MacBook running 10.6.8
Browsers: Camino as default
Cable modem [Motorola Surfboard hard wired to Netgear Wireless router WGR614 V6]

For the past two weeks I have had problems connecting to the internet - loss of connectivity despite Airport being ON, extremely long loading times, then all would be well for a few hours.

My ISP insists there are no drop outs, no throttling, no problems and says I need to replace my modem. Other users in the house [2 Windows, one eeepc machines] while getting occasional drop outs has not near as many as the MacBook.

Network diagnostics: despite following the instructions went round and round through the test sequence, but always came back to asking 'are there any devices connected to the device that has just restarted?'

Today [a light bulb moment] I connected the MacBook to the router using a CAT5 ethernet cable …. and all was well.

My question: does this sound as though I need a new wireless card, or modem, or router, or should I consider other possibilities?
I have a new Apple Airport Extreme Base Station but thought to ask before considering setting it up.

Advice will be appreciated.
Kate

Hi, Kate,

Sounds like you're covering ground similar to that I traversed a while back...with nary a clue as to what was happening or, when it was over, had happened.

There are many things you can try, and I'm certain that others will kick in with ideas, but having "been there," the best suggestion I can make is that you try changing your AirPort Radio Mode in AirPort Utility > Wireless.

Towards that end, can you tell us both which band you're running in now and which bands your router supports, i.e. 802.11n (which can run in either the 2.4 or 5GHz band) or 802.11b/g compatible (which is limited to the 2.4GHz band)? (The info can be found at the above-captioned location on your MacBook.)

I was having similar problems that were corrected by the cable company fixing a very bad connection on the utility pole outside my house. That lasted for about a month before the connection dropped out altogether and I had to replace the cable modem.

The point is what you are describing could very likely be outside your control and a good place to start is getting the cable company to physically verify your cable connection. The technicians usually carry a test modem on their truck (or even a spare modem to swap with you) which is the only reliable way to test your modem.

Thank you both. The problem increased overnight, so I went back to my ISP, got the call escalated up to engineer level and, on his advice replaced the Netgear router with the Apple Extreme, and also set up the new modem he had couriered out to me. His thinking was that both were failing and triggering each other.
Since then all seems to be well, though I am still confused as to why the connection problems were only occurring in the earlier part of the day. However…

Thank you for your interest.
Kate