[WelMac] Introduction + question

Sat Oct 27 05:00:21 CDT 2007

Hi all:

I thought I'd update you on my AirPort problems. My conclusion after reading
all this email, and a few more experiments, was that my antenna was broken.
There is no fixing that, so I took the Airport card out, went down to Quay
Computers, and bought a $55 Wireles USB Dongle. I installed the driver and
tested it out in the store and could connect to cafenet and their internal
network (and it was super-fast: the AirPort was 802.11b, but the USB is
802.11g).

It looked like my problems were solved. The good news is that I can sell the
AirPort card on TradeMe for well over $55.The bad news is that the USB
dongle is almost Anti-Apple in its ugliness.

But when I got home and tried it out here, I could see my (Airport Express)
network, but not connect. Eventually I figured out how to reset the password
(thanks to the email below), tweaked a few other settings, and was able to
connect. However, it only lasted for about 5 seconds, then I get
disconnected, then it reconnected, then disconnected, and so on
continuously. Trying it out on a NetGear wireless router I was able to
connect, so the fault lies in the interaction with the AirPort base station.
Closer inspection of the "Statistics" window in the driver showed the USB
dongle was transmitting fine, but close to 100% of packets it recieved had
CRC errors. (With the NetGear it was about 50%).

And that is where I am now. From what I can tell, one company makes pretty
much all the USB dongles, and supplies the driver, and a lot of people have
this problem (http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=26858&page=2).
Some people fix it by tweaking the Airport or dongle settings, and others by
getting a different version of the driver. I'll try both, I guess.

Anyway, thank you all for all your help. Hopefully I can finish the job
soon, and get back to browsing the web from the couch, and streaming music
to my speakers.

Gordon

On 30/09/2007, David Empson <dempson at actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
>
> 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
>
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