quirky connection issues UNLESS it is accessing my work network via a VPN connection. If the PC is connected to my work network it works perfect - the second I turn that off, it fails to connect to web pages and everthing else too.
 
I know this might seem like a silly thing, but have you tried disabling IPv6 in the Network selection of System Preferences? I've know that to fix some problems, especially when the network was mainly IPv4. Just a thought.
 
Another question: do you have any self-assigning network devices in your lan? Any computers that do not have an automatic ip? Any network printers with a fixed ip? Any way to get another router for testing?
 
Hi all - thanks very much for all your advice. Nixgeek - I tried that but no luck. Zammy - the answer is no in call cases except... I tried everything suggested, but the thing that finally worked was (drum roll) a new router. The old Netgear just seemed to be acting too odd for words, patience... Funny how panicky I can get when the old reliable is suddenly on the fritz! The new D-Link is really quite nice. I thought the Netgear setup was easy and clear, but D-Link is even slicker. It even makes setting up encyption easy. My choice for the router to tell mom or dad to get!
 
I think you may have had 802.11x encryption enabled either on the router or the Mac side, which will cause a periodic disconnect if your router (or your OS) doesn't support it. That would only matter wirelessly though, so it is strange that you had the problem hardwired. Good luck with your new router. D-Link makes great products. I've been extremely pleased with my DI-614+.
 
Hi Winword. Thanks, but I checked that too and that was not it - no encryption. I checked it and everything else suggested here. The router worked perfectly on all 3 computers for a year then suddenly acted up one day. I am 100% convinced the Netgear, for whatever reason, just failed in some way.
 
Hey! The issue with your router and broadband modem is this - you are getting significant packet loss through the hops to the endpoint. The issue is with the Netgear router. If you were to bypass the router and just use the modem on anyone of the computers, you will find that it works fine. The netgear routers (except for the fvs-318) has produced this problem and it has taken me a couple of months to verify this completely. This will happen with any modem - even of it is in bridged mode. The only thing you can do is contact Netgear and raise cain that your router is the cause of your bad internet connection (packet loss) and that you demand they find a fix. Good luck convincing them! Otherwise, go pick up a Linksys and end your misery! Netgear used to be reliable, but they have big issues now!
 
Thanks rascol - I ended up with a D-Link and life is good! I had a Linksys some time ago, but actually ended up with a defective unit - it only took about 2 hours on the phone to figure this out! :) I'm sure Linksys might be fine, but I have been burned and I am adopting a "one strike and you are out policy" that seems to help. I may be weird, but these companies really need to go an extra mile in quality assurance and preventing issues for users. I will write Netgear and told them they lost me for good - for whatever good that does.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top