Airport Extreme Card Problem???

I'm having problems with my 17" Powerbook G4. I was away for the weekend using a friend's wireless network and when I came back to my home, I could no longer connect to the internet.
I have no problems connecting to my Airport Express, but I can't get through to the internet.
I tested my friend's computer on my wireless network and it worked fine so I know the problem must be on my end.
I did one more experiment and discovered that by switching my airport settings and distributing the IP address, the internet worked fine, however this option is of no use to me.
I'm guessing this wireless router I was using over the weekend messed up my card somehow.
Suggestions???
PowerBook G4 17" 1.5 GHz 2 GB DDR SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.8)

When I typed the address into my browser, it sent me to some login screen for a 3rd party router that I'm sure is the school's.
I also did a complete archive and reinstallation of the OS just now to see if it was a software issue to no avail.
More and more I think it is a hardware issue with the airport card and I think I'm going to take it to the Genius Bar and have them replace the card. I still have 1 more year of free service on the computer so it might be worth it.
Any other ideas before I go to the store?

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Refurbished AIrport Extreme Card problems

So i ordered a refurbished airport extreme card for my 12 inch powerbook g4. i installed the card in the right place and heard the click it is supposed to make, i fold up the little door, put the battery back in and reset my computer, after having installed the softwear but my computer doesn't pick up that i have an airport card. i've messed with it a lot, trying to see if i put it in wrong and it seems to be right but the computer still doesn't pick it up. what am i doing wrong?

Sometimes the antenna wire or main circuit (or both) are not fully seated;
even if they seem like they should be, so about all you can do is try again
and see if something less than brutal force can get a connection; or if you
have any nearby Apple specialist, call and see if you can get some help.
They could also try another card in that slot, as a form of troubleshooting.
If the computer has an extended warranty, you could call AppleCare
support; if there is a problem in the computer (where card integrates w/ logicboard)
that would require a repair or replacement if damage exists.
Hopefully another go at fitting the card and checking the antenna wire
will give you wi-fi access. The issue sounds like it's physical contact.

Airport Extreme card problems

I just installed an Airport Extreme card in my daughter's out-of-warranty 1.07 GHz G4 (12 inch) i-Book, running OS 10.3.9, which never had a wi-fi card in it before. System profiler recognizes the new card OK, and I also ran the latest software update which changed the firmware to 400.17 (3.90.34.0.p11).
At first I couldn't get it to find the signal from my Linksys router, on which three or other Macs are currently running, two of them with wireless connections, the others with ethernet. No problems ever with any of them or with the ISP (Comcast broadband through a cable modem).
However, when I brought the i-book to within a foot or less of the router, the AirPort signal would come up OK and the internet would work normally. But with anymore distance than that, no success, and the signal would fade out. I tried re-installing the card several times, being particularly careful that the antenna cable was properly plugged into the card. No change.
Then I removed the new Airport Extreme card from the i-Mac and installed it instead into my main computer, a dual processor G5 also running 10.3.9 (having of course unplugged the Ethernet cable). This time the Airport card worked perfectly at the ordinary distance from the router. (I had actually managed to find the original little T-shaped external antenna from the box of never-before-installed G5 parts, and plugged it into the correct hole.)
Then to doublecheck, I ran the "hardware test" CD-ROM twice on the big G5 machine (once slow, once fast) and both times it showed the Airport Extreme card as "passed".
So I pulled the card out again and reinstalled it into the i-Book. Same same as before... works OK only a few inches from the Linksys router's antenna, but not further away than that.
Obviously it would appear that there is an internal antenna problem on the i-Book. So looking for a shorted cable, using a digital VOM I measured the resistance between the little aluminum outer block on the i-Book antenna wire connector and the interior of the pin extending from it and it showed only 0.8 ohms or so, which I would have thought indicated a short circuit. But then I took the same measurements on the big G5's internal antenna connector and it showed the same!
Hmmm.
The supplier of the Airport Extreme card gave me an RMA at my request but I told their tech dep't on the phone that I was quite sure the card itself was fine. Any ideas on any this? I'm stymied.
Thanks out there for any feedback.
AP

Hi jeyl,
Welcome to the Discussions.
There's no need to return the card nor is there a problem with the iBook. It's most likely the antenna isn't fully inserted into the card. It takes much more force than you'd think necessary to insert it. This article illustrates a properly attached antenna.
John

IMac G5 Airport Extreme Card WEP/WPA Security connection Problem

I have an iMac G5 (non Intel) and a wireless Belkin 801.g MIMO router. When I have no security setup on the router (ie straight out of the box)then the Airport Express card connects to the network without problems. As soon as I set either WEP or WPA or WPA2 security on the router and input the correct settings in the Airport configuration in system preferences the card sees the Network but will not connect. I simply get the message "error connecting to network". I have a Windows based laptop with built in wireless card and this has no problems at all connecting to the secured network, whether it is WEP or WPA or WPA2. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas please?

I have the same problem with my new black MacBook and a Netgear router. I can connect to the 'free' networks all around me, my Airport Extreme card sees the wi-fi network in my home that I want to connect to, and my old iBook with its lowly Airport card connected (and still does) with no problem using the '40-bit hex' option when entering the password. But now all of a sudden there are just 'errors' when I try to connect (having tried all the various options, and two different types of passwords or keys as provided by the network administrator). Oh yeah, and of course Apple Support won't help because they don't want to know about problems relating to third-party technology... We can't be the only ones with this problem!
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

AirPort Extreme card installation problem

I recently bought an airport extreme card to put in my eMac (1.42 ghz G4). I follow the instructions to the letter for installation, but whenever I try to turn the computer on after installation, it sounds the 'turn-on' chord and then just sits there, black screen, power light on, never getting past that point. if i shut down and take the card out, it turns on just fine, everything works. I have all the latest software updates, installed the airport software that came with the card. what could possibly be wrong?

Most folks that report problems with the installation
of the AirPort Extreme cards find that they don't
have the card fully in place. There should be a
"click" when the card is firmly seated in the slot.
Hi. I'm facing same problem. My eMac doesn't start. I pushed as hard as I can the AirPort in the slot. It seems fitting well. As soon as I remove the card it start like a dream. I'll try again after reading your comment, but I am nervous. What if I break the housing?

Wireless connection problems - Airport extreme card

Hi, I've just fitted an Airport extreme card to my PB 15" Aluminium and, in order to connect to the net via my third party wireless modem / router. The modem is provided by my ISP - T-Net, (Germany) and is a Speedport W501V and am having major dramas trying to connect wirelessly! I can connect via the built in ethernet port. but for can't with the airport card. The instructions for the modem are all in german, which is fair enough since I've just moved here, but isn't helping me try to sort out the connectivity problems 'cos I dont speak the language. I suspect that there are password issues or that the network settings are incorrect, the modem is definately 802.11 b/g compliant and i've been given a password that is 8 figures long - not the 5, 13, 10 or 26 figures that the apple support articles state for ASCII / HEX passwords respectively. After 3 days of trying I'm going mad! has anyone got any solutions / suggestions please.
PB 15" Aluminium / Airport Extreme Card Mac OS X (10.4.6) Third party modem - Speedport W501V, ISP Provider - T-Net germany

It sounds like a WEP issue.
One of the problems with WEP is that the actual standard relies on a 10 character HEX key for 40bit WEP and a 26 character HEX key for 128bit WEP.
In order to make things easier for people, vendors use certain algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords (or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling people to use simple memorable WEP password rather than lengthy HEX keys.
The problem is that different vendors use different algorithms to generate the HEX key and therefore a ASCII password on an AEBS will be hashed differently on a Netgear client and vice versa.
One thing is a 13 character 128 bit WEP password will be hashed by all vendors in the same way (if you use 40bit WEP then a 5 character password is required).
Though sometimes not even that works and the HEX key must be used regardless.
AirPort: Joining an encrypted wireless network
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106424
Choosing a password for networks that use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058
iFelix

Airport extreme connection problem after adding computer to network

just added new imac to my network and for some reason my older imac {dome desktop} seems to have stopped recognizing the AEBS. the older imac was hooked up to the AEBS by ethernet and when i moved it across the room it fails to read the AEBS. I had installed the airport card a few mos ago and i know it worked...although most recently was ethernet connected. I cannot be certain the new computer addition is even related but seems to be. Have checked all the airport utility settings and see no issues. I did fool around with some network sharing features on the imacs so ? if that can create issue sharing the AEBS. Interestingly the affected imac does detect the AEBS in the utility app but times out when attempting to connect. also think i may have done recent AEBS download upgrade and see threads related to that as poss issue . have reverted back to older AEBS software without success. new ibook and new imac detect/connect without problem. Any thoughts out there??? thx for any help.

Is your AEBS configured to create an 802.11g compatible network? It must be for the iMac G4 to connect.
What channel is the AEBS configured to use?
If the AirPort Extreme card in your iMac G4 is from the US it can only use the channels between 1 and 11. If your AEBS is from somewhere else in the world it can use other channels which are not available for use with equipment from the US.
If your AEBS is not using a channel between 1 and 11, change it and see if your iMac G4 can connect.

Would an Airport Extreme card newly installed in a Mac Pro require Leopard?

Hello friends,
Yesterday I went to the Apple store and had them install an Airport Extreme card in my Mac Pro. The airport is found, activated, and works for a computer-to-computer network between the Mac Pro and a Macbook. However, it doesn't find any other wireless networks, even though the laptop is right next to it and detects them fine.
I am wondering if perhaps the Airport card I got is not compatible with OS X 10.4.11 and that I require 10.5.x for it to work.
Alternatively, whether there is some configuration tweaking I can do to get it working.
The Airport card is described in System Profiler as follows:
Wireless Card Type: Airport Extreme (0x14E4, 0x88)
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (4.170.46.9)
Thank you for any help. Pretty frustrated; have a slow wi-fi connection here anyway and can't even get cell reception at the site so it's hard to research the problem!
- nick

Not sure what you mean "configure by ethernet."
Do you mean to connect the computer to the wireless base via ethernet to configure the computer's network settings for that network, and then have the wifi card ride those settings?
Do you have any idea whether OS X 10.5.x is required with the latest airport cards?
Thx
-nick

How to setup a network setup with an airport extreme card in a mac pro

I have installled an airport extreme card in my mac pro. Restarted the mac. The AP black triangle appears on right top of the screen. If I activate the AP than the a light grey triangle appears, with grey bars. I can create a network, than the triangle becomes dark grey with an kind of black computer icon in the grey area. The signal strength shows all blue bars.
I have two other wireless networks (linksys and another for streaming music) both are working and detected by my imac. But the mac pro does not detect these networks.
I would have thought that the two networks would be detected automatically.
Please some advice to solve this problem
Imac G5; Mac pro Mac OS X (10.4.4)

You won't believe this, but the card is a crock. Mine was installed by an Apple tech at an Apple store. He obviously did not check out reception.
At home, I tried setting this up right next to a Netgear wireless router (2 feet away!), and got no signal bars. Yet I pull the cover off the machine and I get 4 bars and can connect to an 802.11g network. This stinks. What idiot at Apple designed a card where the antenna is a 1" square piece of metal? Could this be an emi cage? Where did they hide the so-called "built-in" antenna. Who knows?
See if you can aim the back of the machine toward the wireless router. There is a back door into this mother, through the fan(ny) opening.

Power Mac G5 fails to start up with Airport Extreme card in.

Hello.
I just received a 'new' Airport Extreme card for my Power Mac G5 1.8 (900fsb). I just installed it and it failed to start up with it in. The mac started up but without my Apple LCD and any USB devices. I did a PMU reset on the logic board and took out the Crucial 3rd party 512mb RAM and tried again but it won't start up. When I take the card out it's business as usual.
Is it the card or the mac that's at fault? Has anyone had this problem too?
Your help will be greatly appreciated.

This problem can happen if:
- the card has not been fully seated into its socket (doing that can take a firm push) or if you installed the card upside down
- the card is defective
- the card socket in the PowerMac G5 has broken or bent contact pins
Check the installation you did with:
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/pdf/g5/apec_c.pdf
If you are sure the card has been properly installed, you are gong to have to either (a) try a different Airport Extreme card or (b) let an Apple dealer or service center take a look at your PowerMac G5.

Replacing Airport Extreme Card in Late 2008 MBP - What to buy??

I've limped along for about 2 years now with my wifi constantly dropping while everyone else has a strong, constant signal. Doesn't matter where I am, it's always dropping and takes ages to reconnect. I've tried everything advised on the forum etc and am now about to buy something else as my main machine. I don't want to get rid of my MBP though so am planning on installing new memory and hard drive and while I'm doing that, want to replace the airport extreme card. The MBP will then become my secondary machine.
Problem is, I can't figure out what I need to buy to replace the **** card! Seems like a lot I'm finding are either for machines that never had cards or for 2009 or newer. I just need to know which card to buy.
OR . . . hearing that they are a pain to get to (keeping in mind I'll have the guts exposed while I upgrade the memory and HD) and fiddly . . . is there something external to plug into a USB I should get instead?
Here are my specs:
MacBook Pro, 15" Late 2008 (Unibody)
2.4 Ghz Intel Core Duo
2 GB 1067 Mhz DDR3 (which I'm about to upgrade)
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53)
Card Type:
AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8D)
Firmware Version:
Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.198.4.20)
MAC Address:
Locale:
Country Code:
Supported PHY Modes:
802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
Wake On Wireless:
Supported
AirDrop:
Supported

I'm already upgrading to 8GB of RAM and I'm planning on adding a Solid State Hard Drive since it will be a secondary machine. I really don't want to replace the optical drive too. At that point it's got new components in an old chassis with an old CPU.
I've been to the Genius Bar (back when I lived in a place where there was one in town) and they couldn't replicate the issue but as soon as I left it started up again. There are times when it holds the signal for a good hour or more or days like today when it's dropping it every few minutes. It's completely random.
No. This girl is going to go build her own PC with a fantastic GPU so as to kick some Diablo butt and the old Macbook Pro will only get used when I don't need it for anything serious. And I am most certainly not dropping another $2k + on a new MBP no matter how shiny they are! It's the end of an era as I've been using Macs exclusively for over 10 years now.

Can't get security to work - Airport Extreme card and Netgear router

This apparently is not as simple an issue as I expected, so I would appreciate some help.
I just got dsl and a Netgear WGT624 wireless router to connect my wife's iBook G4 with AirPort Extreme card. I used a wired-in pc to set up the router via the web interface and can connect the iBook to the web wirelessly as long as I have security disabled. When I attempt to set WEP or WPA the connection fails.
Initially, I assumed I just was missing something in the AirPort setup, even after looking through all the documentation I could find. I upgraded yesterday from 10.3.3 to 10.3.9, just to see, but had no improvement.
If I select "WPA-PSK(TKIP)" in the router, it asks for a password, which I also then enter to login to the selected network via Internet Connect. I get "there was an error joining..."
If I select "WEP" with 64 bit and shared key options, use the same password to automatically generate the assorted keys, I am not sure what to enter to login. I have received incorrect password messages or no response at all.
I would appreciate any further direction or suggestions.
Thanks
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.3)

One of the problems with WEP is that the actual standard relies on a 10 character HEX key for 40bit WEP and a 26 character HEX key for 128bit WEP.
In order to make things easier for people, vendors use certain algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords (or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling people to use simple memorable WEP password rather than lengthy HEX keys.
The problem is that different vendors use different algorithms to generate the HEX key and therefore a ASCII password on an AEBS will be hashed differently on a Netgear client and vice versa.
One thing is a 13 character 128 bit WEP password will be hashed by all vendors in the same way (if you use 40bit WEP then a 5 character password is required).
Though sometimes not even that works and the HEX key must be used regardless.
AirPort: Joining an encrypted wireless network
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106424
Choosing a password for networks that use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058
WPA
"WPA Personal" on the Mac corresponds to plain WPA, with a pre-shared key (PSK) and TKIP encryption, on non-Apple wireless routers. The same alphanumeric password should work on both.

EMac Airport Extreme card doesn't fit???

I have tried and tried to get the card in the slot and just won't work. I have both an Airport and Airport Extreme card and it's obvious that the Extreme card is the right one. Here's the problem, inside the slot at the back, you can see 2 rows of prongs (male). This card is male as well. I think there is something missing inside my slot? The card just lays in there and you can't get it to reach the back. I think maybe there is a plastic piece that is supposed to be hooked over the prongs? Help?! Thanks!

Hey Rob,
OK found a 700 here's a pic of the bay:
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=eMac700Ai rportcardreceiver.jpg
and with the Old Airport installed:
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=eMac700Ai rportcardinstalled.jpg
It took a bit of wiggling and jiggling to get it to go in there. So firmly but not with a lot of force. If it won't go see if there are parts of the metal guides on either side are bent in, preventing it from sliding smoothly in.
Richard

Airport Extreme Card just stopped working -help!!

I've had my MacBook Pro since mid August with a built Airport Extreme Card. It has for most of the time been working fine with my Netgear router. Yesterday it just stopped working. The black bars aren't showing on the aiport, it keeps refusing to accept the WEP password.
I have tried switching the airport on and off, and have also switched off the router and re started it, all to no avail. The WEP password is correct.
I have a WIFI printer connection and the airport will not connect to that either.
This has happened once before about 6 weeks ago but I can't remember what I did, if anything, to remedy the situation.
I have 3 other laptops all working perfectly well on the system, and all printing from the printer without any problems.
Any suggestions before I and the laptop go hurtling through the first floor window?

Hello MiBy. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
I've had my MacBook Pro since mid August with a built Airport Extreme Card. It has for most of the time been working fine with my Netgear router. Yesterday it just stopped working. The black bars aren't showing on the aiport, it keeps refusing to accept the WEP password.
Try resetting your MBP's PRAM ...
Reset the PRAM
o Shut down the computer.
o Turn on the computer.
o Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
o Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
o Release the keys.
(ref: Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM)

Dead Airport Extreme card?

For the last three days I have had issues with my G5 dual 2GHz and OS X 10.4.2, the latest updates to Airport software and firmware.
The signal strength meter in the menu bar or in Internet Connect is greyed out and the connection cannot be made -- eventually it gets to the point where the G5 cannot even remember any of my precvious connections. The Macwireless.com widget shows the connection and signal strength as bouncing from 0 to about 70% for all connections that are still recognized, with each location bouncing from the top of the list to the bottom and then sometimes disappearing altogether. After a short while the locations don't reappear... Once they're gone, they're pretty much gone without a trace (Airport Admin either cannot connect to the Airport, telling me an error occurred while trying to access it, or it doesn't see anything to get an error message from).
My G4 sits right next to the G5 and has shown no problems. Strangely, after a full day trying to troubleshoot this, the G5 started up today at full signal strength -- I'm using it now to write this message! Nothing has changed on this machine in the past week, except for me trying to get the Airport Extreme Card to function as it had for the month or two I've had it. Yesterday I lost connection altogether -- neither restarting the Mac nor a full shut down, wait a minute or two, restart would restore my connection. At one point, I shut down the machine for about an hour while I reseated the AE Card and let the computer become room temp (roughly 70 F). Still no go...
After eliminating all the variables I could think of, I've come to the conclusion that the Airport card is probably bad -- possibly malfunctioning with heat build-up (?). Problem is, how do I show this problem to a tech? Especially since it's a half-hour drive to the closest Apple store and longer to a third-party Apple repair shop. And knowing that once it's been off for a while and is on a workbench, it will behave like all intermittently faulty equipment and work perfectly. :-/
If anyone has trouble shooting suggestions, or can help me determine for sure that the card is the problem, please help!

Hi Julia,
Well, the card may have problems too, but I now think there's a software problem as others have suggested. It's odd because everything seemed fine for some time after applying the updates, so it appeared as if the card was bad or going bad. For me, I spent three days trying everything I could, including removing and re-seating the card, antenna wire and antenna, trying various configurations, resetting the Airport itself and so on. All to no avail.
On the last day, I had the strangest situation, where Mail could not see the Airport and could connect to nothing, but Safari was able to access the Internet! I used Safari to access sites I hadn't visited in months just to be sure I wasn't seeing cached versions of the pages... Eventually though, Safari lost contact, and that was it for the day.
After all that, the next day I turned on the Mac to see a solid connection that's been stable ever since except for the incident in my previous post where the Airport widgets knocked the connection out. Turning off those Widgets and closing Dashboard brought the connection back up immediately -- I haven't tried them again, and probably won't!.
Once I had the solid connection, I used Onyx to repair permissions, optimise the System and to empty the Network cache. I also deleted the various Locations I'd set up in the Network Preferences to get it back to just the one connection to choose from. If you're comfortable with Onyx (or Cocktail or one of the other utilities) you could try at least clearing the cache(s) and repairing permissions.
Have you tried a complete shut down and leaving the computer off overnight? Do you have anything set to open on startup that may try to connect with the Internet (like Mail or Safari)? Try removng them from your Startup Items (you can do this from the Dock -- click and hold on the icon and a mini menu should pop up with that option).
Have you looked at the info in System Profiler, and does it show the Airport card? (you can access System Profiler from the About This Mac item in the Apple Menu and clicking the button: More Info...) The card should show up under Network>Airpport Card.
Since you have a Powerbook, you have the option to take your computer to an Apple tech (Apple Genius at an Apple store, or to a dealer with a repair crew) and have them troubleshoot it. My guess is they'll end up reinstalling your OS and/or replacing the card... My G5 is far too heavy for me to throw it in the car -- and I found out the hard way yesterday that my computer is just 2 weeks out of warranty, so I'm ineligible for AppleCare. grrr... (my fault, but grrr...)
Let us know if anything good happens -- best of luck!

Airport Extreme Card Problem???

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