Wait, that’s not right.
Ahhh yes “You’re the ‘inspiration'”, ahhh the joys of the misheard lyric. However the misheard holds the truth for, dear reader, despite having a lot of ideas for posts, and a few things I need to do as well, I’ve had little inclination over the past week or so (e.g. posts about – my MacBook, my ‘paid’ post, a ‘new PC’ post that has been languishing for months and so on).
There is one reason for this, something so fundamental that it is having a dramatic effect on my computer usage. My internet connection has started acting up.
And yes, I’m aware of the irony.
Technically speaking it’s not the internet connection itself but the installation of a wireless router that is causing the problem. Ohh I wasn’t going to do this just yet but, hey, what the hell. You take inclination where you find it…
In my previous job I had a laptop with built-in wireless. I used to work at home quite often so invested in a wireless router so I could work from anywhere in the house. Brilliant. When I changed jobs, the laptop was returned and, having no use for a wireless router, I didn’t bother hooking it up when the new PC arrived.
However, since purchasing my MacBook I’ve been trying to get it re-installed. With limited success.
Getting the wireless router hooked up to my cable modem is fine, and I’ve got it broadcasting a secure SSID and can happily access the internet from the MacBook. However sometimes it just doesn’t connect, and I can’t figure out why, it seems annoyingly random. That’s issue 1.
Issue 2 arises when I try and connect the PC to the wireless router. As my cable modem is in the same room as the PC, I had, previously, just used a cable. That worked fine on the old PC, but the new one just doesn’t like it.
Issue 3 is a by-product of issue 2 in that when I try and connect the PC to the wireless router using a cable, the MacBook (or perhaps the router itself) loses the connection.
Issue 4, as an alternative to hooking up the wireless router using a cable, I’ve tried a USB adapter. That’ll connect… sometimes, and then seems to give up and will completely fail to detect the wireless network that is all of 1m away, whilst happily reporting about the other 4 wireless networks in my street.
If I was Jewish I’d be Oyyy-ing and Vayyy-ing all over the place, but I’m not, so I’m mainly saying FUCK and BASTARD a lot. Such a crude language…
So, what to do, what to do. I’ve tried hard resetting the wireless router but to no avail. I have had limited success with Google and, by and large, it’s the bloody PC that seems to throw a spanner in the works. Tonight I’ll be firing up the old box (and ignoring the sounds of imminent death it emits) to compare settings but, ultimately, I’m stumped.
For those who are still reading, the wireless router is a NetGear WTG summat, and my cable modem continues to be perfectly functional. I’ve checked I’m using the correct CAT cables, and … well the damn thing USED to work that way, so I’m guessing it’s the new PC that is the problem and I “just” need to figure out how to configure it correctly.
Damned annoying though. Especially as the MacBook seems to burble along quite happily…
Is the PC trying to connect on a fixed IP address? That could be your problem, if the fixed IP is over-writing the one that’s being used by the Macbook (style queen 😛 )
In the PC’s Control Panel, if you look at the Network Connections, right click the relevant connection to go to the properties, highlight TCP/IP, then look at the properties for it, you should see ‘assign an IP automatically’ is ticked. If not, give it a go, and see if that works (i.e. using DHCP instead of fixed IP address)
We don’t care, we’re off for a week in the sun!
Lyle – I should’ve stated that. Sorry. Yes, using DHCP. When I connect the PC via cable to the wireless router I get that little animated (fetching address) icon in my system tray, but it never manages to get one.
Mum (& Dad) – you SHOULD care, it’s stopping you getting a coloured name!!
In that case, is the router set up as a DHCP provider?
And – just to check – have you tried doing this with the windows firewall OFF ?
I had something similar before in that a wired connection worked but a wireless one wouldn’t. I couldn’t get to the bottom of it no matter what I did. A couple of websites pointed to the windows networking components being corrupted. I did a repair install of XP and after that it worked fine. No idea if it was a corrupt dll, my crap settings, luck or a combination of all three. It sounds like the router is only letting one connection be active
No surprise with the Macbook though. Macs just work (I couldn’t resist – I’m turning into a fanboy).
Could you assign fixed IP addresses as a workaround?