wireless network recognition

At 02:31 on 17-07-2007, Kathleen Stewart wrote:
> Sometimes, I don't even see the network; other times, I can see the
> network but cannot join it even though no password is required.

It is probably just the poor antenna in the PB G4. You will probably
find that as well as those with PCs, people with iBooks and MacBooks
can pick up these networks with no problem. I have the very first
generation PB G4 and my AirPort reception is horrible. Others using
iBooks and MacBooks either get a stronger signal or can connect to
networks that I don't even see. I have also occasionally had the
problem you describe where I see a network but can't connect. Using
one of the scanning tools, it seems that the network just keeps on
disappearing and reappearing which is presumably why the PowerBook
can't hold a connection to it.

I suppose that one solution would be to buy a WiFi PC card which
would have a better antenna. But I've managed so far and this PB is
nearing the end of it's life as my main computer (at 6.5 years, so
not bad!).

_________________
=> Jolin

On 7/17/07 at 2:31 AM, kstewartcharter.net (Kathleen Stewart) wrote:

>I have a G4 PowerBook. At home I have a wireless network and have
>had no problems. However, several times I have been in a situation
>in which others are picking up a wireless network on a PC and are
>able to connect...but, I cannot. Sometimes, I don't even see the
>network; other times, I can see the network but cannot join it even
>though no password is required. Do I have some settings wrong so
>that this problem is occurring?

Which G4 PowerBook? Per reports I've seen, the placement of the
antenna in the Titanium G4 PowerBooks caused them to have
reduced range. This could be part of the problem.

I have a PowerBook G4 (Aluminum--1.67GHz). I've had some problems with my wireless network connections, but I did a comparison once with a friend's MacBook Pro, and I was able to slightly beat him in a distance contest (he had been complaining about his connectivity, so I challenged him and we walked together from one end of the house to the other until the connection dropped, and his dropped first).

Recently at my house, I've had some weird problems with my network speed dropping to ridiculously low speeds (20KB/sec or less, down to zero) even though the signal strength shows as a full five bars in the AirPort menu. I haven't been able to determine what the problem is, but I'm thinking it's an AirPort Extreme Base Station issue, not so much with my PB (as it only happens at home), although it could be a weird interference pattern or something created by the walls of my house (it seems to happen when I'm behind certain walls, although every room in my house is only one wall away from the room where the base station is). But I don't think I've had any problems with the PB itself. One other weird deal is at my university, I've had problems connecting to the network on occasion, and sometimes the network will appear to intermittently connect and disconnect--the AirPort menu oscillates from full five bars of reception to zero and disconnected and then back, switching about every three seconds or so. Again, I think it's an issue on their end, although I'm not sure.

I did stumble across a great piece of software called "AP Grapher." Do a search for it and try it--it gives you some great statistics and graphs of things like SNR, connection speed, availability, etc. Might help with your problem.

Chris Luth wrote:
> I have a PowerBook G4 (Aluminum--1.67GHz). I've had some problems
> with my wireless network connections, but I did a comparison once
> with a friend's MacBook Pro, and I was able to slightly beat him in a
> distance contest (he had been complaining about his connectivity, so
> I challenged him and we walked together from one end of the house to
> the other until the connection dropped, and his dropped first).
>
> Recently at my house, I've had some weird problems with my network
> speed dropping to ridiculously low speeds (20KB/sec or less, down to
> zero) even though the signal strength shows as a full five bars in
> the AirPort menu. I haven't been able to determine what the problem
> is, but I'm thinking it's an AirPort Extreme Base Station issue, not
> so much with my PB (as it only happens at home), although it could be
> a weird interference pattern or something created by the walls of my
> house (it seems to happen when I'm behind certain walls, although
> every room in my house is only one wall away from the room where the
> base station is). But I don't think I've had any problems with the PB
> itself. One other weird deal is at my university, I've had problems
> connecting to the network on occasion, and sometimes the network will
> appear to intermittently connect and disconnect--the AirPort menu
> oscillates from full five bars of reception to zero and disconnected
> and then back, switching about every three seconds or so. Again, I
> think it's an issue on their end, although I'm not sure.

There's a very good chance you have another device in your house or nearby which isn't playing "by the rules". Have you tried just moving to another channel? iStumbler can show you a lot about what's going on in the area in terms of computer APs. But cordless phones, baby monitors, etc... can also break the rules and mess things up.

David