Wireless looses preferred networks

I have wireless setup at home and work - both are 128bit WEP. I sleep the Mac between office and work. When I get to work - every day I have to re-type the WAP name and WEP key into the Airport control panel to get it to connect. It works fine all day - then when I get home I have the same problem. I have to type in my home WAP name and WEP key for it to find the AP again. Repeat everyday - that is the definition of insanity - to repeat the same steps every time and expect different results. So, I am here looking to stop this cycle of madness.
The AP's do not broadcast their names, if that help. The names are different as are the WEP keys between home and work. And generally speaking, my Windows boxes have never exhibited this type of behaviour moving from home to work. It all started after that last update to 10.4.6 - everything was fine before then.
Can anyone help? TIA from a Mac newbie.
-Josh

Hello Josh and welcome to the forums,
...I sleep the Mac between office and work. When I get to work...
And generally speaking, my Windows boxes have never exhibited this type of behaviour moving from home to work.
Your question is a VFAQ. There's a misunderstanding regarding (putting your Mac to) sleep and networking. Networking services are not built to go to sleep. There's no such thing as an asleep network. Lot of users (not only newbies) tend to forget that. Yes, Apple is doing its best to provide ease of use and setup but that doesn't mean that we're using a HAL-like computer
When you put your Mac to sleep a snapshot of the OS, contents of RAM, and anything else that's running (like your network settings) is placed in a reserved space in PRAM+HD. When you wake up your Mac, it's getting back to the state just before sleep expecting to find no changes in its (computing/networking) environment.
Now enter wireless networks: besides the usual aspects of wireless networking (signal, interference etc.) you're also using wireless encryption (WEP). Running your wireless network with encryption and/or without encryption is a different game. Wireless encryption ***** up more power, is done on the fly and has an impact on the wireless range/signal quality.
Now, if we take a look at the issues you're experiencing, I think they're far from defining insanity
Did you try to shutdown your Mac before switching from one of your wireless network to another? Do you get the same results (having to manually enter WEP every time)?
Network (including AirPort) caches get corrupted from time to time and have to be reset/cleared. You can clear the list of your wireless networks (SystemPreferences-->Network-->AirPort) and re-enter your networks. Take a look at how 2 users solved this here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=446702&tstart=30.
Now open Utilities-->Terminal and type: lookupd -flushcache (press Return) and reboot your Mac.
BTW: You're using DHCP, don't you?
What about your Windows computers? Do they sleep while in transit from one network to the other?
Macs running 9.x, Macs running 10.4.x and SGI workstations running Irix 6.5.x

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Wireless Connection - Can't choose 'By default, Join: Preferred Network'

Have just bought my partner a second hand PB G4
Am trying to get it to connect to internet and printer via airport to my existing (and working) network (G5, Airport extreme base station and ADSL modem)
On the network prefs pane of the PB the ability to select 'join Preferred network' is grey (says automatic) so I can't select the network I want
Same in Internet Connect
Airport is turned on but says 'no network selected'
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Probably fairly basic but very frustrating. Any advice appreciated
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Network status pane says internet sharing is on (it
isn't) and is using airport to share the connection.
Status light is amber
I think you may be a little confused here. Internet Sharing is for one computer to connect thru another. Let's say your G5 had two ethernet ports, one of which was directly hooked up to a DSL modem, over which it did PPPoE to your ISP. You could then use Internet Sharing to connect a second computer to the G5 via ethernet and use the G5's Internet connection.
I don't think this is your setup (although I've been very wrong in the past!). It sounds to me like everything is going wireless and the base station is the one with the Internet connection. So you don't need Internet Sharing at all.
What you need to do is to start at the beginning. Looking at Internet Connect, in the Airport tab, do you have a selection of networks? If you select your ABS, does it show good signal strength?

MacBook Pro 15" can't find wireless preferred network after wake-up

Hello all
I've this problem with a MBP 15" (SnowLeopard 10.6.6): it doesn't find my preferred wi-fi network after waking-up from sleep.
Settings:
- on the MBP there's a preferred Location for this wi-fi connection
- wi-fi, DHCP and DNS managed by an AVM FritzBox 7050 (not visible SSID, MAC restriction, WPA2 pw)
- the channel I've set is different from other wi-fi around the building
The same network works perfectly using an old iBook G4 and an iMac, and other Windows PCs too.
Sometimes the MBP AirPort card just can't find the preferred Fritz network, while it does sees other wi-fi in the same building. Even using NetStumbler doesn't help.
I need to try to add manually "another" network several times before the MBP joins the Fritz wi-fi.
I already deleted and recreated the preferred network.
Is this a known software issue, or it can be a faulty AirPort card ?
thanx
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Hello all,
after a lot of testing, using both the MacBook Pro and an old iBook G4 (the latter was working perfectly), and having on both machines some wi-fi sw such as KisMAC and iStumbler (while watching the wi-fi monitor on the access point consolle), I found that:
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Eg: I found the channel #13 was free and there was only 1 other PC on #12, but there was a lot of noise. After trying all the channels, I decided to use #4 because there was little noise, even if there were many PCs around on #5/6.
So, don't care (as one should usually do) too much about not overlapping channels; instead, search for channels with little interferences.
I hope my solution can help you
G.

Problems wirelessly extending 5Ghz network with Time Capsule

Summary:
My Time Capsule wirelessly extends a 5Ghz "n" network provided by my Airport Extreme, but the Time Capsule frequently fails and stops providing Internet access to connected computers. I'm not sure if the problem is with the Time Capsule or with the Airport Extreme it's connecting to.
Setup:
Airport Extreme (dual band) connected to cable modem. It provides a 5Ghz "n" network and a 2.5Ghz "b-g-n" network. This is in the bedroom.
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My MacBook is set to join the 5 Ghz network, and since it's in the office, it ends up joining via the Time Capsule. This is the desired behavior, as connecting through the Time Capsule seems to result in the fastest possible backup speed.
There are no wireless devices, such as cordless phones, in the house. The microwave is NOT in use when the problems arise.
*The Problem:*
Frequently, the MacBook loses its Internet connection, though it is still connected to the 5Ghz network through the Time Capsule. When this happens, it can only see the Time Capsule it's connected through (and other devices that are connected to it) but no other devices on the network.
When this happens, other devices that are connecting to the 5Ghz network through the Airport Extreme can no longer see the Time Capsule or any devices connected to it, such as the laser printer or my MacBook. This includes the living room computer, which has never been able to complete a backup due to this problem.
The Time Capsule's and the Airport Extreme's indicator lights both stay green.
If I change the Macbook's connection to the 2.5Ghz network, it can see the devices connected to the Airport Extreme, but can no longer reach the Time Capsule.
*Unsuccessful Solutions:*
This was happening in a previous incarnation of the network, when I had a non-dual band Airport Extreme providing the main network, the Time Capsule connected via 5Ghz, and an Airport Express connected via ethernet to the Time Capsule to provide a b-g network.
I replaced the Airport Extreme with a new dual-band unit to simplify the setup, but it did not solve the problem.
Since the Time Capsule seemed to be the weak link in the network, I reported the problem and got the unit replaced, but the problem still persists.
I've reset both the Airport Extreme and the Time Capsule to their factory settings numerous times, and set them up again from scratch (no imported settings). I've gone in and made sure that there were no WDS settings leftover from the earlier configuration, as the 5Ghz network does not need it to extend itself.
*Plea for help:*
Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?

Update
The other day, I modified the setup so that the Time Capsule doesn't extend the wireless network wirelessly, only through Ethernet (so the attached printer will work, but the computers will connect directly to the AEBS. The Time Capsule stayed connected long enough for me to do a full backup (125GB) from the downstairs computer.
I thought I had it "solved" (though extending the 5Ghz network would be preferable so the office computers can have faster backup speeds.)
But yesterday, I went to print to the Ethernet-attached printer, and it got only one page out before it disappeared off the network again, and the print job failed. I noticed it did it again, today.
So the problem is not tied to wirelessly extending the network.

OS 10.8.5 Wi-Fi doesn't find "Preferred Network"

We installed a new modem provided by Comcast that has built in wireless. After naming and establishing the password for the network, I successfully connected via my MacBook Pro, which detected it. Once connected I accessed the "Advanced Settings" screen in the Network control panel.
Under the first "Wi-Fi" tab I dragged the new network to the top of the list of "Preferred Networks." I also confirmed that the "Remember networks this computer has joined" check-box was selected.
Yet each time the computer wakes from sleep or is restarted the Wi-Fi utility scans for networks and doesn't connect to any. When I click on the control bar icon for Wi-Fi the network appears -- usually at the bottom of the list -- and when I click on it the computer connects immediately.
Obviously this defeats the point of remembering preferred networks and is a nagging time-suck at the start of each work session. Has anyone else experienced this problem and discovered a solution?
Thanks!!
Joseph
Washington, DC

Hello Joseph_DC
If you are having issues with it not connecting after waking from sleep, the check out the article below to troubleshoot the issue further. Check in the section Symptom: The network connection drops unexpectedly and there will be a solution just for that issue and will continue with going into Keychain Access the
iPhone: Troubleshooting No Service
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4429
Regards,
-Norm G.

How to choose the "preferred Network"

My phone automatically defaulted to "Global mode". Is this correct or should it be in CDMA or GSM/UMTS mode? Also, does this affect my ability to send text messages b/c I haven't been able to send them with this phone and tech support doesn't seem to be able to resolve my issue.
Thanks!

jaxgirl3278 wrote:
My phone automatically defaulted to "Global mode". Is this correct or should it be in CDMA or GSM/UMTS mode? Also, does this affect my ability to send text messages b/c I haven't been able to send them with this phone and tech support doesn't seem to be able to resolve my issue.
Thanks!
Hi jaxgirl3278,
You can change your preferred network to CDMA by following the instructions below:
From a home screen, select the applications tab (located in the lower left).
Select Settings.
Select Wireless & networks.
Select Mobile networks.
Select Preferred Networks.
Select CDMA.
Also make sure that Enable always -on mobile data box is checked.
Global mode does not interfere with text messaging and you should be able to send your messages. In order for our forum members to assist you please provide some more information.
Are you able to receive text messages?
Are you able to send any text messages at all to any of your contacts?
Do you use the native text messaging application or a third party text messaging application?
Have you ever added a messaging block feature to your account?
Please keep in mind that in order to resolve text messaging issues your account may need to be accessed and feature re-provisioned and our forum members may not be able to resolve this issue for you. If you prefer to send me a private message including your name and wireless number I will be happy to review

"Preferred Network" option missing from Airport tab

My computer was just joining networks, so I switched my MPB to "By Default, Join: A specific network". Now I find that I've got to tell my computer to join the wireless network at work. Since I'd like my computer to join both my home networks without interaction from me I read the help file to figure out how to do it. The help file said to choose "Preferred Networks" from the "By Default, Join:" popup menu, but the popup menu on my computer only had one choice, "A specific network".
Anyone know what might have happened to the other options in that popup menu?
Thanks,
Chris

Replying to my own post, bad form...
I don't know why "Preferred Networks" was missing from my "By Default, Join:" menu, but I discovered that I could get the option back by creating a new location and migrating my old settings to the new location.
Chris

When returning from sleep my preferred network doesn't connect

After returning from sleep mode my prefered network won't automatically connect. I checked the settings and its set to automatically connect to my network. I have to turn of the wireless and then turn it back on or select my network before it will connect.

In Networking, make sure that Wireless is at the top of the list, if it is not then move it there above Ethernet. I also uncheck "Ask to join new Networks"
In Preferred Networks make the one you want the only one, if more than one set the priority of which one first. Check "Remember Networks this computer has joined" Most of this is in Advanced.

Leopard airport issues - Preferred Networks

I am having an Airport / Preferred Networks issue with new Macbook (Dec 07) currently running 10.5.1.
I have a Netgear wireless router that uses WPA for my local network. It has worked fine for around 8 months with Powerbooks & ibooks running Tiger, various PC's and an iphone.
My macbook however will not remember the preferred networks I set up. Everytime I wake it from sleep it says 'none of your preferred networks are available' and then asks if I want to join my local network. The password is remembered correctly and it attempts to join. Roughly 70% of the time it will then give a Connection Timeout error two or three times before connecting.
I have tried the following:
-Deleting the network location in System preferences.
-Deleted Airport Keychain entries and restarted laptop.
-Reset network location using System preferences, restarting laptop again.
-Created a new user account and still found the same issue.
Does anyone have any other suggestions or is it a matter of waiting for 10.5.2?
Thanks, Graham

The issues appear to be due to improper settings of routers and/or networking issues, which appear to be more prevalent on third party routers though can also affect Apple routers if their firmware isn't up to date. It is not an operating system specific issue, even though it can often appear to show up when upgrading. The reason for this is numerous routers haven't followed specs that are industry wide.
I suggest looking over these tips*:
http://www.macmaps.com/WIFI1048.html
As well as making sure when you upgrade to follow these tips:
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
to avoid the most frequently encountered problems.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation
Message was edited by: a brody

Deleted preferred networks reappear

Upon installing Mavericks, and turning on iCloud keychain, I noticed that all wifi networks I had ever connected to appeared in the preferred network list on my Macbook.
There were quite a few I naturally wanted to delete, so I removed them. Also my devices were trying to connect to networks I thought I had removed.
It didn't take me long to notice that my Macbook was trying to connect to some of these old networks again, and upon looking at the list - all deleted entries had reappeared.
Another symptom seems to be that if I tell my iPhone not to auto-connect to a public hotspot (BT WIFI for example), if my Mac ever comes near that hotspot it auto connects - as will my iPhone subsequently.
I have tried editing the com.apple.airport.preferences.plist file manually, deleting the Mac's WiFi service and recreating, and resetting network settings on all my Apple devices.
I have even looked at the Keychain app on my Mac, but it doesn't seem to be storing my wireless networks from what I can see.
From my Google-ing, it doesn't sound like anyone else is having this issue..
Any ideas?
Thanks!

Back up all data. Open the iCloud preference pane and uncheck the Keychain box. You'll be prompted to delete the local iCloud keychain. Confirm. Also disable it on the other devices. Delete the unwanted preferred networks from all devices. Then follow one of the procedures described in this support article to set up iCloud Keychain.

Airport preferred networks no longer auto-connect

So I am wondering if there are other OSX users that are running into a similar problem I am finding.
I travel a lot and there are a few hotel hotspots that get added to my list of preferred networks.
But as the list grows, even by one, I no longer auto connect to my home network and now my work network.
I know how to clear up the problem but it is annoying that it happens in the first place.
I like to get a show of hands of others that run in to the problem.
cheers,
Noah

So I am not the only one.
I've noticed that if I connect my Macbook Pro to my home Network using Airport and then decide to move the computer close to the 4 port router and hook up via Ethernet (the need for speed), the next time I use wireless I have a **** of a time trying to get it to connect wirelessly. On one occasion I spent an hour trying to get it to connect and when if finally did I couldn't see that I did anything different. It was like the MBP was going "Yeah OK buddy, I'll connect when I am good and ready". Damit, the MBP nearly became a frisbie.
Chris

Sick to Death of "None of your preferred networks are available."

I have a MacBook Air and an AirPort Extreme base station which is roughly four feet away. Why is it that I am constantly being disconnected from my wireless network and seeing garbage like "None of your preferred networks are available." (when my wireless network is listed RIGHT THERE IN THE DIALOG BOX) and "connection timeout" after only 3 seconds when trying to reconnect?
I have tried all sorts of things: Deleting items from the keychain and recreating them; changing the channel number of my wireless network; adding SystemUIServer and Apple80211Agent to my keychain items for the network; you name it, I've tried it. And STILL my notebook with Leopard 10.5.2 can't stay connected to the network, and has a devil of a time getting reconnected. None of my other wireless devices (Xbox 360, Roku SoundBridge Radio, iPhone) has difficulty connecting or staying connected, so the fault obvious lies with Leopard.
Apple: *WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS?* I know that many, many others have run into this before, so it's not just me.

REALLY!
Yes, I've read all about the workarounds and fixes, none of which work to any great degree, and ALL of which should be UNNECESSARY.
Here's the thing:
*The main advertising thrust of Apple is that their stuff simply WORKS.*
The whole point of wireless access is to be able to connect anywhere it is available! If I can't take my laptop to Starbucks, then to Borders, then home, then to work and have it connect seamlessly (like it has, perfectly until now) then what is the point?
Especially since the MacBook Air HAS NO ETHERNET! This situation renders the MacBook Air utterly USELESS in about half the places one would try to use it.
Apple - SURELY this is not what you had in mind.
COME ON!
You are better than this!
JG

Airport Time Capsule: None of your preferred networks are available

Just got the brand new MBA and an AirPort Time Capsule and set-up went fine, except that whenever my MBA goes to sleep and I open it back up, I've lost my wireless connection and get the message "None of your preferred networks are available." My network is among those available in the list, and it remembers my password, but I must select it every single time. Why won't it remember my preferences and automatically find my network. I shelled out $300 for this Time Capsule because it was supposed to be "lightening fast". My $45 Vizio router had me connected all the time - much faster, wouldn't you agree?

Make sure the box next to Remember networks this computer has joined is checked.
No other boxes should be checked.
Click OK, then click Apply.
It is easy to miss "Apply", and if you do, the settings will not "stick" on the Mac.
Restart the Mac.
Hopefully, your new Time Capsule network name does not use the same name of a previous network. That will really confuse things. If that is the case, use a new wireless network name and a new password for the Time Capsule.

None of your preferred networks available

We have two MBP that were upgraded to Lion and worked well with our previous router. Since changing over to the Time Capsule both MBPs get the "none of your preferred networks are available" popup when waking from sleep mode. After searching for an answer I cannot find a good explanaton. Not sure if this is just a problem with the router change or Lion since people have posted having the problem with using the same router they had before upgrading to Lion. Any help would be appreciated.

I just got off the phone with Apple support and the fix he walked me thru has worked.
Go to Airport Utility and click on manual setup at the bottom of the window. Go to wireless tab and select radio channel selection...change 5GHz to 161 and 2.4GHz to 9. Click update.
Open network preferences and click advanced. Highlight and delete all items that appear in preferred networks (use the minus button). Click ok (think apply comes up as well).
Spotlight search for "keychain". Click on "keychain access". Delete the instances of your network name by highlighting and using the delete key. Close and apply if asked.
Turn Airport off then back on. Click to join your network and enter password. Turn Airport off and back on (at this point it auto connected). Restart computer and make sure it auto connects. Put to sleep and wake back up to make sure it connects.
These steps worked for me...not sure if it was a time capsule specific issue, but figured these steps seemed pretty universal since I changed no time capsule setting.

"None of your preferred networks are available" But they are!

This is the one problem that most bugs me with my MBP, i was hoping that 10.5.2 would fix it, but it does not.
I use my MBP on two wireless networks. They are both airport expresses with different SSIDs.
The first (work) is one airport express and my MBP will connect to it when ever it is in range happily. The second (home) is an airport express with another airport express extending the first. The only one in range on my laptop is the extension. Every time I wake the laptop it will tell me that "None of your preferred networks are available" and show the name of my network in the list - it has the password stored and has been told to remember the network... and yet it still refuses to connect.
Clicking the network shows that it knows the password as it displays it. I have rest both airport expresses and made the network from scratch, I have also deleted all references to the network in keychain and airport preferences, and yet it still does it.
There are a couple of other threads on this topic, but none of them have been resolved (That i have found) and they seem to have a slightly different problem to me, so I have posted my own question.
Does anyone know what is wrong?
Thanks.

I don't have the answer, I have the problem...
I'm also in one of the other threads about 10.5.2 messing up connection to my Apple Airport Extreme (melted marshmallow), but I also have the "None of your preferred networks are available" problem.
My network configuration looks like this: http://tijil.org/LAN_06.jpg
I have: Hard reset Airport, re-loaded firmware, re-done all settings, powered up and down numerous times, changed channels, etc. to no avail.
For me the Airport Base continues to work just fine with the other two computers connected to it wirelessly, but my 3 week old MacBook with 10.5.2 will no do so automatically, and once it does, even though the signal is strong and the S/N ratio is good, the connection is usually much slower than either of the other machines, has difficulty sustaining a large upload, and frequently drops out - for the MacBook only.
This did not happen with 10.5.0 or 10.5.1 and does not happen with the machines running 10.4.x.
The Airport Extreme Base is set to use 802.11b/g as one of the older machines can only handle 'b'...
I have MAC screening set up and also WAP. Network is NOT 'hidden.'
Airport Utility on the MacBook also has difficulty finding the base even when the MacBook is actually connected to it and using it to download mail. sigh
The problem is something that changed in 10.5.2.
Hope Apple gets this sorted soon!
Tom

Wireless looses preferred networks

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