Black MacBook poor Airport signal

I have an original Black MacBook. I have a home network with an AEBS and a G5, iBook and my Black MacBook all using the network. I also have a Airport Express to stream my tunes to my stereo. OS 10.5.4
Sometime ago my Black MacBook started to drop the signal unless I was right near the the base station. I tried lots of different things to fix it but nothing seemed to work. Sometimes I get full bars and sometimes it just gets worse until it drops the connection. When the connection drops moving it closer to the base station will restore it. The G5 and the iBook are both fine from anywhere in my house.
I called a place to order an airport card and the tech said 'if the card works close then it is ok and prolly the antenna.' I opened up the Black Macbook and checked both antenna wires for tight connection and I also removed and re-seated the airport card. Not a hard task other that lots of screws to remove.
This did not work. Can anyone suggest something else? Is it possible that the card is wanky or is the tech correct that the card either works or doesn't work. I looked around and I think you have to get the whole display in order to change out the antenna.
Now I am at my wit's end.
Thanks in advance.

I managed to get an Airport card from iFixit in the states. 80 bucks and 30 shipping but it was worth it. I found some disassembly instructions on the net and replaced it in about 15 minutes.
Works like a charm so far.

Similar Messages

  • Macbook - Constant Poor Airport Signal

    Hi guys,
    I've had my macbook for about 5 years now, and in the last 3-4 months i've been having some annoying issues with my airport connectivity, i've finally decided to try and sort this out! The problem is that my macbook has become terrible at picking up airport signal... whereas other computers, ipads, xbox 360 and such can pick up the signal absolutely fine, I have to move very close to the hub to get any signal at all. Now for example I am sitting about 3-4 meters away from the hub and I am getting 1-2 bars! ***!!
    Its not anything to do with the network as I have tried in several different locations and with the same results... no signal unless I have literally right next the the airport sender box thingy (hub). Could it be something to do with the software? Or perhaps the airport card is playing up? If so can I get a new card?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated....
    I guess a system spec would also be helpful so I have:
    Processor: 2GHz Intel Core Duo
    Memory: 2 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
    Operating System: 10.4.11
    Airport Card Info:
    Card type: Airport Extreme (0x168C, 0x86)
    Wireless Card Locale: Worldwide
    Wireless Card Firmware Version: 1.4.4

    Hi Dillweed
    Here are some options that might help:
    - Restarting the router
    - Creating a new location (see below)
    At 5 years old, it's possible your AirPort card is on its way out. If you can't afford to change it then you could try:
    - Connecting with an Ethernet cable (always gives the best connections and faster speeds!)
    - Buying a USB wireless dongle.
    Bob
    PS: Creating a new "Location":
    System Preferences > Network
    Select the AirPort from the left hand side
    Click on the Locations combo box and select Edit Locations...
    Click on + to add a new location, call it "Home" (or anything else you prefer)
    Click on Advanced
    Select the AirPort tab and enter your network name
    Select TCP/IP tab. 
    Configure IPv4 Using DHCP
    Now click on Renew DHCP Lease.  After a few seconds you should get an IP address (probably 192.168.x.x)
    Click on Proxies tab.
    Select Auto Proxy Discovery and Use Passive FTP
    Click on OK and Apply, etc.

  • Poor Airport Signal

    I have a macbook pro with Mac OS 10.4.11, and I have noticed extremely low airport signals on my laptop. I thought maybe that it was always the routers I was using, because my laptop is in perfect condition, and i had not changed anything on it. But I know that it is my Laptop because I have a router in the room next to me, and the signal strength bars remain at 2-3, when they should be full. Also, I am a university student, and in my classrooms I can see other people on their Mac AND windows laptops, and they are all browsing the web easily, while my laptop wont even pick up a signal, and if it does it will be for 2-3 seconds.
    The range is supposed to be 150 feet for my airport, and i am no more than 15 feet away from my router with a 3/4 full signal strength. pitiful.
    can anyone help? I know others have been having the same problem as me. Will Apple do anything about this if my warranty is expired?

    Hi eraserface, and a warm welcome to the forums!
    First thing to do is check for a loose or frayed Antenn, or loose card.
    There are some USB options that'd be cheaper than a repair though...
    http://www.afterthemac.com/product.php?id=Mac%20USB%20Wireless%20G54SL
    http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_XLR8YourMac.cfm?ID=8862&Item=ASUWL167G

  • Poor Airport signal strengh

    A friend of mine has a 1.6 GHz G5 iMac which has a very poor signal strengh even though his iMac is right next to his wireless router (Netgear). His daughter uses a PC laptop and gets very good signal anywhere in the same house.
    A few weeks ago my friend brings his iMac to my house. I have a Apple network with five Mac's and my friends iMac only just picks up my network even though it is right next to an Airport Express.
    All my Mac's are Airport which get max signal strengh with even my iBook getting a great signal outside (weather permitting).
    We checked the aerial connection to his Airport Card which seems fine and my friend says that his signal strengh has always been poor since he fitted his Airport card. His Card seems to work O.K. but sometimes struggles to connect.
    My friend is running 10.4.3. as i was until i updated.
    Would removing and refitting Airport card help.
    Anyone with any ideas.
    Neil.

    Neil, ABSOLUTLY, There have been several reports of Airport Extreme cards coming from the factory not seated properly. It appears that just pusing them in is not enough, they must be two thumbed very hard in order for them to seat properly. The problem you describe fits this to a tee.
    Don

  • 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.

  • Have recently acquired an additional black MacBook, and installed Snow Leopard onto it. Trying to get it to connect via a plug-in USB wifi unit (poor reception on Airport) I have an extra Network Location which does not work.  How can I remove it?

    Need to get a second hand black MacBook connected.  Poor reception on Airport so tried a plug in wifi aerial. That didn't work, but now have  a Network Location I can't get rid of.  How do I remove it ?

    Hello my ginger,
    I tried what you suggested - but to no success.  The problem came up when I was re-entering the new settings.  If I left it as using DHCP it would run for a few seconds with no IP address, then drop in a 169.254 one which would not connect through.  To overcome this I tried using the 'Using DHCP with manual address' option and entered in an address which it had set up from the clone boot.  This appeared to be okay.  When I then tried renewing DHCP lease sometimes that address held.  When I tried connecting though - no sight of the internet, and the exclamation mark was across the wifi icon in the menu bar. If I switched it to Using DHCP it would randomly fall back to the 169.254 address. 
    The only significant differences I could see when cross checking all the settings info was in the WINS panel the NetBIOS had a slightly different configuration of the name - but as they ended in the same numbers I assumed they were the same.  And, when looking under Keychain Access, in the System section list (it also appeared in the login section) additional info box they had different locations - 28 characters in four groups.  I don't have a clue what this refers to.  Also the allow access list in the boot clone included System Preferences, but did not in the Snow Leopard boot, so I added it in.  With no success. 
    I am so frustrated I am thinking of giving up.  I seen have loads of postings on the net about a variety of problems with wifi connection on Snow Leopard.  I have version 10.6.3.  Did it get any better in later Snow Leopard ?  Or in any of the OS s after that ? It was always so easy and so solid under Leopard - why the h**l did they change it ?

  • 1st gen Black MacBook - airport issues

    I have a June 2006 Black MacBook that I recently upgraded to 10.5.6. Since then, I have had very poor airport connectivity. Where I once had excellent WiFi, I now have none. What the heck is going on?? I often must sit adjacent to the signal source in order to connect...even 10 feet of merely air space will cause my WiFi to fail. What's the point!

    HI,
    Your Airport preference files might be corrupted as a result of the upgrade to 10.5.6.
    Try deleting this file. com.apple.airport.airportutility.plist
    /Users/YourName/Library/Preferences. Drag that file from the Preferences folder to the Trash, empty the Trash and restart your MacBook. See if that makes a difference in the signal, of not...
    Are you using an Airport Extreme Base Station? Airport Express? If so, try resettting.
    Reset Airport Express: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1450
    Reset Airport Extreme Base Station: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1406
    Carolyn

  • Poor MacBook Pro Airport reception?

    Just upgraded from a 12 inch PowerBook to new 15 inch MacBook Pro - and my Airport signal strength has crashed as a result. Compared to the PowerBook reception is now so poor that I often have trouble connecting to the Internet at all. Signal strength showing on MacStumbler with the PB was generally about 75, it's now (using iStumbler on the MBP, because it's a Universal app) at 50. Is this a known issue with the MacBooks, and is there any solution? Or could it even be a problem with the specific airport card that's installed in the MacBook?
    MacBook Pro 2.0 x 2   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   1GB RAM

    Hi,
    I am having the same issue with my iBook G4, it has terrible airport reception, however I am using an airport extreme card which I installed about 2 years back when I got the iBook.
    My boyfriend gets excellent reception on his (PC) laptop but using MacStumbler signal strength is only about 25-35 on my iBook.
    Other factors:
    The reception is just as bad for me on other networks (for example at my boyfriends house I have to virtually sit on top of the router to get reception and even then its dodgy and drops out all the time.
    I have removed the Aiport Extreme card, cleaned it and put it back in and re-connected the ariel cable.
    I have downloaded the latest software updates.
    I have 2 routers (in a 1 bedroom flat!!!) I thought this might improve things, so I have a Belkin (I think) wireless modem/router in the hall AND an Airport Extreme base station in the living room acting as a bridge. Not a great deal of improvement was seen.
    I have an iMac G4 in the living room also and the reception on that is fantastic.
    Can anyone help or have any suggestions?

  • 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.

  • Poor Airport Reception in MBP

    I just bought the 15" 2.16 GHZ MacBook Pro 2 days ago and have notcied the airport reception is flaky. When I am 2 rooms away from my router, I get 4/5 bars and then when I go downstairs, it fluctualtes from 1 bar to 4 bars - very inconsistent.
    This never used to happen with my titanium nor does this happen with my Dad's iBook or Sony Vaio.
    Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Should I take it back to the store?
    Thanks.
    Macbook Pro 15" 2.16   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    I have genuine Airport Signal issues with my MacBook Pro, when sitting with the laptop IN CONTACT WITH the airport base station I can't get more than 75% signal, with it 2 feet away I'm at 50%, much more than 5 feet and I'm down to 20% and dropping signal regularly. Through walls? Not a chance.
    Obviously, this is not normal behavior for a MacBook Pro, so I will be taking it in to the apple store - I just know that they are gonna ship it back to apple, and I don't want to be without my machine for a week, so I haven't quite got around to it yet.
    I have tried multiple apple-branded airports, including the extreme and express I both own and severals others, as well as multiple 3rd party base stations. Signals and connection stability have been unusably poor in all cases.
    I have ran all the latest software updates and firmware patches, and have wiped the hard drive and re-installed the entire system from scratch. No change.
    I haven't found many other people complaining of similar problems, so I suspect I'm just unlucky. On the other hand, perhaps my antenna isn't plugged in or something simple. Even if that was the case, I doubt that the apple store itself would fix it so I gear up for shipment back to apple.
    Sigh.
    MacBook Pro 2.0ghz   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   2GB RAM, 100GB HD

  • Shall i put a 7200rpm hard drive into my black macbook for logic pro?

    hi, i bought high spec black macbook refurbished which came with a 5400rpm drive inside it.
    Im using logic pro, and its been running fine with small projects, but when i have a medium sized project using several vst instruments and exs24s using many audio samples, all of which are running off the internal.... i get error messages, system overload messages...and i am unable to bounce to audio file (in logic pro)
    im thinking its the slow hard drive which is causing the main problems.
    I have 2gb ram. It also takes sometimes over 5 mins to open this logic file. And then some!
    Or is this poor performance par for the course, if using just ONE internal drive, for both system files and audio storage....... ?
    Are there possible probs which may arise from taking out the 5400 drive and fitting a faster 7200 drive in to my macbook? I hear it will heat up more....so could this mess with other macbook componets?? the excess heat...... or are macbooks bulit to handle 7200rpm drives too??? dont remember is 7200 was an optional upgrade with my model or not......
    2.4ghz intelcore2duo.
    Anybody fitted a 7200 drive into their macbooks???? all running ok??
    Would i simply put the new hard drive in..... and then boot up from boot dvds and my time machine backup....to have a full up to date system, all apps and file intact as they are now???? Im worried it will get messy and problems...... my current drive is packed to rafters with apps and files and work i have done......i dont want to lose a thing.....would it be a simple easy fool proof transition to faster hard drive????
    And could i still use the current hard drive? With an enclosure??
    Ive heard people have ripped out the opticla dvd drive and fitted ANOTHER hard drive into their macbooks, so the laptop housing two hard drives..... that sounds good...but crazy..... maybe later ill do that....as i hardly use the cd/dvd drive...... and you can always hook it up with wire if need be......
    any tips or advice....would be most kind and helpful.
    thankyou.

    I used Carbon Copy Cloner- do not use Time Machine for this- to make a bootable clone of the drive inside my Macbook Pro, and then installed the new, faster drive. I then booted from the cloned drive, and cloned that back into the fresh internal drive. That being said:
    1) I only did this since I bought the laptop used, and didn't get the install OS discs. I would have started fresh and installed everything myself, but then again, it wasn't my laptop, and I didn't care about what was on it. You might.
    2) You need to clone to an external Firewire drive if you want to make a bootable clone. Do not use USB. Do not use Time Machine, as its backups are not able to be booted from.
    3) The whole replace the internal DVD drive with another sounds pretty iffy to me. Just use the Firewire drive you'll now be having at you disposal for a variety of things, including possibly recording to. I can advise once I know what your interface is, if any, and if you've got a Macbook or a Macbook Pro- I forgot to look.
    You will get much better results with a 7200 RPM drive, by the way. You can certainly use the old drive in some sort of enclosure, although it's still a slow drive and all, so I wouldn't really invest much into it. Maybe put it in a USB enclosure and use it for backups, or for transporting material, or for cracking walnuts, maybe, if you have a walnut tree.
    Even in this fancy computer age, there is still nothing better than a freshly roasted walnut or pecan. Good luck, L

  • 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

  • MacBook and Airport

    I love my black MacBook so much. There is one thing that it does, that bugs me though. If I close the lid and put it to sleep, then open it, it takes a very long time for it to reconnect to the Airport Base Station. What's up with that? My iBook and PowerBooks before it, had so much problem.
    Anyone else have this happen? Any fixes for it?
    Thanks for reading this.

    Yes, I would think that you would need a location for each.
    It's annoying, since I automatically connected with no problem on my iBook, but it's a small price to pay for such a wonderful machine
    I guess we can only use automatic for snifing out other networks to use.
    Just as a note, I tried to get AppleCare to help, and they tols me automatic connections were no longer supported...I guess I got someone who really didn't know what they were talking about
    *EDIT* - You know, you could just flip the airport card back to automatic for work, and manually connect to it, rather than setting a new location. Not sure what would be best for you, because you'd just have to set it back to your home location when you got home.
    Boy, I wish it were automatic still!

  • Black MacBook 1,2 wifi issues

    My 2007 Black MacBook is unable to stay connected to wifi. It can connect right after I turn the computer on and for a few minutes after that, but then it gets disconnected and doesn't show any networks to choose from in the AirPort menu. To reconnect I either have to restart the computer or leave the lid closed for a while (20 minutes-ish). It seems almost like it only has the problem once the computer is warm. It is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, because unfortunately Lion and above isn't supported on my processor. I have also tried the computer with linux and it has the same problem, leading me to beleive it's more of a hardware issue than software. I suppose I could open up the computer and look at the AirPort card itself, but I don't see what that would do to help. Has anyone had this issue before?

    Help?

  • Poor wifi signal

    My New Macbook air has very poor wifi signal, I have to sit within feet of my router to have a usable connection, I cannot even use it in the next room.
    Does anybody else have this problem, and would purchasing a antenna booster or signal repeater do the job?

    Here are some troubleshooting suggestions:
    OS X Mountain Lion: Solve problems with connecting to the Internet

Maybe you are looking for