Mac doesn't automatically log on

[kgruber]

My daughter is here with her friend Morgan. Morgan's Mac does not automatically log on to my non-encrypted, no password, WI-FI home network. Just a wide open WI-FI system.


I am a PC kind of guy, but is there anything I can look at on her MAC?

 

[RJM62]

I don't work on Macs very often, and when I do it's generally very simple stuff (like this). But I don't do it often enough to quote the process by heart. So maybe you should wait for a Mac guy to respond.

Thet being said, first make sure the Airport card is turned on. There should be a little antenna icon on the top for the AirPort connection. (There may also be a physical switch somewhere on the laptop, although frankly I don't remember ever seeing one on a Mac).

Once you make sure the Airport card is turned on, somewhere in there you should find a function to scan for networks; and once it sees the network, there should be a function to connect to it.

I don't remember ever having to connect a Mac to a non-secured network. Like I said, I rarely work on them. But maybe you have to manually authorize a Mac to connect to a non-secure network, like you do with Window Wireless Zero.

Again, I'm no Mac expert; so take the above for what it's worth. But it's something you can try in the meantime until someone who knows what s/he is talking about responds.

-Rich

 

[SkyHog]

Assuming this is OSX 10.5:

Two icons to the left of the clock should be an icon that looks like an amphitheatre. Click on that icon, choose "turn Airport On."

Wait for a bit, then click it again, and see if your SSID appears in the list. If it does, click that.

Voila

 

[kgruber]

Thanks everyone...............SUCESS!!!

Best wishes for Thanksgiving

Karl

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Thet being said, first make sure the Airport card is turned on. There should be a little antenna icon on the top for the AirPort connection. (There may also be a physical switch somewhere on the laptop, although frankly I don't remember ever seeing one on a Mac).

Nope, no physical switches for that on any Mac.

Once you make sure the Airport card is turned on, somewhere in there you should find a function to scan for networks; and once it sees the network, there should be a function to connect to it.

There's an icon near the right end of the menu bar that's a 90-degree arc pointing upwards for the AirPort:

Here's a shot of what it looks like when AirPort is turned off:

Here's what it looks like when turned on and connected to the "UQConnect" network, at 3/4 signal, including what the menu looks like:

Click that icon, turn on if necessary. If you just wait a few seconds, the networks will appear - No need to bring the menu up twice like Nick suggests, it'll show up if you just wait too. That said, I do like Nick suggests because I'm impatient and I can do something else during that three seconds.

Another thing: If you put a Mac laptop to sleep, and wake it up and it's not already connected to a WiFi network, it should pop up a dialog momentarily saying "None of your preferred AirPort networks could be found, would you like to use one of these?" with a list of available WiFi networks to choose from.