I really enjoy using OS X Leopard but there have been some annoying networking and WiFi bugs afflicting my machine that came with the release. The problems usually went away after a reset but when my AirPort WiFi signal began dropping if another user on the network began playing online games (for no apparent reason), I decided to act.
It was a long search and troubleshooting session but I managed to get it all functioning properly. I came across many various suggested fixes but one constant seemed to be that success differed from person to person. As you might find, I read many unhappy people's stories. I hope at least one of these tips/links works for you.
Firstly, I found it was very hard to word the right search terms to get the answers I was looking for. I've listed down below the majority of my terms to assist anyone who may be trying to look for the same issues.
Problem One: AirPort dropping WiFi connection, losing signal strength
The solution was simple but difficult to find any documentation referring to the particular fix. I simply had to change the channel my AirPort was submitting across.
Open 'AirPort Utility' > Choose 'Manual Setup' from the bottom left > Click the 'Wireless' tab across the top menu > Click the 'Channel' drop down menu
Most likely this will be set to Automatic so choose a different specific number (I chose 9). Click update and let it do it's thing. You may need to experiment with numbers but most will work fine. It's just a matter of AirPort conflicting with something in particular crowding the channels. This could be peripherals or even neighbourhood Wireless networks.
I have not had a bar drop on my wireless since and it connects very fast every time. Interestingly, I noticed in the 'Wireless Options' button that my AirPort setup defaulted my wireless connection (multicast rate) to only 2mbps when I have much faster network/internet than that. You may want to bump that up, it resulted in much faster download speeds.
Additional Resources
A very exhaustive and detailed guide on other possibilities:
http://installingcats.com/2008/06/06/airport-wireless-connection-drops-on-leopard-10-5-2/
Dailytech has a slightly dated method, quick and easy to try:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1672
Problem Two: OS X Leopard not re-connecting to network places after awaking from sleep
Sometimes I would open my Macbook Pro and it would hang trying to connect to shared computers. This was strange as the internet connection worked fine but couldn't access shared network places. Another simple solution but this needs a bit more testing time to see if it holds up.
Change from WEP encryption to WPA or vice-versa.
Open 'AirPort Utility' > Choose 'Manual Setup' from the bottom left > Click the line 'Wireless Security' > Click 'Wireless Security' drop down menu > Change various
I had mine set to WEP 128bit. WPA/WPA2 Personal is more secure and functional so I changed it to that. It may help to even try no protection for a short period. Experiment here.
Additional Resources
Won't reconnect due to DHCP not assigning an address, insert manual IP number:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=102408&st=0&p=729975&#entry729975
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=426787
Problem Three: Removing a WIFI network created with AirPort and AirPort Utility
This isn't so much a bug as it was extremely difficult to find an answer for. While trying things for Problem One, I wanted to remove the original WiFi network I had made with AirPort Utility a long time before. I managed to remove and reinstall the AirPort but it still found the old network.
Since I wanted to start fresh I decided to reset the AirPort manually doing a factory default reset. You can do this following instruction at the bottom of this page. This removed the wireless network and set every back to if I had just bought the product. Since it only takes 30 seconds to set this back up it was an easy fix.
One thing to note is that while holding the reset button and plugging the device back in, it takes about 10-15 seconds to see the light flash green 4 times, not the few seconds documented on Apples website.
Google Search Terms
Leopard dropping places connection, Leopard dropping network connection, Macbook Pro dropping network, AirPort dropping connection, AirPort not connecting network, AirPort dropping signal, Leopard lose network connection after sleep, Leopard losing shared network wake, Leopard wireless issues, AirPort problems, Airport connection problems, Resetting AirPort Express, Deleting AirPort wireless network, OS X deleting wireless network, Delete Airport network, Remove AirPort network, Remove Airport connection
It was a long search and troubleshooting session but I managed to get it all functioning properly. I came across many various suggested fixes but one constant seemed to be that success differed from person to person. As you might find, I read many unhappy people's stories. I hope at least one of these tips/links works for you.
Firstly, I found it was very hard to word the right search terms to get the answers I was looking for. I've listed down below the majority of my terms to assist anyone who may be trying to look for the same issues.
Problem One: AirPort dropping WiFi connection, losing signal strength
The solution was simple but difficult to find any documentation referring to the particular fix. I simply had to change the channel my AirPort was submitting across.
Open 'AirPort Utility' > Choose 'Manual Setup' from the bottom left > Click the 'Wireless' tab across the top menu > Click the 'Channel' drop down menu
Most likely this will be set to Automatic so choose a different specific number (I chose 9). Click update and let it do it's thing. You may need to experiment with numbers but most will work fine. It's just a matter of AirPort conflicting with something in particular crowding the channels. This could be peripherals or even neighbourhood Wireless networks.
I have not had a bar drop on my wireless since and it connects very fast every time. Interestingly, I noticed in the 'Wireless Options' button that my AirPort setup defaulted my wireless connection (multicast rate) to only 2mbps when I have much faster network/internet than that. You may want to bump that up, it resulted in much faster download speeds.
Additional Resources
A very exhaustive and detailed guide on other possibilities:
http://installingcats.com/2008/06/06/airport-wireless-connection-drops-on-leopard-10-5-2/
Dailytech has a slightly dated method, quick and easy to try:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1672
Problem Two: OS X Leopard not re-connecting to network places after awaking from sleep
Sometimes I would open my Macbook Pro and it would hang trying to connect to shared computers. This was strange as the internet connection worked fine but couldn't access shared network places. Another simple solution but this needs a bit more testing time to see if it holds up.
Change from WEP encryption to WPA or vice-versa.
Open 'AirPort Utility' > Choose 'Manual Setup' from the bottom left > Click the line 'Wireless Security' > Click 'Wireless Security' drop down menu > Change various
I had mine set to WEP 128bit. WPA/WPA2 Personal is more secure and functional so I changed it to that. It may help to even try no protection for a short period. Experiment here.
Additional Resources
Won't reconnect due to DHCP not assigning an address, insert manual IP number:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=102408&st=0&p=729975&#entry729975
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=426787
Problem Three: Removing a WIFI network created with AirPort and AirPort Utility
This isn't so much a bug as it was extremely difficult to find an answer for. While trying things for Problem One, I wanted to remove the original WiFi network I had made with AirPort Utility a long time before. I managed to remove and reinstall the AirPort but it still found the old network.
Since I wanted to start fresh I decided to reset the AirPort manually doing a factory default reset. You can do this following instruction at the bottom of this page. This removed the wireless network and set every back to if I had just bought the product. Since it only takes 30 seconds to set this back up it was an easy fix.
One thing to note is that while holding the reset button and plugging the device back in, it takes about 10-15 seconds to see the light flash green 4 times, not the few seconds documented on Apples website.
Google Search Terms
Leopard dropping places connection, Leopard dropping network connection, Macbook Pro dropping network, AirPort dropping connection, AirPort not connecting network, AirPort dropping signal, Leopard lose network connection after sleep, Leopard losing shared network wake, Leopard wireless issues, AirPort problems, Airport connection problems, Resetting AirPort Express, Deleting AirPort wireless network, OS X deleting wireless network, Delete Airport network, Remove AirPort network, Remove Airport connection
