Airport Signal Level

Hi all,
I have a wireless router in my office and things were going great until recently I notice a drop in speed. I checked my airport info and the signal level has dropped three bars. I don't recall making any changes to the router or to any settings.
My question is, what could trigger a drop in signal level? The router is right on my desk so I am pretty sure the distance is not the issue.
Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
Eric

They should be tunables on your wireless router. For Linksys routers, they are usually under the "advanced" settings of the wireless page.
xmit power is the power level in milliwatts output by your antennas so your airport card can receive transmissions.
the frag threshold is the max packet size used on the wireless network before it is fragmented and split apart, causing network drops and re-transmissions
the beacon is the emission from your wireless router to wireles network cards, sort of like: "who's out there", sometimes, more frequency can mean more reliable transmission, especially if you have neighbors.
You can find lots of info at dslreports.com in their various forums. I have had 0 issues with my settings, and I live in apartment with 15 other ESSIDs surrounding me.

Similar Messages

Wildly fluctuating signal level

After years of trouble-free wifi, last night the airport signal level suddenly started fluctuating wildly - varying over a few minutes from full signal to no signal and losing connection, then re-connecting. We have one computer upstairs and one down, and both showed the same problem, so presumably the origin of it was in the airport, not in the computers. The lights on the airport seemed to be flickering OK. Later on, all seemed to have returned to normal, and this morning the signal level is (so far) an unwavering maximum. Anyone have any ideas what could cause this?
Thanks!

Who knows? If it was something of that sort, it was coming from outside; there was certainly nothing new inside the house that could have interfered. As I check now, there are 4 other (password protected) networks detected by the airport; sometimes there are more - can they cause problems?

Weak Airport signal strength after MacBook upgrade to OS 10.5

Today, I finally upgraded my 13-inch 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook (2 gig RAM, 160 gig HD) to OS 10.5 from OS 10.4.11. After using install and archive to install the new system, I noticed the Airport signal was down to three bars from the usual four. After completing all the system updates to bring it up to 10.5.8, its still receiving only three bars. We're using a 2Wire wireless DSL modem for Internet service. I was getting the full four bars before the system upgrade, and my wife's 14" G4 iBook is still getting four bars.
What's going on here? Is there an available fix for this? Or am I doomed to going back to OS 10.4.11?
Roger

rmatile wrote:
Today, I finally upgraded my 13-inch 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook (2 gig RAM, 160 gig HD) to OS 10.5 from OS 10.4.11. After using install and archive to install the new system, I noticed the Airport signal was down to three bars from the usual four. After completing all the system updates to bring it up to 10.5.8, its still receiving only three bars. We're using a 2Wire wireless DSL modem for Internet service. I was getting the full four bars before the system upgrade, and my wife's 14" G4 iBook is still getting four bars.
Those bars are only an approximation of Wi-Fi signal strength. In Mac OS X 10.5 if you pull down the AirPort menu bar item while holding down an option key you'll see a value "RSSI", which is the actual signal strength. If you were using an AirPort base station, you could use AirPort Utility to see actual signal and noise levels.
In Mac OS X 10.4 I don't think that option key trick works, but you should be able to use the AirPort command-line utility, as describe in the electronic book "Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network" (http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/airport-n):
- Launch Terminal
- Type this command:
cd /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/\
Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/
- Type this command:
./airport -s
You'll see the "RSSI" value in one of the columns. If you compare the "RSSI" values for both OS versions, you may find the "RSSI" values more similar than the AirPort menu bar arcs suggest.
I have no financial connection to Take Control Books.

Signal Level Varies

I don't know if this is related or not but ever since we had several brief power outages the signal level from my Airport Extreme Base Station throughout the house is very low. The base has an antenna connected and is in the room with my main G5 computer. There is also a G5 imac and a G4 ibook in other parts of the house. All 3 receive the signal via Airport. What I notice is that when first connecting (when the computer starts up), the signal strength is very strong and then it slowly backs down until it's only at level one or two on the meter. This even happens in my office which is only about three feet from the base station. I have tried moving the antenna and base station around but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Rebooting the computer often helps, but not permanently. Any suggestions?
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I don't have an answer but I'd like one - I have exactly the same problem. Except we didn't have any power failures... the signal's just consistently getting worse, and I haven't changed any settings. For a long time it worked fine... anyone?

Airport signal is low

hi everybody
I have a small wireless network at home and two macs which connect to it and from there to the web. My first mac is a macbook and the second machine is a 1st generation MacPro. The Macpro until yesterday was connected via ethernet while the macbook via airport. Both machines were running smoothly. Today my local Apple dealer installed the airport card at my macpro, tested it at THEIR WLAN and I went home hoping that I'd get rid of ethernet cables.
However the signal I get from my airport card at the macpro is very very weak. With a maximum of five I get a one, maybe a two. At the same time if I turn on my macbook and leave it right next to my macpro, the macbook will work with a signal of five. So I have two machines at the VERY SAME part of the house with two totally different signal levels.
Could it be that the macbook has a more powerful airport adapter? Could it be that the apple dealer did a bad job? Am I missing some other hidden setting in order to make my macpro work as it should?
Any help is more than welcome
ps1 my modem/router is a US Robotics
PS2 both machines run on 10.4.11

Your problem from what I can deduce is the same as mine. THE OPERATING SYSTEM OS X 10.5.1 & 10.5.2. Although Apple hasn't admitted the problem yet. Don't expect a solution anytime soon or at least until soon after they admit the problem. The problem started for me when I updated 3 of the 5 Macs I have on my home (Airport Extreme Snow) wireless network to OS X 10.5.2. The machines that still have 10.4.11 are working just fine. The network spends more time "searching" than networking. I am sure that the recent network/security updates included in the recent updates are causing the problems, but I can't seem to find any definitive answers, just vague guesses.
ANYBODY OUT THERE WITH REAL ANSWERS PLEASE POST THEM, THANKS in advance

Airport signal strength varies a lot

On my Mac Mini the Airport signal strength goes up and down. Sometimes I have 4 bars, sometimes 0. Also I often lose the connection when I restart or wake up the computer and then I have to do something manually to connect, either turn off and on airport or go into airport preferences and click apply or manually reconnect by typing in the network name and password.
I have a closed/invisible Airport network with WPA2 Personal encryption. I have an Airport Extreme on the ground floor and extend the network by an Airport Express on the first floor. The Mac Mini is situated about half a meter from the Express.
I don't have this problem with any of my other 4 Macs. The other Macs are usually on the ground floor but when I take my laptop up to the living room where the Mini and Express are I also get good signal strength even though I'm further away from the Express than the Mini is.

So the problem is that you're not getting/staying connected now, when you had no problems with 10.5.6 before?
There was an update for AirPort and AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule firmware in mid-2009 --> http://support.apple.com/kb/dl849
There was also a March 2009 update for AirPort Client on 10.5.6, but I would assume that you got that one already.
The 'bars' on the menubar AirPort icon may not be most reliable method of judging your wireless connection. When you have AirPort turned on, click on Option + the AirPort icon to see the RSSI
There are specialized programs that provide far more complete information, including channel, signal strength, and noise level of wireless routers in the vicinity.
www.koingosw.com offers a 15-day free trial of AirRadar. I'm a licensed user of AirRadar 1.2.9. It gives a better picture of a wireless connection.

Ipad vga signal levels

3 out of 5 attempts to present Keynote (and other video enabled apps) presentations have failed. After some investigation I discovered that the failed talks (ipad could not drive video projector - iapd couldn't find project, and projector couldn't find ipad) were result of long cable lengths between projector and VGA connector that I plugged into dock-to-VGA adapter. These were 50' long cables in conference centers. I rustled up some more standard length cables after these very embarrassing failed attempts to give public presentations, and with shorter cables everything worked properly. I should also mentioned that numerous MacBook, MacBookPro and PC-types laptops all had no problem whatsoever driving VGA through a 50' cable.
Anyone else experience this problem? It makes it impossible to trust the iPad as a conference presentation device if iPad video signal levels are too low. Perhaps I have a defective iPad, or is this a systematic problem?
If I have to buy a VGA signal booster to carry along with an iPad, its absurd since these devices are nearly the size of the iPad itself!

I am not sure of what the official limit is, but a google search brought up 50' as the "practical" limit. Another site said 9 meters. I have seen some long vga cables in various conference rooms.
You may have an iPad with a reduced output. You could either try another ipad, if you know of one available, or take your ipad to the Apple store and see if an expert can test the output strength.

Imac 24-Why does my airport signal keep changing??

my airport signal keeps changing??
right next to my imac i have my powerbook 17
and it's signal is full...where my IMac signal is not??
signal on my imac is 2 bars from full most of the time!!
is this a IMAC thing or what??

No real help but this is a common problem for c2d machines it seems. They have the new "n" protocol wireless card in which willl be faster and further than the g with the new apple extreme base station. It will also be very good for streaming video (iTV). This is just consolation for an iffy wireless link. These boards have many threads on this topic (eg macbook pro area). Do a search any you will find the others with the problem and maybe a solution.
Cheers

When iBook G4 wakes up, it drops Airport signal temporarily

My wife and I both have iBook G4s and we share the same Airport Extreme network. We have the most current software updates. When her iBook wakes up after being asleep, it temporarily drops the Airport signal. The signal reappears within a few seconds, but it takes 10-15 seconds to actually be able to access a website. Until then it comes up as "unavailable," which suggests the computer is logging into the network every time it wakes up, and that's the delay.
My laptop doesn't have this problem. It keeps the signal when it falls asleep. What might be causing this problem with hers?

Thanks for the link. When I started working through the process, I remembered that I had changed the "by default join" setting from "Automatic" to "Preferred Networks" a while back. I was having trouble with my laptop joining networks I didn't want it to. So I did some research and shifted to "Preferred Networks" and removed the networks I was unintentionally joining. My guess is it is this change, and not the 10.4.11 upgrade that caused my issue.
When I realized this, I didn't finish the steps on the link. I just changed back to "Automatic" and that seems to have taken care of it. If I find I'm having trouble with the Automatic setting, I'll try removing my encrypted network and then adding it back in, as suggested in the article.
Thanks so much.
kabing

Ibook drops airport signal, have to reboot iBook to get AE signal back,

my powerbook is working fine and the AE light is always green, but my iBook drops the AE signal whenever it goes to sleep. upon wakeup the airport is on but no signal and I have to reboot the computer to get the signal back strong even though it's fine on the powerbook. all updates, firmware etc. done. any ideas?

You might want to try resetting the PMU. It has some control over sleep and wake issues.
Read about the nightly maintenance routines that run if a Mac running OS X is not shut down or allowed to sleep in this Apple Knowledge Base article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107388
If you set the iBook (in Energy Saver Preferences) to just sleep the display (and leave it plugged in at night and open), these routines can run and she won't lose the AirPort signal, either.
I only close mine when I'm going to put it in its bag and take it somewhere (in that case, it would lose the AirPort signal anyway).
Maybe the PMU reset will do the trick for you and she won't have to use it the way I use mine (if she doesn't want to).

Signal Level Meter

Signal Level Meter
CATV Signal Level Meter GAO2002 is specially designed for CATV system maintenance. Signal Level Meter GAO2002 features small size (160mm x 130mm x 65mm) , light weight (368g including battery), long operating time (more than 6 hours), and well-built from appearance to architecture. Signal Level Meter GAO2002 combines the most practical functions and makes them easy to use. What is even better about this piece of equipment is that its added aseismatic design makes it more durable than you can expect. Tests show that it can continue to work well after being dropped from 5 meters high. It supports Level, V/A, Tilt and Trunk Level testing as well as testing two channels at the same time.
CATV Signal Level Meter GAO2002 Specifications:
Frequency
Frequency range: 46MHz ~ 860MHz
Frequency step: 50kHz, 1MHz, 10MHz and 100MHz
Level Measurement
Range: 20dBuV ~ 50dBuV
Accuracy: ±20dB (20ºC ± 5ºC)
Resolution: 0.5dB
Carrier to Noise (C/N)
Option Range: 20dBuV ~ 50dBuV
Input signal range: ≥ 85dB
Measure accuracy: ± 2.5dB (20ºC ± 5ºC) shut off the carrier
Resolution: 0.5dB
Voltage
Input range: 1~100V (AC/DC)
Measured accuracy: ±2V
Resolution: 1V
Miscellaneous
Size: 160mm x 130mm x 65mm
Weight: 368g (including battery)
Working: -10ºC ~ 40ºC
Audio: Built-in speaker (Auto on in single frequency mode)
Battery
Built-in battery: 3.6V/2.1AH Ni-MH
Working time: More than 6 hours (Shut off the audio and LCD backlight)
Charging time: 10 ~ 12 hours (power off)
Gao Tek Inc.

Do you have drivers for LabVIEW?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s the questions that drive us.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setup help - low signal level in Logic

I'm getting low input signal levels when recording in Logic (-17db to about -10db, on average), and am hoping someone here can point out an obvious oversight on my part.
I'm recording mic'd guitars and vocals (one track at a time), with the mic(s)running into a Mackie 1402 mixer via XLR. Signals are strong and fine when I solo on the Mackie.
The signal runs out of the Mackie via the Alt 3-4 bus into the first and second 1/4" inputs on the back of a Motu 828 mkII, then into Logic.
Even if I drive the signal to near clipping on the Mackie, I get these low levels when recording in Logic. This is true whether I'm using a condenser mic with phantom power for vocals, or a dynamic mic on a guitar amp. I've also tried swithcing XLR mic cables.
I'm running Logic Pro 7.2.3 and OS X (10.4.9) on a G5 2.5 DP.
Is my signal path in need of some tweaking, or perhaps it's a setting I'm overlooking on the Motu 828?
Any help greatly appreciated to get this rookie back on track!
G5 2.5 DP Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi,
You wrote:
I'm recording mic'd guitars and vocals (one track at
a time), with the mic(s)running into a Mackie 1402
mixer via XLR. Signals are strong and fine when I
solo on the Mackie.
The solo on the Mackie is probably louder,check to see if you have it AFL(after fader listen or PFL(pre fader level or "level set").
The signal runs out of the Mackie via the Alt 3-4 bus
into the first and second 1/4" inputs on the back of
a Motu 828 mkII, then into Logic.
The first thing to check is to see what kind of cables you are running into the Motu mkii.
A. Unbalanced (ie "guitar-type" with two wires)
B.Balanced (ie "stereo-type" with three wires)
The second thing is to check what your inputs on your Motu are,there are two choices: +4dBu("pro") or -10dBV("consumer")
Here's the catch:
You MUST MATCH the correct cables for the correct levels.If the Mackie is outputting -10dBV but your Motu is thinking it is +4 you see less level no matter how loud you make the Mackie outputs.
The Mackie can output AUTOMATICALLY either -10dBV or +4dBu depending on what cable is hooked up to it.
Even if I drive the signal to near clipping on the
Mackie, I get these low levels when recording in
Logic. This is true whether I'm using a condenser mic
with phantom power for vocals, or a dynamic mic on a
guitar amp. I've also tried swithcing XLR mic cables.
This is not where the problem lies.It lieas between the output of the Mackie and the input to Logic.
I'm running Logic Pro 7.2.3 and OS X (10.4.9) on a G5
2.5 DP.
Is my signal path in need of some tweaking, or
perhaps it's a setting I'm overlooking on the Motu
828?
Yes,a setting somewhere in the Motu is not set correctly.Check above for how to do that.
Any help greatly appreciated to get this rookie back
on track!
G5 2.5 DP
Mac OS X (10.4.9)
Cheers

Airport Signal stays low on imac g5 isight,even with new card.

I am a fairly new user in the mac world & until now have had no problems.
However the problem I have is a poor Airport signal mainly two bar droping to one,occassionally the signal gets stronger,this has only just started during the last couple of months.I really noticed the problem when downloading podcasts,as it began to download,then froze & ultimately lead to the internet connection timing out.I contacted the local store who have always helped me before they took the imac in,tried everything finaly putting in a new card,this worked fine in their shop but again didn't at home.My son has a imac g3 next to mine also on the wireless network & his signal is full strength.My machine is back at the shop where they are now going to try a new antenna.As you can see from my post I am not very technical but has anyone had any similar problems & found any different answers.

I did not see resetting PRAM mentioned yet, so if not done already, do that
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
plus this procedure to reset SMU (power management)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
Be sure to follow it precisely. When you reconnect the power cord, if you are using a crowded or old power strip, connect it directly to a wall outlet for this test. Power it up with nothing connected except power cord and once it starts up, connect only your keyboard/mouse (no other USB/FireWire peripherals). Try using it that way to see if the problem still recurs.
The only other suggestion I have is, if you have a external FireWire drive that you can erase (or create a small partition on), install a fresh Leopard installation on it. Start up from it and see if this problem still recurs.
Alternately, back up your data, erase (re-partition and reformat) the interal drive, and reinstall Leopard on the internal drive, then give it a try. If you clone (using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) to an external FireWire drive as your backup, you can still boot from your current installation (on the external drive). If the fresh installation test does NOT work, you can clone your clone back to the internal drive. If it does work with a fresh installation, you can keep using it and transfer just your user data back from the clone.

Signal level lights don't light up even when wifi is connected

I have a new MBP (the Core 2 Duo one). When I'm connected to a wifi access point, the Signal Level lights in the Internet Connect window never light up. Anyone else seen anything like this? I suppose it's not a huge deal, since I'm getting a connection OK. It's just that I'm curious how good my connection is. And it seems strange they'd make these nice little fake LEDs but then not use them.

iStumbler will give you better information
http://www.istumbler.net/

Airport signal becomes MUCH worse after 10.4.7 update?

Airport signal in 10.4.7 is 50% of what it was in 10.4.6. It also now cuts in and out. What changed?
And how can one go back to the good signals and stable reception under 10.4.6?
Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Yes, I'm noticing the same. It first hits 4 bars,
but then goes down to 2 after a minute or so. Then
it drops in and out consistently.
Am trying to find a solution before I kick something.
I switched my settings on internet to 802.11b, and now I have great connection on all my computers...b ... not g/b or g.It has been steady for a month now. Cheers

Airport Signal Level

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