HELP! Airport reception SO bad

Help! Is anyone else getting really bad Airport reception. I have less than half the range than my macbook. I can be looking right at my base station (Negear B) and I'll get only 2 bars. Wondering if anyone else has this experience or if I need to exchange my unit. Thanks!!!!!

if you are using a Netgear B, the connection will be slower because you are serving up B speed, not G or N speed. Try getting a faster router...

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Bad Airport reception and resetting SMC problem

Hi,
I still have the bad Airport reception problem (see http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1088230&tstart=0).
I did a complete new erase and install with the discs I got with the computer (10.4.10). When I arrived in the Finder, Airport was completely gone. Nothing to see in the menu bar, nothing in SysPrefs, nothing in System Profiler.
I reset the SMC (shut down, remove power, remove battery, hold power key for 5 secs, install battery, connect to power, boot without pushing any keys). Now I got Airport back, although with the same bad reception.
As a bonus, I now have 2 extra problems:
- when the computer goes to sleep after some idle time, it wakes up again within the second
- rebooting gives me a black screen, no chime, caps key light doesn't work, sleep light is on but not flashing, hard drive is still spinning. Only option: hold the power key for several seconds until it shut downs and boot it again.
And by the way: all this after the Airport card has been replaced!
Any similar experiences, or even better: solutions?
Thanks,
Jef

Hello,
I just received my MBP and I can't believe apple could keep ignoring this serious problem. I have a Dlink router and it works terrific with an old sony vaio but not with my brand new Mac!!! Actually my Airport detect several of the wireless networks around home including mine, but the signal indicator remains gray and the message:"there was an error joining the AirPort network "XXXXX" " is shown. What the **** are they doing at Apple? I use to be very confident about the quality of Macs but now ... Please Apple, stop being so arrogant and respect your costumers!!!! Provide a solution

Bad airport reception.

I don't know why, but my 1.2 ghz 12" ibook gets terrible airport reception. I have checked the airport antenna and it is plugged in. My ibook is 3 feet from my wifi station and it only get 1/2 the reception. When I go to public wifi spots, I never get a signal.
Any suggestions? Thanks

Hi,
How far is your Airport and modem from where your cable comes into your house. The reason i mention is that mine is approx 10mtrs and even when i am sitting at my desk with the AEBS right above my head i only get about 65% signal according to MacStumbler but 80-90% signal from my neighbour across the road. After phoning my ISP (Blueyonder in the UK) they sent out an engineer and he did all kind of tests but after it all he moved my modem and AEBS to about 2 mtrs away (temporarily) from where it splits from my cable box. Hey presto 98%.
Just a thought.
Pinkster

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?

Sudden and severe loss in AirPort reception

I use my TiBook at my desk (12 feet from wireless router) and on my couch (9 feet from wireless router). AirPort reception has been very strong (always five bars) for more than two years in these locations. I was even getting good, consistent reception throughout my entire condo. I have moved/added no furniture nor any other possible sources of interference.
Suddenly, reception is severely fluctuating and impacting network communications. I am never getting five bars, now. Reception varies wildly and quickly: 15 seconds of four bars, followed by 10 seconds of no network connection, followed by 20 seconds of two bars, etc. This continues even if nothing changes—for example, if I step away from the TiBook and watch the screen from several feet away.
I have tried the following without results: reseating the AirPort card and confirming the antenna is securely attached, pressing against the inside of the battery compartment to reseat one antenna, rebooting the machine (several times), small adjustments to the router antennae, subtle repositioning of the router, reseting the router, setting wireless communications from G to the supposedly more stable B, trying several channels other than the default channel 10. Nothing helps.
I have been reading about connectivity issues, but nothing suggests I should be having AirPort troubles when only 9 feet away from the router! I have run out of ideas. What am I missing?
J.

And another afterthought: I just picked up on rereading your post that you live in a condo. That suggests the possibility that someone in an adjacent or nearby unit may have installed something new in their unit that has caused increased interference for you. You obviously have no control over that — perhaps not even the ability to discover whether it's true. If you can't find any indication that either your router or your Airport card is malfunctioning, you may need to switch to using a wired connection, inconvenient as it may seem.
In my own home (which is several hundred feet from any external interference source), I was stymied for a long time by limited wireless range to distant parts of the house, porch, deck, etc., and I couldn't face having to run ethernet cables all through my existing walls. I solved the problem with two of these ($48 for the pair, shipping included, on Ebay). They work extremely well in my situation, but they might be vulnerable to power line noise in yours; I don't know for sure. Of course if you only use your Powerbook in the same room with your router, using a simple patch cable to connect them wouldn't be much of an inconvenience compared to having your connection dropped unpredictably.

G5 Quad - No Airport Reception After Upgrade - Software Issue

Hi,
I've just installed a 'wireless upgrade kit' in my quad (yes, I know it says AASP install only but I did in anyway). Bluetooth is working fine but airport gives me no reception at all.
Now, after some poking around I became pretty convinced this was a software issue. The system I'm running on the quad has been cloned from that on my old DP 2.5 ghz G5. I tried a fresh install on an external disc from the install discs that came with the quad and, lo and behold, airport works like a dream!!
So my question is - is there any way to migrate whatever extensions (or whatever) I need from the 'clean' system to my 'cloned' system so I don't have to start everything from scratch? I've tried an 'archive and install' but still no reception after that so I guess whatever I need must be in one of the folders that was archived...
What software bits and bobs does airport require to work?
Can anyone help me out here?
cheers

I never found a solution to this. Just had to reinstall everything from the discs that came with the Quad. Annoying.
But no airport reception can definitely be down to software!!

Horrible airport reception in new mac pro's?

I just received my mac pro late last week. I love everything about it except it's airport reception is really bad. I seem to be getting a lot of packet loss and trouble using it for much of anything. Even browsing the web is super slow.
I've got wireless devices all throughout my house and have a macbook pro sitting really close to it that connections to the network at full strength.
Is this to be expected? I've been doing some research and it seems some of the past models have had pretty bad reception too. Right now my work around is hooking it up to my MBP and using connection sharing but would love another solution.
Thanks!

I don't know about the new Nehalem Macs but I've owned both the first gen Mac Pro and now the Early 2008 version and can only say that the Airport reception is basically terrible. Even after switching antennas this Mac Pro only gets 60% reception while my old old AGP-Sawtooth which lies only 3 feet away gets 100% reception. On the old Sawtooth I can pick up 10 different networks, on the Mac Pro I only get my own and one other with a very weak signal. I did extensive testing with my local Apple dealer in his store and we both came to the conclusion that the Mac pros have crappy airport reception. We compared 3 Mac pros to iMacs and MacBooks in various locations in relation to their Wi-Fi router and the Mac Pros all showed much weaker signal strength that fell to useless in certain locations while the Macbooks still had four bars.
I've had to situate my router to be on the floor directly above me in order to get three solid bars, while the sawtooth gets full signal strength only three feet away from the Mac Pro. The only solution suggested by my Apple Dealer was a tad pricey but might be very effective: http://www.quickertek.com/
Good Luck.

Wretched airport reception on new Mac Mini

Me and this Mac Mini are not getting on at all.
I've set this machine up right next to my iMac G5. Both are accessing the same Airport Express wireless router that is in the family room down the hall about 15 feet.
The iMac G5 is downloading at 6x the speed of the Mac Mini. To download the same file from the same site the iMac G5 d/led at 125 KB/sec while the Mac Mini then got 24-25 KB/sec. Just to make sure, I then tried out my iBook, and it also d/l'd at 125 KB/sec (the file was cyberduck).
I tried to just transfer files from the iMac G5 to the mac mini using wireless, with similar results.
Have tried moving the machine all around the room, right now it is perched by itself on a dresser with no gain in performance.
I hope I have a bum unit, or one whose antenna has come loose. If not, there's going to be a real problem with the new Mac Mini.
Already I have had to use an ethernet cable to link the mini to the iMacG5 because the Mac Mini's airport reception is so bad that it can't stream music or video from iMac--four feet away.
Ouchy. Really looking for a report from another owner of the new mini so I can tell whether I have bum machine, or if these are the new titanium powerbooks.

Could you guys with the mini problems run the ping test? This will make it clear if you are having the same or a different problem as the iMac crowd. I suspect that the problem is the same.
Open Terminal and type
ping -c 30 <your router IP address>
you will get 30 pings on 1 second intervals something like this
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=167.164 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=120.104 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=73.494 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=26.472 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.452 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=1.475 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=4.092 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=2.442 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=1.459 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=1.532 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=250.869 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=221.416 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=175.034 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=128.510 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=1.439 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=1.466 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=1.472 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=1.538 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=1.496 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=64 time=1.502 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=64 time=249.518 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=64 time=202.338 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=64 time=155.823 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=64 time=112.687 ms
The typical sequence is 6 pings of about 1 mS followed by 4 pings of about 250, 200, 150 and 100 mS. This 10 ping pattern then repeats.
- gws

Airport reception compared to titanium powerbook

hi
just wondering if the aluminium powerbooks have better airport reception than the titanium model, as i currently have the 500mhz model and the reception is really bad compared to the ibook i used to have.
thanks andy

I never had any issues with my 17" Powerbook. I would say that your chances of having problems with Aluminum or plastic are about even with Titanium. The issue is not so much the material, as the potential for corrupt preferences, and problems of casing blocking some of the signal getting in that an external antenna could fix. Amazingly, you'll find the iMac Intel Core2duo is having airport problems, on this board:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=3694890#3694890
But as you see, I have the ability to receive 5 more networks with my iMac Intel Core2duo than I did before with my other Macs. Suffice it to say your mileage may vary by machine, not by model.

Airport Reception Questions

I have read many complaints about poor Airport reception with TiBooks. But most of the complaints seem to come from owners of 500MHz TiBooks. Did Apple improve the reception in the 1GHz model? I ask because I have not experienced a problem, but then again, I typically sit on my couch about 8 feet from my Airport Express Base Station. But I am curious is that was one issue with earlier TiBooks that Apple dealt with at some point. I know they dropped the ball on TiBook hinge design and case sturdiness. But did they rectify the Airport "problem"?
Also, if I use one PB with Airport Extreme, and one with just Airport, will the computer with the slower card perform much slower than the one with Extreme, or will it slow down my broadband collection much?

Chris, as you know Apple is always making efforts to enhance and improve on there products.
That being said the older Airport technology running 802.11b is slower than the newer Airport Extreme 802.11g.
The nice part about this is the reverse compatability of the Extreme recognizing and operating at the b technology speeds.
As for your other question about slowing down your broadband connection much. Generally as a rule it won't be as noticable as you might think. Remember that b and g technology operate at 2 distinct different speeds, and you will notice the difference there.
Depending on your Broadband.(Internet Service Providers Speed). There could be a drain on bandwidth if let's say downloading large files and or music, or video.
Most folks don't notice if they aren't using several applications and have them all open and running which tends to slow things down... Hope this helps...Don

Airport reception/range issues

I recently had an apple authorized service center intsall a Airport/Bluetooth card in my Dual core 2.0 G5. I am replacing a Quicksilver Dual 1ghz G4. The airport reception is much worse on my G5 than my G4. I was hoping that it would be better. I am in an office type situation and some of the networks that used to show are no longer showing up. Wondering if anyone else is experienceing the same thing, or if this might be the result of a bad install.
m

The older G5's had the Airport antenna external to the case, while the new G5's have the airport antenna internal.
Your older Quicksilver, while having the Airport antenna internal, was not inside a all metal case. This reminds me a great deal of the laptop Airport issues. The Pismo a plastic case and internal antenna ran rings around the Titanium's internal Airport antenna. The reason was the Titanium's case was made from metal, and only had a small plastic port in its side for the antenna to radiate from. It was and is a dog of Airport performance.
We ended up taking out the internal Airport cards from all of the G4 powerbooks, and replacing them with third party Wireless cards that plugged in externally via the PC Card slot. Once that was done, Wireless performance was excellent.
Back to your G5, people have reported both good and poor wireless performance. I suspect that those in marginal environments are seeing terrible connections, while those in high signal strength areas are doing ok.
You may want to consider an external wireless solution. Some folks have opted for either a USB based, or Ethernet based wireless bridge/client to make the connection. This allows you to have an external antenna, that you can place in an optimal position.
Tom N.

Airport Reception

I have been tempted to upgrade from my 5 month-old iBook G4 to a Powerbook 15" (refurbished unit), but I'm always stopped by reports of lousy Airport reception. Is it an established fact that PBooks get worse wireless than iBooks..or is it just Apple legend? Are there any PBook users out there with positive (at least as good as iBook) Airport experiences?

I have a hard time believing the problem MOST of us experience is due to a loose AP card. A loose AP card doesn't suddenly heal/reseat itself with a machine restart.
It seems that the only successful fixes for this problem in the last 15" PBs are:
1) Repair Permissions (I'm joking here, it worked for one guy; I've tried it countless times with no luck whatsoever)
2) Another AP base station installed in the home. (Another joke.) This one sounds like it was as much of a signal issue as anything else. That is, the home it was in sounded too big for adequate AP reception with only one BS.
3) Restart your machine. Which does work like a charm, but is not what was advertised by Apple in PB ads. Not even in tiny legal type hidden somewhere.
SO...that leaves us all with only one recourse (actually two, but hopefully the first will be all that's necessary): to constantly call Apple and complain in a firm but civil manner until this issue is resolved. We might have better luck going through Customer Relations. They can be accessed via the regular help line; you just have to ask a person to connect you with that department.
I think a good idea would be to tell the reps that there are multitudes of 15" last-gen PB owners experiencing this same problem (as evidenced by Apple's own boards right here) and we want to know what Apple is doing to address it...or if we need to pursue "other avenues" to get the problem rectified.
It might be warranted to call them oh, let's see...whenever the problem occurs. Or some close variation of that. For me, that would be literally almost every single day. PITA. But if enough of us do it and raise enough of a stink, my guess is they'll realize it will cost them more NOT to address it than to ignore it. As it stands, this lack of ANY official response is simply unacceptable.
The help line is 1-800-SOS-APPL. Dial early and often, people.

The application DOCS doesn't work. Doesn't have HELP. it is very bad. Help me. My ID is regobarros.thanks in advance

The application DOCS doesn't work. Doesn't have HELP. it is very bad. Help me. My ID is regobarros.thanks in advance

Also it was not and never has been jailbroken if that helps.

Poor airport reception

I'm getting terrible airport reception. Yesterday I was in a room with two other powerbooks and they both got great reception and I couldn't stay connected for more than ten seconds. This is not the first time. Here in my office I can't use my powerbook wireless but other people can. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Oh, I have a powerbook 15 inch, 1.25 Ghz.
Rick Bursky
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I haven't any suggestions, but I seem to have exactly the same problem with my new powerbook. I can't achieve anything like the reception quality that I am getting from my 12 inch Powerbook. I virtually have to be in the same room as the base station to get decent reception, whereas I can use my 12 in ch powerbook anywhere in the house or garden.
I'm getting terrible airport reception. Yesterday I
was in a room with two other powerbooks and they both
got great reception and I couldn't stay connected for
more than ten seconds. This is not the first time.
Here in my office I can't use my powerbook wireless
but other people can. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance. Oh, I have a powerbook 15 inch,
1.25 Ghz.
Rick Bursky
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
1.67GHz Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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

HELP! Airport reception SO bad

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