We have wifi at home using a Netgear router and PC's. My wife just got a Macbook. A lot of times it won't connect to our WiFi until I boot up our other laptop and then, bingo, the Macbook connects. This is repeatable but doesn't always happen. Anyone have an explanation? How can I fix it?
Model number of the Netgear router? Be sure to include the hardware version. Have you checked the Netgear site to see if you have the latest firmware?
Which wireless card in the MacBook? MIMO or conventional?
No clue.
- Check for firmware update on Netgear router.
- Test various levels of encryption on the system. I've seen problems with WPA2-PSK-AES that magically go away when switched to WPA-PSK-TKIP or WPA2-PSK-AES.
- Try the Macbook on other routers or sustitute a different (borrowed) router for your Netgear. If the problem persists, then it's in the Mac and I have no clue what's happening. If swapping routers fixes the problem, then its time for a call to Netgear or a new router.
To answer Jeff's question, choose "About This Mac" from the Apple menu and click the "More Info ..." button in the resulting window. This should launch System Profiler with its Hardware pane open. If the Model Identifier item reads "MacBook1,1" your machine is the original (May
2006) model with an 802.11b/g wireless adapter. Later models with other identifiers have an 802.11n adapter.To find out whether 802.11n is enabled on such a model, see the following Apple support page: .
We've had multiples of both and neither is worth a sh|t when it comes to performance. Works fine when you're up close and personal with the AP but if you're not close enough to almost touch the antenna ... good luck.
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