We’re Still Here to Help (Even Over the Holidays!) - find out more here.
Forum Discussion
Mac desktop app has disconnected twice after using a new router
Hello all,
I might be posting this too soon as it's only happened twice, but I thought maybe I could get some general help or ideas of things to test or look out for.
Thanks in advance.
A few days ago I was "forced" to upgrade my ISP equipment (New router and TV box).
As far as I know, installation was a success on both, as things seem to be working.
But this has happened twice now, and I'm just wondering if maybe there's something wrong with the router.
Friday night, and again last night.
Mac (Catalina 10.15.5) (I know it's and old Operating system. Long story, but I can't upgrade because of work related issues).
Desktop app, I will notice the icon has been grayed out in the menu bar.
When I click it, at the bottom it says something like "you have been logged out." (I'm saying this based on memory so don't hold me to this). This is for both my Personal account AND my Work account. There seems to be no way to log back in using the app.
(I'm able to log in fine using my browser).
Upon restart (including full shut down and restart) everything seems to be fixed and Eventually I'm logged back into both of my accounts. (The work account seems to take a long time for some reason (about 2-3 minutes).
So while it's technically working, it's not normal for me to have to restart to get it to work.
I'll mention this too as there might be a connection???
I use Spotify all the time. Both times this happened, I also got a strange error message about Spotify not working (I can't recall the error). Again, upon restart it works fine.
Last night, I had spotify playing in the background for maybe 3+ hours and I thought it odd it suddenly stopped playing. I thought maybe the playlist ended, so didn't really check.
I'm wondering if there's some sort of "time out" thing happening with this new router maybe. Has anyone ever heard of this?
Thanks, and apologies on a not very detailed message here. If this continues to happen, I'll take notes of the exact messages I'm seeing and will post again.
Thanks for your time and help.
4 Replies
- Mark
Super User II
It sounds like the router is dropping out - especially if Spotify is failing as well. The reboot of the machine will be reconnecting everything back for you which is probably why its working again.
Can you grab a screenshot of the errors when they next occur? However, my guess here is that you need to speak to your ISP for help.
Thanks for the response Mark.
I will be watching things closely now and see if this continues to happen and try and narrow down some of the factors.Well, it happened again. I restarted everything yesterday morning (Sunday) and I did not open Spotify at all, wondering if maybe I could narrow the problem down. I didn't have any issues with getting disconnected up until I went to bed around 10:30pm.
But upon waking this morning, it looks like dropbox was disconnected again.
The "error" at the bottom of desktop app was "Reconnecting to the internet. This may take a moment." Which then nothing seems to be happening at all.
On the plus side - in another thread, I did learn I can quit the desktop app, and re-open it, and it reconnected almost immediately (so I no longer need to do a full restart).
I realize this is still pointing at an issue with my new router as that's the only thing that changed recently, but on the chance someone has a similar problem I'm updating this post.
Of course if someone thinks there might be a solution via dropbox I'm all ears. :)
Edit: This might be helpful too: Current version of dropbox app is 220.4.4126Hi cyenobite,
From what you're describing, it does sound like the new router might be the common factor. The simultaneous logout from both your personal and work accounts, combined with the Spotify issue, points to something interrupting or terminating persistent connections after a period of time.
A good first step would be to check your router's settings for anything related to "AP Isolation," "Client Isolation," or "Session Timeouts." Some ISP-provided routers have aggressive power-saving or security features that can kill long-standing connections. You might also try assigning a static IP to your Mac from the router's DHCP settings, as this can sometimes help with stability. If the problems keep happening, it might be worth giving your ISP a call—they can sometimes push firmware updates or adjust settings on their end that aren't visible in the user interface.
Hope that helps get things sorted. Let us know how it goes!
