[WelMac] Introduction + question

[David Empson]

At 8:07 PM +1200 30/09/2007, Gordon Paynter wrote:
>Hi David, John.
>
>Thank you both for your detailed replies.
>
>Sorry I wasn'r copmpletely clear about my setup. I defintely have an 
>airport card in the G3, and connect to an airport express base 
>estation via 802.11b . I would try changing the base station to a 
>different wireless channel, but since I cannot connect to it (having 
>no woreless) I don;t think I can do that.

Yes, you can: if you plug an Ethernet cable between the iBook G3 and 
the Airport Express, you will be able to reconfigure the Airport 
Express using Airport Admin Utility. (Unless your Airport Express is 
set to operate in a mode where the Ethernet port is switched off, 
which isn't likely.)

>Here's another thing: when the wireless is working, I can see my own 
>network, and also see my neighbours 802.11b network. When there is 
>no signal I can see neither of them. This leads me to believe it is 
>not a problem with the base station.

OK, that's helpful to narrow it down. I agree - this does make it 
more likely that the problem is on the iBook rather than with the 
base station.

>John - I'm running MacOSX 10.3.9 and updated all the software 
>recently. There was a period when MacOSX 10.3 updates were very 
>flaky, and I would need to hard-reset the base station after each 
>upgrade, but upgrading the base station firmware seemed to fix that 
>up about 18 months ago.
>
>
>David - I agree that a hardware problem is most likely.
>
>I have tried opening it up and reseating the card, and also 
>attempting to unplug and re-plug the arial. No joy.
>
>Your antenna theory sounds worryingly accurate. The only things I 
>have had to repair on this unit are a hard disk, and the monitor 
>cable that runs through the hinge. Apparently these wear out after a 
>while and start losing connections, and MagnumMac replaced it about 
>a year ago. Do you know if replacing the monitor cable/connection 
>also fixes the antenna cable, or if they are separate cables?

The antenna and monitor cables probably run through the same hinge 
junction with the base of the computer, but I think they are separate 
cables.

The antenna is quite a firm and relatively thick single stranded 
cable (at least the part which goes into the Airport card) whereas 
the monitor cable uses multiple thinner wires, probably bundled 
together in an even thicker cable. They go to different places in the 
screen and the body, so if they were bundled together to pass through 
the hinge they would have to separate out again on either side of the 
hinge.

They might go through opposite ends of the hinge (one in the left, 
one in the right).

>I have tried restarting the computer, and that doesn't help. I have 
>looked in the system profiler, and it detects the card okay, and 
>shows it working but not connected to any network. That is 
>consistent with the "Internet Connect" tool, which shows the card 
>running, but no signal detected. I have a CD that I got with the 
>original unit that does some hardware tests; this doesn't find any 
>problems.
>
>I am running the base station with the network name hidden, but this 
>doesn't seem to be the problem. There is simply no signal being 
>detected. When the signal comes bak (intermitantly) the computer 
>immediately connects to the right network.
>
>
>I think my next steps are going to be try experimenting with holding 
>the lid at differnt angles (this worked for the monitor) and to take 
>the computer into the city with me tomorrow and try to connect to 
>cafenet--if I get no signal in an internet cafe, I think I can be 
>100% sure it is not a network problem.
>
>
>Thanks again for your advice.  Sadly, the Hutt Valley is a bot out 
>of the way John, but if anyone in the city has one that I could swap 
>in and out quickly, say at someplace like Felix...?

I'm based in Wellington. I have a semi-spare Airport card, which I've 
removed from my dead PowerBook G4.

I doubt I'll have time to make a special trip anywhere during the 
day, but perhaps you could come and visit me at work, either during 
my lunch hour or in the evening? My work is on upper Willis St 
(between Vivian and Ghuznee).

>PS: Does anyone know if it wouyld be possible to craft an 
>alternative antenna and plug it into the back of the card while the 
>machine is sleeping/off? Is the antenna just a wire, or somethng 
>more complex?

The antenna is likely to need to be a special type of wire, of the 
correct impedance and length. The connector is also an uncommon one.

I'd suggest doing some Internet research to see if you can find 
anyone supplying replacement internal antennas for an Airport card, 
or temporary alternatives.

I was going to suggest www.ifixit.com, but they don't appear to offer 
antennas, only the cards and other accessories like Bluetooth.

-- 
David Empson
dempson at actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand