Time Capsule Settings?

[mebwm]

I have an iMac SS 10.6.8 and a third generation Time Capsule.

A couple of days ago I noticed my email becoming sluggish both sending and receiving. This was happening with my grand-daughter's MacBook Pro, a computer downstairs and my iPad as well.

And when I tried to get on the web with either Firefox or Safari the connection timed out. However, when I connect my computer directly to the modem bypassing the Time Capsule it works well. I phoned Rogers and the tech, after some remedial measures which did not work, said for me to get a new network cable as the problem was likely between the Time capsule and the modem. I got the new cable. I spent about 3 hours with the Apple tech online and he reviewed all my Time capsule settings etc and still no success. Then I packed up my Time Capsule and computer and took them to Nova Networks on Woodward Drive where both my computer and my Time Capsule worked perfectly. The tech there suggested I call Rogers and ask them to reset my modem. I did and he said my signal was perfect. Still no success.

When the modem is connected to the Time Capsule and I am trying to get my signal that way Google comes up and if I type in a word in the search box the page with the list of sites associated with the word comes on the screen but when I click on an address for a specific site it times out.

I expect that it is a problem with the Time Capsule Preferences but why does it work at Nova and not here. I don't believe it is with my computer settings as none of the devices here will work.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

[eugedunn]

Good Afternoon
I have an iMac 10.6.8
But i have not got a clue what your are talking about (What is an iMac SS/And a Time Capsule.
I know i cannot solve your problem, but i'm simply curious to know what you are talking about. (PLEASE).

                                                            Plume

[eugedunn]

Hello again
I just made a fool of myself. i do know what a time machine is i have one.
                                                   Sorry
                                                 Plume

[mebwm]

Sorry about the confusion - the SS was my short form for  System Software.
Do you use your Time Capsule to wirelessly connect your computer to the  internet. If so and if you are with Rogers could you take a snapshot of your Airport settings and send them to my email address?
Thanks

[Dan Millar]

Sounds like a DNS(Domain Name Services) problem. DNS is the lookup system (think internet phone book) for translating URLs, like "http://www.null.com", into actual internet addresses or IP(Internet Protocol) numbers, like 199.232.18.9:80 -. When you connect somewhere else, their modem or router supplies the correct addresses for these DNS lookups - so Nova Networks, not too surprisingly, probably gives out the right information for your computer and Time Capsule router to navigate the net successfully.

Most wireless routers, like your Time Capsule's, use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to negotiate the connection between your device and the router. This protocol assigns you an IP address (192.168.0.1 or similar) that is unique on your LAN (Local Area Network) or internal network, i.e. inside your home or office and behind your modem/router. The DHCP also supplies the correct DNS numbers to use for DN lookups.
You can assign additional DNS numbers, and the router will "round-robin" through the list if any of the DNSs fail. This is sometimes useful if the DNS gets too busy and times out trying to fetch the address it's looking for.

If you've been through this with the Rogers people, you've probably seen the System Preferences and Airport settings for DHCP assignment. In this case, the modem should be supplying DNS info to all your devices, including your Time Capsule. Because of the funky way Rogers' network is configured, all my devices are set to get their DNS from the modem - so my DNS is set to the modem's internal IP address - usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 (the routers last digit will almost always be x.x.x.1). That means that the actual DNS being used is dynamically given to the modem by Rogers network, and may change from time to time. Most providers I have previously dealt with have fixed DNS numbers that are assigned to you and they usually don't change, or can be completely ignored and overridden with your own DNS server preference - like Google or OpenDNS. Not so with Rogers Hi Speed!

Which Rogers modem are you using? I'm using the SMC3DGN for Extreme service, which is a problematic piece of excrement, but the only n-class router Rogers supplies and allows on their network.

Not  that Bell is any better, but Rogers support for this particular modem is horrible. Your signal is not the problem - it sounds like the DNS is f'ed up - that's the technical term for what is happening to you...

Let me know if that helps in any way... if you have any questions or if we can help in any other way, let us know.

Happy Mac'ing!

Dan

[ben schmidt]

I agree with Dan [always a good strategy] ...Sounds like a DNS prob.

I'm not a Rogers customer, but in the old days, I sometimes configured DNS servers manually in either the wireless basestation (e.g. TimeCapsule in this case), or even in the client Macs.

There are a number of alternative DNS providers one could try, e.g. http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/

good luck and post an update,
...b

[ben schmidt]

Re-reading Dan's posting, it seems to suggest that manually specifying the DNS in the client (Apple > System Preferences... > Network > Advanced... > DNS) may be ignored by Rogers Hi Speed?