www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I'm having a miserable time getting any internet access here at the SL and I called Apple tech support last week (probably spent a fortune on that call) and after I explained everything that was happening turned out it was not my equipment. I have my Macbook Pro, an Ipad and my Iphone and NONE of them were working on the "Mansion" network. Eventually I got partially back up by using a "Guest" network then left San Jose for a few days and just checked back in in another Mansion room and now I can't get to half the websites I need to get go. The the "Guest" network isn't even showing up as an option now. On most websites I get "You are not connected to the Internet" "Safari or Google Chrome ( I use both) cannot open the page xxxxxx because you are not connected to the internet".

The guy at Apple mentioned something that SL needs to reset their network so that "Mac Address Filtering Needs to be Turned Off".

Surprisingly I am able to get CRT and Yahoo and a few others but not AOL...Schwab...etc.

Anyone have any suggestions please let me know. Thx.

I know for a fact that Macbooks & iPads do work with the WiFi at the SL, but the connectivity is hit-or-miss...

It does that to me also when I stay in the Mansion Wing, plus the reception on the Guest network is not the greatest...

During my last stay at the SL over Thanksgiving, I had to get Manfred to reset the router every morning to be able to connect to the internet... Routing was fine from the WiFi to the router, but no connection to the public side... Resetting the router fixed the problem...

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"Mongo only pawn in game of life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3K6UmgJIOw

I am getting a connection (as evidenced by my posting this) but my problem is that half the websites I'm trying to access are not connecting. Not sure if that's what you meant by hit and miss whether you were referring to getting any connection at all or getting a connection with spotty performance. It's aggravating to say the least. I asked them to reset so hopefully that works but at least a good lesson to future guests is that if are very reliant on your Mac while staying at SL be prepared for issues.

I'm not a Mac user unfortunately so I can't comment on their specific needs, but MAC Address Filtering has nothing to do with Apple or Macs (the computers). MAC stands for Media Access Control and it's a way of blocking specific computers from a network using a code that all network cards have (NIC cards). Sorta like a serial number. Now maybe Apple doesn't use these codes, but as I understood it, the network adapters on all computers have to adhere to some minimum basic standards.

I doubt any busy public network would turn this off as it's a way to keep people out that have been flagged in the past. At least until they get a new computer On my own home network, I use it as an extra layer of security. I basically only allow 3 computers (3 different specific MAC codes) on. Even if someone gets my WEP key they will still get refused access.

Actually both... It is hit-or-miss getting a reliable connection to the public internet -and- hit-or-miss on whether a particular website address is going to resolve... When you click a link or type an address into the URL field, it is translated to an IP address by a DNS server... This resolves to a physical IP address which is mapped to the website you are trying to access... The IP address is what your browser actually uses to get to the website... Think of it like a telephone book, where you lookup someone's name and get their telephone number... Same concept...

What I found was that the DNS servers for the service provider that Bill uses at the SL are flaky as hell and are not setup with an upstream authoritative server... In English, this means when you type in an address or click a link to access a website, the DNS servers do not have the IP address for website name you are trying to get to, so it goes off into lala land... Normally, when you connect to a WiFi connection, you get the DNS servers associated with the ISP... I fixed it by substituting my DNS entries from the US instead of those supplied by the WiFi connection at the SL...

_________________
"Mongo only pawn in game of life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3K6UmgJIOw

Thanks. Very good update. I knew it wasn't me because I experienced this problem here when I first got here over a week ago and then I just spent a week down in The Osa at a Lodge way out in the boonies but they did have Wi-Fi in the restaurant/bar area and this whole week I had ZERO problems there. Checked back into SL today and same problem as before so clearly it's network/router problem here at SL.

I guess the bright side is it forces me to not "work" and concentrate on what you're supposed to concentrate on here at SL and we all know what THAT is....

Gentlemen,

I know about the problem I just dont understand the issues not being an astute IT guy. We have doubled bandwidth and reset routers too many times. I am trying to get our contracted IT guy to understand the issue and fix it being most guests feel everything else we do is top notch. We will replace our IT people (they will get a copy of this thread) if they dont get it set properly very soon!

Sorry for the giant hassles,

Bill

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This post is provided purely for entertainment purposes and free of charge on the part of the author. No "Sex tourism or travel" promotion is expressed or implied. The author of this post was not provided any compensation for this hopefully entertaining contribution. Any posts regarding any event or hotel item are just my humble opinions only.

Thanks TS
Good to Know we got numero uno on the J-O-B
Long Live the Sportsman

I've been able to narrow my specific problem down to a single room. I'm staying in Oso Grande and the "Mansion" network gets me 'some' connectivity but it's the connectivity that comes with the issues I initially referenced. There is a "guest3' option to connect to in Oso but it doesn't work at all for me. When I'm in the bar/restaurant area of the hotel then I'm able to connect on the "Guest" network and once I'm on that I have no problems and everything works perfectly fine. However, in Oso Grande you cannot connect to the "Guest" network which would resolve things. Oddly, right across the hall in Toro Negro "Guest" IS accessible.

I would absolutely love to read your trip report about your time on the PoA. I haven't been there for 20 or more years and would like to hear every detail, like whether you ran into any Irish looking 20 somethings with blue eyes?

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

[/quote]
Not sure if this helps, but my last visit, I could connect to "guest" but could not get on the internet. I could not even connect to "mansion" although my phone could "see" the mansion portal. As usual, bill is on the case and will get this fixed most-scoche. Thanks, Bill. See you in three weeks.
SR[/quote]

Well....knowing your FAVORITE room is Toro Negro.....I can report that in Toro Negro the "Guest" network worked but it was "spotty". The "Mansion" network did not work at all in Toro Negro. Across the hall in Oso Grande it was the PITS. NOTHING worked. You cannot connect to "Guest" in Oso Grande. On Network Preferences "Guest3" will show up as an option to connect but it won't work at all. In other words, in Oso Grande, which I believe is the priciest room in the house at $150 or more, I had NO internet connection at all. No web browsing, no e-mail...NADA! Oddly enough, as soon as I got out of the Mansion Wing (into the restaurant/bar area) everything worked fine.

Enjoy your stay.