_wifi connection randomly gave out and now it doesn't connect to network.

[optimus prime]

i have osx 10.6.2 and everything was running fine until two days ago.

i was on surfing the web and out of nowhere, my internet cut out. i thought okay i'll just go to sleep and it'll be fine tomorrow.

that is not the case. i have found that whenever i try to connect wirelessly to my home network "VENOM" it connects, but with no internet connection. the only time the wireless is connected is when i PLUG IN an ethernet cable into my computer. now how the heck does that work?

without the cable, the airport logo has an exclamation point. with the cable, it has full signal. i don't know how the heck that is possible.

this is what it looks like without the ethernet cable plugged in. and when it's plugged in, it's full signal.

 

[Bacong]

Did you try resetting the router? That usually fixes it.

 

[optimus prime]

i have tried resetting the router by un-plugging and plugging the power supply from it. but i have not factory reset the router.

i think it's just my computer because all my other computers work fine with it, as does my wifi phone.

 

[Detrius]

Do you have other WiFi devices? Can they connect to the router wirelessly?

 

[optimus prime]

yeah. they connect just fine.

 

[Detrius]

The fact that it works with other WiFi devices verifies that the issue is something inside just this one machine and not a router issue. The rather curious detail that the signal strength picks up when connected via ethernet implies to me that the computer itself is shielding the Airport card from the actual WiFi signal, but the signal is making it through over the ethernet cable, which logically means that somehow, the antenna cable is (for some reason) not properly supplying the signal to the airport card. This might simply mean that the antenna cable isn't connected properly, or it could be any number of other things.

What is Apple's name of the model of the machine? If you don't know already, you can find it by entering your serial number here.

 

[optimus prime]

it's a macbook pro 15" santa rosa from '07. 2.2 ghz.

 

[Detrius]

I think that means "MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4 2.2GHz)." That model appears to cover mid and late 2007. Can you verify on that Apple link I provided?

Furthermore, that link will tell you if your machine is under AppleCare, and if it is, my recommendation is that you take it to Apple.

 

[optimus prime]

that's exactly what it is.