Macbook Network Issues

kevinzak

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
370
Alright. So, first off, here's my setup. I have a Huawei EC228 Ceullar Broadband USB card attached to my Cradlepoint MBR-1000 Mobile Broadband router. I have a 50ft CAT5E cable going from this router to a switch in my basement. The switch, a 5-port D-Link Green Series desktop switch, in turn has CAT5E running from two of its ports to my desktop and a server in the same room. Both of those PCs have static IPs (192.168.0.195 and 192.168.0.189). PC is running XP Home, server runs Windows Server 2003. The MBR-1000 upstairs also has a second cable going from it to my upstairs office, a PC with XP Pro on it. Also static (192.168.0.194). We also have a Sony VAIO laptop that connects wirelessly to it and is assigned an IP by the router's DHCP. We also have 3 iPod Touches in the house (2 32gbs and a 16gb) and they can connect fine, as well. Recently, my brother moved back in, and he has a Macbook. For the life of me, I can't figure out what is wrong with it. Sometimes it will connect fine and it will show a valid IP/Subnet/Default Gateway and other times it will show one that I have never seen before (169.x.x.x I think). Even when it connects fine, however, I will get one or two page loads in and it will just stop loading. Even trying to load my router's admin page on a local address just stalls. No error or anything, it just stops working. Additionally, it will randomly disconnect sometimes. I have tried enabling and disabling WPA. Same thing either way. I have no idea what's going on. Anyone have any clue?
 
the 169.x.x.x address you are seeing is a default address pool that gets assigned to a computer. Basically it means that the PC was unable to contact a dhcp address to obtain a lease.

One thing I would try, is to update the firmware on whatever router you are using. I've seen a lot of issues with older routers running older firmwares not working all that well with Macs.

Have you tried both wirelessly/wired with the macbook?
 
I already had the latest firmware. And wired connection worked fine.

I resolved it by enabling Draft-N. I don't have any devices that support it but his Macbook does. Other N laptops that have been in my house have been able to use my wireless-G just fine, so I didn't even consider it a resolution. Turning it back to mixed b/g/n instead of b/g worked, though.
 
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