15" AL Powerbook Airport reception

[rosalindavenue]

(Long time lurker soon to be switcher). I was all set to go with a 14" ibook and my wife very unexpectedly greenlighted spending the money for a 15" powerbook. (I'd go with the 1Gz non airport extreme built-in / no superdrive version-- I'm not a power user; but I'm used to a fairly snappy machine). I have a Linksys WRT54G router that a peecee notebook can pick up in every room of my house. I was going to order the 15" and an airport extreme card-- then I read the apple message boards and there are a lot of complaints about 15" wifi reception being terrible-- MUCH worse than ibook-- some say even as bad as the Ti Powerbook. Some people appear to be using the PC card slot for a wifi card (which I guess would not be able to use the builtin antenna) in order to get reception. I have eagerly read every ibook v. powerbook thread here for 6 months and I dont recall anyone griping about the AL powerbook reception-- please let me know if you have 15" AL Powerbook reception trouble-- should I just get an ibook instead?

 

[Westside guy]

I've had no troubles - my house is a single-story 1700 sq. ft. rambler (some of you use the term "ranch" instead, I guess). I'm using a D-Link DI-614+ 802.11b access point that's turned down to 25% signal strength.

I also pick up the 802.11b network at my work without issues either, and there I'm maybe 100 feet away from the access point through several walls (some of which use metal studs, which I understand can be a problem).

I assume 802.11g signal travels about as well as 802.11b, but since I don't have access to a fast network I can't speak to that directly.

 

[titaniumducky]

some say even as bad as the Ti Powerbook

I have a TiBook and have no reception problems ever. I get full reception all the time even though there a quite a few walls between my PowerBook and my router.

I wouldn't worry about Wi-fi reception. It should be fine. Worst comes worst, you can use an amplifier on your router.

 

[iChan]

my brother has the model you are after and there are no problems... the speed is amazing... he is able to stream video, music (from my 12-inch PB) and go online all at the same time...

he's got max reception... it's really great, go for it!

that being said, I don't get full bars on my rev-A 12-inch.

 

[Powerbook G5]

It really depends on your house/building more than your PowerBook. The aluminum models have better reception since Apple moved the antennae to the top of the lid on either side, but if you have a lot of brick, stone, or metal materials in your walls, electronics that bleed into the wireless range, etc, it will cause problems.

 

[kaosfere]

I can't speak for the 15, but in my limited experience my 17 gets significantly better reception than the TiBook; at a local coffee house I can get two bars on the remote back patio while my friend with a Ti gets no signal at all.

Anecdotal, FWIW, etc.

 

[nickfit]

My reception on my 15 alubook is fine. I use wireless in my office, and get a strong signal from an acess point through two walls and about 30 ft. At home, I have a netgear wireless router, and I get good reception throughout my house, albeit a small house.

 

[jeliker1]

I've got reception trouble

I just purchased a 15" PB G4 and the 802.11b reception is really bad. I sit here only one plaster wall away (20') from my DLink access point and only have two bars. I can compare this to my wife's year-old 12" iBook G3 that gets excellent reception all over our house. Also, when I use at school, I have to sit very near the AP whereas with her iBook she can go all over. I love the computer but I'm very frustrated at the moment.

 

[advres]

I have had no issues at all. my roommates and i have a d-link wireless router. it is placed in my roomates room down the hall. with both our doors closed on opposite sides of the house i get 3-4 bars. when i go downstairs into the kitchen i still get three bars.
at school, i usually get 2-3 bars 75' away from the access point and i'm going through 2 concrete walls with doors open(the way the crow flies is straight through the walls though.