Problem with my iBook!

June 10, 2005 1:09 PM

I'm having issues connecting to all online functions on my 3-year old iBook when I use dialup (via the internal modem)...[more inside]

About 2 weeks ago, my iBook stopped connecting to any online functions when I dialed up through my phone line. The bar at the top of the screen shows that I'm connected, but when I try to get on the internet, it says that there's no connection. I thought that it might be my dialup provider, but I tried using one of those free AOL CDs with the same result.

What's really weird, though, is that I can access all online functions when I'm connected via my wireless card. This leads me to believe that it's my internal modem that's the problem. I'm broke, and my warranty has expired. Any Mac experts that have had this problem before? Any suggestions?

posted by elquien to computers & internet (2 comments total)

iBooks of that vintage use software modems (the Mac equivalent of a WinModem) whose reliability was complained about frequently, IIRC; mine, for example, frequently couldn't maintain a connection longer than a minute or so (on the other hand, if it could make it past a couple of minutes, it could hold it forever), and it frequently had problems similar to yours after disconnecting and trying to reconnect.
posted by mcwetboy at 4:35 PM on June 10, 2005

Are you using separate Location settings when testing the wireless card vs. the modem connection?

I would make a Location that has ONLY wireless and a Location that has ONLY the modem and test using those. That way you can be sure that your computer isn't (for some odd inexplicable reason) trying to use the wireless card for its network connection when you really want it to be using the modem.

(Locations, in case you're not familiar with them, are set up in the Network preferences. They let you have different sets of internet connection information for different purposes--maybe you need a password to use wireless at the library, but you have a different password at home, etc etc)

mcwetboy is probably right, though, those software modems were not so hot. Worst case scenario might be having to buy an external modem on eBay. I'd check a site like Low End Mac for recommendations about which USB modems will actually work right with OS X.
posted by bcwinters at 9:29 AM on June 11, 2005