Accessing chosen WiFi Network Only - OS X

Hello

I'm new to Mac OS X 10.4. Every time my computer wakes up it logs into
my neighbour's WiFi network instead of my own. I want to restrict it to
only accessing my own network.

My 802.11b network is encrypted. My neighbour's signal is un-encrypted.

Is there a way to delete the unwanted network from my list of networks?

Many thanks
Kevin

KevinSmith <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hello
>
> I'm new to Mac OS X 10.4. Every time my computer wakes up it logs into
> my neighbour's WiFi network instead of my own. I want to restrict it to
> only accessing my own network.
>
> My 802.11b network is encrypted. My neighbour's signal is un-encrypted.
>
> Is there a way to delete the unwanted network from my list of networks?

I'm not sure about 10.4, but in 10.3.x one of the updates fixed this
problem. Anyway you can configure a Location in the Apple menu to log
onto your own access point. Scroll down and create a new Location - call
it Home (or the same as your SSID of choice). Then open the Network
Preferences. Activate Airport in Show (this is in 10.3.9) and then
choose Airport in the row of buttons and set By default join: A specific
network and enter your Home (or whatever SSID you set your access
point). Choose TCP/IP in the row of buttons and configure the IPv4
connection on your Mac - usually DHCP.

Having set the Location to your SSID, your MAC should no longer connect
to the neighbours AP.

You haven't told us if you are using an Airport, but if you are using a
3. party access point or router, use Internet Connect to make the actual
connection to you access point.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) om>,
"KevinSmith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I'm new to Mac OS X 10.4. Every time my computer wakes up it logs into
> my neighbour's WiFi network instead of my own. I want to restrict it to
> only accessing my own network.
>
> My 802.11b network is encrypted. My neighbour's signal is un-encrypted.
>
> Is there a way to delete the unwanted network from my list of networks?

In System Preferences/Network/[Show] Airport, tell it "By default join
[preferred networks]" and put YOURS at the top of the list, and/or just
delete your neighbour's network. Also, click Options and tell it "Ask
before joining an open network" (suspenders and a belt).

It's a confusing interface; I'll put some screenshots somewhere if you
like.
--
W. Oates
Teal'c: He is concealing something.
O'Neil: Like what?
Teal'c: I am unsure, he is concealing it.

Hi Axel and Warren

You've solved my problem. Thanks for taking time to respond. That's
working nicely now.

Now I'm looking into this Apple bug fix article to solve my auto
connect problem for same connection:
Mac OS X 10.4.8: AirPort does not auto-connect to existing networks
after restart or wake from sleep

Kind regards
Kevin





Warren Oates wrote:
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) om>,
> "KevinSmith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > I'm new to Mac OS X 10.4. Every time my computer wakes up it logs into
> > my neighbour's WiFi network instead of my own. I want to restrict it to
> > only accessing my own network.
> >
> > My 802.11b network is encrypted. My neighbour's signal is un-encrypted.
> >
> > Is there a way to delete the unwanted network from my list of networks?
>
> In System Preferences/Network/[Show] Airport, tell it "By default join
> [preferred networks]" and put YOURS at the top of the list, and/or just
> delete your neighbour's network. Also, click Options and tell it "Ask
> before joining an open network" (suspenders and a belt).
>
> It's a confusing interface; I'll put some screenshots somewhere if you
> like.
> --
> W. Oates
> Teal'c: He is concealing something.
> O'Neil: Like what?
> Teal'c: I am unsure, he is concealing it.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
"KevinSmith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Mac OS X 10.4.8: AirPort does not auto-connect to existing networks
> after restart or wake from sleep

Mine does. What happens exactly? Do you have to use the Airport menu-bar
thingie (resorting to obscure technical jargon) to connect?

In your router's settings, make sure your PPoE is set to "always on."
--
W. Oates
Teal'c: He is concealing something.
O'Neil: Like what?
Teal'c: I am unsure, he is concealing it.

Hi Warren

What the article get you to do is to delete all present network
connections from within the Airport preferences. Then you start from
scratch and configure them.

I followed all their instructions, but did not solve problem. I think
their issue relates to one of the more recent protocols, something like
WPA 2. So their technical support article probably does not apply to
me.

What solved it in the end was lots of fumbling around. Redeleted all
presets for WiFi networks, made sure to put in correct encryption
setting (WEP 128 bit Hex). Then lots of testing, putting computer to
sleep, waking it up, also switched off my WiFi router to see if it
would pickup "foreign" networks on wake-up.

Sorry, not a very analytical answer.

Thanks for your interest.

Regards
Kevin

Warren Oates wrote:
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
> "KevinSmith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > Mac OS X 10.4.8: AirPort does not auto-connect to existing networks
> > after restart or wake from sleep
>
> Mine does. What happens exactly? Do you have to use the Airport menu-bar
> thingie (resorting to obscure technical jargon) to connect?
>
> In your router's settings, make sure your PPoE is set to "always on."
> --
> W. Oates
> Teal'c: He is concealing something.
> O'Neil: Like what?
> Teal'c: I am unsure, he is concealing it.

KevinSmith <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hi Axel and Warren
>
> You've solved my problem. Thanks for taking time to respond. That's
> working nicely now.
>
> Now I'm looking into this Apple bug fix article to solve my auto
> connect problem for same connection:
> Mac OS X 10.4.8: AirPort does not auto-connect to existing networks
> after restart or wake from sleep

Neither does mine (still 10.3.9). I have the Airport icon on the menu
bar and usually turn on Airport from there and also select my AP from
there when the Mac wakes up from sleep - also, my Mac accesses the
encryption key from the key chain.

Having a specific network prevents connecting to my neighbours access
point, which is unencrypted.

When I switch access point, I first use Location in the Apple menu to
set the AP and encryption key. For public access points, I use the
Automatic Location that came with OS X.

In article <(E-Mail Removed). com>,
"KevinSmith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I followed all their instructions, but did not solve problem. I think
> their issue relates to one of the more recent protocols, something like
> WPA 2. So their technical support article probably does not apply to
> me.

Well, I'm using a Dlink DGL4300, using WPA2, AES encryption (set to fall
back to WPA and TKIP). The Airport Extreme in my Mac Pro comes and goes
flawlessly, after sleep or a reboot. I put the machine to sleep when I
know I won't be using it for a while, and every night when I go to bed.

You might want to play around with the "Airport setup assistant" in your
Utilities folder. I'm not really sure what it's for. It sees my router
as an "airport base station" I think.
--
W. Oates
Teal'c: He is concealing something.
O'Neil: Like what?
Teal'c: I am unsure, he is concealing it.

Warren Oates <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

<snip>

> You might want to play around with the "Airport setup assistant" in your
> Utilities folder. I'm not really sure what it's for. It sees my router
> as an "airport base station" I think.

It's for setting up an Airport base station.

Oy Vey, this thread is getting long!

Just to clarify, my problem seems solved - all that fumbling around!

Now I see that Axel may have something similar to what I had.

Axel, if you're happy selecting your WiFi network from the list of
options each time your machine wakes up, then please ignore my poorly
informed suggestions. Don't forget I've only solved this problem once,
so don't have clear explanation.

So here goes:
1. Try delete all your WiFi presets.
2. Maybe get rid of your various locations

Good luck.

Regards
Kevin

On Oct 20, 4:21 pm, h...@hotmail.com (Axel Hammerschmidt) wrote:
> KevinSmith <pleasedonotusethisaddr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Axel and Warren
>
> > You've solved my problem. Thanks for taking time to respond. That's
> > working nicely now.
>
> > Now I'm looking into this Apple bug fix article to solve my auto
> > connect problem for same connection:
> > Mac OS X 10.4.8: AirPort does not auto-connect to existing networks
> > after restart or wake from sleepNeither does mine (still 10.3.9). I have the Airport icon on the menu
> bar and usually turn on Airport from there and also select my AP from
> there when the Mac wakes up from sleep - also, my Mac accesses the
> encryption key from the key chain.
>
> Having a specific network prevents connecting to my neighbours access
> point, which is unencrypted.
>
> When I switch access point, I first use Location in the Apple menu to
> set the AP and encryption key. For public access points, I use the
> Automatic Location that came with OS X.