Solving networking problems
Having trouble connecting to the internet or keeping your connection running? Check out these helpful tips to find out more
Of all the problems you can have with your Mac, networking can be the most frustrating, because you can’t see what’s going on. One minute your Mac may be on the network, the next, it’s not. Or, even worse, trying to pull up any sort of web page or even email can be excruciatingly slow. Your internet service provider plays a role here, but there’s still plenty you can do to try and troubleshoot and solve networking issues when they come up. What’s more, there’s a lot you can do to actually improve the quality and reliability of your networking too.
Why won’t my Mac connect to the internet?
In most cases your Mac is connected to the internet using a cable modem or router through an ISP. If you see a solid network connection on your Mac – if the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar is solid and shows three or four bars – it may be that your router is having some trouble talking with its network. Once again, cycling power is the best first line of defence. Power down the cable modem or router, and leave it off for a few minutes, and then power it back on. This can be an effective technique, even if other devices are able to connect to the internet – occasionally the routing tables of these device get corrupted and they refuse to let devices work until they’re reset.
My Wi-Fi network’s unavailable
If your network connection suddenly cuts out, try moving closer to the Wi-Fi router, to see if that helps. If it doesn’t, the router may need to be restarted. Also, try turning Wi-Fi off and on again on your computer (click on the Wi-Fi icon in the menu, select Turn Wi-Fi Off, wait a few moments, and then Turn Wi-Fi On) to see if things come back online.
My Mac won’t reconnect to Wi-Fi when it wakes from sleep!
This appears to be a problem with some Macs that are running certain versions of OS X Mavericks that have been paired with Bluetooth devices. Even if you’re not using the device, if Bluetooth is on, it can cause difficulty. The solution to this problem is to turn off Bluetooth, at least until Apple is able to correct this in a maintenance update to Mavericks.
My Mac connects to the wrong Wi-Fi network every time… How can I fix this?
Wireless networks have become increasingly crowded in public and private spaces alike. If you that find your Mac accidentally connects to a network other than the one you want to use, open the Network system preference and click on the Advanced button. You’ll be presented with a list of Preferred Networks – a number of networks that your Mac knows how to connect to.
You can sort the order of those networks by dragging the names up and down. Your Mac tries to connect to the network at the top of the list before it works down to the bottom. If that list contains networks you no longer connect to, you can remove them by selecting them and clicking on the minus (-) button.
My network connection is really
slow. What can I do?
If you see that your connection to the internet is abnormally slow and trickling along at a snail’s pace, one thing you can always try is to check other computers or devices in the house. Is everyone having the same problem or is it just you?
If everyone is having the same difficulty, the problem may be ‘upstream’ to your network. Also, check to see if others on the same network as you aren’t hogging all the bandwidth, by downloading a lot of files or doing certain activities that might slow you down.
How can I access files stored on a network Windows PC?
If the PC is using SMB/CIFS, NFS, FTP or WebDAV protocols (SMB/CIFS is the most common in many shared office environments), then you should be able to, assuming you have access privileges. Open the Finder, select the Go menu and Connect to Server ( ç+K). Type the IP address of the server and click the Connect button.
What’s the best way to share files with PC users?
Open System Preferences, click on Sharing, and make sure File Sharing is checked. Click on the Options… button and check ‘Share files and folders using SMB’.
My neighbour is stealing my internet access! How can I stop them doing this?
Many of us leave our networks open, or use easily guessed passwords. The best thing to do in a case like this is to tighten up your network security by changing the password or by making it more difficult to find the network. You can change your password for an AirPort base station using the AirPort Utility – click on the base station in the main screen, click on the Edit button, and select the Wireless tab. For an additional layer of security, click the Wireless Options… button to create a hidden network. This will keep people from casually seeing the name of your network if they scan for open networks (though you’ll have to remember its name to connect new computers and devices to it in the future, since it’ll be ‘invisible’).