Is someone else using my Wi-Fi?
My internet connection kept dropping and our provider suggested that the modem was the problem. It sent a new one but now I get an occasional message that says another device is using my Wi-Fi link, and I cannot connect. After about 15 minutes it’s fine. My iPad, MacBook Pro, and a Time Capsule connect over Wi-Fi.
The provider advised rebooting the modem, but this didn’t fix things. Then it suggested “rename your IP address” but that confused me. The problem mainly occurs when I close the lid on my MacBook Pro; it’s when I reopen it that the problem seems to occur. Peter Durrant It’s possible two devices on your network are trying to use the same manually-configured (static) IP address. Your situation can also occur when the pool of IP addresses, assigned dynamically by your router using DHCP, overlaps with the static address of just one device, or when two devices act as DHCP servers with overlapping address ranges. Next time you see the message, open Terminal and type sudo ipconfig set en1 BOOTP, press ® , enter your password. Next, type sudo ipconfig
set en1 DHCP, press ® and enter your password again.
This should tell your router to give you a new IP address. If your internet connection suddenly works, the issue was a conflicting address; set every device to use DHCP or manually give each a unique static address. DHCP is simpler if you add devices later.
Refer to your modem’s manual to set it to issue IP addresses using DHCP. Next, in OS X’s Network preferences, select Wi-Fi, click Advanced, then TCP/IP and choose DHCP. In iOS, tap Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the ‘i’ next to your network name and tap DHCP.