Airport>second machine not connecting

When you say the G3 'shows a connection and a valid IP address', do you mean it has an IP address in the range handed out by your DHCP server (typically 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x)?

If it has an address like 169.254.x.x (which looks like a valid address), it didn't see a response from the DHCP server.

Assuming you are getting a valid IP, can you ping the G4, or the base station, or the router?

Determining what you can and can't ping will assist in working out where the problem lies.

If you can ping the G4, but not the router, then the chances are your default gateway is set incorrectly. check the TCP/IP control panel to see what settings you have.

If the pinging and default gateway look correct, then it may be the DNS server settings. Can you nslookup any address? If not, manually set the DNS Server address field in the TCP/IP control panel to whatever addresses the G4 has.

Glad to read I'm not the only one experiencing this; I posted about this very problem last week but I didn't have much information to offer then (I still don't). I too have one computer running OS X and another running OS 9.2. I can't figure out what causes one computer to be unable to surf the net. Both computers will have the appropriate IP address, but at some point after using both to connect to the net, one usually stops connecting - usually the computer running OS X.

I've played around a lot with shutting down one machine, restarting the other, etc, to see if the order of connection with the base station matters (I am using a Farrallon Wireless Gateway Router connected to a Comcast cable modem) - and I can't find any pattern that causes the problem. Although I still remain highly suspicious that it has something to do with using both computers. Curiously, I do not have this problem at work, where multiple computers running OS 9 or Windows and mine running OSX connect wirelessly to an Apple Basestation.

At home, where the problem lies, the only solution that seems to work is to hit the reset button on the back of the Farrollon Gateway. After I do that I can connect using both machines.

Any thoughts on this?
I would greatly appreciate them.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try pinging.

Yes, the address is valid within the DHCP server in the 10.x range. I noted an Apple tech posting pointing to the problem of invlaid addresses starting with 169.x and I thought that was the answer, but no...

The G4 doesn't show a DNS address when it's up (as right now). So, if I enter a DNS address it'll have to be one outside my ISPs DNS range.

Thanks also to Superhard for replying. I don't have quite the same problem in that I don't even get an intermittent connnect on my G3. Restarts of machines, cable modem or ABS don't have any effect.

Which is all suspiciously like a DNS problem. Is it possible that DHCP can provide a DNS path for one machine but not the other when linked through the ABS? Doesn't seem at all possible, since how would the ISP side distinguish?

I'll try pinging and get back.

There is no such thing as a "DNS range." A DNS server is a machine with one or more IP addresses, running DNS software, and that's that. VERY few DNS servers restrict usage (e.g., you can normally use any DNS server from any ISP, firewalls notwithstanding).

Try entering your ISP's DNS server address(es) manually in the G3. Your cable company should be able to give you a couple of DNS addresses if you ask. You could also try to discover the DNS server's IP address on your G4, using the Terminal. Type "nslookup" and see what it tells you (for example, mine returns "tycho.concentric.net" and the IP address of the name server). (Type "exit" to leave the nslookup utility.)

tooki

Thanks for the clarification and suggestion. I'll do that.

I entered the DNS address that I located in the way suggested and....nothing.

Another side fact is that I can "see" my G3 as a local server, but I can't connect to it. The IP address seen by the G4 is the address allocated by ABS and shown in TCP/IP.

On the other side, the G3 can't see or connect to the G4 in the Chooser, even when the explicit IP address is entered.

Now, I don't know if this is a second problem, or if it sheds light on the failed connections to external servers that I first mentioned.