powerbook/mac G4 slow internet

[michaelsvx]

Upon trying to load speedtest.net I noticed it's really slow to load. I have a Dlink wireless dsl modem/router. The powermac is ethernet and powerbook is wireless. Both machines are PPC on leopard 10.5.8, the powerbook shows up in my router settings as having a "good" connection though I'm right on top of the router. Both my MBP and iPhone show up as "Excellent". Even my 12 year old tibook comes up as "very good". Could this be an issue with the Extreme card in the powerbook, outdated flash/java, or just old age?

 

[CAINuKe]

Upon trying to load speedtest.net I noticed it's really slow to load. I have a Dlink wireless dsl modem/router. The powermac is ethernet and powerbook is wireless. Both machines are PPC on leopard 10.5.8, the powerbook shows up in my router settings as having a "good" connection though I'm right on top of the router. Both my MBP and iPhone show up as "Excellent". Even my 12 year old tibook comes up as "very good". Could this be an issue with the Extreme card in the powerbook, outdated flash/java, or just old age?

I would'nt think so. I highly doubt it.
Use these to test your internet instead and compare results

http://testmy.net/
http://performance.toast.net/
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/

I still highly doubt it, simply because it benchmarks internet bandwidth and is not Computer to router latency dependent. Could be wrong though.

 

[Zeke D]

speedtest uses flash to do the whole test thing. they released an ios app that doesn't use flash, but this wont help you on your G4s. On my emac, it does take a while to load and stuff, so this is normal.

 

[michaelsvx]

Thanks for the replies! I kinda figured it was a flash issue, but that doesn't really explain why my router is showing "Good" as opposed to "Excellent" or even "Very Good". Could it be the difference between g & n wireless?

 

[tayloralmond]

From my understanding, wireless "N" penetrates farther throughout a household more effectively than wireless "G"...but I'm not sure if "B" wireless is very effective at it.

 

[Nova77]

Simply put : wireless B = having no wireless.
This thing is basically unusable as of 2012. Can't connect to most secured networks, low speed, short range, etc.

Get wireless G or N for your titanium powerbook!
When my airport card (wireless G) died on my alu powerbook, I got myself a usb wireless N adapter for $10 on ebay. Now my computer has at least 2X greater wifi range. Thats going from G to the newest N. Your best option is to get a wireless N PC card (PCMCIA) and put it in your tibook's expansion slot since you only have USB 1 (that would cap the data rate of a usb wifi adapter).

From wikipedia...
Approximate indoor range ----- Max Data rate
B --> 35m - 115 ft ------------- 11 Mbit/s
G --> 38m - 125 ft -------------- 54 Mbit/s
N --> 70m - 230 ft -------------- 150 Mbit/s

 

[tom vilsack]

Michael try this in your powerbook:

open network and then advanced and then under dns servers use the + and hard code either your isp's own dns servers or try using something like google's 8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4 (+ then 8.8.8.8 then + again 8.8.4.4)click ok and save,reboot....

it might seem strange but i notice he can ready help with older ibooks and powerbooks....

 

[michaelsvx]

Thanks again for the great help. The titanium as far as I can tell is a lost cause, besides the screen is hanging on by a thread I'm concerned about the Aluminum Powerbook, it still has a lot of life left in it. The powermac is ethernet so that is as good as it gets. The Alum has an extreme card that is G wireless. That little snippet from wiki explains why my data transfer rate is only "good". Can I step it up to an N with a wireless USB dongle? If so I'd like to get a tiny one. Any suggestions? I'm afraid of 2.0 caps and driver issues. PCMI is a little ghetto for me :roll eyes: but if thats my only option, so be it. Thanks for the help. oh and Tom, I'll try messing with the settings later tonight.
p.s I could care less about range as I spend most of my time 10 ft. from the router. Speed is what I need

 

[michaelsvx]

Would this work?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10501&cs_id=1050108&p_id=8072&seq=1&format=2

 

[Zeke D]

I have had solid results with the airlink 101 wireless USB dongle. It works with both PPC and intel.

http://www.meritline.com/airlink101-awll6075-golden-n-wireless-mini-usb-adapter---p-38742.aspx

I have had it working on my DA G4 so you may ned to look for the ppc drivers (I have them)
-- update --
I just installed it on my emac to make sure I wasn't crazy (The meritline and airlink pages don't indicate it works for PPC) I have 7MB DSL, so the 4MB in the screen cap isn't too bad, especially since it is in a weak spot of my network.

 

[mrkapqa]

I have had solid results with the airlink 101 wireless USB dongle. It works with both PPC and intel.

http://www.meritline.com/airlink101-awll6075-golden-n-wireless-mini-usb-adapter---p-38742.aspx

I have had it working on my DA G4 so you may ned to look for the ppc drivers (I have them)
-- update --
I just installed it on my emac to make sure I wasn't crazy (The meritline and airlink pages don't indicate it works for PPC) I have 7MB DSL, so the 4MB in the screen cap isn't too bad, especially since it is in a weak spot of my network.

I have the Problem that my Download Speed on Powerbook G4 is only around 4 Mbps when at the same time on the MacPro i get around 17 Mbps ( i have subscribed ADSL2+ with 20 Mbps , theoretically).
Could it be an issue with the Ethernet Card?

 

[ctmpkmlec4]

I have the Problem that my Download Speed on Powerbook G4 is only around 4 Mbps when at the same time on the MacPro i get around 17 Mbps ( i have subscribed ADSL2+ with 20 Mbps , theoretically).
Could it be an issue with the Ethernet Card?

Bear in mind that each device connected to your network shares bandwidth. I'm curious... did you do both tests at the same time?

 

[flyrod]

I could care less about range as I spend most of my time 10 ft. from the router. Speed is what I need

What speed do you get with a wire?