Airport Extreme Card - Faulty, what to do?

ungraphic · 11:47 PM

I have a 2006 Mac Pro, and in March 2009 I bought an internal Airport Extreme Card. First few days it worked just fine however ever since its been giving me a full 5 bars to dropping to the very single one and then no connection at all. Sometimes it will even incrementally lose its signal, dropping from 5 to 4 to 3 bars and then back down to 1 in only a matter of minutes. I'm fed up with this. My macbook has 5 bars consistently from rooms further away from the router, its NEVER dropped its signal. My cheap Acer Aspire One with a Wireless G connection even has a better connection, its weaker but it never drops. I'm using a D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N router, and its been updated with the latest firmware. Its definitely not a router issue, its the card thats crapping out, seeing how two other devices connect to it just fine, from distances further away. Even when all three are put side by side; my mac, my macbook and my acer aspire one, the mac pro and the airport extreme does NOT work while the other two are getting nice consistent connections. I've tried changing channels, switching from b, g, to n, mixed and all that, and nothing has fixed my mac pro to work, my main computer.

I bought it at an authorized apple reseller store and had it installed there too. Installation alone cost as much as the card itself, which is a joke, because the money that i paid for it i could have just bought a wireless usb adapter and used that instead of this headache of a product.

Is there any 'warranty' or anything on these cards? I want an exchange on a WORKING wifi card.

ungraphic · Jul 31, 2009, 10:08 PM

Thanks for nothing MR, got my card replaced at an authorized apple reseller.

AppleThis&That · Aug 1, 2009, 01:04 PM

If you have no luck with the warranty, you can buy one on ebay for pennies. Well not pennies but got mine for $25.00 recently. Just install it yourself. It's very easy. Ground yourself though before installation. Apple has some quick guides for this particular installation.

I don't recommend using a USB adapter. AirPort Card is the way to go. Plus you can get one for the same money or less.

ungraphic · Aug 11, 2009, 12:45 AM

So I had my wifi card replaced with a new one. Same problem. The problem is just as bad as it was.

I'm tired of this piece of ****.

Anyone know of any USB based wifi adapters for mac os x? Draft N, ideally. Thanks.

maccaa · Aug 11, 2009, 02:21 AM

Having similar problems myself all be it on a 2006 iMac

Was looking at this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-Ew-77...pr_product_top

Then decided on this as it's high gain:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-77...ref=pd_cp_ce_3

both on Amazon UK but I'm sure they have a distributor.

Should be with me in the next couple of days, If you haven't made the jump I'll let you know how I get on.

Maccaa

ungraphic · Aug 11, 2009, 12:08 PM

^I might get the one you posted. I've also been considering the Rokland N3;

http://rokland.com/store/product_inf...roducts_id=336

I can't believe how useless the airport extreme 'upgrade' has been for me. And i use the term upgrade very loosely.

I need to find some proper reviews on these mac compatible usb wifi adapters, there are a few products out there and i cant find a single review from a legit source, all seem to be done by guys that work for the company.

Jul 28, 2009, 11:41 PM	#1
ungraphic Banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada	Airport Extreme Card - Faulty, what to do? I have a 2006 Mac Pro, and in March 2009 I bought an internal Airport Extreme Card. First few days it worked just fine however ever since its been giving me a full 5 bars to dropping to the very single one and then no connection at all. Sometimes it will even incrementally lose its signal, dropping from 5 to 4 to 3 bars and then back down to 1 in only a matter of minutes. I'm fed up with this. My macbook has 5 bars consistently from rooms further away from the router, its NEVER dropped its signal. My cheap Acer Aspire One with a Wireless G connection even has a better connection, its weaker but it never drops. I'm using a D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N router, and its been updated with the latest firmware. Its definitely not a router issue, its the card thats crapping out, seeing how two other devices connect to it just fine, from distances further away. Even when all three are put side by side; my mac, my macbook and my acer aspire one, the mac pro and the airport extreme does NOT work while the other two are getting nice consistent connections. I've tried changing channels, switching from b, g, to n, mixed and all that, and nothing has fixed my mac pro to work, my main computer. I bought it at an authorized apple reseller store and had it installed there too. Installation alone cost as much as the card itself, which is a joke, because the money that i paid for it i could have just bought a wireless usb adapter and used that instead of this headache of a product. Is there any 'warranty' or anything on these cards? I want an exchange on a WORKING wifi card. Last edited by ungraphic; Jul 28, 2009 at 11:47 PM.
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Aug 1, 2009, 01:04 PM	#3
AppleThis&That macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2009	If you have no luck with the warranty, you can buy one on ebay for pennies. Well not pennies but got mine for $25.00 recently. Just install it yourself. It's very easy. Ground yourself though before installation. Apple has some quick guides for this particular installation. I don't recommend using a USB adapter. AirPort Card is the way to go. Plus you can get one for the same money or less. __________________ 24" IMAC 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/8GB RAM • 17" IMAC 1.6GHz G5/1GB RAM • IPAD 1st GEN/16GB • IPHONE 4S 5th GEN/16GB • IPOD NANO 5th GEN/16GB • IPOD SHUFFLE 3rd GEN/4GB
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Jul 31, 2009, 10:08 PM	#2
ungraphic Thread Starter Banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada	Thanks for nothing MR, got my card replaced at an authorized apple reseller.
	0

Aug 11, 2009, 12:45 AM	#4
ungraphic Thread Starter Banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada	So I had my wifi card replaced with a new one. Same problem. The problem is just as bad as it was. I'm tired of this piece of ****. Anyone know of any USB based wifi adapters for mac os x? Draft N, ideally. Thanks.
	0

Aug 11, 2009, 02:21 AM	#5
maccaa macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2006	Having similar problems myself all be it on a 2006 iMac Was looking at this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-Ew-77...pr_product_top Then decided on this as it's high gain: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-77...ref=pd_cp_ce_3 both on Amazon UK but I'm sure they have a distributor. Should be with me in the next couple of days, If you haven't made the jump I'll let you know how I get on. Maccaa
	0

Aug 11, 2009, 12:08 PM	#6
ungraphic Thread Starter Banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada	^I might get the one you posted. I've also been considering the Rokland N3; http://rokland.com/store/product_inf...roducts_id=336 I can't believe how useless the airport extreme 'upgrade' has been for me. And i use the term upgrade very loosely. I need to find some proper reviews on these mac compatible usb wifi adapters, there are a few products out there and i cant find a single review from a legit source, all seem to be done by guys that work for the company.
	0