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Airport/Wireless Advice

E

eneeds

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
5
0
Hello,

So I have a Powerbook that's a few years old and it works great, except lately, I've been having trouble connecting to wireless networks.

I don't really know all the technical terms, but I think I have a wireless card and I use Airport to get online. It used to be that I could go someplace that had a wireless network, open the drop-down Airport feature and connect without any trouble. But lately my computer won't recognize any of the networks except the hidden, closed network at my apartment and it's been having trouble with that, too. At the suggestion of my father, I turned on "interference robustness" but that hasn't really helped. However, the internet does work if I plug an ethernet cable into my laptop.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or if I should just go to the Mac store.

thanks
 
Run a permissions repair, sorts all tons of stuff (applications/utilities/disk utility). Your card (or hardwired airport, depending on the model) might be malfunctioning, but I doubt it because you can connect with some networks.

If it is mechanical, I'd bet it's got something to do with the antenna (which is a wire that runs through the frame around the screen). Have you dropped the powerbook recently?

As for interference robustness, I wouldn't even bother, it's never done anything but slow down connections for me...
 
thanks. i will run a permissions repair. i don't remember dropping the powerbook; i really hope i didn't damage the antennae...
 
When you are in an area with a wireless network, click on the Airport Icon in your menu bar, and make sure it says "Airport: On", and see if it shows any networks for you to connect to.

Like the previous person said, there are ALOT of things that can cause this, and we need to narrow it down a bit...

Just to be clear - you CAN connect to your "hidden" network - at least sometimes?
 
Yes--I'm on the network right now, actually. Three bars. It's been doing better this past day or so. I haven't had any trouble getting on when I'm in the room where the wireless "center" or whatever is located. I guess it's good that it's improving, but it never used to give me any trouble at all.
 
Maybe you are getting interference from something? Cordless phones (specifically 2.4Ghz phones) and Microwave Ovens can cause issues.

If you are in the same room as the wireless router, I would expect more then three bars. I think the antenna plugs into the wireless card on those old Powerbooks, and I have heard of people having trouble where the antenna wasn't pushed all the way into the card. This would give you less than ideal reception.
 
how would i check to see that the antennae wasn't plugged in right? would i have to open the computer?
 
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