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AirPort Software 3.3
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its the same situation for me. i have an AE network at my home, but the bitchy thing is we also have a 2.4 ghz phone. boy that thing cuts me off like crazy. there is only a few things to bypass this situation.
1. Buy a new phone, perferably a 900 mhz, or 5.2 ghz phone.
2. (Not really gonna solve the problems) Keep changing the channel on the phone to find a channel that wont interfere with the wireless network.
Those are the only 2 options for wireless users. If you noticed, the wireless networks run on a 2.4 ghz based system, not to mention have several different choices of channels. having a 2.4ghz phone will definately interfere with the connections, EVEN WITH interference robustness. If you cant just buy a new phone, then keep changing the channels on the phone, even thought its a major pain in the ass. you gotta keep pressin that button on the phone till youre able to access youre wireless network. unless you have your network as the perfered network and password in yoru preferences, youre gonna have to type in the network name and password each time to check if the channel on the phone will not interfere with the channel of the wireless network.
I still have to deal with this. Id like to get a new phone but i jsut recently bought a new FW800 hard drive so im flat broke. I think those 5.2ghz phones are about $50, but you can easily get a cheap 900 mhz for $30 or less.
I know some of you are thinking, "so why sometimes when i find a channel that the phone doesnt interfere with the network, then later it does again?" well, simple answer. Every time you put the phone down the receiver, it resets the channels. when you pick it up again, it changes and sets itself. as for the wireless base station, it also changes with each power cycle.
I just recommend buying a new phone.
1. Buy a new phone, perferably a 900 mhz, or 5.2 ghz phone.
2. (Not really gonna solve the problems) Keep changing the channel on the phone to find a channel that wont interfere with the wireless network.
Those are the only 2 options for wireless users. If you noticed, the wireless networks run on a 2.4 ghz based system, not to mention have several different choices of channels. having a 2.4ghz phone will definately interfere with the connections, EVEN WITH interference robustness. If you cant just buy a new phone, then keep changing the channels on the phone, even thought its a major pain in the ass. you gotta keep pressin that button on the phone till youre able to access youre wireless network. unless you have your network as the perfered network and password in yoru preferences, youre gonna have to type in the network name and password each time to check if the channel on the phone will not interfere with the channel of the wireless network.
I still have to deal with this. Id like to get a new phone but i jsut recently bought a new FW800 hard drive so im flat broke. I think those 5.2ghz phones are about $50, but you can easily get a cheap 900 mhz for $30 or less.
I know some of you are thinking, "so why sometimes when i find a channel that the phone doesnt interfere with the network, then later it does again?" well, simple answer. Every time you put the phone down the receiver, it resets the channels. when you pick it up again, it changes and sets itself. as for the wireless base station, it also changes with each power cycle.
I just recommend buying a new phone.
You'd rather connect to your 1.5MBps cable modem connection with a 100MBps ethernet cable over a 54MBps AirportExtreme?
-- edit:
you guys already covered this. nevermind.
ehh?? you have to restart? why? i never have to. if i need to reset my airport card i jsut turn it on and off. it usually works. if turning it on and off wont work, and you tried changing channels on the phone, and other things, then someone next door to you is using a phone or you have some huge interference in your area.
Big Airport Extreme fan. It's like high speed internet, once I tried it, there was no going back. I have a desk top and a PB 15" and everything is wireless to a cable modem. I print from another room using the Base Station and it's amazing. With my card, if I'm out side, half the time I can get on wi-fi just sitting on a bench. Imagine getting faster internet speed on a bench in the park then I used to on dial up at home.
900MHz phones have better range any how. They went to 2.4GHz because at the time the frequency was open and mostly unoccupied. Also at the same time they went to digital encryption. You can now buy a 900MHz phone that's also digital though. Remember the higher the frequency the tighter the wave length and the less capable it is of penetrating solid objects therefore a reduced range inside a building.
Linksys WRT54G - firmware 1.42.3.
PowerMac G4 2x1.25GHz, Airport extreme card
iMac G4 800Mhz, airport card
I've enabled WPA Pre-shared key and selected TKIP from the pull-down. I've typed an 8-character WPA shared-key, and tried a "Group Key renewal" of both "0" and "300" seconds.
No joy whatsoever. The Mac's keep telling me there was a problem / incorrect key / can't join network.
Anyone have a similar setup that actually works? I'm beginning to suspect an incompatability between the LinkSys AP and the Airport cards.
Mike
PowerMac G4 2x1.25GHz, Airport extreme card
iMac G4 800Mhz, airport card
I've enabled WPA Pre-shared key and selected TKIP from the pull-down. I've typed an 8-character WPA shared-key, and tried a "Group Key renewal" of both "0" and "300" seconds.
No joy whatsoever. The Mac's keep telling me there was a problem / incorrect key / can't join network.
Anyone have a similar setup that actually works? I'm beginning to suspect an incompatability between the LinkSys AP and the Airport cards.
Mike
You need to create the key on the Mac with Airport then type the code given into the blank in the Linksys setup page. It should be a lot more than 8 characters by the way. WAP created something like 18 characters.
Airport extreme with Netsys
I'm running a 12" 1GHz PB with an airport extreme card and a Netgear wireless 802.11g router and it's very fast and reliable. Very easy to set up for 128-bit as well. I've loaded the updates and found nothing changed. I've also used a linksys router in my lab and had dropout issues, but Netgear's been trouble-free.
I'm running a 12" 1GHz PB with an airport extreme card and a Netgear wireless 802.11g router and it's very fast and reliable. Very easy to set up for 128-bit as well. I've loaded the updates and found nothing changed. I've also used a linksys router in my lab and had dropout issues, but Netgear's been trouble-free.
wpa is nice, but I wonder if this fixes the problem that many AEBS users have been having which is that the net connection simply dies. Mine dies about once per week (as opposed to 0 times in several years for my graphite ABS, ditto for netgear wireless routers), whereas others have experienced 3 drops per day.
This is not some silly configuration issue, and not a range/signal strength issue, these are power users who know their stuff and are reduced to either restarting the AEBS via the admin util if lucky, or in the majority of cases having to literally unplug the power, and plugging it back in.
There are quite a few posts & threads in apple discussion forums:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@186.e4sLa6QAcmT.2@.599f1876
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@186.e4sLa6QAcmT.2@.688d6ef3
Hopefully 5.3 will fix this, but time will tell.
This is not some silly configuration issue, and not a range/signal strength issue, these are power users who know their stuff and are reduced to either restarting the AEBS via the admin util if lucky, or in the majority of cases having to literally unplug the power, and plugging it back in.
There are quite a few posts & threads in apple discussion forums:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@186.e4sLa6QAcmT.2@.599f1876
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?14@186.e4sLa6QAcmT.2@.688d6ef3
Hopefully 5.3 will fix this, but time will tell.
Could I get you to elaborate a little bit? I'm not quite following you...
I tried "create an airport network" on the PowerMac, but it only has an option of 40-bit WEP.
I don't have an Airport base-station.
How do I create the initial key?
Thanks a bunch,
Mike
What computer are you trying to access the airport network from? Do you connect the PowerMac wirelessly?
In any case you need to create the key on the system running Airport whatever that system may be. Once it generates the key you then write the key down and manually enter it into the security encryption area of the Linksys router setup.
It must be because it is late...
I'm trying to access the airport (802.11b / 802.11g mixed) network from a PowerMac G4 (airport extreme) and / or iMac G4 (original 11Mbit airport). I've just installed the latest airport client (v3.3) updates that provide WPA support (in Panther) for legacy airport cards.
My stumbling block appears to be in creating the shared-key. Could I get you to explain EXACTLY how that is accomplished on the Mac? I'm not familiar with that mechanism. What do I click?
Remember -- no airport base-station.
Thank you,
Mike
Well I don't have my laptop in front of me at the moment but it seems to me you need to open the Internet Connect app on either of the Airport machines. In Internet Connect you should be able to chose Airport and then there should be an option for encryption. From there you should be able to type in a few words or numbers or whatever and then have it generate an encryption key. Once you have that key you need to go to your other machine and type that key into it's Airport setup and then you need to open your Linksys routers setup page and enter it there. By the way if your Linksys router does not have WPA encryption then this will not work and you will need to continue using WEP.
OK, I think we're on the same page.
When I go into "Create network", I have the option of "Channel", and then a check-box for WEP, and a pull-down for 40-bit or 128-bit.
No mention of WPA.
And yes, with the newer firmware, the Linksys supports WPA.
I was hoping there was some "trick", like a "$" in front of the shared-key or something.
The Linksys will generate a shared-key, based on an 8-63 character ASCII phrase. When I attempt to join the airport network, it appears to accept my shared-key (8-characters), but then says it is unable to join the network.
Mike
When I go into "Create network", I have the option of "Channel", and then a check-box for WEP, and a pull-down for 40-bit or 128-bit.
No mention of WPA.
And yes, with the newer firmware, the Linksys supports WPA.
I was hoping there was some "trick", like a "$" in front of the shared-key or something.
The Linksys will generate a shared-key, based on an 8-63 character ASCII phrase. When I attempt to join the airport network, it appears to accept my shared-key (8-characters), but then says it is unable to join the network.
Mike
Originally posted by michael_aos
OK, I think we're on the same page.
When I go into "Create network", I have the option of "Channel", and then a check-box for WEP, and a pull-down for 40-bit or 128-bit.
No mention of WPA.
And yes, with the newer firmware, the Linksys supports WPA.
I was hoping there was some "trick", like a "$" in front of the shared-key or something.
The Linksys will generate a shared-key, based on an 8-63 character ASCII phrase. When I attempt to join the airport network, it appears to accept my shared-key (8-characters), but then says it is unable to join the network.
Mike
You can't use the Linksys to generate a key. You need to generate a key on the Airport system and then type the end resulting generated key into the Linksys settings. Like I said it will be about 18 characters long if you use the 128bit WEP encryption.
In my SoHo setup I've hard wired iMacs and a server, combined with a AE PB 12" and a cheap noname 801.11b card in my wifes Dell latitude LS. This setup is connected to my DSL through a Alcatel router/modem. I've set it up so that the Alcatel does DHCP, not the AEBS.
Always works. Never any trouble what so ever. Even though we have 2 2.4 GHz phones in the house (one for the family one for business) and use the microwave a lot (also in the 2.4 GHz band).
edit: we have European DECT phones. Apparently these differ from US phones (DCT?)
I love AE, can recommend it to anyone.
Someone here said that local circumstances may vary, however, and he is very right (what kind of equipment does your neighbor use?)
M.
PS. my wife has my old 12" notebook - same size as the PB, but without the optcal drive. She got it when I switched. At first she was happy to have her own computer, now she is bummed out she is the one without an Apple...)