Airport problem: self assigned IP address?

[mnewman]

Interesting thread. I often fly EVA and use the free WiFi they have in their lounges. In the past, these free WiFi connections have always required a WEP (?) password which they supply when you enter.

I was in the lounge at LAX last night and was told that passwords were no longer required. OK. I sat down, the Mac found the network and connected long enough to download a few e-mail messages and then, that was it. Disconnected, never to connect again. The networks (2 of them) would appear and then immediately disappear in the Airport menu item. iStumbler showed steady strong signals from both networks. Every one of my laptop toting fellow travelers was able to connect, including a number of Mac users.

I tried turning the Airport card on and off. I tried rebooting. I tried disabling/enabling TCP/IP. I tried turning IPv6 on and off. I tried setting up a new location. I tried letting the "Assist me..." wizard establish the connection. It failed, claiming that a password was required.

The log is full of entries like this:

Nov 29 20:18:10 Smooch airportd[4006]: Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
Nov 29 20:18:10 Smooch Apple80211Agent[4029]: Error: airportd MIG failed = 5 ((os/kern) failure)  (port = 25875)
Nov 29 20:18:12 Smooch airportd[4006]: Error: Apple80211Associate() failed -6
Nov 29 20:18:12 Smooch Apple80211Agent[4029]: Error: airportd MIG failed = 5 ((os/kern) failure)  (port = 25875)
Nov 29 20:18:12 Smooch Apple80211Agent[4029]: Error joining LAX-International-Lounge-Back: Connection failed (5 result unavailable)

I'm now at the EVA Lounge in Taipei. It also has switched to wide open WiFi networks. But, obviously, I'm able to connect here with no trouble at all.

So, what do I need to do to make my G4 PB (10.5.5) connect at LAX?

AirPort Card Information:

  Wireless Card Type:	AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x4E)
  Wireless Card Locale:	USA
  Wireless Card Firmware Version:	Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (4.170.25.8)

[cric10]

I am not sure if this is the best thread to ask this question but I couldn't find the answer anywhere else!
Our household runs Macs and we use airport for our internet connection. One of my friends sometimes comes over and he runs a PC - we can't connect him to our airport connection. It won't even find it on his computer. Any advice? At the moment he connects to our unsecured neighbors connection but it is slow!
Thanks

[tlarkin]

I thought I would reply to this as wireless connectivity seems to be an issue with Macs, and yes I think part of it is the driver for the Airport card itself.

I would like to state that my MBP works pretty much every time with my home wifi network with out a hitch, but its when I get to work with my work's enterprise wireless network I see tons of issues. The basic repeating offenders are:

• *Self assigned IP address
  *Loss of encryption key in Keychain
  *Takes minutes and minutes of manually requesting a new IP to actually get one

I have reproduced this problem in both Tiger and in Leopard with our 1:1 macbook deployment at work. It happens all the time. What I see is if a client machine goes off campus and goes home for the night and get a 192.168.x.x IP from a home router it works fine, and the Airport card seems to prefer B/G radios over A. It will try to connect to the weakest B/G/N signal it can totally ignoring a great A radio signal. We of course run strictly A radios for many reasons. Then when the client machines comes back into our network it wants that same 192.168.x.x IP and is asking for it from the controllers which dish out DHCP. The controller of course says no, that is not a valid IP, we use 10.x.x.x so here is a new IP. The Mac client says no I don't want that IP gimme the 192.168.x.x and this will go back and forth for several attempts until it completely times out and the IP comes self assigned.

During this process I have seen encryption keys show the wrong passwords, but then again, I guess I can't rule out user interaction at that point. Perhaps my users are just randomly trying passwords to get back on the net I don't know.

So, since this was a head ache last year running Tiger and this year running Leopard I have seen a bit of a light at the end of the dark tunnel and it is the 10.5.5 update along with the Airport Extreme update, which says improves connectivity in large roaming networks. That is the only description of the update but I have seen an increase of clients on line (an all time record actually) through ARD admin this last two weeks at work. The Airport Extreme update requires 10.5.5 so I had to push out the 10.5.5 combo updater to all my clients as well as the airport update. It seems to actually be fixing these issues.

In the update I also added an update of encryption we are trying out as well and it seems to pick up better than the old WEP key we were running.

I had a similar problem with these same thing at my old work but instead of Cisco we were using Trapeze, and they also said it was driver issue.

I think when you go roam from network to network and when it requests an IP it will request the last one that it had (which is standard DHCP procedure) but the Mac client is kind of a little brat about it and refuses to take another valid IP and the handshake times out leaving the client with a self assigned IP. This is just my guess as I am not a developer or system's engineer, I am just a sys admin who happens to use this stuff frequently. The 10.5.5 update along with the new Airport Extreme update seems to definitely fix connectivity issues. I have already seen about +200 clients online at each building. So, instead of having an average of 400-500 clients I am seeing over 600 clients online at once now, and I have never seen any building have that many on line at one time. So, I think it is a safe assumption that those updates fix roaming issues with WiFi networks.

Of course upgrade at your own risk because 10.5.5 while it may fix your wifi issue it may break something else.

[shoangore]

Hi guys, I'm experiencing a bit of a headache trying to get my internet to work. I probably have the most disgusting setup going on at the moment, which may possibly be one of the issues going on.

Anyways, I have an Airport extreme base station (that newer square-ish type), and I am trying to connect my Macbook Core Duo to it with an n connection (Core Duo's do not have n-draft on them to my knowledge, it is Core 2 Due chips or something) So I have inherited a Linksys USB N-Draft adapter, the WUSB600N. Using [http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.p...wtopic=131932] I've been able to successfully connect to the router, but now I'm experiencing the self assigned IP address.

USB Ethernet (en-2) : USB ethernet (en2) has a self-assigned IP address and may not be able to connect.

As stated in an earlier post, my IP is currently 169.254.xxx.xx, which means it's self assigning an IP. Hard resets will not reset it, and when I go into Network Utility and do the Ping, I get the following:

ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: Host is down
etc
etc
etc
100% packet loss.

I'm very far from computer savvy, so I really don't know what to do.

My current setup is the router, which connects do a D-Link 10/100 5-port gigabit switch. That in turn connects to an Airport Express (what i am currently using for b/g connection speeds), as well as the Airport Extreme, which is running in 5ghz n-draft only. I was hoping to use the Linksys WUSB600N to connect to the network, which appears to be successful, but now the airport extreme won't connect to the internet despite the green light. Any help would be much appreciated!

[edalzell]

Why so many wireless routers? Why not just use the Airport Extreme and set it b/g compatible mode.

Also, which device is doing the IP address serving? Your router? The Airport Extreme?

I don't think you need the USB network adapter.

FYI, I upgraded my MB wireless to N. It's not that hard.

[awillimd]

Quote: Originally Posted by kmurphychi After troubleshooting so many of these problems, it appears that many macs don't like the ten digit passwords that come with the all in one 2wire routers. By changing the WEP key on the router to a 26 digit combination in lieu of a ten digit combination, this usually resolves the problem.

After trying every conceivable workaround (mentioned here and elsewhere including zapping PRAM, repairing permissions, repairing disk, resetting/rebooting FIOS router, etc.) to get rid of the "self-assigned IP" problem, one or more of the following solutions worked for me:

1) Changed the default WEP (40/64) 10-digit password (the one that is automatically assigned by the router when it's reset) to something else.
2) Under Network preferences (OSX 10.5.6), used the "Assist Me" function. This brings up a new "authenticating" message that was not there before.

So far getting great, stable wireless connection (since last night). Will let you know if anything changes.

[Dreww]

Hey all you tech guys out there, I have a good one for you that I have not seen at any of the other mac help sites(macrumors/apple forums) or here.

I am a college student that has access to wi-fi and ethernet cable internet. I was able to connect to the internet all year with no problem. I went home for christmas break and used the wireless internet at my house for about a month. I had a linksys router at home and everything was fine. I came back to school and set up my MacBook at my desk. I tried my ethernet and my airport and both of them give me a self assigned IP address. I have read ALL post on the above 3 sites on the problem and none of the suggestions have helped. Mine is a unique situation too, I receive my internet from a third party provider i.e. they set up the internet at our school and run cables to all rooms as well as provide wireless access points across campus. I do not have access to the router or any of its info. I called my ISP and have talked to all of their tech guys and none of them could offer any help. I have talked to Apple relentlessly and they had NO help either.

My friend can connect to my ethernet jack with his Dell Vista run laptop and connect immediatly. Another weird thing is that my XBOX 360 will not get an IP address either from the same point and it also assigns its own IP address. The same one that my Mac provides. I find this weird

I have honestly done EVERYTHING possible, firewall, firm ware erasing, assist, taken battery out, deleted key chain etc. I do not have access to the router as you know and my ISP says that it is not their fault and they cant help. If I have left anything out please let me know to help you. I desperately need internet or I have to walk down the hall to use my friends. Some other post have suggested reformatting the macbook and re-installing Leopard. I saw that this did not help some people though. With my luck i know it is sure to not help.

p.s.- I have all of the updates released by Apple in the past year

PLEASE HELP!!!

Drew

[art4me115]

Let me start out with saying I have an imac os10.5.6.

My apartment has wireless access points set up by my ISP. Before winter break I was able to connect and had no problem. When I returned yesterday I was no longer able to connect to the access points. I can connect to an unsecured router someone in my area has however when I try to connect to the access points provided by my ISP I get the "self-assigned IP" message and am unable to connect to the internet.

My ISP spent 1/2hr-hr here yesterday and they are clueless (Completely PC people). The tech said he was going to go talk to his boss and see if they could figure things out and that he would call me today. He has not called me back yet.

I have followed almost all the steps listed on other forums but no avail.

I did upgrade to 10.5.6 over break. Is this the cause?... I know it messed with the local network at my work over break causing people to not be able to save to the servers, but it didn't mess with their internet.

Thanks,
Art4Me115

[Floridadude]

Hi guys,

I've been having the "self assigned IP" problem now for a bit. It all started when I let the battery run down, and I've been working with it now for a couple of weeks (except it affects ethernet AS WELL as airport).

I've found a temporary workaround. Go to Security in network preferences, and select firewall. Then select "allow all incoming connections". Go back to the preference pane, and select network. After about 15-20 seconds, it DHCP should assign a good IP. Then go back and reset your firewall.

Works ok, but if your Mac goes to sleep, you need to repeat.

Fd

[teeks29]

hi I have had the same problem with increasing frequency. I have trashed my airport settings etc and changed my network preferences, and reset keychains it did work for a period. but the problem is now back. there seems to be no quick fix for this problem. sometimes my computer connects by itself but often not. it driving me bananas!!!

[baduchief]

So I've just moved into a place with wifi but my computer isn't picking up on its signal at all. I know the wifi works because my roommates are on it. I know my airport works because I was just using it at another location today with no problems. So why the heck can I not get on to this particular network? It doesn't work when I try to add it to preferred networks. Can anyone please help me?

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by baduchief So I've just moved into a place with wifi but my computer isn't picking up on its signal at all. I know the wifi works because my roommates are on it. I know my airport works because I was just using it at another location today with no problems.

What model of Mac do you have?
What version of OS X?

Great trick!!!!! Thanx a million!
I had the problem that I could log on to skype wityh no problem but none of my browsers would connect to the internet (firefox, safary, netscape). After deleting the com.apple.airport.preferences.plist abd restarting the computer it worked again. I'm sooo reliefed!!!
Nic

[james.wheeler.pe]

I am in the process of reinstalling OS X 10.5. I can connect at home just fine but at work, where we use 802.1X, I often have trouble. My Vista machines always work in any environment. Vista and XP seem to be an order of magnitude more fault tolerant than OS X when it comes to wireless networking.

BTW, I have tried every solution listed previously and none have consistently resolved the issue.

I sure hope Apple "really" owns up and fixes this problem soon. Blaming the router, even if it might be true, is not a solution when other computers work flawlessly with the "defective" router without issue.

I have to say at this point I am bitterly dissapointed with my Mac experience. If I didn't need one to build apps for the iPhone I wouldn't waste my time.

[james.wheeler.pe]

It was a pain but I installed from DVD to get back to factory shipping 10.5.2. So far this seems to have fixed my issues with connecting over 802.1X. The 802.1X screen is quite a bit different from 10.5.6 so if I don't have any problems over the next week or so I think we have to conclude that one of the Apple OS updates is the source of the problem.

I'll keep everyone posted.

[james.wheeler.pe]

Still don't see my previous posts but guess since I am new will take a while to be posted.

I was having self-assigned IP problem but only at work where we use 802.1X WEP. On top of that I only have trouble with certain access points.

That being said none of the Vista or Linux based machines ever have trouble even though my MacBook always struggles. So much for "it just works."

I have reinstalled 10.5.2 and so far this seems to have sort of fixed the issue. Previously I was running 10.5.6. I find that I still don't get an IP address automatically but have to select "Join Other Network" every time after I delete the WEP certificates. I am not sure what this indicates. Note that even if I tried "Join Other Network" after deleting certificates with 10.5.6 it still would not work.

While it is a pain to have to go through these gyrations to get on the network it is still much better than not being able to connect.

As long as this setup continues to work consistently at some time I have to conclude that the problem is with one of the updates between 10.5.2 and 10.5.6.

The lalest problem i have is with a brand new MacBook - Airport on it says "Self assigned IP" which BT doesn't accept - so I'm affectively blocked... How do I stop my software from self assigning when I don't want it to?

[james.wheeler.pe]

Okay.

As you can read from my previous posts downgrading the OS to 10.5.2 solved the problem.

However, since I use this as my iPhone dev machine I had to upgrade and wound up with the same problem.

However, as of today I think maybe I have found my solution.

I don't think that this will help everyone but my MacBook is back to flawless operation and seems even faster. My Windows XP virtual machine is considerably more snappy.

The thing I had to change was.... make the MTU on the Ethernet setting for the Airport 4200 instead of 1500.

This makes no sense since 1500 should be a good value but at this point I don't care why it works.

Like I said before my problems only happen at work where we use 802.1X with WEP.

Why 4200? I remember seeing someone else mention this in connection with 802.1X but can't remember where and Google searches have not turned up anything.

So, for what it is worth my problem seems to be solved.

If something goes bad over the next few days I will post.

[james.wheeler.pe]

Well,

Turns out that it wasn't MTU but instead deleting com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and then rebooting the computer.

I can't even seem to get changes to MTU to persist.

Also when I got onto the wireless at work via the access point that typically causes me a lot of trouble I didn't have any issues. However, when I tried to get on later back in my office I was having DNS timeout issues, pinging the DNS server was timing out, etc.

So... not really sure I discovered anything.

It does bother me though that I can't get MTU changes to stick unless I pick something below 1500.

[james.wheeler.pe]

Well,

It seems the problem has something to do with running a VMWare Fusion virtual machine.

What happens is that over time I seem to lose my ability to talk to our DNS servers from both the virtual machine and the Mac. If I try to ping the DNS servers I will see that ability degrade to the point where I have 100% packet loss.

If I completely exit Fusion, delete com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and power cycle the AirPort I get connectivity back.

I'm not going to run the virtual machine for a couple of days to see if that is the issue.

Note that I did not have an issue with the virtual machine and 10.5.2 so still think this is a bug Apple introduced around 10.5.4.