Intermittent Airport Card Connections

I have an Airport 'Snow' base station, and a Powermac G4 'Sawtooth', and an iBook G3, both equipped with Airport 802.11b cards. Both computers are within 30' of the base station. Recently, the G4's Airport connection has been working only intermittently. The Airport icon in the menu bar on the G3 lists no available networks to join. On the 3 occasions before this happened, the signal level shown in the 'Internet Connect' app would drop by about two thirds, from its normal 100% strength. After about 2 or 3 days, the Airport card begins functioning again. I had thought originally that it might be interference from one of my neighbors' wireless networks here in my condo; but after downloading and using the iStumbler app and the iStumbler Spectrum Dashboard widget, I can see that my neighbors' networks are all on different channels and frequencies. On the occasions when the Airport card failed to connect or to see any networks, I was also unable to create a computer to computer network with the card. And after creating a network on my iBook with it's Airport card, the G4 failed to see the iBook's network. This all leads me to believe that the G4's Airport card is failing intermittently, and should be replaced. I'm hoping that someone here with more experience can agree with me, or suggest an alternate solution that doesn't include replacing the card. By the way, the iBook and it's Airport card have not been experiencing any connection problems whatsoever.
G4 AGP 'Sawtooth' Mac OS X (10.4.9)
G4 AGP 'Sawtooth' Mac OS X (10.4.9)
G4 AGP 'Sawtooth' Mac OS X (10.4.9)
G4 AGP 'Sawtooth' Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I am in a similar situation and have not yet found a solution. My airport is working intermittently. Right now it has been on the longest for over 4 hours. But when the signal drops, I can take my laptop and go right next to the base station and get no signal! Restarting the base station (snow dual ethernet) and/or rebooting the computer makes no difference. I am leaning towards it possibly being a bad airport card, but would love to know some way of diagnosing it definitively. I don't live near an Apple Store so that's out.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Joan
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.10) airport extreme card

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Airport card connected but safari not connected to internet

Running os 10.4.1 on IMAC g5 with airport card.
i am having some wireless network issues. when i try to connect to the linksys router that my airport card locates it tells me that i am connected to the network; but when i try to load a page in Safari it tells me that i am not connected to the internet. Internet Explorer gives me the same message.
i have been able to test my airport card by logging into another (neighbor's) network (just for testing). it received DHCP from that router and assigned a 198.162.x.x. IP address for my computer. i originally had the same issue as far as being connected but safari wouldnt open web pages. i manually plugged in DNS numbers 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 from OPEN DNS.com and Safari instantly loaded web pages.
when i try to do the same on the linksys network my airport card connects but Safari once again will not connect to the internet. I am receiving a DHCP IP address automatically from that router but cannot connect to the internet...
PLEASE HELP ME (it's driving me crazy!)

Oh man... since my last post (all of 15 minutes ago) my iMac now cannot connect to the network at all. The network status menu widget shows it as being connected (sometimes), but it can't actually connect to anything.
Just as an experiment, I turned off MAC address filtering on the base station. Didn't help.

Can an original Airport card connect to an Airport Extreme base station

I have an old iBook G3 10.3.9 with an original Airport card (System Profile says "Wireless Card Firmware Version: 8.70"). This computer/airport card connects fine with an old Airport Graphite.
But it will not connect with my main Airport Extreme 802.11n (1st Generation), running in 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible) mode. This Airport is using WPA/WPA2 Personal wireless security. This Airport Extreme works fine with my other computers and devices.
Does anybody know, offhand, whether it is just a setting, or is this completely unworkable?
Thanks in advance for any input.

I cannot remember all the details regarding the older iBooks, but suspect that the wireless card and possibly the operating system that you are using on the iBook cannot support WPA/WPA2 wireless encryption.
As a test....
Temporarily turn off the wireless security on the 1st Gen AirPort Extreme, then see if the iBook can connect to the wireless network that way.
If it can, this tells you that the wireless is at least working on the iBook....but it cannot connect to the WPA/WPA2 network.
The solution might be to use a USB wireless adapter that can handle the higher encryption levels, or connect the iBook using Ethernet.
If the iBook still cannot connect when security is disabled during the test, then the iBook has additional issues that you may or may not wish to pursue.

Airport card connection problems

Running an iMac g4, 800mHz with an airport card installed, firmware v. 9.52. I can connect to an open Linksys network no problem but I can't connect to an encrypted (WEP) Airport Extreme network or an encrypted (WAP) Medialink network. In both cases the routers are w/in about 10 feet of the computer, and line of sight, so it's not signal stength. I'm thinking maybe the airport card firmware? if so, how do I upgrade same?

Word for word the same problem I'm having. I've been days updating (jumped from 10.1.2 in an 800mHz Lampshade iMac all the way up to 10.4.11 to try and fixed the issue.) to no avail. The firmware on the airport card is 9.52, and no additional updates are available. It WILL connect if I completely remove security from the network. But as soon as I try anything WEP or WAP it gives me the same error message about the password not working.
Also trying it on two different routers.
Here's hoping we get a response! If I can get this thing working in the guest room, then we'll be a 5 mac household! (not counting iPad & iPhones).
I know these things are old... but they're still gorgeous and worth using! HALP APPLE!

Original airport card connection to Belkin Wireless G Plus router

I have an iBook G3 with an original airport card in it. The card works because I can acess the internet at school or the local Wi-Fi hotspots. I cannot however connect to my own network at home. The computer will pick up my network but when I try to connect I am asked for a password. I DO NOT have NEVER HAD a password for my network and my PC will connect wirelessly just fine. I have read the manuals for every thing I have and can not figure out why it wont connect. Any suggestions other than getting a new computer?

Already tried that
Is the Belkin running in 802.11g mode?
It needs to be running in 802.11b or 802.11b/g mixed mode for a Mac with the original Airport card to connect.
Has the Mac been able to connect to any wireless network?

OS X 10.2 w/ Airport Card Connecting to Extreme Base Station

Hey--
I'm on a G3 Powerbook (w/Firewire) running OS X 10.2 and I installed an Airport Card and I'm trying to connect to a new Extreme Base Station-- and PB can't see the Base station in the Airport Utility. Although my PB does receive the signal from the base station.
I've tried:
- Resetting the base station
- Loaded Airport 2.1.1 software update
- a million configurations
- yelling at it...
The airport card does work, because it connected on another wireless system.
Can someone help me with the definative fix?
Mike

Welcome to the discussion area, stacidesign!
First, you have verified that the PC can connect to another wireless network, correct? If it can, then that tells you that the wireless card is functioning correctly.
You'll have better luck connecting to a newer wireless router if you are able to update the PC to Windows XP SP3. Have you tried this?
It's also possible that the wireless card in the PC can connect to a 802.11 "b" or "g" network, but not to an "n" network. To check that out, you need to use AirPort Utility - Manual Setup to make a change in the radio mode of the AirPort Extreme.
Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons
Hold down the option key on your Mac while you click on the Radio Mode selection box
Write down your current settings so you can return to them later if needed
Select this Radio Mode...+802.11n only (5 GHz) -- 802.11 b/g+
Keep the Wireless Security set to "None" temporarily
Update to save changes and allow 30-40 seconds for the AirPort Extreme to restart
Restart the PC
See if the PC can connect now
Please post back on your results
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

IBook G3 optional airport card connection

I have a 2003 iBook G3 with an optional airport card which doesn't connect to a new airport extreme base station. Is it just too out-of-date to make the wifi connection to new base stations? I can connect by ethernet.

The article https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht2594 contains information about the requirements for a connection to a base station with WPA security (if this is what you are using). However, although a plain AirPort card (802.11b) is mentioned there, it appears to be unclear whether it in fact is possible to use such a card with WPA. You may want to study posts in the AirPort communities to begin with.
You may also (temporarily) want to switch off encryption (or use WEP) at an available base station (router) for a test. If one can connect then, you know that the problem is related to security settings.
One alternative could possibly be to use a USB wireless adapter (with WPA/WPA2 capabilities), but these do usually require at least Mac OS X 10.3 (often higher). So, make sure that driver software is available for your system before you buy.
Another option (albeit less portable) could be to connect a wireless Ethernet bridge (such as Netgear WNCE2001 or Linksys WET610n) to the Ethernet port. This kind of adapter does not need special drivers, and can thus be used under almost any operating system.
Jan

Intermittent airport card

I'm having problems with an iMac DV SE 400 mHz and it's airport card does not work properly all the time. The card is always recognized, but sometimes the signal icon in the menu bar will go grey and the card will no longer see the airport extreme base station, or any other wireless signal. This problem comes and goes randomly as far as I can tell.
I have tried downgrading the airport softwares on the iMac and base station to 4.1, and reseating the card several times.
Any help would be appreciated,
Brian

It could be a failing AirPort card. It also could be RF interference. Have you tried setting your base station to a different channel?
See AirPort: Potential sources of interference.

Unstable airport card connection

Perhaps I have a buffering problem, if I knew what buffering is. My 9.2 iMac with Airport card was set up as the base station for the household iBook and was itself hard-wired to my DSL modem (Qwest ActionTec). Everything worked fine for months. Recently the local mac doctor redid my setup to make both macs wireless, using the modem as the router. The iBook is still functioning as usual, but my iMac is driving me nuts: the Airport status panel indicates that the signal is strong--and then I see "no network selected." So everything I do online is screwy--slow loading, lost data, etc. What can I do except hardwire again? I can't see anyplace on the modem to change channels--can you tell you're dealing with a no-nothing? THANKS!

See my post about using the WaveLan card out of an old graphite "flying saucer" Airport Base Station. My iMac accepted one as an Airport card. The old ABSes are cheap since they don't work with new releases of OS X any more.

Airport Card / Connection gone

About two weeks ago, both my Powerbook and girlfriend's iBook lost Airport ability. There was no connection to the Airport Express base station, even though the AE had the normal green light.
Clicking the Airport icon in the top menu bar gave the endless spinning beach ball and froze the Powerbook. Same for the iBook. (Note: In 3 1/2 years my PB has frozen maybe three times.) I have hard-shut-down the PB 30-40 times last weekend trying to resolve this Airport issue.
I have reconfigured the AXBS and now just ethernet straight to the PB for the internet. I can't believe it would be a hardware issue - either BOTH cards dying at the same time. The only thing I can imagine is that there was some sort of update that did them both in, but I can't remember what it could be.
We erased the drive and reinstalled Jaguar, then Panther to the iBook but the Airport issue persists there. I can't mess with the PB because I have too much work to do.
Please help. And, Henry B., you and I have discussed a bit of this before and you were a help, but I'm trying here again.
Cheers,
Jason

Please see my post. This is an option that may help. Here it is copied and pasted
To any of those that are having issues with your airport after the update here is a possible solution. Open the Hard Drive (from Finder) Then open "Preferences" then scroll to "SystemConfiguration" drag it to the desktop, and then restart. After that, Open up "System Preferences" from the apple menu. Go to "Network", you then need to make a new location. You can title it anything that you would like to. Hit "Apply Now". Your airport should be up and running, you may need to restart. You can now delete the "SystemConfiguration" folder that you dragged to your desktop, as OSX has now made a new one.
The reason that you need to do this, is that somehow, the "SystemConfiguration" folder and files became corrupt and something in the X.4.3 causes them to be noticed, thus your airport fails to work. Hope it helps some of you.

Do I need an Airport card, too?

I have a flat panel iMac without an airport card connected to the internet via Ethernet with a 2Wire router. I have an iBook with an airport card.
So .... my iBook connects to my 2Wire network via airport, but I can't get on the Internet and even though file sharing is on on my iMac, I can't seem to access my iMac files.
Is this because I don't have an airport card in my iMac? I thought the wireless router would act as an airport card, but maybe I was wrong! If I do need an airport card for my iMac, where would I find one besides eBay?

Hi,
More things to help anybody else--what OS-X are you using, what version Flat Panel iMac, PPC or Intel, same with your iBook, my wife has a 2001 and they made them up untill recently.
You were right the first time, you won't see Airport because you don't have a card plugged in, the router is now your "Airport" card via ethernet. The computer doesn't see it so it won't bring it up. The same thing happened with my Blue Tooth. One less button to confuse me with i say.
Try looking at your TCP/IP settings on your iMac and see if their the same as your iBook. They should be identical except for the last 2 or 3 numbers at the end of the "IP Address:". Those are assigned by the router to each different computer. So depending on the router both computers should only be 1 or 2 of from each other.
You might try just making another Location and starting over and see what happens. Or if you have another Account boot into it and see if you are having the same problem.
At the very least Boot into your Startup Disk in "OS-10.xx whatever" and repair Permissions. You should boot into it before and after you update anyway.
One other thing, does your computer automatically log in or do you have to type in the passwords and network name because you might be logged into you neighbors network instead. I can go to a wireless motel or truck stop or rest area and there might be a half dozen networks showing and i can connect to half of them (no password needed) but i can't get on the internet.(password needed). Just a thought.
This is a very long shot but what the hey,
I've heard the last few updates in 10.4.x and 10.5.x have been giving every one fits so just for the heck of it, if your not using it as Admin, take a look in your "Accounts" under "Preferences" and click on" Parental Controls" and see if it defauted back. It's a shot in the dark but i've heard of odder things happening.
Good luck
Message was edited by: Jaygyver

New imac 21, airport card anomalies...

hello everybody
just to inform, as here apple ssupport didn't ptopose such "simple`" solution to a kind of network misconfiguration , bad access to web services, aso
1) after a few s=days, a brand new imac 2.5 g intel core i5 was not connecting to te router correctly.
2) when calling apple support, describing the airport icon showing @no airport card connected@,(even if the system info[locations showed a card and even the modem data on screen..) so i had to pack tje machine and travel to such apple center downtown, Polanco, and here in Mexico it's a real pleasure to ride some 2 hours in eavy traffic..
3) arriving there, no airport card problem, and the technician described me a probable motherboard saturation or even overheating situation, i said ok, will go home and see if everything keeps working fine.
4) a few days later, again, no access to web, automatic or personalized network or account adjustments seem fine.. but no way to receive or send mail, web pages crazyly slow, aso...
5) when 24 hours later no way to see nothing, even the airport icon with stripes shows just clear empty grayish icon..
6) calling again ther apple service center, again they ask me to carry the stuff downtown, must be or could be probably a configuration problem, need to be checked there, aso, no way to look for or propose some solution just by calling them aso.
7) calling ip service, we tried for more than an hour to check , trying all options, f.i. using ethernet cable (modem always good, and machine working fine then) we examined all options, accounts configuration, the automatic was not accepting a connection, system showing "Airport connected but no ip address because not attributed, or missing", aso)
8) and when changing from automatic locatoon to the configuration we had installed weeks before to help solve the connection problem , same result.
the directions of ip, router subnet mask aso were correct, changed eventually, no way, nothing was connecting., we tried quitiing such non automatic configuration to avoid possible conflicts, no results.
9) after an hour or so, the technician from my IP offered to quit the airport configuration (even with a green bulb visible that airport config was not connecting, the desktop icon was sometimes greyish, sometimes empty, aso...) and add a new one.
10) at the moment it was created (as "airport 2") ... the automatic configuration looked instantly for another ip adress, and everything works fine now..
SOSO why doesn[t apple support technicians have suchj ideas ? why did the airport icon even show a "not connected{ airport card message ?
I phoned those apple guys around, explained them the solution offerde by phone by the IOP provider, no comment, answer or even a simpe "thanks" for such suggestion , from them, whan the received such info, Hopefully will eb useful for others users, and eventually after a post here. tschuss
Form Mexico city...

Looks like this issue has hit its fair share of people. Spoke to Apple support today about the same issue. Brand new iMac 27' 2.8 quad core with 8gb of ram and I opened the box only to find my airport card was not recognized by OSX. After performing several support steps, the staff let me know that this was indeed a hardware related issue - I am not advocating this is everyone'e issue just mine.
Here is what we did to troubleshoot and determine it was hardware related.
Open system profiler / go to network and look at airport - if all you see is "software versions" your hardware is not recognized. You will need to reboot the system and clear the SMC. To do this do the following:
Unplug everything from your iMac and wait 60 seconds with absolutely nothing connected to it. After that, plug in your power cable and press the power button down, letting it go after 2 seconds. Immediately after the power button is let go - hold down option + apple + p + r you will hear 2 "bong" sounds, then let go of the keys and boot. If your hardware does not show up you will need to boot to the OSX install DVD to get a "clean" install of OSX.
Boot to OSX DVD
Insert DVD
Shut down system
Power on system - hold down C key until you hear a chime then let go. System will boot to OSX install.
Once you pass all the prompts by selecting defaults, you will come to "Install MAC OSX" asking you to select the disk where you want to install. DO NOT CLICK INSTALL. Open Utilities / System profiler. If you still do not see anything under Airport other than software, your Airport card is bad or at the very least not showing up in the OS. If you do see the airport card there, you will need to reinstall the OS to have it recognize the card.
Hope that helps!

Powerbook G4 - Will Not Recognize Airport Card (Wireless)

Hi all,
I've had my Powerbook for about 3 years now. I upgraded to 10.4 sometime last year.
Last week, my Powerbook stopped recognizing my airport card. I see a small dent in the back corner of the laptop's base so I am thinking my toddler got a hold of it.
Anyway, everything else appears to work fine. What can I do t get it to recognize the airport? Does the card need to be replaced or could something have come loose? If so, how can I access the card?
All help is appreciated!

could be loose AirPort card connection.
guide on card removal/installation:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Al-12-Inch/Airport-Extreme-Card/53/ 4

Original Airport Card: Intermittent connection to internet

I have a wireless (netgear router) home network that has been running fine for over a year. Two dell laptops and Two iMac computers connect wirelessly w/o problems. Last week the iMac (original G4 FlatPanel) with airport card located in the basement start dropping the network (no network detected). All other machines still work fine. The laptop taken into the basement work fine.
The original iMac shows the airport power "on" but no network to connect to? Laptop show network and good signal strength. Next time I check the iMac, its connected with excellent signal. Next time....gone! This has been ongoing on for over a week now. As of late it's see no networks (there's 3 in my neighborhoos - mine and 2 others)
Is it interference? Faulty Airport card? Gremlins?
Any suggestions? Thanks!

If you move the G4, having the problem, to another location nearer your router does it still exhibit these problems? You mentioned that if you tried with one of your Dell laptops, at the same location as the G4, it's working fine...correct?
I'm leaning toward your AirPort card in the G4 is failing vs. interference as the cause of your intermittent connections.

Why does Airport card lose AX network connection intermittently??

I'll be working, and then abruptly the Airport card in my iMac G4 loses the AX connection to the Apple network, and can't find any network. My iBook picks it up fine. Then, maybe within a half hour or so, it suddenly finds the AX Apple network again. All the while my iBook is fine. The only difference between these computers is that the iBook has an Airport Extreme card, and the iMac has an Airport card. And, I'm also in the same room as the AX station. iStumbler appears to show a loss of signal when this occurs, but that doesn't explain the iBook working fine.
I looked in the AP mgmt utility, and saw this:
"Deauthenticated with station (iMac mac address) (inactivity)."
And then:
"Deauthenticated with station (iMac mac address) (received invalid class-3 frame)."
What is the problem here??
Config: Cable Modem > Belkin F5d7230-4 router > ethernet to AX > wireless to computers
iBook G4 / iMac G4 / iPod 20GB Mac OS X (10.4.7)
iBook G4 / iMac G4 / iPod 20GB Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I'm looking into that possibility.......have a cordless phone in the office, a PC, cell phones, etc. Will clear them out and recheck. The maddening thing is that the iBook is totally bulletproof even in that environment. Why would the iMac be having these issues, but not the iBook? Is Airport Extreme more robust, or that much better than Airport?
Even now, the iMac shows no network - yet I'm writing this on the iBook right next to it, and it's had no network interruption whatsoever.
Do you have any knowledge of those "error" notations from the syslog? Could they be pointing to anything else?
Thanks much.....

Intermittent Airport Card Connections

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