PowerBook G4 17" 1.5GHz & Linksys WCG200 Gateway

Summary
My Mac won't get the full downstream bandwidth (9 Mbits) with either wireless or wired ethernet, but my roommate's Windows computer gets the full amount (and then some) with his wired ethernet connection. My ISP and Linksys both report that everything is working fine. What's going on with my Mac?
Full Description
I recently got a Linksys WCG200 v.2 Gateway (cable modem/router in one device) and set it up with my ISP (Cox Communications). Our service is supposed to be 9 megabits downstream, and 1 megabit upstream. I connected to the router via wireless and wired, and have been to four different speed test sites only to discover that my downstream speed is never faster than 3.5 megabits. The upstream is still getting up to as fast as 1.3 megabits.
I called Cox to ask them if perhaps they had not provisioned the proper amount for our account, and he verified that he had in fact dedicated 10 megabits to our account and that it was in fact being delivered to the modem at 10 megabits downstream and 1 megabit upstream.
Next, I called Linksys to ask if there was something wrong with the WCG200 gateway and they suggested the standard reboot and reset options which didn't do anything to solve the problem. They suggested that the device may be defective and I should return it to the store where I purchased it. Before I did that, though, I tried two more things.
My roommate has a Dell with WinXP on it, so he fired it up and tested the speed at a few different speed sites to notice that he was receiving between 9 and 12 megabits downstream and 1 megabits upstream. He was hard wired to the gateway, so I tried it again on my PowerBook, but still I was getting no faster than 3.5 megabits downstream.
I tried calling Apple, but they just said that it was probably the gateway or Cox, but I know that's not true because if either of those weren't working/configured properly, then my roommates Dell wouldn't have been able to get the full (and then some) downstream speed. The agent simply had me remove my SystemConfiguration folder and then reinstall Tiger, which neither did anything to fix the problem. What a waste of the AppleCare Protection Plan!
I'm pretty convinced that my last test has narrowed down the possible cause of the problem. I inserted my Cisco 350 Aironet PCMCIA wireless card to test to see if there might be a problem with either my AirPort Extreme card or the ethernet controller on the PowerBook, and to my surprise, I was able to get 5.5 megabits downstream consistently. The Cisco card is 802.11b.
I ran one other test by jumping on my neighbor's wireless network which is rated at 4 megabits downstream, and I was able to get the full 4 megabits downstream with my AirPort Extreme card as well as with my Cisco card.
Due to the improved functionality of the Cisco card and the fact that my roommate's Windows computer was able to get the full amount, I'm pretty convinced that there must be a problem with the way my Mac is communicating with this particular Linksys gateway device which is causing it to not receive the full downstream amount. However, I have no clue where to go from here as far as more troubleshooting techniques or possible fixes for this problem.
Please help!
PowerBook G4 17" 1.5GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) AirPort Extreme Wireless Card
PowerBook G4 17" 1.5GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I don't know the answer but am curious--do you need to make the upgrade because your 1.5G board is dead, or because you'd like a little more speed?
If the latter, I think you'd be disappointed. In doing a number of upgrades on desktop machines, I've found that, although calculated benchmarks may look better with any upgrade, you need a 20-30% boost in processor speed for the increase to be noticeable in normal use. When I upgraded an old G3 from 300 to 500 mhz --a 40 percent increase--that benefit was crystal-clear. When I compare my 1.0G PowerBook G4 to my 1.25G PowerMac G4 tower (same OS, bus speed, RAM, and VRAM), I see little if any difference in day-to-day computer use from the 25 percent advantage in speed in the desktop model
If the need is for speed, you could end up with a costly upgrade that doesn't "feel" any faster.
As to you real question, it might be better to contact a company selling PowerBook parts to see if they can shed light on the logic board interchangeability. I've bought parts from this firm:
http://www.powerbookguy.com/xcart/catalog/index.html
and found him to be an excellent vendor. Call and ask--the toll-free number is on the main page.

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Connect to Linksys Cable Gateway via AirPort Extreme Base Station?

Thank you in advance for any replies.
I have the following new setup:
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No internet connection occurred. I tried using the Internet Connect utility in the Applications folder, but no button or visible option for connecting via AirPort appeared, as the Setup Guide indicated it should, only a button for a VPN appeared.
I called Apple and asked whether it was even possible to connect to the internet using the AEBS talking wirelessly to the WCG200 unit. A tech told me it could be done by going into the AirPort Administration Utility, going into Configuration, clicking on the WDS tab and inputting the MAC address for the WCG200 unit, then going into the Airport tab and typing in the channel that the WCG200 is using. Note that the WCG200 unit has 3 MAC addresses listed; one each for “modem MAC address,” “WAN-MAN MAC address,” and “WAN-DATA MAC address”. I used the “modem MAC address.
The Apple tech added that it might need further tweaking, but that Apple couldn’t provide this tweaking and that I might check various forums if need be.
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Result:
No connection.
Tried it again with the Ethernet plugged into the AEBSs LAN port, still no connection.
Help! Can’t I get the AEBS to even see the WCG200? I know wireless is properly functioning in the WCG200 because another user with a Windows laptop connects to it wirelessly. The Mac Tech also mentioned that this could be relatively easy with an AirPort Express piece of hardware (Card? Base station?) but that it would be difficult with the Airport Extreme Base Station.
At this point we’re willing to spend $100 on getting this up. What would be our best option in terms of equipment, or can connectivity be accomplished with what we have?
Thanks again,
skyheart

skyheart, Welcome to the discussion area!
In theory using WDS would provide what you need.
In reality the Linksys device is not compatible with Apple's WDS and therefore this will not work.

RAM - Memory issues powerbook G4 aluminium 1.5ghz 15"

Hi,
I have just purchased a powerbook g4 alluminium 1.5ghz 15" A1095 from Ebay and it's fantastic! I have done all the research for upgrading ram and have successfully upgraded to 1gb in the upper/lower slot (I have intermittent lower slot issues but usually ok). It appears from the internet sites and from advice from "those who know" that this machine doesn't need identical memory in each slot, and yet it only reads the upper slot when I install 1gb and 512mb either way. I have established that this is not the known lower slot issue as the machine ticks along happily with either in the lower slot alone. I am wondering if I have been misinformed, and that perhaps I do need 1gb in both slots for the lower slot to be read. I'm loathed to shell out for another gig only to find it doesn't resolve the issue. What do you think?
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Kelly

I've been down this road TWO times with Aluminum Powerbooks. The lower RAM slot has a tendency to die. It has nothing to do with the RAM configuration installed - - the slot just dies....
It is a hardware problem.
There are only two options I know of:
1. Send it back to Apple for a replacement board.. I was quoted $650 the first time.
2. Send it to Wegener Media in SC for a board-level repair.
[caveat--there may be other companies doing this repair-I don't know]
It was a flawless repair (aside from $250 out of my pocket), and the laptop has continued to provide excellent service. The second Powerbook with the issue was a temporary laptop we had here, and they repaired it as well.
I called Apple about it when the second unit died. The service person (after a lot of prodding) told me that if you ordered a repair from Apple, you generally get a used/rebuilt board. Apparently they don't have NEW boards. So effectively, you're getting someone else's old problem board, most likely with the same issue. Doesn't seem like a real winning situation, especially at 3x's the price as Wegener's repair.
I ordered a few extra toys for it at the same time (RAM, larger HDD, and a region-free burner).. Worked great, and turned the Aluminum into a real usable tool again...
I know they have a page about the ram slot repair but you could just check their home page: http://www.wegenermedia.com
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Connecting my 550 Powerbook with Linksys 354G Gateway Kit

Hello and help!
I've just set up my iMac with the Linksys modem router and ethernet connection and all works OK.
I now want to use the Linksys WPC54G V.5 PMCIA card that came with kit with my 2nd computer, a 550 PB..
I plugged the card into the PB and I get the card icon but I can't wirelessly connect. I've opened System Preferences/Network to try to select airport but the tab is not there. Being a 550 PB, it's never had an Airport Card.
How do I open/configure my airport?
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I'm obviously doing something wrong but I can't work it out!
Can anyone help set me up (as it were..)?
Thanks, Russ

Russ,
The Linksys site says that the WPC54G does not support Mac. I'm not sure of the chipset in that card, but I have a Belkin card with the Broadcom chipset that OS X recognizes as an Airport card.
Have you tried System Preferences/Network/Show Network Port Configurations to make sure the Airport is on? If the card is not recognized by the PB, Airport may not be an option.
Sometimes a second party driver will work with non-Apple cards. I checked the IOXpert site and it says that their driver will not work with the WPC54G.
http://www.ioxperts.com/devices/devices_80211b.html.
I tried this driver with a PC only D-link card with no success, but maybe it will work with the Linksys:
http://www.orangeware.com/endusers/wirelessformac.html
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Shane

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I've got a Linksys Wireless Cable Gateway/Router (WCG200) set up at home, and on several occasions when I'm surfing on my iPhone, the linksys simply stalls or hangs, and I have to turn it off and back on again to let it sync back up to my ISP (Cox). The linksys stalls not only the Internet activity on my iPhone, but also my other computers in the house. But it only locks up initially when I'm actively surfing on the iPhone. It does not lock up like this when surfing via the computers. As soon as I turn it off and then on again, it syncs back up fine and works properly until the next time.
The tricky thing is, it doesn't seem to do it with any regularity. No specific website I'm surfing, no specific time of day. The only consistent thing is that it only happens when using the iPhone (but not all the time).
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Kenton

When I read your post it immediately caught my attention because I had the same thing happen to my D-link DI624 router.
I was surfing the web one evening and all of a sudden web pages stopped loading saying it couldn't connect with the server. I noticed I still had 2 bars for my wireless connection, but nothing was working. So, I chaulked it up to the iPhone 1.1.1 quirkiness and didn't even bother to check any of the other computers running off the same wireless network that night.
The next morning I heard my wife complaining about her email not sending from her laptop. Then my middle son said he "didn't have internet" so went and reset the router. So, that explains why I lost my connection the night before!
Coincidence?

Linksys WCG200 and Macbook Pro - local transfer rates of 0.5~1MB/s ??

Hi all, I got quite an annoying problem with extremely slow transfer speeds in a local, mac to mac, network setup.
My setup:
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- firewall off
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Macbook Pro C2D connected to WCG200 wirelessly
- interfere robustness on
- 4 bar strength,
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When I transfer files locally (MBP~mini) it literally moves at the pace of 0.5~1MB/s (megabytes) whereas my old, cheap (but dead) viewsonic averaged around 6~10MB/s (used WPA encryption).
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(listening to shared MP3s between machines cuts out, not to mention videos)
MBPC2D $2499 option. Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Well,
Yeah i guess this is one way to isolate the problem, and identify whether its the wireless card or the router itself.
Have tried it for a short while at my friends place, who has a Belkin 802.11b router. The disconnection did not happen over there. Then thinking of swapping my Wireless card with the one of my friend, this maybe help in isolating the card problem. Then thinking of chaging the router itself.
Anyways thanks again,
Regards,
S.F.Hasan.

Powerbook has range problem with Linksys Router. Don't Understand!

Well, I have a Linksys Wireless Router WRT54G v4 with a secure network. I get my Mac and PC to connect with no problem when they are in the same room as the router. When I go to another room, the PC stays connected but the Mac looses connection. I never had this problem before. If you're wondering I'm using a 17" Powerbook with OSX 10.4.8
I only have these two laptops using the router. I had v1 of the router and it went out on me and Linksys sent me v4. Well with the v1, I was able to get connection anywhere in the house with both laptops. Now, even when I'm right next to the router in the same room, the Mac is not getting a full bar, only 3/4. And when I leave the room, I get 0 on teh bar. It just doesn't make sense.
If you have any ideas, please let me know because I've done everything to get it to work. From reseting the router completely, to setting up a secure network, to trying different channels on the router.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
Do you have the lastest V4 firmware, which is available from Linksys's web site. They also have a support forum where people list firmware issues.
Have you considered any of the third party firmwares available? The WRT54G has publicly available firmware that others have modified to give more flexibility, some which include the ability to increase the signal output. There's a listing under third part firmware at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G#Third-partyfirmwareprojects .
Have you tried any of the Linksys suggestions for router placement to maximize the signal? Apparently the V4 box introduced something...so this may be worth a try, too.
You've probably looked over the Linksys support web site already (even though the support staff can't spell mac), perhaps you've also done a Google query, something like 'wrt54g v4 problems'.

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My old PowerBook G4 was very happy on Leopard.
I nearly always order RAM from OWC for my family and friends, but because OWC is not always the least expensive, I also trust Crucial and Transintl.com which I have ordered from in the past.
silverado93 wrote:
Would like to have wireless Internet to use the PB in the basement. Currently I have wired Internet for my Mac Mini and Internet TV box. Was thinking about getting an Airport Extreme base station to plug in one of the Ethernet cables and then hopefully could get Internet in the basement. My house is 83 years old, so don't know if that would cause any problems. The Airport Extreme Firmware version is 402.6 (3.90.34.0p13). Which generation of Airport Extreme base station can I use?
Probably any. I think your PowerBook supports 802.11b/g. While the wireless world is moving on to 802.11n, 802.11g is widely available and any wireless router that supports that or 802.11b will work with your PowerBook. If you had a very recent Airport base station, it will have an option to be set for 802.11n only or 802.11n, b, and g so you would only have to make sure you set it to the latter for backwards compatibility.
The very first AirPort base station supported 802.11b, so your PowerBook would even work with that, but that's going back so far you don't want one that old.
silverado93 wrote:
What brand of wireless mouse would you recommend? Don't care for the trackpad and am currently using a Dell wired mouse I have, but it doesn't want to scroll.
I use a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 and I love it. Not sure if the driver supports Leopard on a G4, but you can use the mouse well enough without the driver. It can be found much cheaper than the Microsoft link I posted there.

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Skycoach,
Can you not just select the network from the AirPort menu (icon) ?
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I bet you have chosen to have a closed network (router does not broadcast it's SSID). Such is the price you pay for using a feature that provides no more security than your 128-bit password.
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Hi dratatat:
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I hope this helps!

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How can Apple not Recall these machines and fix them?

Did the 2 RAM modules come with your Mac? Have you tried swapping the RAM modules to opposite slots and do you get the same failure in that slot? Make sure the modules are securely connected in the slot.
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u might to open port numbers 88 and 234 on your router
here's how to open ports
1: open IE and on the address bar, type in 192.168.1.1 and hit enter
           USERNAME: ( leave it blank )
           PASSWORD: admin ( all in lowercases )
2: click on the tab " applications and gaming "  then click on the SUBTAB port triggering.
3: you can just name the application like, box or whatever and fill in 88 for each of the boxes in the first line
4: same goes to application number 2 but you have to put 2304 for each of the boxes and pls do not forget to enable it, then save settings
5: Teset the xbox if it's now working.
6: if still not working, go to the SECURITY tab and uncheck the bock that says, " block anonymous internet requests and save settings.
7: teset xboox agan and if it still won't work
8: go to the SET UP tab and look for MTU.
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Using a third-party card and gateway with PowerBook Pismo

Hi,
My birthday present this year was an Apple PowerBook Pismo - the G3 400 model (full spec. below). It runs the latest version of Mac OSX (10.4.6 as below). Before I got the Pismo, I bought a Linksys WPC54G wireless card for my original laptop, a ThinkPad T23. This works fine with my Linksys WAG354G gateway, but I'm wondering if I can do the same with the Pismo, since original AirPort cards are still hovering at £70-£90.
My Linksys card is the revision-3 ie 'v3' version. It seems to be detected by my Pismo - running the AirPort setup wizard means it is detected and the access point is found. My network is protected with WPA (I think it's version 2) encryption, and AirPort asks me for the network password during setup. However, the next screen is blank - the screen that asks about base stations. Clicking 'Scan Again' does nothing, and I cannot continue. This was all with the original verison of Mac OS 10.4, by the way. I updated the Pismo last night, so I'll have a go with it. Since it is detected by AirPort, would I be correct in thinking the card has the Broadcom chip that is AirPort-compatible? It shows up in Apple System Profiler as 'Third-Party Wireless Adaptor,' if that helps.
Thanks in advance for your help,
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You're quite welcome zwarbo.
Should you need it, the procedure (as I remember it, my Pismo's out of action at the moment) is as follows:
Insert the card into the 'Book and allow Mac OS to find it. Once the 'PC Card' symbol appears beside the clock, click on the symbol and read the drop-down menu. If it says something like 'Unknown brand - Network Controller,' the Pismo has found your card. Next, open 'System Profiler' (Hard Drive -> Applications -> Utilities). Point to 'Network.' If your card is working as expected, it should display 'AirPort Extreme.' If not, you may have a card using another brand of chip, since only cards using BroadCom chips are supported natively by Mac OS. It's hit-and-miss what chip you get in your card - there doesn't seem to be a general trend. My card has the FCC ID 'Q87-WPC54GV3' and the IC ID '3839A-WPC54GV3,' if this helps.
If it does show up as AirPort Extreme, here is the full procedure for setting up the card for your network:
- Open 'System Preferences'
- Head to 'Network'
- There should be an option, possibly in the drop-down box, to select 'AirPort.'
- You will then have the option of switching AirPort on.
- Select 'Only Join Preferred Networks'and either search for your access point, or manually input your router's details (the default IP address for the WAG354G is 192.168.1.1).
- Now, when you insert your card, AirPort should automatically switch on and connect to your network. Naturally, if you want to use your Pismo on the move, you'll have to uncheck the above and try another way. Enabling the 'Show AirPort Status' is useful, while you're there.
Take this as a rough guide. My Pismo has a battery problem, so I'm having it sorted. As such, I can't actually use it, so when the 'Book is back in action, I'll double-check the procedure (I don't posess another Mac other than an ancient iMac G3, long before wireless). The Mac should remember your WEP or WPA key, unlike the Linksys Windows utility, which is tempermental at best.
Hope this helps,
Rob Johnson

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