# imac won't connect to internet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868 "2010-05-10T02:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/1 "2010-05-10T02:24:17Z")
After my BIL tried to update my imac g5 to the newest version of firefox it won’t connect to the internet. It says it is working offline, but when I click the box to have it work online airport will still not connect to my router. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can I restore my apple system to yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/2 "2010-05-10T02:31:34Z")
Does the Airport “see” your router? Are you password protected? Updating Firefox should have done nothing to your Airport connection, so something else is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/3 "2010-05-10T02:56:06Z")
Well, first, it seems impossible for a computer to be working fine for 5 years, for someone to change something and now it will not connect. Second, the new firefox says it is working offline, that I need to click it to get it to work online, and when I do, then there is an error connecting to airport, and my router cannot be connected because of an error. It seems as though some software interaction is occurring and I need to find a way to undo it or fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/4 "2010-05-10T03:50:43Z")
Does Safari connect? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/5 "2010-05-10T04:08:47Z")
This is going to be difficult to diagnose remotely. Assuming you remember your WiFi password, the easiest thing to do would be to go to the Network pane of System Preferences and delete Airport, then add it in again, and try to make a connection to your router. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/6 "2010-05-10T05:09:47Z")
I thought Macs “just work”? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/7 "2010-05-10T05:16:17Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > I thought Macs “just work”? How is this helpful? ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/8 "2010-05-10T05:22:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > How is this helpful? I don’t know. Ask Steve Jobs, he said it. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/9 "2010-05-10T05:31:30Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Well, first, it seems impossible for a computer to be working fine for 5 years, for someone to change something and now it will not connect. Second, the new firefox says it is working offline, that I need to click it to get it to work online, and when I do, then there is an error connecting to airport, and my router cannot be connected because of an error. It seems as though some software interaction is occurring and I need to find a way to undo it or fix it. Post hoc ergo proptor hoc logical fallacy. It’s astronomically unlikely that the installation of an updated vesion of firefox effected your connection. It’s difficult to diagnose remotely, but it sounds like Airport is having a problem connecting to your modem, if your iMac is connected to the airport. 1. Does safari connect to the Internet? 2) Do other computers connected to your airport connect to the internet? If 1) yes, 2) yes, there’s a problem with firefox specifically, if 1) no, 2) no, there’s a connectivity problem with airport, if 1) no, 2) yes, there’s probably a problem with the settings in your iMac, if 1) yes, 2) no, I think we are on a different topic. > [@Wordy](#): > > I thought Macs “just work”? I thought being a smart ass without contributing was frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/10 "2010-05-10T05:35:24Z")
I often have this problem with my laptop at home - I shut down Safari and re-start it, then I shut down my laptop and re-start it if that didn’t work, then if neither of those have worked, I shut down the Airport and re-start it. It usually starts working again after one of these steps. I don’t know why this happens, but it does. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/11 "2010-05-10T15:11:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I often have this problem with my laptop at home - I shut down Safari and re-start it, then I shut down my laptop and re-start it if that didn’t work, then if neither of those have worked, I shut down the Airport and re-start it. Have you tried setting your internet Connection to “always on” in Airport Utility - Internet pane? I used to have connection problems like yours when the Connection was set to “Automatic”. Resetting the base station would fix the problem, but that got annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/12 "2010-05-10T15:15:02Z")
Have you tried running Airport Setup Assistant or Airport Admin Utility? On very rare occasions I’ve lost my connection and was able to fix it by running one of those. Occasionally I’ll lose my connection and I have to unplug the Airport and restart it. It doesn’t happen very often, and usually that solves the problem. If it doesn’t, then I try one of the two applications above. Sometimes I’ll need to unplug the cable modem and restart it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/13 "2010-05-10T16:02:24Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Have you tried setting your internet Connection to “always on” in Airport Utility - Internet pane? > I used to have connection problems like yours when the Connection was set to “Automatic”. Resetting the base station would fix the problem, but that got annoying. I’ve opened Airport Utility, but there doesn’t seem to be an Internet pane. How do I get to that? ETA: Okay, I’ve found Internet, but it’s greyed out - not available to me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/14 "2010-05-10T16:08:54Z")
Try clicking on Rescan to see if it finds it active. If not, try the Setup Assistant and ‘change settings on an existing Airport’. IME I haven’t actually had to change settings. But it’s been a long time since I’ve had to run it, and I don’t remember exactly what it does. ---
**Author:** ![Cherrie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e495f1/32.png) [@Cherrie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherrie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imac-wont-connect-to-internet/538868/15 "2010-05-10T16:20:01Z")
Airport Utility, and the older Admin Utility are only used for Airport Routers, like the Extreme. If you use a 3rd party router Airport Utility is useless for you. If Safari works then it is definitely something to do with Firefox. I would just reinstall it personally. If Safari doesn’t work, and the update to firefox was all you did than that is strange. I would power cycle the network. Unplug both the modem and router for 5 minutes. Also would try setting up a new airport location in System Preferences/Network. There are some plists housed on the hard drive that control network ports. Unless you use weird VPN settings pulling them won’t hurt anything. Macintosh Hard Drive/Library/Preferences/System Configuration Folder Pull \*network interfaces.plist \*com.apple.airport.preferences.plist \*preferences.plist Drag a copy to the desktop in case you need it (VPN) otherwise just trash them. Reboot the computer to recreate the files. You will need to select your network from the list and enter you password. Hope that helps.