Intermittent Airport

I've posted this before, but have had little luck, so here goes:
The computer in question belongs to my Dad:
iMac DV SE 400 mHz
640 megs RAM
OS X 10.4.3
The airport card installed in it works only on some occassions, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it working when it does or not working when it doesn't.
What I've tried:
-upgrading the airport drivers on both the iMac and airport extreme base station and all other computers on the network
-De-upgrading airport drivers on all the above
-Reseating the card
-reseating the antenna cable for the card
I may have forgotten a few things, but that about sums it up. I'd really like to get this computer working regularly again, and am unsure why it has refused to work. When the card doesn't work, the airport menu goes grey and it cannot see any wireless routers or computers in range. When it works it sees everything and automatically logs on to the right wireless router and internet works just as advertised.
Thanks to anyone who can help me figure this out,
Brian

Are there any other 2.4 GHz devices in the area? The RF interference caused by these devices can negatively impact the wireless network. See KB 58543, AirPort: Potential sources of interference.

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

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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.

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~Ryan

Sometimes using a Static IP helps this.
Network CP>Configure>Airport>TCP/IP tab>DHCP with Manual Address.
Any chance of interference from TVs, Microwaves, Cell Phones, etc.?
Have you tried changing the Channel of the BS yet?
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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)
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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

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.

Incredibly annoying intermittent airport issue

hi i have a mac pro with the latest version of os x. i frequently lose airport connectivity out of nowhere with this in the console
2/4/09 11:03:56 PM kernel Auth result for: 00:11:24:5d:bf:c1 MAC AUTH succeeded
2/4/09 11:03:56 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en2
2/4/09 11:06:23 PM kernel AirPort: No beacon for too long time
2/4/09 11:06:23 PM kernel AirPort: Link Down on en2
2/4/09 11:06:26 PM configd[14] rtmsg: error writing to routing socket
2/4/09 11:06:29 PM ntpd[25] sendto(17.151.16.22) (fd=26): Can't assign requested address
2/4/09 11:07:12 PM kernel Auth result for: 00:11:24:5d:bf:c1 MAC AUTH succeeded
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2/4/09 11:07:47 PM kernel AirPort: Link Down on en2
2/4/09 11:07:47 PM mDNSResponder[16] Note: Frequent transitions for interface en2 (FE80:0000:0000:0000:0217:F2FF:FE97:E932); network traffic reduction measures in effect
2/4/09 11:07:50 PM configd[14] rtmsg: error writing to routing socket
2/4/09 11:08:11 PM kernel AirPort: Link Up on en2
apple told me it's probably interference from something like a phone or etc... but i've moved everything away, and nothing helps. unless someone is aiming a microwave at my room, i think there's something screwed up with my mac. it's not the router (airport express base station, latest firmware) - we have 3 other macs that use it with no problem at all.

Hey Mark, check this thread, where many people are discussing similar issues:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2399052&tstart=0

Erratic, intermittent Airport

I am having some problems with the Airport connection on my 2008 MP. I have a Powerbook as well, both are in the same location. But the MP is constantly losing the connection and that is messing up Mail as well, with timeouts.
Any ideas? Or is this a known bug/feature...

Hi Global Hiccup,
Sorry about the delay in this reply but while researching this issue it became obvious that the [IEEE 802.11|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11] standards for WiFi are so complex now that there isn't a simplistic solution anymore.
I am on same OS as you and I don't have that option.
Hmm, O.K., Me Bad! I don't have a Wireless Network NIC in my Mac Pro and I was referring to my PPC w/Tiger.
It used to be there, but no more. I use a Netgear router, is that the reason?
I couldn't find an answer about that option; was ever there, somewhere else or not at all. I did find out that Interference Robustness requires a Airport Base Station with WiFi connecting to a Mac Airport WiFi NIC. So your Netgear Router doesn't support Interference Robustness because Apple owns it. That's probably why that Option is gone. But if your Netgear Router supports it, and you are using the 802.11n only (5 GHz) radio mode, you can select to use wide channels, which provide higher data throughput in your network. To make matters worst, your [Channels and International Compatibility|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE802.11#Channels_and_internationalcompatibility] maybe a problem as well! Plus, if you are using 802.11n only, in the 5 gigahertz (GHz) range, you cannot set your channels manually. I could keep going on about this nightmare but I'm sure you've had enough by now plus I need more information about your Network Setup before I can continue.
For example, start with your IPS ...
1) Is your ISP DSL or Cable? (I don't need to know who from, just the type of)
2) Is your DSL or Cable Modem Box Router?
3) What is the Make/Model/Type and ROM Version of the DSL or Cable Modem Box.
4) What is the Netgear Router Make/Model/Type and ROM Version.
5) What is the Make/Model/Type and ROM Version of the Airport NIC in the Powerbook.
6) What is the Make/Model/Type and ROM Version of the Airport NIC in the Mac Pro.
7) List Make/Model/Type and ROM Version of any/all Bluetooth devices on your Mac or in your home.
8) List Make/Model/Type and ROM Version of any/all other wireless devices in your home.
9) List briefly how you have it all setup. i.e. My setup is a non-routeable Cable Modem Box that's connected by a Cat5 Ethernet cable to Airport Extreme Base Station w/WiFi 802.11 b/g compatible. The AEBS is configured to Share a public IP Address using DHCP for local IP Address with NAT Enabled without Port Mappings and the Default Host is Enabled to a fake IP Address. The AEBS WiFi Mode is set to create a Wireless Network for 802.11g Only, Channel is set to Automatic, WPA2 Personal and the Wireless Options are set to Multicast Rate of 24Mbps, 100% Transmit Power with a 4 Hour WPA Group Key. Also the Create a closed network and the Use Interference Robustness boxes are checked plus the WiFi Access Control is set to Local and specifies that only clients can join based on their MAC Address. With this information I'll be able to help you solve this issue.
Good Luck ...
Buzz

Intermittent Airport connectoin on my G4 ibook - what could be wrong?

recently my ibook has been experiencing periodic losses of network connectivity via aiport with the signal disappearing completely. This happens at random times and will resume sometimes but is unpredictable to the extent that the wireless connection is unusable.
This does not effect a mac mini (powerpc) or an intel PC notebook I have on the same network.
I'm suspecting a software problem but would expect lots of people to have the same problem then!

Hi james,
Have you tried a different channel? You can change it in the router. Also, turning on Interference Robustness in the AirPort menu may help.
Be sure to check the antenna as SSharon suggested. This article illustrates a properly attached antenna.
John

Intermittent AirPort Connectivity Betw iMac Running Snow Leopard And Others

I just installed Snow Leopard on my iMac and also have a MacBook Pro still running Leopard (10.5.8) and an iPod Touch. My internet service provider is Qwest DSL.
Prior to installing Snow Leopard I have successfully been able to use the Internet sharing preference panel and the AirPort utility on my iMac so that my other devices would be able to get reliable internet connectivity from the iMac.
However, since installing Snow Leopard on my iMac, I have had problems being able to pick up the internet connection from my iMac to my MacBook Pro and iPod Touch. It works for a while and then I lose the connection on the MacBook Pro and the iPod Touch, though my iMac still maintains its internet connection.
I have looked at the Internet Sharing Preference Panel on my iMac and it is set to "Internet Sharing On" with "Share Your Connection from: Ethernet" & "To computers using: Airport".
The only (temporary) fix I have found so far is to reboot my iMac and then the MacBook Pro and the iPod Touch are once again able to get their internet connection from the iMac.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what settings I need to change in order to maintain a steady internet connection broadcast from my iMac to my MacBook Pro and iPod Touch?

I have a first gen iPhone and just got mine working today by following these steps.
The following procedure is confirmed to work as written.
Start Internet Sharing if it's not already running.
In Terminal, type cp /etc/bootpd.plist /tmp/bootpd.plist
Stop Internet Sharing.
Open "open -e /tmp/bootpd.plist" for editing using TextEdit or whatever.
Locate this section of the file, near the end:
<key>replythresholdseconds</key>
<integer>4</integer>
Change the value 4 to 0.
In Terminal, type sudo cp /tmp/bootpd.plist /etc
Start Internet Sharing.
If you want to, check that your change to /etc/bootpd.plist hasn't been reverted.
then i just restarted my phone and everything seems to working for the past few hours.
Source - Following 10.5 Steps
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071223001432304&query=xbox%2B360

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.

Ping a wired Mac to stop Airport dropout

All my wireless Macs at home are experiencing the horrid intermittent Airport dropouts that seem to be caused by a recent Apple update.
I've found that pinging a wired computer on the network magically restores the Airport connection on the wireless ones... for a little while.
The only reliable way I've been able to keep the connection active is:
1. open two terminal windows and in one type ping -i 2 nameofwiredmachine.local. This will ping that computer every two seconds.
2. In the second window type ping -i 3 nameofwiredmachine.local. Wait until a half-second or so after the first window responds with a successful ping before hitting enter.
Between these two windows, you should be able to keep your connection active as long as your Airport card deigns to acknowledge that there is, in fact, a signal being received.
If your Airport card goes into signal denial, then you're stuck waiting until it comes back. Note that one window does not reliably keep your connection active. The dropout will frequently happen in-between pings and stall a single ping process.
Every once in a while, a stall will happen while both ping windows are waiting for a response. In that case, you can focus on one of the ping windows, type ctrl-c, then hit the up key and press enter. That ping process will kick-start the other one.
your pal,
- kevin

Turn on the wireless card in the older Mac if it has one. However, it should not make any difference on a local network. You should be able to communicate even though one is wireless. So, I would look at your Sharing setup.

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ejwoodall wrote:
It's not a router problem as I explained in my post. If it was a router problem then I wouldn't have the problem everywhere I go. It is an issue with the software.
Then I guess the millions of people running 10.5.7 with no issues are just hallucinating that their machines are working fine?
I'm not trying to belittle your issues; you're certainly having them and I know first hand how annoying an intermittent AirPort issue can be. (In fact, mine was due to an AirPort driver bug that no one else seemed to suffer from.)
The single best diagnostic you could do is take your system running 10.5.7 to an Apple Store, and try using their in-store network.
If your machine performs flawlessly, it may be a router issue.
If your machine has connectivity issues there, it may be a hardware problem with your machine.
There have been numerous people in multiple threads over the years who swore that an update was buggy because things used to work, but returned later to sheepishly admit that they took their machine in, a problem was found and fixed, and now their Mac works flawlessly with the newer software.
But simply reinstalling 10.5.5 in no way means the explanation of how firmware bugs may be at play here is incorrect.
In the context of that explanation, all you've done is possibly reinstall software that asks to add "2 + 3."

Setting up/extending a Dual Band network

Any recommendations regarding dual-band vs. the n/b/g blended network? Is it possible to set up a dual-band network on an AEBS-n and also boost the "n" side of the network with an AX-n? I've searched the discussions but have not found much on the topic, other than some comments regarding iMacs not liking "n" or 10.5.3 or airport utility 5.3.1 or maybe the "automatic" channel setting or possibly something else.....
A little history:
We have 3 iMacs (new 3.06 Ghz, 17" late 2006, 20" late 2006), 3 MacBook Pros, and one dual-2.5 Ghz G5 that all shared internet access through a Motorola modem/Comcast cable via an Airport Extreme Base Station b/g. The AEBS was in the basement and configured as a WDS with an Airport Express b/g that served to extend the network's reach to the second floor and remodeled kitchen (new steel beams). This setup has worked nearly flawlessly for years until recently, when both of the older iMacs started experiencing intermittent airport signal drops--supremely annoying. The modem seemed to work fine, however, and the AEBS light stayed green and the G5 and MBPs weren't having issues (some running Tiger, some Leopard).
I thought that upgrading to Leopard (erase and install) might take are of any weird settings or corrupt files and thus improve the iMacs' airport connections, so I upgraded the first one, and it seemed to fix the problem--no drops of airport or internet for several hours. I then decided it was time to upgrade the network as well--swapping out the old b/g AEBS and AX for a new AEBS-n and AX-n. (Yes, I know, not too smart to change both the OS and the network at the same time ... but here we are.) Since the G5 in the basement can't connect to an "n" network, I decided to set up a Dual Band network with the AX-n acting as the old AX b/g had to extend the network.
This is what it looked like:
cable modem ------>
AEBS-n ------> wireless to Airport Extreme-n ---> wireless to older iMacs and MBPs
AX b/g (connected via ethernet to AEBS) -----> wireless to the G5
This worked, sort of, in that all but the G5 could all pick up and join either the "n" or the b/g network. Problem was, the network was very unstable-- the airport signal would suddenly drop out for no reason then recover, or the airport icon would show a full 4 bars but have no internet connection. This was happening on all of the macs, perhaps more so on the two older iMacs, while the modem itself showed no change in status, and the AEBS-n light would remain green. When I removed the AX-N from the setup to see if that was causing a hiccup, the drops were a little less frequent but the kitchen iMac was marooned with 1, maybe 2 bars in the airport icon and the signal strength on the second floor was decreased. Oh, and the drops continued to happen. I've now reverted to a b/g-compatible network, which is better, but still hasn't prevented all of the drops.
My questions are:
1-Any ideas about why the airport is acting wonky? Are 'n' networks proving to be more problematic than the old ones?
2-Is it possible to use an AX-n to extend the range of the "n" side of a dual band network?
2-If so, any ideas for improving the network's reliability?
3-If not, will going back to a b/g-compatible network negate the supposed speed benefits of 802.11n? Would I go back to using a WDS setup then?
I've tried so many different settings, combinations, configurations trying to get this up and working, that I'm ready to pull my hair out. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Message was edited by: wiswic

Thanks for your reply. Looking back at my sorry attempt at a diagram, I realize I wasn't clear about a couple of things. The modem is connected via ethernet to the AEBS-n. The AEBS-n is connected via ethernet to the AE-b/g, which provides wireless coverage to the G5 and others. So far, everything is in the basement.
We live in an old house--no way to set up the network via ethernet--and so rely on the airport network to provide internet access to the computers on the first and second floors. In our old network, I had an AE-b/g as a WDS remote located in the kitchen that provided the first and second floors with their internet connection.
When I upgraded our network, I set up the new AEBS-n as a 5.0 Ghz an-only network (create a network/allow network to be extended) and connected the old AE b/g to it (bridge mode/create a network) to provide wireless internet for the G5. The iMac in the kitchen could hardly pick up the "n" signal at all, and it could receive only a weak signal from the b/g network. Lots of dropped airport signals and also lots of dropped internet connections. Strangely enough, the MacBookPros on the second floor could pick up both signals pretty strongly, but they, too, had lots of drops. The 2nd floor iMac was even worse than the kitchen iMac--spotty reception at best, and lots of drops. The G5 and the iMac in the basement, meanwhile, were fine--strong signal and only intermittent drops.
Hoping to extend the reach of the "n" network and thereby eliminate the drops, I added an AE-n to it (bridge mode/extend the network) and put it where the old b/g had been. This boosted the "n" signal to the kitchen and 2nd floor, but the drops seemed to become more frequent and for longer durations. Perhaps this was merely coincidence, but it made me question whether adding the AE-n in a dual-band network was advisable. Not finding any info that specifically addressed that scenario, I turned to the discussion forum for guidance.
Further research leads me to believe that the iMacs' issues may be more due to their being iMacs in the first place, but I was still left with a very unreliable dual band network for the rest of the Macs. Reconfiguring the AEBS-n and AE-n as an n (b/g compatible) network has led to far fewer drops, but like you, I'd prefer to keep my "an" devices separated from the G5 to make use of their higher wireless speed.
So....I guess what I need to know is whether anyone else been having so many dual band dropouts? Have you had any success in eliminating them? Have you successfully extended the "n" side of their dual band without adversely affecting stability?
As long as I know this isn't a lost cause, I'll give it another go and keep tweaking settings in hopes of finding a stable setup....

No problems, mine just works

Just thought I post a positive threat as well as people seem to have too many problems ...
I got a 1TB TC yesterday. This adds to my home network which is based on the following config:
- Netgear ADSL Modem & Wireless G Router
- 20-inch Intel iMac
- MacBook
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I plugged the TC into the Netgear router and went to Airport utility to configure it. Found it straight away and ask me a few questions. I left my router doing the NAT & DHCP and use it in bridge mode.
Setup a password for the disk and for the first back I connected first my iMac with a network cable, do the first backup and then connect my MacBook via network cable and do the backup.
My iMac has about 160GB and my MacBook 50GB. Both backed up without problems, it did take a few hours though but I just let it run when I left the house.
No both of them are backing up via the Wireless N network, no problems and no impact to my work. I just created a few movie files with a a few hundred MB and before I even knew it there were backed up to TC.
It all seems to easy, no problems here at all!

I agree, Mine is working well too and found set up easy. Also using Netgear ADSL modem/wireless "g" router with XP PC connected via ethernet and router supplying DHCP.
TC is set up in Bridge mode running "n" network to connect my MBP.
Have printer connected to USB on TC and can also connect external disc here too. PC runs Bonjour and anything connected to router, TC, PC or MBP can be seen with relevant sharing options enabled.
I followed the Apple guides and read a few tips on here. Set up was easy and did first backup via ethernet as suggested. Only problem initially was intermittent airport connection to MBP when using 5Ghz "n" only. Switched to 2.4Ghz and no disconnects at all.
Very impressed so far.

That "popping" sound at the top of the left speaker...

Has anyone found out what this is? I've read some posts on this with no real answers. The theory of the case expanding under heat sounds good, but I was just wondering if anyone got a definite answer. Thanks

I just started getting the same popping sound and I dont think its the HD. it sounds like the speaker itself is popping like they do when you plug in a mic or external speakers.
it may be the case warming up or something because after a while it does go away. and I just notice it when I start playing Wow with the heavy use of the video card.
But I gotta send my MBP in anyway the screen buzz has progressed to unacceptable, along with the intermittant airport dropping. hopefully a new machine wont have these probs.

Intermittent Airport

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