How Do You Fix Apple Internet Connection
Understanding Internet Addressing Mechanisms
When using the Internet, a user can be assigned a Public IPv4 address such as 62.32.53.27 or an IPv6 address like 2000:93d0:38c8:671d:a3dd:3f8e:e417:b8. This can be verified using https://test-ipv6.com/. However, conveying these addresses, along with MAC addresses like c0:3c:f0:98:7f:d1, can be error-prone and complex, especially for individuals with limited technical knowledge. Furthermore, it does not provide any historical information, particularly about past issues.
Navigating the World Wide Web
Accessing a web page such as https://jacobson-hoppe.io involves initially contacting a DNS server to convert the host section (jacobson-hoppe) along with the Top Level Domain (io) of the URL into an IP address like 194.238.65.67. Every web request made by the computer and browser includes information about its type, for example: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/41.0.2228.0 Safari/537.36
Significance of Default Gateways
The default gateway is typically an automatically assigned address via DHCP. It usually takes the form of a default gateway like 10.58.232.75 (commonly ending in .1 or .254 based on the scope size). This is where the computer sends all of its traffic to be routed onward. Details about IPv6 connectivity issues can be found in a thorough examination of how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/, while Mac or Linux systems can be verified with the following command:
IPv4 Routes and the Host IPv4 Route Table (inc. VPN)
netstat -rn -f inet | egrep -i "default|0/1|128.0/1"
0/1 172.18.12.193 UGScg utun3 default 10.58.232.75 UGScg en0 128.0/1 172.18.12.193 UGSc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v4 address space.
IPv6 Routes and the Host IPv6 Route Table (inc. VPN)
netstat -rn -f inet6 | egrep -i "default|2000::/3"
If you have IPv6 active the above should return at least one route (as per below) via a known interface such as “en0 " on a Mac.
default fe80:89f7:dde4:373f:4d5f%en0 UGcg en0 default fe80::%utun0 UGcIg utun0 default fe80::%utun1 UGcIg utun1 default fe80::%utun2 UGcIg utun2 2000::/3 utun3 USc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v6 address space.
Debugging DHCP for both IPv4 and IPv6
To get a look at the low level DHCP configuration (Mac/Linux):
ipconfig getpacket en0
...
domain_name_server (ip_mult): {126.27.72.14, 157.238.151.252}
end (none):
...
So, in the above we are not getting IPv6 DNS servers from the DHCPv4 reply but…
ipconfig getv6packet en0
DHCPv6 REPLY (7) Transaction ID 0x80940b Length 76
Options[4] = {
CLIENTID (1) Length 14: DUID LLT HW 1 Time 668691856 Addr c0:3c:f0:98:7f:d1
DNS_SERVERS (23) Length 32: 2606:4700:4700::1111, 2001:4860:4860::8844
DOMAIN_LIST (24) Length 0: Invalid
SERVERID (2) Length 10: DUID LL HW 1 Addr 19:af:92:7f:36:57
}
Resolving Problems with Wired or Wireless Connections
When it comes to transmitting data to your router, you might be using a wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) medium at the physical and data layer.
Finding Solutions for Apple’s macOS / OSX
Regardless of whether you are using OSX/macOS version 10.15.4, 11.3.5, or 12.3.6, there are various troubleshooting tools available. However, these manual actions and scripts do not provide a series of correlated values over time. This is where automated remote troubleshooting becomes essential, especially for teams that have embraced remote work and Work From Anywhere (WFA).
Utilizing Pre-Installed Scripts
One extremely useful tool on OSX/macOS is sudo wdutil info, which provides a dump of the current wireless settings to the CLI and can be configured to generate specific logs for troubleshooting. Additionally, the sysdiagnose tool can be used to generate a wide range of logs, although much of it is related to wireless settings and is only point-in-time like wdutil.
You can run sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u & in the background to write logs to /var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz. If you prefer to run it interactively, you can use sudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose and it will give you a privacy warning. When not run in the background, it should open Finder in the correct location, or you can navigate to /var/tmp using Finder with Cmd+Shift+G. However, be aware that the file sizes are around 300MB more or less.
Possibly Helpful Videos
P.S. Tips For Remote Network and Client Support
Digital work requires reliable connectivity. Whether for low latency or regular data streams, Wi-Fi, DNS, and network issues cause teams to lose time and productivity. Even worse is when support teams waste time trying to recreate and isolate issues! See how PanSift saves time, money, and frustration on all sides with instant remote troubleshooting 🏠🏝🛰.
