iMac core duo 17" not seeing airport network

[QCassidy352]

like the title says... my gf's iMac core duo 17" is intermittently not seeing our airport network. When it does see the network, it has 3 or 4 bars, so it's not signal strength. There are also several neighbors' networks nearby that disappear when ours does. Often a restart will fix the problem, but not always.

Apple Hardware Test reports nothing wrong, but the iMac was recently shipped to us by a forum member here. I wonder if the airport card could have been jarred loose in transit? I don't know; I'm grasping at straws here.

Why is this happening?

 

[SpankyPenzaanz]

i would check interference robusteness and check you tcpip settings and what are your other configurations

 

[xorppa]

I've got exactly the same problem on my 1st gen 17" imac, althou it sees other networks it does not see my airport, even when standing next to it, my tcpip settings are set to automatic DHCP and the rest is all default

 

[Drpepper99uk]

Same Here

Hello,

I too have had this problem on my C2D 20" iMac in where it will find other people's networks in my area but not my own. This has happened twice now with my Belkin router, and everytime I have had to resort to using an ethernet cablebeing plugged into the back of the router to be able to carry on surfing whilst thinking of a solution.

Last time it happened, I went through the "assist me" option under the network tab in the system preferences and it somehow managed to sort itself out after clicking scan it it finding mt network again and then double clicking on it to use it and setting it to automatic or the other option(can't remember it now)

Then just recently it happened again, and upon loading up OS X it came with with a small box stating a known local network had been found, and it was asking me if I wanted to use this connection in future which I refused. I then disconnected my router, along with the phone cable as I was getting angry by then and not knowing whether it was my router or iMac at fault. Using a nearby laptop confirmed that my router was working fine upon reconnecting it back again and that the fault must lie within the Airport card itself.

I do hope that when Apple bring out the new updated iMac's they scrap the worthless piece of junk airport that's built into the iMac in favour for something more reliable as I've seen countless posts on Apple internet forums all mentioning about different problems with it's reliability and compatibility with different routers out there all with varying degrees of what it might be.

Michael.

 

[scotpole]

Airports

Couple of things you might want to try.
1. Can you determine what channels neighboring airports are operating on?
You can set your airport base station to a specific channel from 1 to I believe 11. This might help to avoid neighboring interference. You might have to specify in one of the airport utilities to look for that specific channel.
2. You might want to enable interference robustness. Right Hand upper corner of your screen, mouse under the airport logo and highlight "Use Interference Robustness. This might cut down on stray signals.
3. Is somebody using a microwave? Sometimes microwaves will screw up airport reception and transmission. Wait till the TV dinner is done and try connecting again.