I was just curious if this had happened to anyone else. I have about a 1 month old Powerbook 12 inch and I have had great WiFi reception. I have an Airport Express at home and it has been great. Until about three days ago. I troubleshooted everything with the Express until I decided to take a look at the Airport Extreme card in the Powerbook. It was factory installed so I didn't think it was the culprit but it was. The antenna cord was nicked through the sheilding down to the bare wire. I taped it up and everything was fine. It was right at the turn and I guess the corner of the card was rubbing on it or something. Anyone else with this problem?
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Bad Powerbook Airport Reception
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ibook g3 >> PB G4
so yea- i upgraded from an ibook g3 to an PB g4 and basically my airport reception got totally cut in half (from airport >> AExtreme) -using the same d-link router (11mps)
so- yea- i hear ya
anyone know why this happens?
is it the PB's? or is it the AirPort Extreme difference?
so yea- i upgraded from an ibook g3 to an PB g4 and basically my airport reception got totally cut in half (from airport >> AExtreme) -using the same d-link router (11mps)
so- yea- i hear ya
anyone know why this happens?
is it the PB's? or is it the AirPort Extreme difference?
It's the PowerBook - the cases shield a lot of the signal; the iBooks and older PBs are much more transparent to the radio waves.
It's a well known fact that PowerBooks have sucky WiFi reception. The TiBooks were awful, the AlBooks are better, but still not as good as previous and current iBooks from what I've heard. I don't think there's much you can do about it.
yep - it's the PB! I had heard that the reception was not good on them; but when I saw the bit about the airial I just hadda check! 
Me too on iBook... but fixed now
I had a similar problem with my new 14" iBook. After upgrading the memory, my airport reception droped to about 40% of what it was.
(To get to the memory on an iBook, you need to remove the Airport Card).
I've fixed it now, but it seems like the connection between the Airport Card and the antenna is stupidly sensitive. Even when I'd thought I'd pushed the antenna into the Airport Card as tightly as I possibly could without doing any damage, it still didn't seem to help.
In the end, I found the trick was to make sure the antenna lead was carfefully snagged underneath the spring-clip, ensuring that it couldn't possibly move around. As a result, my reception is now back to normal.
Regards
Superleccy
I had a similar problem with my new 14" iBook. After upgrading the memory, my airport reception droped to about 40% of what it was.
(To get to the memory on an iBook, you need to remove the Airport Card).
I've fixed it now, but it seems like the connection between the Airport Card and the antenna is stupidly sensitive. Even when I'd thought I'd pushed the antenna into the Airport Card as tightly as I possibly could without doing any damage, it still didn't seem to help.
In the end, I found the trick was to make sure the antenna lead was carfefully snagged underneath the spring-clip, ensuring that it couldn't possibly move around. As a result, my reception is now back to normal.
Regards
Superleccy
i haven't noticed any difference reception wise between my ibook and powerbook. i have them sitting next to one another right and they're both getting the same bumber of bars. i've heard that the wifi icon in the menu bar isn't that accurate though.
Off on a bit of a tangent: I've noticed that when you install your own airport extreme card, you really have to push hard to get the antenna cable well connected. Because of the resistance you might think that you've got the cable all the way in, when in reality it's not.
Basically the square base of the connector should be almost flush against the airport extreme card.
Oh, and a piece of advice after watching my friend almost break his iBook - DON'T try to connect the antenna cable with the airport extreme card already installed. Hold the card in your hand while pushing on the antenna cable connector.
Basically the square base of the connector should be almost flush against the airport extreme card.
Oh, and a piece of advice after watching my friend almost break his iBook - DON'T try to connect the antenna cable with the airport extreme card already installed.
Hold the card in your hand while pushing on the antenna cable connector.