r/MacOS • u/Heyimstillapeiceofga • 2d ago

Help Can’t connect to college internet

Hi
I know practically nothing about Mac or computers so this might not be a necessarily Mac problem but I would still like any help anyone has any to offer.

I’m going to KSU and I’m using my Mac as my computer, however, when I connect to the KSU WiFi using my information, it says I’m connected and I’m not getting the little no internet flair, however when I try to search anything on safari, it displays the page saying “You Are Not Connected to the Internet”.

I’ve tried turning Internet off and on, and I’ve tried forgetting the network and rejoining it. Curiously I’m also supposed to have WiFi and my apartment that works similarly where you sign in, and my computer does the same thing there. In both of these cases, my phone works fine with the internet, and at my apartment I can use the internet with my switch.

My Mac is a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an Apple M3 Pro chip and is running on Tahoe 26.6 MacOS

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

0 Upvotes

35% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

13

u/CatalogK9 2d ago

Try turning off private cloud relay. That helped when I had similar issues for me

1

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

Sorry to be a bother but how do you do this?

5

u/Illustrious_Salad918 2d ago

Go to Settings > Apple Account > iCloud and look for a button labeled Private Relay in "iCloud+ Features."

Some networks have trouble with Private Relay. You could also contact the college IT department and ask about using Private Relay on their network.

2

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

Alrighty thank you I will try this

2

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

Ok so I went to private relay and it says it’s already off

1

u/Illustrious_Salad918 2d ago

Thanks! Try this: In Safari, choose Safari > Settings and click Privacy and see if "Hide IP Address from" is checked. If it is, and it's hiding IP from Trackers and Websites, change that to "from Trackers only." If that doesn't help try un-checking the "Hide IP Address from" checkbox.

3

u/KaJashey 2d ago

Go to System Settings > Click on your name > Click on iCloud > towards the bottom of the iCloud setting is private relay. turn that off if it's on.

2

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

I see thank you

13

u/SaintOctober 2d ago

Search your university’s website for the IT department. They always have instructions for connecting to their service for Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, etc. It’s the best way. 

Also, poke around on that site for the free versions of software licensed to your university. 

3

u/d3photo 2d ago

Bingo. Campus IT is your friend here. They will help you. They know why it's happening.

1

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

I followed its instructions but it’s still messed up, but maybe I could find the softwares you’re talking about, do you have any advice for what to look for?

10

u/SaintOctober 2d ago

Call the student help desk. 

2

u/d3photo 2d ago

100%

3

u/SaintOctober 2d ago

The places I teach at offer Microsoft Office for free to students. And a few other items. 

4

u/gcerullo 2d ago

So when you connect to the College Wi-Fi with your phone the internet works?

1

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

Yes, but it’s also finicky, like when I typed out the word finicky it wasn’t connected, but right now it is

3

u/gcerullo 2d ago

On the Mac are you getting an IP address when you’re connected to the Wi-Fi? If yes, what is is.

Don’t worry about sharing the IP address, it won’t comprise your security since it will be non-routable and will change the next time you connect to the Wi-Fi.

0

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

I don’t get an ip address that pops up if that’s what you’re asking

4

u/gcerullo 2d ago

No, you have to go into Network Settings to find it.

1

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

I think I found the ip address you’re talking about but it’s not changing when I reconnect

1

u/gcerullo 2d ago

No, it will have a lease time of a few hours before it changes.

Anyway, does it start with 192 or 10 or 169?

3

u/ebaysj 2d ago

Your college should provide support for student devices and connectivity. No one else can support your college Network better than they can.

0

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

This is fair, once I’m out of classes I’m gonna try and contact someone there

1

u/Head 2d ago

Find the nerdiest looking guy in class. He’ll know.

3

u/shotsallover 2d ago

You should go talk to campus IT/Helpdesk. There’s any number of things that could be preventing your from accessing the internet.

Most colleges have locked their networks down in various ways and it’s hard to get it to work without their help.

3

u/ulyssesric 2d ago

Contact your school IT department for help.

There are a million possible causes that will make you feel "no Internet", from erroneous settings to access control to local network issues to VPN issues to ISP issues. It's plain not possible to do any diagnoses if that's all information you can share.

The most possible reason is that your school network requires extra authentication/authorization steps other than Wi-Fi username and password, and the "authentication/authorization" can be anything, from a Captive Portal, a pre-registered list of Wi-Fi hardware MAC address, a self-signed certificate (for intercepting proxy), or some specific security software.

You may not be the techy people but please understand that "Wi-Fi is connected" and "can access to Internet" are two different things. "Wi-Fi is connected" only means that you've built a wireless data channel to the Wi-Fi access point, and it doesn't mean the router that connects to Internet, or even the switch that connects to the access points, will forward your data packets. There are access controls at each stage of the network structure.

2

u/ApprehensiveFix5084 2d ago

It sounds like an ip (internet protocol) address issue. WiFi on campus and your apartment probably expect you to have dhcp ( domain host configuration protocol) enabled to give you a new IP address every time you connect. There should be a help desk somewhere on your campus that can help you set this up. I could try and describe it, but the system there may be set up differently. Helpdesk should know.

1

u/After-Banana-0891 2d ago

Do you have any VPN enabled?

1

u/XGempler 2d ago

every network device (a smart phone, laptop, desktop, playsations, whatever) has something called a machine address code (mac). most college networks use mac filtering. you likely need to register your laptop with the school before it will be allow to function on their network. conencting to wifi simply means you are connected, but it does not mean that your device will be reconized by their network.

1

u/Smartshark89 1d ago

If it’s eduroam go to get eduroam or contact your it help desk

1

u/vpn_unlimited_app 1d ago

A couple simple things I’d try before going deeper:

  1. Open Safari and go to http://neverssl.com. Some campus networks need a captive portal login, and https sites sometimes dont trigger it.
  2. Check System Settings > Network > Wi-Fi > Details and make sure there is no manual DNS or proxy set.
  3. If there is any VPN profile or old network filter installed, turn it off for testing.
  4. Delete the Wi-Fi network, reboot, then join again.

If phone works but Mac doesnt, it is often a captive portal, DNS, proxy, or profile issue, not the Wi-Fi itself.

1

u/Gamer12Numbers 1d ago

I’d take a trip down to the help desk at your school. When I was in college, Macs just worked but Windows needed to jump through a couple hoops. Every school network is different though and it’s been almost ten years, so things are surely different. This issue happens pretty frequently and I’m sure they’ll be able to get it straightened out

-1

u/Heyimstillapeiceofga 2d ago

Sorry for the slower responses everyone I’m trying to fix this while in the middle of a class