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basbr

macrumors member
Original poster
This friday I replaced my old iMac (2007, OSX Lion) by the new entry-level iMac (2011, Lion OSX) with 12 GB of RAM. What a beauty! Only now I suddenly notice that my Mac Mini (which serves as a media center and download machine) has gotten a very unstable wifi signal. The Mac Mini is the early 2009 model, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1 GB of RAM.

Its signal is often completely gone. Sometimes I even have to fill in the WPA again. Other times I may only get two bars worth of signal. I also noticed that the download speed (speedtest.net) is often considerably lower than usual (400kb instead of its normal 1,300kb and every now and then even under 100kb). It is not constantly bad: often I’ll see a full signal, and sometimes even normal speeds.

If I see poor signal or low-speeds and I turn my iMac off (or just the airport card), the speeds of the Mac Mini’s wifi shoot up. It is as if the iMac’s wifi overshadows the Mac Mini’s.

I have a Zyxel wireless router / modem P-2602HW-D Series in the room where the DSL comes in, about 8 meters from the iMac and Mac Mini. The iMac and Mac Mini are about 3 or 4 meters apart.

Could it have something to do with OSX Lion (there are many wifi issues with this release, especially after sleep mode, and I recognize some of those problems), even though the Mac Mini is running Leopard? Could it be that latest iMac’s airport card is better than the Mac Mini’s?

Any ideas for a solution? Thanks!
 
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