I can't add my mac to my wireless network-help!

[claire]

I don't know if this goes in here or the mac section but...

 

I have wireless internet on my PC, and that works fine, but I cant get it to work on my mac. (Macbook 2.4GHz) I select the network and enter the WEP password, but it just says that 'there was an error joining the airport network 'talktalk''. If I install the network on the mac, then the pc rarely picks up the network, and when it does, I can't connect to it....

 

What can I do??

[Dalo Harkin]

Hi Claire,

 

Please list what router you have.

have you tried running an ethernet cable from the router to the Mac to see if that pics the network up.

[Tony D]

Please disable the WEP security for the time being. We want to establish a wireless connection the MacBook first. Once the connection is established, we can worry about the security.

 

Are there other computers connecting wirelessly? If so, do you know if they are connecting using 802.11 b or g or n? I've seen a scenario where a MacBook won't connect to a network if there's another computer connecting using 802.11b. The MacBook should be compatible with a 'b' environment, but I have my doubts.

[claire]

The router is an EchoLife HG520s...

 

I'm not sure about the connection, I think its 'b'... were can I check?

 

I think I have dissabled the WEP security. I have changed the security type to open and the encryption type to none... I'm a little relunctant to mess around with it in case I break something. :) I really don't think I know what I'm doing... But the mac is still asking for a WEP key when I try to join the network...

[Dalo Harkin]

Did you run an ethernet cable?

[claire]

oh, yeah I did, but I got nothing...

[Dalo Harkin]

ok run the ethernet cable again and restart the MAC - any joy?

I am not the best person to advise on MACs - but if you bear with us I will help as best I can

[claire]

Thanks a lot for the help...

 

I ran the ethernet cable again, but nothing new happens. It still picks up the network, asks for the WEP key and gives me the error message...

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok I know that this sounds daft but are you 100% you have typed the key in correct, they are case sensitive and dots and all other characters need to be included also.

[Tony D]

Go to the wireless icon at the top of the screen. Click on it and select OTHER.

 

For the Network name, type in the name of your network which I understand is talktalk. For the wireless security, select NONE. If you indeed turned off the WEP password, this should work.

[claire]

Go to the wireless icon at the top of the screen. Click on it and select OTHER.

 

For the Network name, type in the name of your network which I understand is talktalk. For the wireless security, select NONE. If you indeed turned off the WEP password, this should work.

 

I tried that, but I still got the same error message, and if I select 'talktalk' from the list of networks available, it still asks for the WEP key. Also, when I dissable the WEP security, the internet on the PC doesn't work.

 

I'm pretty sure the WEP key is correct, I checked like 50 times...

[Tony D]

I didn't want you to select talktalk, I wanted you to select OTHER and manually put in the name with no WEP key.

 

Are there any other wireless computers on your network?

[claire]

Yes, i selected OTHER, typed in the name of the network and set the wireless security to NONE, like you said, but I still got the error message.

 

The only computer on the network is the PC.

[Tony D]

Ok - I downloaded the manual for you router and re-read the thread.

 

From what I've read in the thread, you have not been able to get the MacBook to access the Internet even when using the Ethernet cable. if so, that has to be addressed. You should be able to access the Internet using the cable.

 

Go to System Preferences and open the Network preference. In the SHOW box, click on Network Port Configurations and verify that Airport and Built-In Ethernet are selected.

 

Connect the Ethernet cable, and see if you have Internet access. if you don't, then go back to the Network preference and in the SHOW box, choose Built-In Ethernet. Under the TCP/IP tab, click on Renew DHCP Lease.

 

That should get the wired connection running.

 

Thoughts on the wireless connection issue:

Try setting the router to 802.11g only. Try to connect. If it still fails, reset the router. It's my guess that pressing the reset button on the router will do this, althought I didn't see it in the manual. What I saw in the manual was only how to reset it to factory settings. Feel free to do that also. That is done by holding the Reset button for at least 3 seconds and then releasing it. Refer to pp 29 and 30 in the manual.

[claire]

ok, so now I can get an internet connection on the mac through the ethernet cable.

 

I set the router to 802.11g only and dissabled the WEP security and the mac was able to connect to the network wirelessly.

 

But now the PC won't connect! It picks up the network, but says it cannot connect because the network is marked hidden and the settings saved on the computer don't match the settings of the network. How do I change them?

 

And will I have to keep the WEP security dissabled in order to connect the mac to the network?

Edited June 10, 2008 by claire!

[Tony D]

Great news! What steps did you take to fix the problem?

 

At this point, I would enable the WEP security on the Mac and see if you can still connect.

 

I was under the impression that the PC was connected with an Ethernet cable. Nothing you did should have affected the PC if it was connected with a cable.

[claire]

After I got the ethernet cable running by selecting Built-in Ethernet, I set the router to 802.11g and dissabled the WEP security. That got the mac to connected to the network.

 

The PC was connected to the network wirelessly, but now it doesn't work.

 

If I leave the network unsecured, it works on the mac but not on the PC. If I enable WEP security, it works on the PC but not on the mac...

[Dalo Harkin]

It sounds like they are both trying to access the same IP address and one cant connect when the other is.

do you remember how to get into the routers home page - the ip address etc.

Routers are such a pain some will only let you connect to them if the router is setup to recognise them - I am unfamiliar with your router but its worth checking on the home page and see if there are options for adding and this will confuse you 'Mac addresses' <<not just for Macs lol

[Tony D]

The problem is that each machine is remembering how it connected. The PC connected with the WEP and the Mac connected without WEP.

 

Put the WEP security back in, that should get your PC on line. Then on the Mac, use the OTHER option in the Airport icon, type in the name of your network, talktalk, and then there are three types of WEP to choose from. Select the proper WEP password, this would be the same one that you used on the PC.