New MacBook Pro refuses to autoconnect to wifi networks

[nerp]

Love the machine but this problem is driving me nuts. I have to manually connect to every wifi network every single time. It remembers my WEP keys, etc, but it REFUSES to autoconnect regardless of the settings. I've checked the settings 100 times and have it configured the way it should be. Apparently something not obvious is preventing autoconnect.

Any suggestions where to start looking?

 

[TheStu]

Try creating a new user account, see if it will auto-connect. If it will, then there is something up in the library of your existing account.

Can you recall if it ever connected? How old is this MBP? What OS are you running? Are you fully updated? Is everything fully updated (get AppFresh to find out)?

 

[nerp]

I'll give the new user account a shot.

The machine is quite new. It was supplied to me by my employer. I work from home/the road so this is my work machine that I take everywhere. I honestly can't recall if it ever connected automatically. Running the latest version of MacOSX -- snow leopard or whatnot. Fully updated as far as I can tell. I'll check out appfresh.

 

[Kmax82]

Love the machine but this problem is driving me nuts. I have to manually connect to every wifi network every single time. It remembers my WEP keys, etc, but it REFUSES to autoconnect regardless of the settings. I've checked the settings 100 times and have it configured the way it should be. Apparently something not obvious is preventing autoconnect.

Any suggestions where to start looking?

Also, check how many connections you have in the Advanced section of Network settings. Sometimes it can build up and just needs to be cleaned out.

 

[HN]

The following worked for me when i first upgraded to snow leopard and it wouldn't connect to any network (it was subsequently fixed in one of the updates):

1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Network -> Location
3. Click on Edit Location
4. Add a new location. name it whatever

 

[electroju]

Try finding the the locations for logs and try reading them. It could tell you something that the GUI is not telling you. You can try the following.

http://www.wlanbook.com/mac-os-x-wireless-problems/
http://osxdaily.com/2009/12/22/mac-...ooting-airport-wireless-problems-on-your-mac/

You can try to set a static IP address preferably outside your DHCP server range. It is best to set the router or access point to one class for 802.11 or else your router will go through a loop for the best setting for your connection. The best setting for WiFi is 802.11b. The second best is either 802.11g or 802.11a. The setting 802.11n is not the most reliable because it requires both NIC and router or access point to be the same brand. Make sure ESSID is unique to your area or else you will have problems.

I do not yet own a Mac and a WiFi network, but I have used Linux with WiFi networks and it has similar issues what you are going through. It could be your Mac is connected to the network and it is having trouble accessing the DHCP server. Your Mac translates this as not connected, but I could be wrong.

 

[nerp]

The following worked for me when i first upgraded to snow leopard and it wouldn't connect to any network (it was subsequently fixed in one of the updates):

1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Network -> Location
3. Click on Edit Location
4. Add a new location. name it whatever

This seems to have fixed it. You manage to solve this problem for me after many searches online. Thanks bro!

 

[HN]

This seems to have fixed it. You manage to solve this problem for me after many searches online. Thanks bro!

good to see that it worked :thumbsup:

but, do look into whether you have all the latest updates as i haven't had to do that network locations fix since maybe late january / february.

 

[nerp]

It seems I do. Something must have been borked. I ran a software update as soon as the machine was delivered to me and the problem seems to have existed before and after the update. Since everything has been working fine ever since, I'm happy.