10.4.8 and Airport Extreme - wireless con. not showing up on boot up

Question

Ever since I installed 10.4.8, in order for my 2WIRE connecttion to show up in the "Internet Connect" drop menu on my desk top, I have to check off the "Internet Robustness" setting first, and only then will my airport extreme locate 2WIRE and connect.
I've engaged - and disengaged to see if it made any difference - the preference for "enable interference robustness in the Airpor>options pane. Made no difference. It's not a huge deal, but I wonder why the change. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Could be that a combination of the last OSX 10.4 security update and also
the AirPort Extreme updates have some effects on these subtle or not so
subtle differences in how the system works, now. Mine occasionally won't
work correctly with my desktop iMacG4 unless the Robustness setting is
turned on; and I have the nearby option to choose a wired connection
through the AEBS on the wall by my desktop computer, too. My iBook
seems to mostly just work; unless there is an AEBS or IP/DSL issue.
That kind of problem never used to happen and I'd just lose the wireless
without any understandable reason; at least now I know interference rob-
ustness setting appears to make a difference when it unexpectedly quits,
I have at least one more thing to toggle to see if I get it back; before I
start in on the DSL modem or other settings inside the AirPort Setup Utility.
The last thing if it does not work, is unplug the AEBS and/or ADSL unilt.
But, if you use a small straightened paperclip in the reset hole, you'd
have to check and rechoose settings in the AEBS; as it goes default.
Seems to me, once I uploaded to the AEBS from the iBook that runs
OSX 10.4.x, it was acting funky; but for awhile since another update
was done, it seems to work OK. Since the odd behavior messed with
the iMacG4 (10.3.9) I more often use it via ethernet from AEBS. The
iBook sees the wireless better than the iMacG4. Since both of mine
have Extreme wireless cards, I changed the AirPort's 802.11 to /g only.
That helped a bit and the desktop Mac on wi-fi doesn't drop as much.
I see no real answers to "fix" this; but there is some incidental evidence
that some newer spec wireless base stations may be coming soon to
an authorized reseller or through the authentic online source. Perhaps a
new answer is out there, in new hardware and software. I hope an update
will fix these little issues; I've had one AEBS for about three years and
it used to just work fantastically with OS 9.2.2 and standard airport, with
dialup. Then I brought in Jaguar in the machines I had then, and Panther;
plus Tiger, and now two other Macintoshes plus a spare AEBS.
Cross fingers?!