Bell Sympatico won't connect my Macbook or IPod to internet wirelessly- Please help!?

princessjasmine · Oct 22nd, 2009, 01:21 AM

Bell Sympatico won't connect my Macbook or IPod to internet wirelessly- Please help!

Hi everyone! I truly would appreciate any help I receive here regarding my wireless connection - or lack thereof! I have posted this in 3 different sections of this website, unsure of where it might actually belong; forgive me for the reposts if this is not allowed!

I bought a Macbook Pro and Ipod Touch 2nd gen and for some reason my Sympatico connection isn't letting it connect to the internet wirelessly. When I try connecting my ipod it says I've entered an incorrect password even though I have checked it over and over. And when I try connecting my macbook it states "connection timeout"? I've called Bell they are no help at all... the problem still exists.

I've tried resetting, rebooting and reconnecting my modem (Speedstream 6520).

It seems to work for 10 minutes then disconnects from my home network completely. It seems that when I am not able to connect wirelessly, the 'ethernet' light is also off on my modem, even though it is plugged in on both ends securely.

Also, my Macbook is the only laptop that can't connect, all other laptops in my home do so seamlessly.

Please help me diagnose and fix this problem! Thank you everyone! x0x0

chas_m · Oct 22nd, 2009, 01:28 AM

This is the right section for this question. It was incredibly bad form to blast it everywhere, particularly for a new visitor. "Mac and iPod Help & Troubleshooting" is clearly the one and only part of the forum that applies to your situation.

Were this my forum, you'd have been blocked for at least a week. YOUR crisis is not necessarily OUR crisis, kapish?

eMacMan · Oct 22nd, 2009, 01:34 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by chas_m
	This is the right section for this question. It was incredibly bad form to blast it everywhere, particularly for a new visitor. "Mac and iPod Help & Troubleshooting" is clearly the one and only part of the forum that applies to your situation. Were this my forum, you'd have been blocked for at least a week. YOUR crisis is not necessarily OUR crisis, kapish?

English translation: He ain't got a clue as to how to resolve the problem. Sadly I don't either as tend to avoid wireless connections wherever possible.

princessjasmine · Oct 22nd, 2009, 01:40 AM

Sorry for the repost

. Didn't mean to upset anybody.

makuribu · Oct 22nd, 2009, 02:50 AM

Apple's Airport software is not very useful for diagnosing wireless problems. It either "just works" or "just doesn't bloody !@* work", giving such useful error messages as "Contact System Administrator" which is not helpful when you are the sysadmin.

When the Ethernet light is out, do other computers still connect to the modem?

	Quote:			Originally Posted by princessjasmine
	Bell Sympatico won't connect my Macbook or IPod to internet wirelessly- Please help! Hi everyone! I truly would appreciate any help I receive here regarding my wireless connection - or lack thereof! I have posted this in 3 different sections of this website, unsure of where it might actually belong; forgive me for the reposts if this is not allowed! I bought a Macbook Pro and Ipod Touch 2nd gen and for some reason my Sympatico connection isn't letting it connect to the internet wirelessly. When I try connecting my ipod it says I've entered an incorrect password even though I have checked it over and over. And when I try connecting my macbook it states "connection timeout"? I've called Bell they are no help at all... the problem still exists. I've tried resetting, rebooting and reconnecting my modem (Speedstream 6520). It seems to work for 10 minutes then disconnects from my home network completely. It seems that when I am not able to connect wirelessly, the 'ethernet' light is also off on my modem, even though it is plugged in on both ends securely. Also, my Macbook is the only laptop that can't connect, all other laptops in my home do so seamlessly. Please help me diagnose and fix this problem! Thank you everyone! x0x0

princessjasmine · Oct 22nd, 2009, 02:54 AM

It seems that once I shutdown my desktop, which is connected by wire to the modem, the ethernet light turns off. While all other lights remain. And the other wireless laptops work fine. But my itouch and macbook cant seem to connect. oddly enough my itouch connected seamlessly like a week ago? but now suddenly it just stopped. and no changes have been made, no programs deleted, etc that might have caused this.

any ideas?

Mckitrick · Oct 22nd, 2009, 06:57 AM

What up Kingston?

- Who set up the Sympatico and the other PC's that are working?
- Do you have something like MAC Address filtering turned on (that's where the router has to have the hardware ID of the computer's network port before it lets it connect wirelessly).
- What kind of router/modem is it?

With regard to the ethernet light. That just indicates something is physically plugged into that port on the router/modem. An ethernet port is the network jack (kind of like a wide phone jack) and it's often called an RJ45 port as well. Your desktop is plugged in to it.

Hope that gives you a little help. Maybe we can help more if there's a few more details.

makuribu · Oct 22nd, 2009, 08:26 AM

The Ethernet light is a non-issue, as already mentioned.

How many networks does your MacBook see? If you're in an area with two dozen wireless networks, all on the same channel, maybe you're getting interference problems. You can go to the web page of your DSL modem/router and select a different channel.

Oh, and Macified suggests buying a decent wireless router over in the other forum. That is probably the best solution if you don't mind spending the money. You can then disable wireless on the Bell unit.

HowEver · Oct 22nd, 2009, 10:15 AM

Oddly, Bell answers my Sympatico calls and walks me through setup during each and every call about their service (few and far between, though) only to confirm in the end that there is a temporary outage in the area.

I grit my teeth and say "Oh sure that's off/connected/restarted" and wait for the call to be escalated or the admission to be made about an outage.

So I find it odd that they don't walk you through setup, and you're using their own wireless router. I use a non-wireless speedstream with Apple wireless routers and they still walk me through, even though these are Apple products with Apple computers connecting to them.

So, call again.

You can also try this troubleshooting page:

Bell: SpeedStream 6520

Here are my guesses: as above, perhaps MAC filtering is on (this isn't Macintosh related, it means that only computers whose MAC addresses are entered can work). So other laptops work having been allowed to work.

Or, the Bell router is crap. Bell will never admit this of course. But if you are paying extra for the wireless feature, see if they will let you swap for a non-wireless router, and subtract the extra fee. Then you can purchase an Airport Express, Extreme or Time Capsule and surf happily without the Bell wireless. Or, as above, keep the Bell router, and add the Apple router to that by ethernet, and connect to the Apple router wirelessly.

Since all your other laptops work fine wirelessly, it seems that either the router is preventing your MacBook from connecting, or the MacBook itself isn't working--does it work anywhere else? Does it see and connect to neighbours'/coffee shop/etc. networks, and stay connected?

princessjasmine · Oct 22nd, 2009, 05:36 PM

I see my home wireless network name as well as the neighbours'. i also see WAN which is how i am connected now wirelessly, but it is unsecured unlike my home network.

i was the one who set up the pcs both desktop and laptops with internet. and also, the modem i have is a modem router in one, from bell, the speedstream 6520 and that is connected by wire to the desktop imac.

i called bell again today and spoke to 2 different csr's who said "ensure your ethernet is plugged in both ends" which it is and was. they dont seem to know why else it wouldnt work?