# wirelessly connecting a macbook to a linksys router

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 2, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984 "2007-11-02T07:13:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984/1 "2007-11-02T07:13:38Z")

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I just got my new macbook today and a new linksys wireless N broadband router. My desktop is a mac, so I unhooked that and connected my old windows laptop to the router and the router to my cable modem. The laptop wouldn’t connect, but the setup software ran ok. When I launched my macbook, it connected just fine. After setting up, I disconnected my windows laptop from the router and I was unable to connect via my macbook. I disconnected the power supply to the router in order to install it where it belongs and connected it to my desktop mac. My desktop mac can connect fine and I can point my browser at the router and everything appears to be normal, but I still can’t connect to the internet using my macbook. I also can’t connect to 192.168.1.1 from my macbook, but I can from my desktop mac.

Any ideas?

Thanks,  
Rob

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984/2 "2007-11-02T07:26:02Z")

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I just wanted to add that I have tried powercycling the modem followed by the router.

Thanks again,  
Rob

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984/3 "2007-11-02T07:30:31Z")

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Never mind, powercycling the macbook did the trick.

Thanks anyway,  
Rob

P.S.: Mods, feel free to close. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984/4 "2007-11-02T07:31:23Z")

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Are you running any encryption on the router?

If you are, it may say it’s connected, but it doesn’t have the key, or at least the correct one. (It’s happened to me)

Perhaps there’s a “N wireless only” setting, and you need to enable the B/G by default?

Those are my best guesses.

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**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wirelessly-connecting-a-macbook-to-a-linksys-router/424984/5 "2007-11-02T08:08:03Z")

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I bought an AirPort Express and tried to hook it up to my Linksys wireless router. I succeeded, but I had to change the encryption method, as Linksys doesn’t seem to have the same definition of WPA to other manufacturers. Sadly, it buffers like crazy so the damn thing is pretty much useless. I think the trick for a quiet life is to get a router not made by Linksys.