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General discussion

airport is connected but I can't access the internet!

Feb 12, 2011 8:12AM PST

I have an older version of a macbook, OS X version 10.5.8
We are living in a campground and so have been using their wireless internet without any problem. Last week, all of a sudden, the mac will not load any webpages. The airport is connected, and shows full strength, yet when I click on safari, it says "safari can't open the page...because your computer isn't connected to the internet."
I've tried zapping the pram, rebooted multiple times, reset the IP address manually, deleted the internet files in preferences...I don't know what else to do! We also have a PC which is connecting just fine! And we don't have access to the router or anything. Why would it quit working suddenly like that? I would really appreciate any help!

Discussion is locked

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try this
Feb 12, 2011 10:03PM PST

Turn Airport off.
Shut down the Macbook.
Start the Macbook
Open System Preferences > Network.
Choose Airport from the left hand pane
In the main pane, click Advanced
Click the Airport tab and you will see a list of wireless networks that you have been connected to.
Select the one that you for the campground and delete it.
Close the windows.

Turn Airport back on.
Because you have removed a "known network", the Airport software will go through the connecting process as if this was a new network.

Hopefully that will correct your problem.

P

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still not working
Feb 12, 2011 11:49PM PST

Thank you so much for responding...I tried doing that exactly, still no success Sad

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Mrmacfixit
Feb 17, 2014 10:40PM PST

Thank you, thank you, thank you (repeat)!

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Time to try "wired"
Feb 13, 2011 4:07AM PST

Does a hard line or ethernet work?

I think you were trying wifi at a campground so that is not that reliable. Have you tried other wifi networks?

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worked elsewhere
Feb 13, 2011 5:16AM PST

We can't try anything wired because we can't access the router. We went to Whole Foods the other day, and it worked just fine, though!

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Well that kinda rules out a problem with your
Feb 13, 2011 5:35AM PST

equipment.

You might try asking the Camp ground to reboot their wireless router


worth a try


P

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self assigned ip
Feb 13, 2011 11:51PM PST

Thanks for the help. The campground just restarted their router for us...still no success. It says 'airport has a self assigned ip address and may not be able to connect to the internet'

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That IP address starts with 169.
Feb 14, 2011 3:43AM PST

and goes nowhere.

Make sure that all the settings are correct and keep trying by rebooting.


P

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Connecting Wireless
Feb 14, 2011 8:40AM PST

If you go to your network preferences ->Advanced ->TCP/IP have a look at the IP address. Most private routers use an IP address of 192.168.x.x see what yours is showing. There is a button that shows Renew DHCP Lease. Press that and see if you get a new IP address, if you do maybe that will work. If not, you say that your PC is connecting. Check its IP address. As most of these routers have a "batch" of DHCP address available, change your setting to DHCP using manual address. Use the next number that the PC is using. If that doesn't work try the next until one works.

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The address starts with 169.
Feb 14, 2011 8:51PM PST

It's self assigned

P

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The address starts with 169
Feb 14, 2011 10:26PM PST

If it's "self assigned" it means it's not getting it from the campground router. The computer gives itself an address as it attempts to go on to the network. You will need to find out what range of IP addresses the campground router is using and try manually.

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how to find ip
Feb 14, 2011 11:42PM PST

Hmm, I tried putting the ip address my pc is using into the mac, and that still doesn't work. How would I find out the range from the router?
Thanks Happy

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Sorry I think you missed something.
Feb 14, 2011 11:48PM PST

If your machine works at other hot spots, you should not be fixing this machine. It's something wrong with that network.

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Manual ip
Jan 26, 2012 4:20AM PST

Go to network preference>advanced>tcp/ip> use DHCP With manual ip , assign any random ip like 192.168.1.250

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That's good news.
Feb 13, 2011 7:38AM PST

Since it worked elsewhere I would not try fixing your machine.

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To trinalynnb
Jul 18, 2015 5:55AM PDT

Your post was removed as it had nothing to do with the original posters problem.

The OP failed to get an IP address from the camp ground router, so going into "Private" mode in the browser would have been a complete waste of time. BTW, in your case, just making a new window would serve the same purpose as would surfing to a different site using the currently open browser window.

P