Barely functioning wifi on Power Mac G5.

Discussion in 'PowerPC Macs' started by JohnnyH1012, Jun 1, 2015.

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  1. JohnnyH1012, Jun 1, 2015

    JohnnyH1012 macrumors member

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    #1
    So I finally got my Power Mac G5 a proper airport express card after using an iffy usb dongle for about a year now. For about a day, it worked perfectly, and now it is choking on everything. I am able to get about a couple of packets though before it stops functioning. Although my router is maybe 20 ft away, it shows the connection strength as really low, and neither the fourfold or safari are able to load a thing. Any ideas?
     
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  2. bunnspecial, Jun 1, 2015

    bunnspecial macrumors 603

    bunnspecial

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    #2
    I'm going to assume that you have an AGP-based G5. If yours is PCI-E(late '05 models) this won't apply.

    Do you have the external antenna installed? The G5 case is basically a big Faraday cage, and the signal strength is crummy without this external antenna. If you look on the back panel, there should be a port marked with the Airport logo. The Airport antenna is a T-shaped piece of plastic that plugs in here and shipped with the G5, but they are rare as hens' teeth now.

    I don't have the antenna, so I took about a 2 foot long piece of solid 24 gauge wire, stripped the end, and shoved it in the center hole of this port. My signal strength is now great.
     
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  3. Altemose, Jun 1, 2015

    Altemose macrumors G3

    Altemose

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    #3
    A paperclip also works well as a makeshift antenna.
     
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  4. JohnnyH1012, Jun 2, 2015

    JohnnyH1012 thread starter macrumors member

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    #4
    I'll have to try this when I get home later. Thanks for the suggestions.
     
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  5. CubeHacker, Jun 2, 2015

    CubeHacker macrumors 65816

    CubeHacker

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    #5
    [​IMG]

    You're supposed to use one of these to help with the WiFi signal.
     
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  6. catzilla, Jun 2, 2015

    catzilla macrumors 6502

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  7. iModFrenzy, Jun 2, 2015

    iModFrenzy macrumors 6502a

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  8. JohnnyH1012, Jun 3, 2015

    JohnnyH1012 thread starter macrumors member

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    #8
    Wow! Surely enough, I put a staple in the wireless antenna port on the back, taped a paper-clip to it for some extra range, and now its perfect. Well, perfect ignoring the fact that what was a 2k+ pro machine has a paperclip hanging off the back :p; its better than spending the $60+ dollars for a new antenna on Amazon!
     
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  9. Dronecatcher, Jun 3, 2015

    Dronecatcher macrumors 68030

    Dronecatcher

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    #9
    Taking no chances......

    wifi.jpg
     
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    JohnnyH1012 and ctmpkmlec4 like this.
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8 June 1, 2015