Wireless Reception Woes - Fixed

I bought my wife a Macbook Pro this March. The first thing we noticed when we fired it up was the poor wireless reception compared to my PowerBook G4. Even kept side-by-side, the Macbook Pro had poor reception and high latency (when it did stay connected).
I knew it didnt have anything to do with my Wireless router (Netgear WGT624), because my other 2 Windows laptops and PowerBook connect just fine. I invested in a QuickerTek Connect @ $200 and it worked as advertised. Personally, I thought it looked ugly and returned it.
I took the MacBook Pro into the nearest Apple store and explained the problem to the Genius there. Given the volume of discussion about this topic on this forum, I would've thought he'd have a knowing smile on his face. However, he said he'd never heard of this issue. He showed me how he was seeing "all the bars" on the Airport icon when connecting from my wife's MacBook Pro at the Apple store.
Nevertheless, I insisted it didnt work at home and he sent it in for repairs. When it came back, lo and behold, wireless networking works just fine - it is on par with my PowerBook G4 now.
What did the repair center do? They replaced the "ANTENNA ASSY". I take it that means they replaced the antenna assembly (the dark gray bar on the hinge between the screen and keyboard).
My advise - if you are having wireless reception issues and your MacBook Pro is still under warranty, take it into an Apple Store for repairs.
Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I went ahead and invested in a QuickerTek Transciever for MacBook Pro (http://www.quickertek.com/MBProXCVR.php - $200). The wireless reception improved a lot.
While I was reading another post on these discussion board, I came across a suggestion to only enable Wireless G on my router. All this while, my router (Netgear WGT624) was set to use Auto 108Mbps on Channel 6. I set it to "Wireless G only" and changed the channel to 8.
Now I have impeccable wireless reception. I'm going to return the Quickertek transciever and save myself $200
Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Similar Messages

Is my Macbook Pro the only one with lousy wireless reception/coverage

Hi,
I was expecting great things when i received my Macbook Pro last week. I was also prepared to go through a lot of testing for sound issues and heat, as i've read from so many other posts (my MBP seem to have none of these issues in any major way).
I used to work on my Powerbook G4 from 2005 which had a decent wireless reception (even compared to my wife's ibook G4).
But this macbook has the worst wireless reception i've ever seen! When running istumbler on both machines (PB, and MBP) and placing them side-by-side i'm getting a major difference in signal strength.
This is also basically what i see everywhere else with this MBP.
At the same time the MBP has problems connecting to Closed networks (airport extreme AP) and apparantly also lots of other wireless issues with authentication.
Am i the only experiencing this ?
Best Regards,
Lasse,
MBP 2.16, Powerbook G4, Ibook G4, Ibook G3 Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Powerbook G4, Tiger Mac OS X (10.4.2)

I'm curious, when did you get your MBP and what is the serial number of your MBP?
Thanks
i read early on that with the new antenna placement
and whatnot that the macbook pro was going to get far
better reception than the older powerbooks. this may
be true, because i've seen some powerbooks get bad
wireless reception, but my macbook pro gets about the
same reception as my iBook G4. which is pretty good,
so i'm not complaining ... i just think the "better
wireless reception" was overhyped. as far as
connection issues and dropping connections, etc.,
i've had no problems so far, and i regularly use my
MBP in 5 different open and closed wireless networks
with different levels of security.

MBP better wireless reception than PD?

Question for previous owners of PowerBooks who have upgraded to a MacBook Pro.
I'm thinking of upgrading to a new MBP 17". Do MBP's have better wireless reception than PowerBooks? I have a powerbook G4 17" 1.5ghz, my friends MacBook (white) has way better reception. The MacBook can see about 10 local wireless networks and connects with good reception while the powerbook rarely sees more than three, and I get barely any signal strength if any at all from the visible networks.
Christo

I can confirm what sig says, to an extent. My MBP does have slightly better reception than a PB, but it's nowhere near as good as an MB (or my iPhone/iPod Touch). I haven't had any issues with dependability. The main issue is the aluminum casing, since the MB and MBP have the same wireless card.
All of them are more than adequate for my needs, though. The MBP gets full strength from my wireless network; so does a laptop with a polycarbonate case, but the latter does see more of the neighbors' networks.

How's the wireless reception?

Sorry if this should be in the Networking section...I wasn't sure. But I was just wondering how well the reception is on the MBP? I have heard that the old Powerbooks had trouble connecting to access points because the aluminum casing hindered this. Any troubles getting wireless reception in places where plastic cased notebooks received it easily? Thanks in advance for any help.

I use a Dell Latitude D600 and a 15" MacBook Pro at both work and home and I find that the Dell usually reports a full strength signal and yet the MacBook suffers with bad reception. I originally thought this may be a channel problem but this is not the case.
At work we are currently using a Linksys access point and my laptops are about 20 meters from it. Dell reports full signal and MacBook reports about 2-3 bars strength.
At home I use a Belkin Pre-N router and everywhere in the house or garden the Dell reports full signal strength where as the MacBook Pro really suffers in the garden or upstairs.
Now the strange thing is upstairs I have an iMac G5 17" and that reports a full strength signal. Sit the MacBook Pro next to the iMac and the signal is no where near as good.
I am convinced that the antenna on the MacBook Pro suffers more purely because the case is aluminium (or whatever it is!) and this is the problem.
Can anyone shed some light on this?

Laptop Wireless Reception Very Poor

I've been using my PowerBook G4 for years on the kitchen table with excellent wireless reception until a few days ago when overnight it went completely. A hardware test proves the airport extreme card inside to be intact. Eventually I got a full signal back but only in the same room as the router (not even in the next room). My daughters intel MacBook continues to work absolutely fine so I don't think its to do with interference and I've tried changing channels on the router. Anybody got any ideas?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Are you using an Apple Airport base station?
Does the problem occur when the microwave and any wireless phones are not in use? Are you in a single family home detached, rowhouse, or apartment complex?
If the latter two, maybe one of your neighbors has enabled something in that frequency that causes interference.

Wireless reception very poor on HomeHub 3

My wireless reception with my previous HH 2.0B had become very poor. The signal was starting to drop to 1 bar when the laptop was only 10 mtrs away from the hub. There are no thick walls or major obstacles in the way.
I discussed at length the problem with BT technical help and after eventually speaking with a supervisor / manager it was agreed that if I started a new 12 month contract they would send me a HH 3. They would also slightly reduce my monthly charge.
The HH 3 duly arrived but there is absolutely no difference in the wireless reception. There is certainly no improvement on the HH 2.
Has anyone else had this wireless problem and any possible solutions? It is very frustrating and bearing in mind all the adverts that the HH 3 is supposed to be the best it's very dissapointing.

I see any wireless router not much more than a gimmick, very easily the reverse would happen in my home.
There is so much that interferes with wireless in the home and the neighbour’s home and occasionally the people across the road. I can pretty much see the testing scenario for wireless routers and very likely far removed from what would be considered average home!
Take my set up when the home plugs are not burning out, the main computer sits around 3 metres away from the Hub type A, connected wireless has about ¾ reception and stutters with streaming. My daughters computer sits in what many would consider a dead spot has full reception streams IPlayer alike no problems. Move the hub in any direction a matter of Cms then it goes wobbly in the dead spot, this happens with 3 different manufactures of routers with varying extremes. |The type B Hub simply can’t be convinced to put its wireless in the dead
spot. Not very scientific but a average user home, I believe and I'm convinced wireless is as much use as a clairvoyant.
Mortgage Advisor 2000-2008
Green Energy Advisor 2008-2010
Charity Health Care Provider Advisor 2010-
I'm alright Jack....

10.4.3 Kills Wireless Reception

Since upgrading my G4 17" PowerBook to 10.4.3, my wireless reception has been terrible. After the upgrade I had to be on the same floor within 15 feet of my Airport Extreme and my Linksys router. (The latter was a freebee from my ISP.)
When I spoke to the AppleCare representative he queried the Apple forums and said that some customers have had this problem and solved it by downgrading their Airport firmware to 5.5.1 (from the current 5.6). I did this and got modest improvement (and obviously no improvement to my Linksys), but my reception is still much poorer than before the upgrade to 10.4.3.
Does anyone have a better suggestion?
Thank you.

Rick, thanks for your added suggestions. I was not lost, just took a computer break over the holidays.
I've tried everything you have mentioned and have seen no improvement. Note that I have an Airport Extreme and a Linksys Wireless router. (I have used both since the AEBS works best if I am in range, but the range has always been significantly worse than the Linksys.) Hardware architecture and environment have not changed. (No fishtanks in my house - just a chinchilla and a humain society mut!) The problems started when I upgraded my PB to 10.4.3. (Also, I have a laptop PC from work that continues to work fine.)
Since my previous post I have also:
1. Upgraded my Airport Extreme firmware to v5.7. Of course this would have no effect on the Linksys.
2. Per the advice of a AppleCare representative, I installed AirPort Update 2005-001 (http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportupdate2005001.html) on my PB. Since I normally keep everything up-to-date using 'Software Update', 2005-0001 should have already been installed. However, the AppleCare representative suggested that I manually apply this update since the Apple developers have seen cases where the manual installation corrects problems. Wild, huh?
Anyway, still no improvement. I'm hopeful that 10.4.5 cleans up this mess. A quick search of the forums indicates that others are fighting similar issues.

Increasing Wireless reception

I use my computer at school for lectures, but am unable to get a consistent network connection. Instead, the connection goes in and out, effectively making the connection useless for me. Others around me with newer Mac laptop models do not have this problem and so I am assuming that the wireless reception is not as strong on my older model.
And so, does anyone know of a way to increase my reception? Is there a product I should buy that you would reccomend? Do I just need a new wireless card?
Thank you.

Are you using a QuickTek product? Wondering which one to buy....I'm looking for an antenna for my PB G4. Range at my home is terrible. Linksys router just isn't cutting it.

Poor Wireless Reception

My 18 month old Macbook does a poor job of picking up wireless signals unless it's close to the base station. For example, if I'm two rooms away in my home, the signal fades to nothing and I have to walk the computer toward the room with the base station to bring a signal back.
My daughter's Macbook has no problem - signal strength shows as strong in the menu bar all over the house. My iPod touch similarly seems to have good reception (although not as strong as indicated by my daughter's 'Book.
It wasn't always this way - I used to receive a strong signal everywhere in my home. Can the Airport receiver in the MacBook somehow degrade over time, or become damaged in some way?

There is a very good chance it has something wrong with it. You need to see about getting it serviced. There are lots of places that will fix it if your not under warranty anymore. Just do a search for MacBook repairs and you will find lots of places that can help.

Very poor wireless reception on HP Envy 17t-j000

So I just recently got a HP Envy 17t-j000 quad edition (Windows 8), which seems to be having some wifi issues
I opted for the cheaper non-bluetooth adapter, the Realtek RTL8188EE, which at present seems to have almost zero documentation on the internet. The Realtek website doesn't even show any record of it!
Anyways, here's the problem: I'm getting very poor reception with it, to the point where one of my two wireless routers has only very intermittent and horrendously slow connectivity, and the other will work a room away but no further (and also sometimes drops too, but less frequently). Outside of this range, I can still see these networks, but cannot always connect. If I do manage to connect, it will show a strong signal (4-5 out of 5 bars) but will never actually load anything. In fact, though I'm not sure this is relevant or not, I have never seen any networks with less than 3 out of 5 bars for signal strength.
Meanwhile, a number of other devices work at a much larger range and without dropping the connection as this computer does. This includes a year old HP (I forget the model) and a five year old Acer. The speed on my faster router doesn't appear to be very different between the HP Envy and the other two.
I have:
* Done a number of restarts of the network modem and both wireless routers
* Verified that the driver on the wireless adapter is up to date and reinstalled it
* Checked to make sure there are no antivirus/firewall/other programs systems that could be interfering
So, does this sound like a just a crappy wireless adapter or could this be some sort of software issue or defective hardware? Also, if I were to just replace this with another wireless card, what sort of things do I need to be concerned with in order to make sure the replacement is compatible with the system?

OK Boys & Girls - - here's what I did - -
First - the Envy X2 is having similar problems - but my laptop is the 17t-j000 quad
so this IS the correct thread - -
I used the HP support assistant - - it installed an updated BIOS -
The WiFi still shuts down at 8 - 10 min watching Netflix (no mouse or user inputs - Max signal strength indicated)
{Yes - I have disabled allowing the machine to turn off power to the WiFi card in the driver section}
Loaded the Softpaq mentioned above (quoted below) - - 200MB - had to be SOMETHING in there ??
It loaded without a problem - - strange thing is - the Intel Driver date stayed the same: 9/17/2012
Tried the WiFi - - still shuts down at 8 - 10 min
Went back to HP Support Assistant - -
NOW it says - - I need a new WiFi package ?!?
So - I download and installed THAT - -
Back to Netflix - - and so far - has been NO SHUTDOWN ?!?
2 episodes watched - still connected - fingers crossed
Your mileage may vary - -
Hi,
Download the Softpaq sp63183 from the below FTP link which should resolve these issues.
This Softpaq is for Windows 8 notebooks with an Intel Wireless card and should not be installed if they have another manufacturer like Broadcom , Realtek , or Qualcomm .
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63001-63500/sp63183.exe
Customer complaining about connection “ dropping ” intermittently.
Fixes an issue which causes the 802.11n wireless connection to be disabled after a wireless adapter driver is installed.
Customer is having general wireless connection issues with their Windows 8 notebook.
"I work for HP."

If you have a Blue Screen / Error due to Wireless issues (B110a), fix in here.

For the original thread created by somebody else, please see here:
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-All-in-One-Install-and/B110a-network-connection-problem/m-p/319...
Here's a youtube video of what happened to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adE1kq36ld4
I'm reposting it here so it can hopefully help some of you guys if anybody else stumbles across this. In short, my printer was fresh out of the box and I attempted to connect it to the wireless network. It would throw a blue screen on the LCD with an error of B8126AD6.
I narrowed it down to an issue with DHCP. For some reason the printer connects to the wireless access point but as soon as it tries to get an IP address from the DHCP server it crashes with that blue screen and the error code in the first post above. This look like a massive bug in the printers firmware! For reference my router is a Billion 7401VGPR3 which is acting as my default gateway and DHCP server. I have a Linksys WRT54G as my Access Point for the house.
To solve it, I turned DHCP off on my router and then tried connecting the printer to the wireless network. This time it connects fine but you still can't talk to it because it doesn't have a proper IP address. If it still doesn't connect properly, try turning WPA/WPA2/WEP off on your Access Point. Leave it completely open for a moment until you can reach the web interface (as below).
To fix the IP issue, I then went into the Settings menu on the printer and printed the "HP Network Configuration Page". Note that under the Wireless menu option there are a couple of different "Print Network Test Page" options. I believe it's the 2nd one that I selected. You'll know you have the right one when it prints out the page with the following info:
IPv4 IP Address
Subnet Mask
Hostname
Default Gateway
Primary DNS
etc, etc.
Take note of the IP Address from the printout above and the Subnet Mask. My IP was 169.254.73.5 and subnet mask 255.255.0.0. Now I manually configured my computers IP address to be similar (within the same subnet): 169.254.73.10 with the same subnet mask.
Now you can load up the web interface of the printer using http://169.254.73.5 in my case. (You should also be able to ping the printer at this point too). In here you have a Network tab where you can now manually set the IP Address of the printer. Set the address you want it to be in your network (in my case 192.168.0.3 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and default gateway 192.168.0.1 and dns server 192.168.0.1).
Once I clicked OK I changed my PC's IP back to normal, and I can now reach the printer on its IP address set above. YAY!
The great thing is, in the web interface you get a million more options to play with. You can manually set the IP address, gateway, DNS, wireless settings such as WPA1/WPA2 AES/TKIP Encryption, WPA Passkey, etc. So if you had to set the Access Point to completely Open, setup the encryption again and put the passkey in here. When I did this I had to go back into the Settings menu on the printer LCD and select "Disable Wireless" then "Enable Wireless" to force it to re-join the network.
Finally I went into the Settings menu again and Updated the software on the printer. I don't know if the new software fixes the bug or not - I haven't tested it (can't be bothered!).
Hopefully this will help some of you guys out there too!
EDIT: I've just stumbled across another couple of posts with similar results to mine:
- http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-networking-and-wireless/How-to-install-Photosmart-B109n-z-on-a-...
- http://forums.techguy.org/networking/627989-hp-6980-printer-wireless-problem.html

Many thanks to gardz for an exhaustive overview on this critical problem with the B110a printer!
I am happy to report that I have managed to set the printer to a static IP and am now able to connect to it wirelessly from my home computers, and also able to use the web apps and ePrint features on the printer. The printer shows the IP address and I am able to use the EWS (Embedded Web Server) to connect to its IP address from my PC's internet browser. The Wireless Network Test Report also showed no problems. I have also completed the Product Update on the printer, and there are no more pending updates now.
However, the core wireless problem is still not satisfactorily resolved.
I get the BSOD and blinking-lights error ("Please turn off printer and then on"), only if I start the printer when Wireless is enabled on the printer. If wireless is disabled prior to printer boot, there is no error.
The workaround I have adopted for now, is to always switch off the printer's wireless, before switching off the printer, and enabling the wireless setting only when I need to print/scan.
Is this happening with anyone else? Why would the printer crash if it boots with wireless enabled? If it is already set to a static IP, why would it still conflict with the DHCP on the router?
My router is perfectly working, it is in the same room as the printer, so the signal strength is good. The printer itself is quite stable except for this crash-after-boot-if-wireless-was-enabled issue on the printer.
I made the mistake of connecting the USB cable to my primary computer before installing the printer drivers, so even the USB option is not working (Windows recognizes the printer as an unknown USB device). If anyone can point me to the printer drivers (inf files), I would be grateful. The CD does not have the driver files in a convenient location. It seems to be embedded within the setup package somewhere.
Gardz and PrintDoc, I hope you can help us out on this one. I know many B110a users are struggling with the wireless issues, so HP needs to release a firmware fix and driver update soon. Wireless ought to work out-of-the-box, as this product is aimed at the SOHO users.

Boosting wireless reception on iMac G5?

The rural community I live in has recently set up a satellite-based WiFi network for the locals to use. The main signal is brought in, then repeated out to several remote access points within the community. One of these points is directly opposite my house, about 300 yards away. This access point is an Airport Extreme base station, set to repeat out the signal.
I can "see" the nearby access point with both our iMac G5s and also with our iBook. The iBook gets usable signal strength (3 bars), but neither of the G5s get enough signal to be useful (0-2 bars). Both iMacs have Airport Extreme cards. The iBook has a plain Airport card.
I have reseated Airport cards and antennas, and checked for a fully-seated antenna connection. I'm confident this is not the problem. Plastic tab on the antenna lead is removed. I have changed channels several times.
Is there any way to boost the reception of these iMac G5s? Any way to set up an external antenna to improve reception? Any way to setup our network to make this work?
In an ideal world, I'd hope for some solution that all our computers could use, even the iBook. We do have a Windows machine we could use as a network hub, but I'd prefer to keep it in the closet where it belongs.
Resources:
2x iMac G5 (Airport Extreme card)
G3 iBook (Airport card)
15" gooseneck iMac G4 (no wireless card)
S6010v Compaq Presario (NIC card yes, wireless card no)
D-Link DI-524 Wireless router

I've read over and over that reseating the antenna and trying different channels is the way to solve the problem. Apparently, you have to reseat the antenna cable with much more force than you'll probably think is appropriate (check the archives for confirmation of this).
However, I have a question - for those of us with Rev. B iMac G5s, how do we do this? Apple provides instructions for the Rev. A models, but I don't have an Airport card where they show it. Does anyone know, and has anyone successfully reseated it on a Rev. B machine?

Wireless printing now fixed!

Thanks Apple,
Just update to 10.4.6 to establish Apple talk wireless printing!
Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I have an ancient Apple Personal Laserwriter 320 and
an almost equally ancient Dayna.... latest update fixed the problem.
So it probably isn't the age of the equipment since I
I don't know if the problem was with the firmware in
the card or an extension but my current Wireless Card
Firmware Version found in the System Profiler is
0.1.17. You might want to check to make sure your
update worked correctly.
Hey... I hope Jim Bailey sees this post because I sure would like to know how you're getting your printer and Dayna to work. I have almost the identicle set up: LaserWriter Select 360f with the mini Dayna and I can't get ANY of my OS X Macs to see the printer... wireless OR wired!
I'm trouble shooting from one of my work horses, an upgraded B&W/G4 right now running OS X.4.6 and I can't for the life of me get it to see the LaserWriter. I've also tried an AsanteTalk device (localtalk -->ethernet) device and that came up NADA, too!
Since I'm trying to work via wired ethernet right now - I don't think the issue is with the firmware version of the card. HEY JIM - any ideas? How did you get yours to work???
Barry
Portland, OR
Too many to list! Mac OS X (10.4.6) ever hear of a Newton?!! One of those, too!

Apple Wireless Keyboard woes...

Has anyone heard of this problem before...?
I was typing away on my wireless keyboard. Have had it for over a year. Zero problems before.
I was attempting to copy/paste text in Quark and discovered a couldn't (using the keyboard commands).
I could type sentences/characters. I just couldn't cut/paste.
Then I discovered when I hit the Delete key it would enter an equal sign "=" or "an equal sign and a zero "=0" instead of deleting.
Very strange behavior. Thinking it might be a quark problem I tried editing text in Word. Same thing.
Then I tried renaming/deleting text in file names on my desktop. Same thing.
I rebooted and now my Computer won't pair with the keyboard. It sees it in Bluetooth set up and gives me a code. But when I type it in and hit return -- I get a "can't pair" with device error.
I've changed batteries. I've left the keyboard sitting without batteries for 30 minutes.
Still can't pair.
Is my keyboard dead/dying?
Again the computter sees the keyboard via bluetooth. It just can't pair with it.
Light on the keyboard does the blink-blink pause blink blink thing showing it's discoverable.
Any thoughts?

Just an update. Since my keyboard is out of warranty I figured I was out of luck and fixing to buy a new one. Then my wife mentioned she had wiped it down the other day with windex. Doh!!!
That made me think perhaps moisture had gotten down inside.
With nothing to lose I grabbed a T-screw driver (and an 000 phillips) and decided to open the thing up and see waht could be done.
When I got to the membrane/circut board under the key board and the metal grounding plate they were very damp with condensation.
I peeled the two layers of the membrane apart and blow dryed them gently. Wiped off the metal plate with a cloth sprayed with tuner cleaner and put it all back together.
It works!!!
Always a chance corrosion could bite me later. But so far so good. Everything is up and runnng.

Apple Extreme "downstream" for improved Wireless reception?

Since my cable modem is in the basement, and I want to use wireless primarily on the 2 floor above that--(for an iPod Touch and also sometimes my MacBook or a visitor with a PC or Mac portable); and since I have a wired house (basement and top floor, not the "ground" floor) - can I do this:??:
1. Keep current cable modem in place, wired to a D-Link 604 router, which goes to a switch, and one cable goes upstairs.
2. Upstairs there is a "switch" which I plan to replace with the Apple Extreme Wireless Router on this upper floor. I would configure such that if the D-Link downstairs shows 162.198.0.### that the Apple Extreme should show: 162.198.1.### --- (i.e. a "1" in place of the "0" in the third position) Will that work? I should get better reception on the ground and top floor with the Apple Extreme on the top floor, right? Will this be easy to configure?
Appreciate any comments here.
Regards,
Steve 10 March 2008

Now as to configuring the AEBS as a "Bridge" - I heard one guy mentioning that at the MacLine store here, but not 100% sure how to do that. Can I just connect my MacBook via ethernet cable to the AEBS and configure it BEFORE then putting it in-line?
You can configure it via wireless or an Ethernet connection. There is no wizard. You would use "AirPort Utility" to configure the AEBS.
Also: With my cable modem first going thru a D-Link DI-604 (about 3-4 years old at least) - will I get "n" speed if the AEBS is "downstream" and configured as a bridge?
You would get 'n' speed between the AEBS and the wireless clients connected to the AEBS. This would allow you to make fast file transfers between your wireless clients.
The Internet speed would be dependent on the slowest link to the Internet. The slowest link is probably the connection speed your ISP is providing.

Wireless Reception Woes - Fixed

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