Laptop wont connect to the internet

[Rho offline]

So, the other day, my laptop randomly stopped connecting to the internet. It's an iBook G4.

I'll go into System Preferences, select the wireless network, enter in the password (which I know is correct), and it'll then say "Connection Timeout" whenever I enter it in.
I don't know how much further I can get into detail on this. That's about the basic gist of it.


I really don't know what to do. I need to be able to connect by Friday night.
Does anybody know how I can get this thing to not timeout?

[TheLQ offline]

So, the other day, my laptop randomly stopped connecting to the internet. It's an iBook G4.

I'll go into System Preferences, select the wireless network, enter in the password (which I know is correct), and it'll then say "Connection Timeout" whenever I enter it in.
I don't know how much further I can get into detail on this. That's about the basic gist of it.


I really don't know what to do. I need to be able to connect by Friday night.
Does anybody know how I can get this thing to not timeout?

Your going to have to give an OS, although since your notebook's name starts with an i, I think its a mac...

This is probably a hardware issue. Try restarting your router (unplugging, waiting TWO minutes, plug back in, wait TWO more minutes, then try to connect), restarting your modem, restarting your computer several times, turning off and on the wireless power switch on the laptop, and reinstalling the drivers for the wireless card.

Have you done ANYTHING right before it stopped working? Physically moved it, installed something, uninstalled something, did something out of the ordinary, invited someone else over to your house who also brought their laptop, etc?

What you can also do once you've tried the above list is setting a blank password on the router and see if you can still connect. This might narrow it down to you typing in the password wrong.

[Rho offline]

It is indeed a Mac.


I unplugged the wireless reciever for two minutes, waited, plugged it back in, waited, nothing.
Restarted a few times, nothing.

I'm going to try reinstalling the operating system.


I didn't install or uninstall anything, nothing out of the ordinary, nobody else has used it.

[TheAppleFreak]

This occasionally happens to me at home. It might be electrical interference from external devices (i.e. TVs, microwaves, that giant electromagnet that I know everyone keeps somewhere in there home). Did you purchase any new hardware recently? That might be the root of the situation.

Also, can it connect to other networks? If it can't, then its probably an issue with either the Airport card or the kexts (kernel extensions) that control the card. Do you use Software Update frequently? If not, DO IT. Apple occasionally releases security fixes and patches that might fix the problem.

In addition, try moving the laptop closer to the base station. I use my MacBook on the third floor of my house, and every now and then it decides to time out continually while connecting to my network.

[TheLQ offline]

It is indeed a Mac.


I unplugged the wireless reciever for two minutes, waited, plugged it back in, waited, nothing.
Restarted a few times, nothing.

I'm going to try reinstalling the operating system.


I didn't install or uninstall anything, nothing out of the ordinary, nobody else has used it.

Hmm. Can anything else connect to the router? Try another laptop or a smart phone and see if you can connect. Have you tried blanking the password?

Reinstalling the OS is overkill. If its an OS problem then your going to have to consult TLOAF because I have no idea how mac's work.

This is strange though, I will admit that.

[Rho offline]

This occasionally happens to me at home. It might be electrical interference from external devices (i.e. TVs, microwaves, that giant electromagnet that I know everyone keeps somewhere in there home). Did you purchase any new hardware recently? That might be the root of the situation.

Also, can it connect to other networks? If it can't, then its probably an issue with either the Airport card or the kexts (kernel extensions) that control the card. Do you use Software Update frequently? If not, DO IT. Apple occasionally releases security fixes and patches that might fix the problem.

In addition, try moving the laptop closer to the base station. I use my MacBook on the third floor of my house, and every now and then it decides to time out continually while connecting to my network.

Nope, no new hardware.
I'll try the Software Update thing, maybe it could be that.

I've had the laptop right within not even a foot of the base station, nothing. The only other networks are ones I assume are those of my neighbors, and they're all password-protected.

Hmm. Can anything else connect to the router? Try another laptop or a smart phone and see if you can connect. Have you tried blanking the password?

Reinstalling the OS is overkill. If its an OS problem then your going to have to consult TLOAF because I have no idea how mac's work.

This is strange though, I will admit that.

The router is connecting to the desktop computer, and working just fine.

[TheAppleFreak]

Quick question: which OS are you using? I'm a Leopard holdout (I use one of the few HP printers that won't be recieving a Snow Leopard upgrade), but I can help if you're using Tiger as well.

If you still have the install DVDs for whatever OS you're using, you can test to see whether a reinstall will work by partitioning your hard drive. Go into Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities) and select your internal hard drive. There will be two entries, one saying "HITACHI" something with the capacity in GB, and then the hard drive name in a subentry (this is the main partition; I have three, one saying "Macintosh HD," "SL" (my Snowy install), and "WINDOWS"). Click on the one with Hitachi in it, and then select the tab that says "Partition." There will be a graphic organizer depicting your partitions, and there will be a partial blue outline showing the occupied space in each partition. If you haven't messed around with it, there should be one partition shown. Select it, and click on the plus at the bottom. Adjust the partition size for the new partition (for a test partition, you shouldn't need more than 15 GB) by dragging the edge of the partition (altenatively, you can type in partition size in the box that says "Size"). When it conforms to your whims, click "Apply" and wait for it to partition it. It shouldn't take too long, but occasionally it may return an error that the drive can't be partitioned. I'm going to ignore that for now, and assume your drive can be partitioned. When you're finished, insert the install disc into the DVD drive and install the OS to the partition that you just created. Once installed, shut down the computer and power it on while holding Option. Select the new partition, and boot into it. Then, try connecting to the network. If it works, then the issue should eventually go away in your primary install (it did for me) and you can use the new install in the meantime. If not, then it's most likely a hardware issue.

And quick question: if the internet is out, then how are you posting?

[Rho offline]

I'm pretty sure it's Leopard. I tried reinstall, didn't work. It still will say "connection timeout" no matter what password I enter in, so it's not working at all. I've tried 100% bogus ones and it still says "Connection Timeout". Tried one I know is correct, same thing.

I'll try the Disk utility thing.. I had it scan for any problems, and it said it appears to be fine.


I'm using another computer, hence how I'm posting.



EDIT
Checked Disk Utility, nothing along the lines of "Hitachi".

[TheAppleFreak]

So you reinstalled? And it still didn't work?

Weird. I was suggesting the partitioning as a method to see whether a reinstall would solve the problem without wiping everything, but looks like you already took the jump.

It's probably a hardware issue. At this point, the best thing to do is <s>Google a bunch of stuff to see whether there's something that might actually be relevant to your issue</s> take it to a Genius at an Apple Store.

[ccbtimewiz offline]

Are you able to connect to the internet using any other machines or devices?

Is it WAP encrypted? Is the wireless being picked up at all? Are you inputting the correct keys?

For all we know the internal driver that detects wireless is burnt out-- perhaps try using an ethernet port and see if it works then?