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.

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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

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.

Airport card intermittently not recognised

I just got my new 15" powerbook 1.67. The airport card only sometimes is recognised when the computer is started up. When I go into system profiler it says it is not installed. Restart a few times and it's there again! I ran the apple hardware test and it said that the airport card had "passed" - is this something with the OS not recognising it on start up, or is it more likely to be some kind of loose connection, needing an apple tech to have a look at it? I've also repaired permission, reset NVRAM, all with no improvement.
Is there anything else I can do to try to get this to work as it should?
15" Powerbook 1.67GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

As you mention, this type of behaviour is often caused by the Airport card not being installed connectly or tightly enough. The problem you are going to have is that the current model PowerBook does not give user access to the card where older models do (as it used to be an optional extra).
Probably the best thing to do is find yourself a local authorised Apple service centre for them to reseat the Airport card. They should be able to do it while you wait otherwise can make a appointment to do it on another day to do it while you wait.

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.....

MacBook wireless issue (ongoing) & DIY airport card replacement

Hello,
With reference to the ongoing MacBook/OSX (10.5.3) Leopard intermittent wireless issues discussed in this forum has anybody gone ahead and taken matters into their own hands and purchased and installed a new Airport card for their MacBook from www.ifixit.com?
Further details at: http://www.ifixit.com/MacBook-Parts/MacBook-Core-2-Duo-Santa-Rosa-Penryn-802-11n -Airport-Extreme-Card/IF186-062
If so, did it resolve your intermittent Airport issues?
It seems to me that when the MacBook is running on battery power only the Airport card does not realise that the MacBook has come out of sleep sometimes and therefore does not always function correctly. Maybe the Airport card does not receive sufficient power when the MacBook comes out of sleep mode whilst running on batteries only?
Typically when I run the MacBook connected to power the intermittent wireless problem does not occur.
This issue has been a recurring problem for me for 6 months now and unfortunately I have not seen Apple address this issue.
My MacBook is 6-months old and is a black MacBook using a 2.2GHz processor running Leopard OSX 10.5.3.
Cheers,
treaders

Visit Apple Store and replaced the Airport card.

Faulty airport card or interference-how to troubleshoot

Knock on wood, my problems from this past spring having the network drops that seem to still be plaguing many are gone. However, I have an almost as annoying problem.
We have moved into a new home and have AT&T Uverse service using a 2Wire 3800HGV-B Gateway. This whole "Uverse" marketing thing is a bit of a black box to me, but I believe this Gateway also handles my digital TV. I have a Lingo VOIP adapter plugged into it as well.
I have 3 Macs in my household, all with airport cards installed: iMac G4 running 10.3.9, iMac Intel 2 Core Duo running 10.5.3, and my beloved MacbookPro Intel Core Duo running 10.4.11.
Unfortunately, my MacbookPro has intermittently doggish internet speeds compared to the other two when I sit at my favorite place at our breakfast bar. When I use an ethernet connection directly to the 2Wire gateway, speeds are comparable with my desktops.
My frustration is that sometimes the MacbookPro is speedy in my breakfast bar location and other times a dog. How do I tease out interference vs. network traffic vs. could it be a bad airport card?

make sure your wireless router is on channel 1
microwaves and other kitchen appliances cause interference if your on channel 6 or 11... after you make the change test it out and see if is still an issue...

Airport Card on the blink

Hi - I have three 14" ibooks on the same airmac network. One of them, an iBook 900mhz, keeps dropping the airmac connection due to: 'unable to find airport card' error. If the computer is then turned off for sometime then it is then able to reconnect to the network, say for about 30 minutes before the connection is again dropped, and so on. The ibook is fitted with 2 extra fans for cooling and the room is about 26C. This has occurred with OS 10.3.9 and also 10.4.2. The airport card is fixed perfectly.
Any comments of ideas welcome.
I thought the airport card may be no longer any good? Also, I tried to see the other two posts on where to by aircards of Mac (not extreme) but the 3 companies listed are for domestic US only - I need international; if anyone knows a supplier who will ship overseas that into. would be helpful.
Thanks
Steven, in Japan

The airport card in the iBook is still switching off without warning after some 30~40 minutes of use. If the computer is turned off for say 30 minutes then the airport card joins the net work without any problems. Two other similar iBooks on the same network have no issues.
At first I thought the problems was due to overheating in that particular iBook so I have now installed a two external cooling fan system. WHile the computer is running much cooler the Airport card is still switching off without warning intermittently.
Is there any way to test this Airport card - or does it need replacing. I have found one source of replacement cards, but I am unsure this situation will improve if the airport card is changed.

Failing/ed imac crt antenna or failed airport card?

Hardware Overview:
Machine Model: iMac
CPU Type: PowerPC 750 (33.11)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 700 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.1.9f1
Serial Number: YM1360GRLFD
running on dsl via airport. airport signal started to fail intermittently after a few minutes. this started after son got a power book after his crt with airport failed on an oldert crt model.
called mac asssistance and for a fee they could not help me other than the old move/turn off the portable phones. the thing always worked before with the portable phones nearby so they suggested "external" interference. I asked about airport extreme and they said yeah, try that, more robust at zeroing in on frequency. bought airport extreme after first consulting genius at genius bar in clarendon who assured me it is the built in antenna not the airport card. he had no airport card on hand to test my computer (does not do obsolete thank you). he was flip and certain and suggested i just junk the thing since the repair is very expensive or try an external antenna from quickertech which apparently does not exist (antenna not company). i can get signal using ethernet connection and can get the airport to work sometimes when the computer is cold. as the session contnues, the signal fades and stops. i am exasperated that mac has dropped support for this product so soon after it made them millions. anybody had the same problem and found a solution? otherwise my next step is the repair facility. this is a sweet machine not going to a dumpster in the name of conspicuous consumption.

This is a duplicate post. I replied to your other post last week and you didn't respond to that reply. Basically i said there that I have never heard of the antenna failing in an apple computer. A solution however may be an external ethernet wireless bridge since they have an external antenna. Perhaps others have more to add though.
Did you actually try turning off any nearby phones? You seem to dismiss the idea because it always worked before, but they could be contributing to interference, or someone elses phone could be. What about moving the computer? Does it help if the computer is closer to the base station?
Dropped support so soon? Airport hasn't been made in a couple of years now, and its not like its not supported at all, they just don't make them at all. Apple is glad to help you if you pay them for the privelege, same as for every other product they make. All the software they amke works with it just fine, which is kind fo the definition of supporting the technology.

Having intermittent Airport connectivity with a 2010 6 core MacPro. Any help?

Having intermittent Airport connectivity with a 2010 6 core MacPro. When it works has low bars on status graph. Laptop set up next to it has no connect problems. Airport utility has shown no Airports a couple times when the laptop showed all. When first joined network, staus bar is full, then drops to one or two bars. Would this be an antenna or card being loose? Is it user friendly fix, or bring it to Apple? Thanks in advance.

Would this be an antenna or card being loose?
Sounds like it.
Is it user friendly fix, or bring it to Apple?
If under AppleCare, bring it to Apple. If not, you can probably find instructions to fix a loose antenna connector yourself.

Where can I buy a replacement AirPort Card for a PowerBook?

My old G3 Firewire PowerBook is having problems recognizing my AirPort Base Station. I think the internal AirPort Card is intermittent. Where can I buy a replacement Apple AirPort card ? My local Apple Store claims that they are no longer available now that the Extreme cards are standard issue.
Thanks
Kevin

L.A. Computer Company Store is one location.

Installed updates--now Airport Card vanished

Greetings,
I have the most recent 21.5" iMac (3.2 GHz) with the most recent OS installed.
Last night, I installed three updates: iTunes 10, Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0, and Security Update 2010-005 1.0. I restarted the computer.
This morning, I went to get online and my Airport was gone. It said "Airport Card Not Installed." This is odd because it's worked fine since January.
I went to Networking, and Airport was off. When I clicked "Turn Airport On" nothing happened.
I tried holding shift and restarting, restarting again, and shutting down. It's dead. My Windows laptop gets internet without a problem.
Some forums have recommended holding P and R while restarting. What is that? Other ideas as to what has occurred?
Thanks!

I recently bought and installed iLife '11 and since then (few weeks ago) I have had intermittent issues with the airport card not working and a message saying 'airport not installed' showing. I mention iLife '11 as it is the only significant change to my system since I bought the iMac. Until now I have never experienced any issues with airport cards on this or a long serving previous iMac. The point is nothing I have done (I've hunted out many discussion threads on this and other forums) has made a blind bit of difference (gone through all of the things so far suggested here - nothing worked). The only solution has been to switch off and try again the next day. So far that has worked but I would rather know why this happens and how to stop it then just be at the mercy of a random error / bug. Anyone else had random failures of airport cards? I have grown to expect Apple equipment to be reliable... having re-evaluate that of late!
I have a late '09 iMac with the latest OS updates installed. Linked to a secure wireless network, shared with a Dell PC (also wireless).

Why does my airport card randomly quit working?

I have been having alot of issues with my airport card. It randomly cuts off for no reason. If I turn the card off and then back on it will work fine for a little while before the problem is repeated. The computer isn't even a year old and it has been doing this for nearly 6 months. I was running Snow Leopard, but now I've switched to Lion and haven't had any better luck. Any help that anyone could offer on this would be GREATLY appreciated as this problem is extremly annoying. Thanks in advance.

Likely because of intermittent network problems.
Also see:
iOS: Troubleshooting FaceTime
iOS: Troubleshooting Messages

Airport Card no longer recognized by PowerBook

I always take my PowerBook G4 to class with me for the purpose of taking notes during class. I was connected to the internet there, over the wireless network (on campus) with no problem.
When I got back home, my PowerBook wasn't seeing the wireless network (at home, seperate from the wireless network on campus), but I knew it was working because my iMac is connected to it just fine, along with two other computers in my house. I tried restarting a couple of times, and actually typing the name of the network into the Airport drop-down menu. This all did nothing, as did repairing the disk permissions.
I find it very unlikely that the card is not seated correctly, because first of all, when I brought the PowerBook back from campus (when it was working properly) it was tranported in my TUMI bag, which has a dedicated padded holder for PowerBooks, and then immediately took it out and sat it on my desk next to my iMac only to find the PowerBook no longer seeing the wireless signal.
And at this point, I could still turn Airport on and off, and I restarted the computer a couple of times to see if it would pick up the signal, all the while Airport was still recognized by the system (I could still turn it off and on from the drop-down menu, but no wireless networks were present).
So, I popped in my OS X DVD to boot from it to use the Repair Disk feature. It came up with an error that said something to the tune of "incorrect number of threads." It repaired the disk without any probems, or so I thought (and so it thought).
Now, the computer wouldl not function because it runs into a kernal panic, forcing me to hard shut-down the computer. It happened everytime, sometimes during startup, sometimes not until I got into OS X, but always soon after the OS starts.
I then booted the computer as a "Safe boot" and this seemed to stop the kernal panics, and I shut down the computer and started it again with no panics. There was no longer any recognition of the Airport card, either. Not even through the Airport Setup Assistant. It keeps telling me there is no card installed.
I have tried two seperate cards, as I thought maybe the one went bad, but nothing came of this. I tried zapping the PRAM, booting into Open Firmware to reset to defaults, all leading to nothing. I even went so far as to completely erase the drive and do a clean install of OS X, which now drops my system down to 10.4. NOTHING.
Please, anyone willing to help that would be great, even if you would like to contact me through iChat and we can discuss this over iSight to get to the root of the problem. Screen name is CoreyAtMiamiU.
Sorry about the long post and thanks for taking the time to read it.

This is a user to user discussion area. So it is unpredictable as to when someone with a suggestion will respond to your post. An hour in the middle of a work day isn't a long time.
Since the card is recognized, there isn't anything wrong with that side of the card. If the card isn't receiving a signal, either the RF side of the card has failed, the antenna wire isn't connected properly, or the antenna in the PowerBook has failed.

What is needed to network 2 computers using Airport card

I know I need an airport card in my eMac, but is there any other cards that have to be in the computer? I want to network my eMac with an iMac using a DSL line. The eMac will be downstairs and the iMac will be upstairs. I'm waiting for delivery from Apple of the iMac. It has everything built in that is needed to network but my eMac doesn't. To make my eMac wireless is all I have to buy is an Airport Card and a Wireless Gateway for the iMac which is the computer connected to the DSL modem and Wireless USB adapter with connects to the eMac? What type of Airport Card do I need to buy for my eMac (model #'s etc.) It is the card that inserts above the super drive in the front of the computer. Is there any software that is needed to install Airport?

I am also doing some configuration changes (we have one Imac and two eMac's)
but one eMac does not have a airport card and is hardwired (ethernet) to the high speed cable modem then a apple airport. One Imac and the Emac with a airport card work fine, it is a bit tricky finding the correct airport card (or airport extreme card if you have a ATI graphics card (use about the mac/system profiler then click on more to see if you have a graphics card (which affects which airport card you need, there are alot of resellers on the net so you should find what you want.
If in doubt there is a free program mactracker which provides data on every mac made (available off off versiontracker.com (free site just register) it will guide
you on the type of card needed. I was quite amazed at the amount of different spec eMac's made in their relativealy short history.
Macwireless.com does sell eMac cards (for two models) but also antenna type
or flash drive appearing USB based wireless connectors that may help.
I found the mactracker program helpful (alot) as alot of web sites provide some vague info and I would hate to se you get stuck with a non returnable card.
The actual card install does not look hard (its done through the cd rom drive door.
I am not sure why we did not get a airport card for ours when we bought it.
Wish I did as it would have saved some $ (maybe) and surf time making sure I find the right one.
We did have a antenna wireless antenna for a "green" Imac (long gone) and it ran on OS9 but it was finicky when we had the airport base station upstairs
and the Imac and antenna in the basement (about 50-75 feet)
Best of luck
Hope this helps, I am not a expert, the serial number on the cd drawer will
nail down the model you have and what you need.
We have been working adding a laser printer and airport express and the two macs with cards work fine but the Emac with no card can not be set up yet. The laser printer will sure save on ink!

Intermittent airport card

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