Comments on: Yea, ye have internets, but cannot surf; e-mails, but ye cannot check?

Question: Yea, ye have internets, but cannot surf; e-mails, but ye cannot check...

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:08:28 -0800

My month-old iPod Touch suddenly stopped connecting to my home wireless internet. Please hope.

When I enter the network password, it says, "Unable to join (this network)." Things that have NOT worked: resetting the network settings; wiping all data and resetting all settings; downloading the factory restore software via iTunes; and resetting the wireless router.

The wireless network itself has not changed. I know I've been entering the WEP key correctly (over and over again...). None of the laptops in the house have connection problems. This is the only network I've ever used for my Touch; I don't really plan to use others.

I am basically tech-illiterate. Is there a fancy trick I don't know about, or do I need to take this to the Apple store for repairs?

By: alchemist

alchemist — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:13:17 -0800

How about temporarily removing the WEP key and see if it connects?

By: wongcorgi

wongcorgi — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:17:27 -0800

Try unplugging your wireless router/AP for a few seconds then plugging it back in. It happens to my iPod touch and iPad every once in a while.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:24:58 -0800

Try unplugging your wireless router/AP for a few seconds then plugging it back in.

I've tried that several times.

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:42:01 -0800

Will it connect to any other wifi? (You could go to a neighbor's or a restaurant like Panera to try.)

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:57:22 -0800

In one hotel I have been to recently I have noticed a situation where my laptop would happily see and connect to a wireless network but my iPad would not. Some searching turned up articles like this one and this troubleshooting article from Apple. To judge by the number of comments associated with these articles it seems that Apple do have some problems with the reliability of their wireless connections in some circumstances - some combination of particular iPads and particular routers would be my guess. It may be that there is a fault with some devices- alternatively they may need to come up with a software patch.

Look in particular at the notes about problems with dual band routers where each band is set to use a different security setting. That may be a source of your problems.

If you find that a laptop sitting beside the iPad can connect without problems then it may be time to go to Apple and say your device is not working - can you have a replacement/refund.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:16:05 -0800

Will it connect to any other wifi?

Yes. I was just able to connect to the city's outdoor wifi network.

By: Gainesvillain

Gainesvillain — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:24:34 -0800

This happened to a friend of mine and the same thing happened to my iPhone whilst trying to connect to his router. I know you've already wiped the iPod, he did the same thing initially. What he did that worked was to disconnect it from the 'de-authorize' the wifi router by choosing 'Forget this Network' in the settings utility. Then he did a forced reset by holding down both corporeal buttons for a few seconds. (Most people I've met with touches/iPhones don't know about this function.) Turn the iPod back on and reconnect to the router.

I know it sounds lightweight compared to the measures you have already taken, but it worked in both instances after similar attempts to fix the problem. I assume it has something to do with reinitializing the wifi chipset in the device. Since the iPod never really powers down during updates or iTunes-driven 'reformats' I think forcing it to do so manually is the key.

By: Gainesvillain

Gainesvillain — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:26:51 -0800

Sorry for the lack of proofreading above. Also, after seeing your new comment: While my iPhone wouldn't connect to his router until after the forced reboot it would connect to other wifi routers with zero problems.

By: Gainesvillain

Gainesvillain — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:30:26 -0800

Man, I'm in some kind of lowbrainwidth mode today... you only need to hold the sleep button to force the shut down: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1430. If you've never done it before I'll warn you that it can take a few minutes for it to completely power back-up... so don't worry while you're sitting there waitin'.

By: zengargoyle

zengargoyle — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:05:13 -0800

Maybe this, which sounds like it could be fixed by the "Renew Lease" part of the second link posted by rongorongo.

It would depend on your router, some may only pass traffic to IPs that have current leases so if your Touch is using an expired lease... no traffic. On preview, "Forget this Network" and/or the hard reset would probably accomplish this as well.

By: msbutah

msbutah — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:10:33 -0800

You may also try giving your iPod a static IP address instead of relying on the AP to dole one out. If it still doesn't work then you can rule out the failure of DHCP.

By: wittgenstein

wittgenstein — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 14:02:21 -0800

Previously.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:01:43 -0800

Problem solved! I had to add the Touch's MAC address to the WiFi router access list.

Thanks all.