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  • / Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Why does my wifi icon have an exclamation mark?

Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Why does my wifi icon have an exclamation mark?

 September 3, 2009 /  Dave Taylor /  Mac OS X Help /  32 Comments

Just upgraded to Mac OS X Snow Leopard and am a bit baffled: the icon on the top menu bar for airport wifi service now has an exclamation mark through it. What does that mean?

Congrats on upgrading to the new, tweaked / cleaned up version of Mac OS X 10.5, aka 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, etc etc. I just updated my MacBook Pro and plan on a series of articles here in AskDaveTaylor that focus on some of the changes and updates, particularly focused on fixing and improving things.
What you’re talking about with Snow Leopard reflects that Apple has taken the bold move and now has the wifi icon conveying information by state, rather than just showing whether you’re connected or not.
For example, you’re familiar with the standard display. Connect to a wireless base station and you’ll see:

mac wifi menu bar icon

What you’re seeing, however, is this:
snow leopard no wifi menu bar icon Pin it! Share on Facebook

As you can see, the menu gives you the clue:
Alert: No Internet Connection .
So that’s what it’s telling you: you’ve lost your Internet connection.
Hope that’s helpful and as you come up to speed on Snow Leopard (and as I do to), please come back and check out my
Snow Leopard help .

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

32 comments on “Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Why does my wifi icon have an exclamation mark?”

  1. Allard says:
    August 20, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    Beth !!
    I don’t know HOW you knew this and it is a superduper strange solution, but it works !!

    Thanks !

    Reply
  2. eb says:
    December 9, 2012 at 11:19 am

    Sounds like corrupted plist. Back up these two files:
    /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
    /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist
    Then delete these two files and reboot. Your computer will reinstall the drivers upon reboot and voila.

    Reply
  3. adrian says:
    October 7, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    HOLYYYYYY mother of goddd!!! dear BETH i love you so hard!!! thnx for the 0X trick hahahah!!!!

    Reply
  4. adrian says:
    October 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    hi guys, please helppppp, how come i put the 0x in the paswd?? i cant find that window were it ask you for the pswd!!
    when i turn wifi on, it goes directly to me wifi connection, but whitout asking me for the pswd(it asked me for it, but just the first time)now i cant see that pswd window anymore!!! its frustrating!!

    Reply
  5. Jonathan says:
    September 25, 2012 at 10:29 am

    After checking your advise i rechecked the password and reentered it, now it worked fine. I had tried Genius and Apple Care was going to charge me to help, but thank God i found this forum.
    Thanks

    Reply
  6. Jake says:
    July 3, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    I have the same problem as simon, this was his post:
    Same problem with the exclamation point, but with a twist.
    Upgraded aging MacBook to 10.6, which now looks like a mistake. Cannot connect wirelessly, but the ethernet cable connects fine. Tried everything: restarting, editing locations, running airport utility, renewing DHCP lease. BTW, there is no network password; our wireless is fully open.
    The twist is, when I plug the ethernet cable in, the wireless indicator has a full fan of bars. When I unplug the cable, the exclamation mark reappears and no wireless connection.

    Reply
  7. Celia says:
    February 3, 2012 at 10:01 am

    I had the same problem and I just turned my modem off and then turned it back on and it got the connection. Hopefully this helps for some. This happened in my house.

    Reply
  8. Jenny says:
    January 27, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    I have had the exclamation point issue for MONTHS now. Tried different routers, called my ISP, nothing worked. But the 0x thing did. Whoever did this, you are a genius!

    Reply
  9. Dirk says:
    January 14, 2012 at 11:28 am

    Has anyone had the exclamation point problem, and then been connected to another unfamiliar network?
    I just recently moved, and am not using my router, I’m using my roommates. I notice when I get the exclamation point, I still have the net, but I seem to be connected to a network that I don’t know, have never been on, and is password protected. Is it possible I’m getting hacked? Oh yeah, and I’m on 10.7.2.

    Reply
  10. Roberto Lagranda Sanchez LaRocca Albertson-Smith III says:
    September 17, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Hope that’s helpful…no, not really…links to help would be nice.

    Reply
  11. Christi says:
    August 18, 2011 at 5:59 am

    Does anyone have any idea what a gray wifi symbol with what looks like a blank computer screen on it, might mean? My laptop is working fine with my wifi, but the desktop is not working at all. Very confusing. Thanks for your help.

    Reply
  12. Dave says:
    July 14, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    the 0x method works like a charm. ive been having the exclamation mark problem for months now and for that i havent been using my mac much. i just entered 0x into the passoword section for that connection and it immediately connected like magic. THANKS LOADS!

    Reply
  13. Simon says:
    June 14, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    Same problem with the exclamation point, but with a twist.
    Upgraded aging MacBook to 10.6, which now looks like a mistake. Cannot connect wirelessly, but the ethernet cable connects fine. Tried everything: restarting, editing locations, updating router’s firmware (US Robotics 9110), running airport utility, renewing DHCP lease. BTW, there is no network password; our wireless is fully open.
    The twist is, when I plug the ethernet cable in, the wireless indicator has a full fan of bars. When I unplug the cable, the exclamation mark reappears and no wireless connection.
    Thinking about going back to 10.4.

    Reply
  14. Juels says:
    June 10, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    OMFG i really want to thank who ever came up with this EPIC idea to put and 0x infront. thanks so much for relieving my stress over the few days 🙂

    Reply
  15. Nick says:
    May 24, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    I have NEVER posted in a forum in my life but, I tried the 0x and it worked.
    Apple genius bar and Apple Care… waste of space.
    Whoever started the 0x thread in here – bravo!

    Reply
  16. Stoic4Ever/ Beat Rebel says:
    May 17, 2011 at 7:07 pm

    The 0x tip worked for me. GREAT tip!

    Reply
  17. Peter says:
    April 22, 2011 at 6:04 am

    Dave is being a little condescending isnt he? not only that – but he’s got it wrong… We all of us with this problem have an issue with the Fan signals strength icon which starts up (in my case) fully filled (Black) and then goes grey (not signal) and has an exclamation mark through it. Looking at all the posts it seems to be something with the security. The wifi router in our home is working perfectly with the other three computers we use (two IMacs and a PC) but not with my brand new Snow Leopard based Air. However I’ve tried working with the Air’s airport crypto settings and that hasn’t worked. And it works fine everywhere else in Europe but here – which may have something to do with the way that the local provider configures their routers..
    Anybody got any advice to someone who learned how to spell computer forty years ago and has used Mac as his work tool since 1987? In other words: ‘I’ve plugged it in properly -what next?’.

    Reply
  18. mitch says:
    March 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    OK, so my MacBook’s connection suddenly stopped working yesterday, and still has the exclamation point over the airport. It’s the only Mac computer ever used in my house, and every other computer that uses wireless, and my brother’s iPod touch, work fine on the connection (I’ve resorted to using this foreign DELL to try to fix my problem). I’ve tried the “Ox” trick, tried renewing my DHCP lease, everything I can find I’ve tried, but nothing works
    In System Preferences>Network, in the AirPort tab under status, the message reads: “AirPort has the self-assigned IP address xyz.xyz.xx.xyz and will not be able to connect to the internet”
    Does this mean I have to somehow change my IP address? If so, how do I do this?
    Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

    Reply
  19. barry says:
    March 14, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    Can’t believe it, but after a month and finally finding this forum I got my wife’s computer working again!!!
    whoever figured out the voodoo trick “0x” just saved me from buying a new router or computer!

    Reply
  20. John says:
    November 16, 2010 at 9:29 am

    That is the weirdest solution… and I’m so HAPPY (and stunned) that IT WORKED!!! Thank you for the simple and highly effective answer to a very vexing problem.
    Just entered the “0x” before the other characters of my password (on WEP protected router) and it started working right away. I don’t know why it works… but it does.
    BTW (I’m running Snow Leopard version 10.6.1)

    Reply
  21. Victor says:
    October 7, 2010 at 4:15 pm

    i tried doing this but it didnt work. any other ideas?

    Reply
  22. kelly says:
    October 6, 2010 at 12:03 pm

    Thanks for the 0x tip. That’s what did the trick. How did you come up with that? Talk about random.

    Reply
  23. Anna says:
    September 27, 2010 at 9:06 am

    Oh. My. God. I have been driving myself completely insane for the last six days straight trying to get that stupid exclamation point to go away and I just tried that 0x trick and IT WORKED!!!!! I’m beside myself with joy. My sanity can return! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

    Reply
  24. Phe says:
    September 12, 2010 at 4:01 am

    Wow, I’ve had this problem for so long… I just tried to put an 0x in front of the password, and now it works!!!!
    How on earth!??!?!
    Thankyou so much, Beth!

    Reply
  25. Beth says:
    August 13, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    I tried put an 0x in front of my password (I have a WEP protected router) and instantly it worked when nothing else did. I had tried turning air port on and off, resetting the router, changing my IP address and configuring everything manually, deleting certain suggested files in my system configuration, still no internet connection.

    Reply
  26. Andres says:
    July 28, 2010 at 10:26 am

    I went crazy with this … apparently I was connected with a wrong password to the wifi!
    I couldn’t believe it …. after spending hours trying to fix this and checking the internet forums I logged in the router and noticed that the password was 0966232983 but I had entered with 1966232983.
    I still don’t know why it let me enter the wifi network with the wrong password!

    Reply
  27. Dave Taylor says:
    July 17, 2010 at 7:54 am

    Stephanie, it is not for us mortals to understand the mysterious ways of our Mac systems, just to sacrifice our greenbacks and pray that they’ll work properly. 🙂
    Seriously, sometimes the wifi software gets into a weird state and takes a while to make the appropriate handshake with the base unit or server. Sometimes I find that turning Wifi off, waiting a few seconds, and turning it on again helps too.

    Reply
  28. AdamoStuarte says:
    July 8, 2010 at 10:52 am

    I had this problem, too (the exclamation point over the airport symbol). After speaking with the IT manager at the office where I had the problem, I learned that that office had changed their password or entry key for wireless connection. Upon entering it, problem solved. My problem was that I was still using their old entry key and was not told that it had been changed.

    Reply
  29. Stephanie Lyell says:
    March 9, 2010 at 9:18 am

    So…i just had this problem. I am at a coffee shop where I have connected 100s of times on my old macbook (not snow leopard), and this guy with an ancient macbook behind me connected fine. After cursing my computer and getting quite upset. I fixes it by closing my computer and then opening it. That just doesn’t seem right that a brand new computer would be doing that. Hmmmm. Any suggestions on how to make it not happen again?

    Reply
  30. Jim Hill says:
    January 19, 2010 at 10:03 pm

    I’ve had the same problem since upgrading to Snow Leopard. When I try and join certain networks, I get the exclamation mark over the airport icon and no connection. It does this with one of my home routers (which my girlfriend’s MacBook connects to fine) and now my office network too. So now I’m screwed! Is there a cure?

    Reply
  31. Luis R says:
    December 28, 2009 at 12:54 am

    this problem persists in my iMac as well, i’ve tried configuring it but have no idea how to get the internet to work on it. we have other wireless devices using the same internet modem but my iMac (using snow leopard) still has the exclamation point.
    is there a way to reset or reformat the wifi so that this goes away and i’m able to use the internet?

    Reply
  32. Eric O'Mahony says:
    October 14, 2009 at 7:55 am

    Hi, I have the same issue with the exclamation mark on the wireless icon on snow leopard however I did notice the alert no internet connection once you click on the wireless icon.
    The strange thing is that I am still able to use the internet and it does not have the exclamation mark at home, only in my University campus. As I say the internet is working but the exclamation mark remains. My university has no idea and have confirmed that is is only with snow leopard macbooks. This did not appear on the icon until I upgraded to snow leopard.
    Any ideas? Thanks!

    Reply

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