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802.11g problems

yzedf

yzedf

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 1, 2002
1,161
0
Connecticut
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/29250.html

The Register has a intersting article (URL is above) concerning the lack of interoperability of 802.11g based hardware from different vendors. Namingly, it doesn't really work very well, at all.

Best thing to do at this point is, keep your "g" network clean of anything other than "g" product from the same vendor. If you have someone with a 802.11b card on your network, it could slow everyone down to b-speed!

Has anyone come across this yet in the real world yet??
 
this is pretty well know, as 802.11g isn't a completely set standard yet. companies are implimenting it in slightly different ways, which will happen for a little while yet.

far as i know 802.11b should only bottleneck speeds for that user, not everyone else-- but it depends on the configuration, i suppose...

pnw
 
I had major problems with my 12 PB with APE with a linsys router 802.11b. it was so slow, but got a great connection, but yet when i go to work on cable modem with APE base station it worked great. I was forced to buy a APE base station for my dsl connection. i didnt mind though, its realy nice looking and setup was very simple. Only down part is that the range doesnt even compare with my linksys router. My linksys was 100 dollars less, came with 5 etheret ports and had an incredible range. I could go outside with good range and browse the web, now i can barely go across the house without a weak signal. but im not mad, its technology, this kind of stuff happens.

iJon
 
iJon,

Which model Linksys do you have?

I've got the BEFW11S4 and was planning on adding a 17" or updated 15" PowerBook to my network.
 
Originally posted by Pablo
iJon,

Which model Linksys do you have?

I've got the BEFW11S4 and was planning on adding a 17" or updated 15" PowerBook to my network.
Click to expand...

thats the one i got. before i had a pismo with a 802.11b airport card and it worked great. now with the airport extreme it worked like crap. I would get a full reception, but my downloads would start out at 33k and die down to no connection. before i was getting speeds around 140k. unless there is some miracle solution to this that i didnt know about, you will have the same problem.

iJon
 
how about with an airport base station?

Anyone have any experience with the 12 inch Alubook with an 802.11b base station (the original) and the new 802.11g airport card? I ask, because that'll be my set up once I get the 17 inch Alubook I ordered oh so long ago. If I get a decrease in range or speed... well, I hope that that hasn't been anyone's experience.

Anyone?

Originally posted by iJon
thats the one i got. before i had a pismo with a 802.11b airport card and it worked great. now with the airport extreme it worked like crap. I would get a full reception, but my downloads would start out at 33k and die down to no connection. before i was getting speeds around 140k. unless there is some miracle solution to this that i didnt know about, you will have the same problem.

iJon
Click to expand...
 
Ack....that's no good.

Conversely,

Have you tried to use a non-airport 802.11b card (linksys, D-Link, Orinoco, other) in your AE Base network now that you've switched out the routers?

Also,

I assume I could just purchase an Airport card and replace the AE card in the AlBook? I'm more concerned with the improved reception due to new antennae locations than I am the higher speeds of AE.

Thanks for the information.
 
Originally posted by Pablo
Ack....that's no good.

Thanks for the information.
Click to expand...
but remember, i could be wrong, there may be something i did wrong or may need a simple update from linksys or apple. see if yours works when you get it. i didnt mind shelling out the cash for and aiport base station, i like it better anyways. i have complete control over my network now.

iJon
 
From looking at Apple's page, it looks like the base station has only one LAN port. That might present a problem for me, as I have one PC on a LAN, with more possibly added.

Is the AE card the same as the 'regular' Airport card? (Could I remove the AE card and replace it with the 'regular' card in a new AlBook?)

Sorry about the edit above.
 
Originally posted by Pablo
From looking at Apple's page, it looks like the base station has only one LAN port. That might present a problem for me, as I have one PC on a LAN, with more possibly added.

Is the AE card the same as the 'regular' Airport card? (Could I remove the AE card and replace it with the 'regular' card in a new AlBook?)

Sorry about the edit above.
Click to expand...
you are correct on half of that. there is a wan port for your dsl or cable modem. then you have a lan port which you can conect to a hub and get multiple computers on airport like i have done. the new airport extreme card is in a mini pci form factor. you cannot replace it with anything. If your mac says on the box "airport extreme ready" you can only use an aiport extreme card. if your mac says "airport ready" you can only use the old airport cards.

iJon
 
I've got a 12" AlBook, and unfortunately it seems that I can sort of confirm these rumors...

I have an Airport Extreme base station in my dorm room, and it works very well when I'm pretty close to it, but once I get into the area where I assume it switches to 802.11b, my reception is not too good at all. Also, in connecting to various other 802.11b locations around campus, I've also noticed reception that was shaky at times.

I'm still playing with things, and I still REALLY wish there was some indicator as to whether I'm on an 802.11g signal or 802.11b signal, but there isn't... so oftentimes I'll see myself having 'full signal strength' but that being full 802.11b, and other times 'full signal strength' means full 802.11g.... etc.

What I also wonder is, as I go farther away from my base station, will the signal go down, then up (when it switches to b) and then down again? I'll have to investigate and report back.
 
I would guess that you wont see any differance in singal strength between "b" and "g" modes. As both use same freq (2.4 GHz) and have same power effect, that should make the range and wall-penetration capability equal.

or am I wrong?

/ filipp
 
this is proven to be a known problem. i read some people on macfixit who had the same problems with their linksys router as i did. they said if they switched the channel to 11 things worked better. i dont really care because i already god a aiport extreme, but i would give anything for that linksys to work right with my mac.

iJon
 
I have a question. I'm using an iBook 700 with an Airport card installed, and I'm looking to purchase a router for my apartment. My roommate has an XP laptop with 802.11b built-in, but I want to go ahead and buy an 802.11g router so that I won't need to upgrade again when I get a new PowerBook. I'm leaning towards the AE Base Station without the modem, but I'm also considering Linksys because it has a 4 port switch as well. Is anybody using an Airport card with an Airport Extreme Base Station? If so, then how is the reception? Would I be better off buying 802.11b product, like the older Base Station? Thanks.
 
Originally posted by Paladin
I have a question. I'm using an iBook 700 with an Airport card installed, and I'm looking to purchase a router for my apartment. My roommate has an XP laptop with 802.11b built-in, but I want to go ahead and buy an 802.11g router so that I won't need to upgrade again when I get a new PowerBook. I'm leaning towards the AE Base Station without the modem, but I'm also considering Linksys because it has a 4 port switch as well. Is anybody using an Airport card with an Airport Extreme Base Station? If so, then how is the reception? Would I be better off buying 802.11b product, like the older Base Station? Thanks.
Click to expand...
if you will both be using 802.11b get the linksys, it kills the AE base station is every way. if you will be using 802.11g dont get a linksys router, i had one and it didnt even work anymore. but one thing i didnt try was using airport extreme with a linksys 802.11g router. maybe that would work better.

iJon
 
I have an iBook G4, running 10.3 and an airport extreme card. My friend and neighbor has the same linksys b wireless router you have been talking about. I allways get a good signal strength, but it won't word as far as connecting to the internet. Whats is weirder is the fact that his little brother has an iBook G3 with 10.2 and it worked fine, they didn't have to adjust any settings at all. I know they are running on channel 1. Would it work better if i switched the channels or is this a panther bug? Anyone else have a similar situation?
 
new 12"AluBook, old Airport Base Station

how about with an airport base station?

Anyone have any experience with the 12 inch Alubook with an 802.11b base station (the original) and the new 802.11g airport card? I ask, because that'll be my set up once I get the 17 inch Alubook I ordered oh so long ago. If I get a decrease in range or speed... well, I hope that that hasn't been anyone's experience.

Anyone?
Click to expand...

Works just fine for me, I "inherited" my dad's old basestation when he upgraded to the Extreme due to its VPN passthru capabilities. (Old basestation is a snow, not a graphite.)
 
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