How I Solved My .Mac Problems (Score 2, Informative)

I couldn't use Backup, I couldn't connect reliably to iDisk, I wasn't able to upload iPhoto images to print, and what was even more annoying, I couldn't post any more than a few sentences to Discussion Boards! Nor could I use the Feedback Form.

I spent A LOT of time troubleshooting. I have an Earthlink DSL connection to the 'net, accessed via Airport. When I connected to the DSL modem directly via ethernet cable, all was well, curiously. Hence, Airport was somehow the problem. After a lot of fussing, I eventually discovered that if I disabled NAT and stopped sharing a single IP to access the 'net, suddenly everything worked.

Needless to say I posted my solution all over .Mac.

I hope it helped some folks, but I didn't get the sense that the Apple moderators were rushing to spread the news, or to confirm the solution. I think the problems started when I upgraded to Jaguar... but in any case, it's clearly a software fix that needs to happen on their end.

There are a lot of very unhappy people on the Discussion Boards at .Mac (yes, of course it's a self-selecting group, but it's a BIG self-selecting group!).

It's for sure that for a lot of folks, the vaunted Apple ease-of-use has been more talk than substance. And that's a damned shame. As an Apple user since 1984, and a shareholder, I'd like to see Apple improve its service ~ and especially its communication ~ to its most loyal customers. If I don't see that improvement, I'm very unlikely to re-up at .Mac, especially for $100.