How do you tell AirPort NOT to connect!

scottscott
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
My wife's notebook keeps connecting to every other wireless network in the building EXCEPT ours. Now there's a new one called "default" which to me seems like a ploy to get people to connect to it for who knows what reason.





As far as I can tell there's no way to black list a network.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    hehe default is just the default name for most wireless networks



    apple-->system pref-->network-->configAirport-->By default join "name of network"
  • Reply 2 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    and that doesn't take a wep password.



    fscking apple needs to get it's fscking control panels updated
  • Reply 3 of 35
    homhom Posts: 1,098member
    edit: Ooops, didn't see the answer was right in front of me.
  • Reply 4 of 35
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Actually, it will take WEP. Prefix it with 0x for a Hex WEP password.



    Lousy, non-intuitive UI.



    We have the same problem here, with several neighbors with WiFi that SWAMPS ours. The 'default' is someone who hasn't given their base station a name... see if they've given it a password, even. :P (Seriously - for a while, when one neighbor was swamping us, we realized that we could surf on their connection instead... wide open.)



    Some things to try:



    1) Change the channel of your station.



    2) Reposition your station for a stronger signal.



    3) Turn on Interference Robustness.



    4) Warwalk your neighborhood, find out who the offending parties are, and ask them to please play nice.
  • Reply 5 of 35
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    Scott is your access point Apple Base Station or something else?



    How did you set up your encryption? 64 or 128 bit?
  • Reply 6 of 35
    psgamer0921psgamer0921 Posts: 393member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Paul

    hehe default is just the default name for most wireless networks



    apple-->system pref-->network-->configAirport-->By default join "name of network"





    Hmm, not always....Mine's called 'linksys'
  • Reply 7 of 35
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member




    Did you at least secure it?



    RTFM



  • Reply 8 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Yes I'm using 128 bit wep. And I RTFMed before I bought the thing. The problem is not the router it's the OS X software. There still should be a way to tell it not to connect to some networks or only connect to one.



    There's no white list or black list. Kind of stupid for network security.
  • Reply 9 of 35
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    RTFM was directed to psgamer :-)



    Scott, when you go to airport preferences in network prefs, you can direct it to join only specific network. It won't join any other.



    This way it will join only yours and not the other guy's.



    does that help?
  • Reply 10 of 35
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    Yes I'm using 128 bit wep. And I RTFMed before I bought the thing. The problem is not the router it's the OS X software. There still should be a way to tell it not to connect to some networks or only connect to one.



    There's no white list or black list. Kind of stupid for network security.



    *ahem*







    You *can* tell it to connect to *exactly one base station*. See above.
  • Reply 11 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Well coming back to this one. Despite all the rude replies from know it all members none of this address the issue. My wife is still connecting to other networks either by mistake or by software error. I would hope some here would look up the meaning of "default" in the dictionary.





    So I'll ask again. Is there a way to tell Airport NOT TO connect to a network. Is there an airport black list or white list?
  • Reply 12 of 35
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    If the airport icon shows up on your menu bar, click on it. You should see an option that says "Turn airport off". That should do it.



    If it's not on the menu bar, look at the image provided by kickaha. Make sure you click on the box in that window that says "Show airport status in menu bar."



    Of course, this completely shuts it off. I would try Kickaha's solution. Nobody in here looks especially rude to me. :-) Peace.
  • Reply 13 of 35
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    So I'll ask again. Is there a way to tell Airport NOT TO connect to a network. Is there an airport black list or white list?



    Okay, I'll give you the direct answer: There IS NOT an Aiport "black list" or "white list" to tell it NOT to connect to a network.



    Your best bet, however, is to use the "Turn Airport Off" and "Join Specific Network" in conjunction with each other. If her computer is joining the one you DON'T want, turn off Airport. When she is in range of the one you want, turn it back on and the computer will join it *first*.



    See, OS X and Airport have been designed to keep you connected one way or another. To tell it to avoid those connections is kind of against its very nature. You can tell it, "if you're going to be connected, try this one first," or "just don't even try to connect to anything."



    Hope this helps.
  • Reply 14 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    There's got to be a way to trick it into not connecting to these on the unix side of things.
  • Reply 15 of 35
    the generalthe general Posts: 649member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    and that doesn't take a wep password.



    fscking apple needs to get it's fscking control panels updated



    yes it can, just make sure its 13 characters.
  • Reply 16 of 35
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    Scott for the love of god.... what kind of access point is that?



    gimme make/model and i will walk you through that with every screenshot you'll need.
  • Reply 17 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    piwozniak what are you trying to help me with?
  • Reply 18 of 35
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    That was your post:

    "My wife's notebook keeps connecting to every other wireless network in the building EXCEPT ours. Now there's a new one called "default" which to me seems like a ploy to get people to connect to it for who knows what reason.





    As far as I can tell there's no way to black list a network."







    Then you mentioned that it won't accept wap.





    So.... i guess you didn't configure it properly, right ?



    I have 4 networks at work, plus one at home, and never had any problems with connecting to wrong one. If your wap settings are not correct, then you won't be able to join your own network, so...



    *that wasn't one of these rude replies*
  • Reply 19 of 35
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    wep wep not wap



    Can you tell me how to get it NOT TO connect to a network? If not you cannot help me.
  • Reply 20 of 35
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    wep wep not wap



    Can you tell me how to get it NOT TO connect to a network? If not you cannot help me.



    You don't need it NOT to connect to the other networks but to connect it to the network you want, and then it won't connect to others.



    You're making it much harder than it is.
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