Wireless Questions

Hello,
I'm Brandon and I'm new here, and a new Mac user.
I've just purchased a MacBook and have never used wireless internet before, so I have a few questions I'd like to have answered before my new Mac arrives.
First, I know friends have brought computers to my house and been able to use wireless internet, even though we have no router. Does this mean it is likely that this will work for me too?
Second, we have broadband internet running into the family Vaio desktop, which runs God-awful XP MCE. The installation guy told us we would only be able to run one computer at a time. However, if I purchased an Airport Express I should be able to run both my lap top and the Vaio (supposedly wireless-enabled) simultaneously right?

Welcome and congratulations.
Brandon A Elam wrote:
...friends have brought computers to my house and been able to use wireless internet, even though we have no router. Does this mean it is likely that this will work for me too?...
There is probably an open wireless network nearby that they are able to connect to. You might be able to use this to connect to the internet, but this is not secure if you want to also share files and printers between your Mac and PC. You should set up your own wireless network, use password-protected encryption and stealth mode where the wireless network name is not even broadcast.
... we would only be able to run one computer at a time...
probably he means with that broadband modem, some modems feature a built-in router with ports for more than one computer. But you should be able to add your own router to the broadband modem to use multiple computers.
However, if I purchased an Airport Express I should be able to run both my lap top and the Vaio (supposedly wireless-enabled) simultaneously right?
The Express can support up to 10 simultaneous wireless computers. This wireless hub has no wired Ethernet ports, (are you sure the VAIO is wireless enabled?) The Extreme can support up to 50 clients and has 3 wired Ethernet ports just in case a visitor has an older laptop without wireless or you need a wired port for an older computer.
They both will work with Mac and PC and you should be able to set up file sharing and printer sharing.
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/
You might need to install Bonjour for Windows on the VAIO.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/technology/bonjour.html
The MacBook also can share it's internet connection over the wifi network to a computer hooked up to its wired Ethernet port, or vice versa... so you could potentially hook up both computers to the internet right away using that built-in internet sharing feature before you get a wireless hub, which would be useful to have when you have a visitor and need more connections. I'm not sure how many wireless clients can hook to the MacBook shared network when it is using the wired Ethernet as the primary connection.

Similar Messages

Dual-band wireless question

Hi again: I am new to this dual-band wireless stuff in TC having just replaced my AE with a new TC. I have a few questions regarding wireless setup.
1. When selecting the "Radio Mode" you are presented with options like "802.11a/n - 802.11b/g". Does this setting mean that the primary wireless will be a/n wile the guest wireless will be restricted to b/g ?
2. If you Option-click on the Radio-Mode pick list you can select multiple other settings. On of which is 802.11n (5 ghz) - 802.11a/b. Give question 1 does this restrict the main wireless to 5 ghz n only? (I highly doubt this as I can still connect to the "n network" with my iphone which only supports b/g.)
3. Under "Wireless Options" you can select a "5 ghz" network. Is this different than the option detailed in Question 2?
4. Finally, where can I find a manual for TC ?
Thanks for the help, Chris.

So is my assumption that the hyphen in the selection is the differentiation between the two networks?
Also, when I activate the "5 ghz" setting under options I actually see three networks, "Network1 (5 Ghz), Network1, and Network2 in my naming system. Does this mean that Network1 (5 Ghz) in the N only while Network1 is a standard N (with backwards compatibility to b/g)? I think this is the case as my iPhone does connect to Network1 while Network1 (5 Ghz) is not detected.
Thanks for the help, Chris.

So many wireless questions in my move to australia--HELP

I'm moving to australia and I have many questions--please forgive the length of this. First I had been waiting for the Palm Centro to move to Verizon because my Tungsten E is dying. Now that I'm moving I'm going to need to buy a cell phone in Australia--versus trying to get an unlocked one here I think. I see that they have Centro, but not with the big server Vodafone, which leads me back to the iphone. I avoided it because I don't want to pay for all the services I don't need. All I want is the PDA to link with my iBook G4 (still with Panther) easily to have all my contacts from my Tungsten E. I hear Palm may even be discontinuing the PDA's all together so I really do need to make the move. Yet the other big PDA, the blackberry doesn't sync easily with the mac from what I hear and read. Anybody have suggestions about a good solid phone/pda that I can use in Australia with my iBookG4? Can I spend just $199 here on an Iphone bring it with me, hook it up there with Vodafone and just use it as a phone/pda without any of the internet features?
Second question is related to communication when I first land in Australia to my husband in LA. I was told that I could use my ibook at any airport with Skype. Is this true? How? I have airport for our wireless SBC modem here, but Im guessing I would need some special USB unit. but is that the way to go. I was thinking to buy an international Mobal phone for $50 just to have for the first few days until I get internet set up over there and can start trying to figure out skype? I suppose I could try a phone card from a payphone but $50 seems like a small price to pay for communication in the beginning...unless there is a brilliant idea I hadn't considered (hence my writing here)
I am really clueless here. any suggestions, websites, links I should consider would be very appreciated. More than I can say since there are a million other details about this move that are taking up space in my head.
thank you in advance.

Same thing happened to me and I did a reset twice but the problem doesn't go away. It's Apple's video player that has problems. You don't want to reset it every time it happens, right? Get another video player, any player will do. I got flex player for free. Now I don't have any problems playing my videos any more.

IMac connection to PC wireless question

Hello, so far my iMac setup has been a breeze but I am stuck at connecting to the Internet. I go through the process of wireless conecting and try to connect to the network found by the iMac helper but when prompted for the password I'm stumped. I realize this is more a PC question than anything else, but where on earth can I find out the password to my PC router?

What kind of wireless router do you have? Did you set it up - if so, it sounds like you set it up with a password to access the wireless network. If you did, but you've forgotten it, you'll need to refer to your router's documentation to find out how to reset it.
(For example, a Linksys router requires you to access http://192.168.1.1 for configuration.)
Matt

Newbie wireless question (slightly off-topic)

I didn't want to post this here as it's not entirely an Airport-specific question. I posted this to the iBook forums, but nobody there has answered so my apologies if this is not welcome here. (Any moderators can remove it if that's the case.)
I've been using computers extensively for over a decade, but I'm a total newbie to wifi. I just set up a wireless network in my house and would appreciate some advice/feedback.
My main concerns are whether or not my network is reasonably secure. I know there is no such thing as perfect security, but I don't know if what I've done is good enough or not.
I don't have an Airport base station, but I do have a D-Link Airplus G and an Airport card in my iBook. I have WEP set up on the router and I have enabled MAC filtering, listing only my desktop and my iBook, excluding all others from the network.
I'm fairly certain that nobody in my neighborhood is going to get into my machines this way or be able to sniff my network data stream, but am I right in assuming that nobody can "piggyback" on my Internet connection too? Presumably, if everyone but my own machines are MAC-filtered and kept out, then the Internet connection is also protected. Is that how it works?

WEP and MAC filtering are better than nothing, but you can do better. These are my suggestions:
1. Use WPA with a pre-shared key (PSK) and TKIP encryption on your Netgear router, along with an alphanumeric passphrase of at least eight characters not found in any dictionary. The equivalent setting on your Mac is "WPA Personal". Unlike WEP security (which an expert can crack in under half an hour), WPA security is currently unhackable by any practical means as long as you use a non-dictionary passphrase. One last point - WPA security requires all your wireless Macs to be running MacOS 10.3 or newer.
2. MAC filtering is (these days) essentially useless as a wireless security method. Using "packet sniffing" of traffic on your wireless network to find out what MAC addresses are used by computers on your network, and a PC that allows its MAC address to be cloned so that it is identical to the MAC address of one your own wireless computers (which is possible with most PC wireless network adapters) even an amateur hacker can defeat MAC address filtering in minutes.
By the way - I don't think your posted message here is off topic. In my opinion, the Airport discussion forums are the best place to post any questions related to usage of wireless networks. Questions of this nature are virtually never specific to any Mac model.

Another wireless question

I have purchased my first Apple on the 25th of May. It is a Macbook. I bought it for my son who will be going to college this fall. I am a PC guy, but he wanted a Macbook, cause they are "cool". While, granted I too think this is a cool machine, I am frustrated by not being able to connect with my home wireless (Westell 327 router) for my DSL service. I can connect with my Palm and his Xbox. We are using WEP encryption. There is an open network in our neighborhood that the Macbook links up with no problem. After over an hour with Apple care on the phone their suggestion is that I need a router with WPA encryption and this will solve the problem.
After reading the posts here I didn't see this exact problem, but not being overly familiar with the Macbook I don't see flashing lights or lose the connection It just doesn't connect encrypted.
My question is could Apple care be right? I am not sure if changing the router will help. I may have to purchase this and also pay for an upgrade to my palm just to get this to work?
Cool or not This machine may need to go back.

Hi again raday,
Okay, time to go back to basics; always the best course of action when attempts to connect wirelessly fail.
In this situation, what I would do next, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, is to log in to the router, remove the password and then attempt to connect with the MacBook.
If successful, then log in to the router with the MacBook, re-enable WEP encryption and re-enter password.
If not successful, the next step would be to check if there are any firmware updates that need to be applied to the router. There's normally a section within the router to check this. If there isn't, you'll need to go to the manufacturer's website and check.
I hate to think I have to have two routers to make this work, one for apple and one for the rest of the world.
Hehe... you won't need to have two routers as such. If you do go down this road and purchase a new router, then you can simply disconnect the other one (use it as an emergency spare etc) and just use the new one for all your interwebbywotsit connection requirements for all your computers at home.
I think I will try and set up an appointment with a "genius" at the local store and see what they have to say.
Ensure you make a note of the exact make and model of your current router and take that note with you for the 'Genius' to see. He/she will attempt to connect the MacBook to their wireless network. If it connects, then there's nothing wrong on the MacBook end.
Kryten

Help with wireless question

ok, so ive just gotten back from university, and im looking into buyin a wireless router so that i can connect to the internet with my macbook. i was wondering what the best router would be considering i have a home PC that is connected to the internet with a broadband modem. im not looking for anything fancy, just something that will connect me to the internet (with a decent connection speed, and wont lose connection if i move around my house). because i am a university student, im lookin for somethin that isnt too expensive (but i will dish out the money if i have to). thanks in advance!!
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Personally I would purchase (and have) the Airport Extreme Base Station (the new one.) But if that's too expensive you might look for someone on eBay selling a used older version AEBS. As for new I have had good luck with the D-Link DI-524 four port wireless router. Seems to work well with the Mac. However, don't expect any support from D-Link. However, the manuals are decent and what applies to Windows is pretty much the same for OS X.
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Desktop wireless question

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+II+Quad-Core+Processor...
i recently bought this pc from bestbuy.com and i noticed that the wireless eange is quite short.i have to put the wireless modem right beside the tower in order for the pc to pick up the signal.i checked the device manager and it says that the wireless lan is working properly.can anyone think of a reason why the pc wont pick up the signal?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

You're welcome! If there is anything else we can assist with, please let us know.
Adam
Best Buy Community - Retail, Americas
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Wireless question

Hello!
I've recently got an acer laptop which has the BCM43228 as wireless chipset.
I followed the wiki here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/broadcom_wireless and installed the b43 driver and firmware.
I got wireless and managed to connect to my network.
However I have the following problem.
I suffer from really high packet loss (I can't even ping the router or google sometimes - 100% packet loss)
Sometimes it justs works fines but that's only for some seconds. After that I still experience great packet loss.
Even basic browsing stuff, or even syncing pacman mirrors hangs....
If I get next to the router the problem disappears.
However my room is only 5 meters away from the router and the only obstacle is the room's wooden door (but the problem also happens when the door is open - no other obstacles around).
iwconfig reports a txpower of 20dBm and a constantly changing Bit rate which is stuck at 1Mb/s when suffering from the packet loss. When it works find for some seconds it gets up to 18Mb/s+
power management is off as well as iwconfig reports
Signal at kde network manager shows as full
I also have another computer and an android smartphone and their wifi is working great at the same room.
Now, since brcmsmac isn't supporting my card yet, I decided to give the proprietary Broadcom driver a try.
Again using the above link, I managed to blacklist the bcma and b43 modules and load wl on boot.
Now wireless works really great. I've almost zero packet loss.
Now I sync/download packaged with 1500kb/s while I was getting maximum 500kb/s with the previous driver and sometimes it went back to 50B/s and was stopping the download.
Everything seems to be working as it should but my question is the following.
Now iwconfig reports a constant bitrate of 65Mbps but a somewhat scary 200dBm txpower !!!
Yes this is not a typo! Before it was 20(b43) now is 200(wl).
To my knowledge this is over the limit and I'm afraid for even the smallest thing like frying up my wireless card as well as for more health-related stuff...
After googling around I've seen various iwconfig outputs having the same txpower like mine(200) when using wl on different broadcom cards and different distros(ubuntu,debian,fedora)
iwconfig wlp2s0(interface name) txpower 20(or any value) doesn't seem to change anything (I run it as root)
I'm really worried so if you have any explanation for this, a way to see the real txpower or even better revert to open source b43 but make it work as it should I would be grateful.
Last edited by moihack (2014-12-28 13:57:59)

I had this same card in my previous laptop. The b43 module didn't start supporting it until very recently. So I was stuck using the broadcom-sta (wl) module for a loooong time. It worked fine and never burned up my card. You should be fine. Maybe it is just a bug in the module's code?
As a side note, if you install the broadcom-wl package, you don't need to manually blacklist the other modules. It is included in the package as /usr/lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf.

Video with bonjour wireless question

Hi,
Question 1: When using two new macboook pros, my brother and I are trying to use video ichat av with wireless. It connects briefly(30 secs) and the first few frames of the image is fine, but then freezes or becomes very blocky. Finally the application stops the chat. The wireless router is a Linksys. Firewall allows ichat bonjour traffic, set in sys prefs on both machines. Any ideas?
Question 2: When using bonjour over wireless, does ichat av require a wireless router? Or can it work with just 2 wireless capable machines?
thank you for any help,
Tangerinebluejean

Hi TangerineBlueJean,
Re question 1
Ignore the Mac firewall preset for Bonjour as it opens the wrong protocol and misses one port.
You need to set a New setting.
Choose "Other" in the drop down.
Bonjour ports are
TCP 5298
UDP 5297, 5298, 5353
Give the setting a name and Add/Apply
These same ports need to be open in the Linksys preferably by enabling UPnP in the Administration tab rather than Port Forwarding as this will allow on one computer.
There is also no Preset in the Mac Firewall for iChat's AIM Login, A/V chats or the Jabber side.
Complete set of ports are here
http://www.ralphjohnsuk.dsl.pipex.com/page4.html at the second pic.
Re Question 2
Yes, between two wireless capable machines you can set up an Ad Hoc network (one Mac becomes the Base Station in effect) and then Bonjour will work.
4:34 PM Saturday; December 30, 2006
Happy Holidays

Tecra 8200 wireless question

Okay this is probably a stupid question but I have a Tecra 8200 .
Do I have to buy something else for the wireless connection to work?

Hi
This question is not stupid ;) because the Tecra 8200 was equipped optional with the internal minPCI WLan card. This could be a little bit confusing.
So in some Tecra 8200 units the WLan is already included and in some Tecras the minPCI WLan card must be installed firstly to use the WLan technology.
You should check your device manager if an WLan module is listed in Network adepter
If its already listed then you dont need an additional WLan card.
If its not listed, then you will have to upgrade the machine with the minPCI WLan card or with a USB WLan stick.
As far as I know the PA3070U-1MPC Wireless LAN mini-PCI card coudl be compatible with your notebook.

2006 Core 2 Duo 15" (A1211) memory and wireless questions

Hi all,
I've got a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 15", 2.16ghz (A1211 model)
A couple quick questions:
1) When I first bought the computer (late 2006) it had 802.11g compatibility but shortly after apple released a small upgrade that would take it to 802.11N. Never bothered installing it as until now I've only had a g router, but am now thinking of upgrading. I'm on OS X 10.6 now and I read at one site online that Leopard included the 802.11N upgrade? Can anyone confirm this? If not, would I still need to specifically download something to upgrade?
2) Currently I've only got 1GB RAM. Its performance is fine with OS X 10.6 and what I use the computer for. However OS X 10.7 is out now and I know that 2GB minimum is needed for that. However, I've also read that Apple really recommends 4GB ram. While I know that this computer can physically accept 4GB, I also believe I understand that due to chipset limitations only 3GB or a little bit over 3GB can be exposed to the OS. So, question is, is it worth the $100 or so to buy two 2GB modules and upgrade this to use 10.7, or is the performance going to be lousy in this configuration, and better to save the money to put towards a new Mac downt he road?
Thanks in advance for any help or insights.

Re: 1 See this link:http://store.apple.com/us/product/D4141ZM/A
Re: 2 Why not just one 2GB chip?
I have a MBP core duo and it works perfectly. I have installed the maximum RAM and a 500GB HDD. I did get a new one last year because the older one could not handle some video apps, otherwise it does everything else, but just a tad slower that the new one.
Personally if you have no pressing need, keep the MBP you have. I maintain that technological obsolescence is more of perception than reality.
Ciao

Mac Mini Pre 2009 Wireless Question

I have 3 ways of accessing my wireless network. My wife's new macbook (5,1), my iPhone 3G and my pre 2009 Mac Mini. All worked in our old house. We just moved and wireless router is located further away from my mac mini.
Wife's computer and my iPhone get "full bar" reception but my Mac Mini cant even get through password phase to new network and has sporadic reception. If I move Mac Mini next to router seems to work fine...
Is it really possible that the wireless reception on Mac Mini is so much weaker than other 2 Mac's; or do I have another problem?
Thanks

Have you tried moving the new location of the wireless router to see if that makes a difference? In my house, for example, when I have the wireless router on the desk I don't get as good a signal coverage as when I place the router at the top of a tall bookshelf, just under the ceiling.
If that doesn't help, you might want to post this in the mini discussions at http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=158

Slow connection & wireless question...

I am having a problem with slow speed of surfing on DSL. I'm not sure if I have the cables connected correctly because I recently moved and it was all box up.
Also, do I need a separate router (Netgear) to get wireless for other computers in the home?
Thanks, Cari

Issue part a
calyma wrote:
I am having a problem with slow speed of surfing on DSL. I'm not sure if I have the cables connected correctly because I recently moved and it was all box up.
Step one: Visit http://www.giganews.com/line_info.html and post up the Traceroute the page shows, if you wish. Be aware that your non-bogan public IP Address will show up. It might shown up as the final hop (bottom-most line of the trace) might contain a hop with your IP address in it. Either remove that line or show only the first two octets. What I'm looking for is a line that mentions "ERX" in it's name towards the end. If for some reason the trace does not complete (two lines full of Stars), keep the trace route intact.
For example this what I see
    news.giganews.com
    traceroute to 71.242.*.* (71.242.*.*), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
    1 gw1-g-vlan201.dca.giganews.com (216.196.98.4) 13 ms 13 ms 13 ms
    2 ash-bb1-link.telia.net (213.248.70.241) 39 ms 7 ms 7 ms
    3 TenGigE0-2-0-0.GW1.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.125.125.41) 4 ms 4 ms GigabitEthernet2-0-0.GW8.IAD8.ALTER.NET (63.65.76.189) 4 ms
    4 so-7-1-0-0.PHIL-CORE-RTR1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.20.137) 6 ms 6 ms 6 ms
    5 P3-0-0.PHIL-DSL-RTR11.verizon-gni.net (130.81.13.170) 6 ms 6 ms 6 ms
    6 static-71-242-*-*.phlapa.east.verizon.net (71.242.*.*) 32 ms 32 ms 33 ms
Step two: Can you provide the Transceiver Statistics from your modem?
#3 If you don't know how to get that info:
a) What is the brand and model of your modem?
b) If you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to it: What is the brand and model of the RJ-45 WAN port router?
#4 If you have a RJ-45 WAN port router connected to the modem, even if you know how to get the Transceiver Statistics from the modem: What is the brand and model of the RJ-45 WAN port router?
Issue part b
calyma wrote:
Also, do I need a separate router (Netgear) to get wireless for other computers in the home?
Can not answer yet, because: You did not post what equipment you have as your modem and if you have a separate router, which one.
If you are the original poster (OP) and your issue is solved, please remember to click the "Solution?" button so that others can more easily find it. If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the "Kudos" button.

881W - wireless question

I have a Cisco 881W configured for wireless (just a PSK, nothing special). I can get out to the Internet OK and browse to everywhere except my own websites.
It runs on a connection that does not connect directly to my network, but our website is available to the world externally.
Now, from the router a traceroute and ping work fine to our website but from the wireless connection I can get to everywhere else on the web but our website. A traceroute just stars out. I'm using 8.8.8.8 as a DNS server and nslookup resolves the DNS.
I can't set a DNS server or domain server on the ap on the 881W so are there any commands I can use to see what's going on?

Just wanted to say this is now fixed. Someone had added a route in for management, but not been restrictive enough with the subnet. Didn't think to look at the routing as supposedly no one had changed anything.

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