problems with wireless connection (Airport to Dlink router).

[mikew1368]

I have comcast broadband connected to Dlink wireless router.

I have old g4 powerbook (15") using panther, and it connects fine to the
wireless router.

My new MacBookPro (15") runs Leapord, and it connects fine, but every
several minutes I get 1 minute or more 'hangs', like the signal isn't strong
enough.

I finally upgraded the g4 powerbook to Leapord, and I notice it there now, also.

This happens even when the laptops are placed only several feet from the
router.

I contacted apple support and was told the firmware on my dlink router is
likely the fault. I'm up-to-date on firmware, however.
I'll try to go to some coffee shop with wireless to see if it happens with other
wireless routers, but I wanted to inquire if anyone in this forum can advise
what to do, or confirm if it really is a firmware issue (which doesn't make
sense, since why wouldn't Leapord be downgrade compatible; i.e. the
firmware was fine for panther, so why wouldn't Leapord be smart enough to
use same firmware?).

To test wireless router, I turned off secure setting, filters, etc. None of it
made any difference. There might be some option I didn't test yet,
however. I just used the settings that I know worked fine with g4 using
panther.

ethernet seems fine, however, on either laptop, but I sometimes get smaller
(about 5 to 10 second) stalls, which happens when connecting straight to
comcast modem, so has nothing to do with router. These stalls I think are
from comcast, but I have yet to find the right internet speed tester to prove
it.

 

[chscag]

I use a D-Link router here with Leopard and all is fine. I don't think it has anything to do with firmware. If you have another wireless router or can borrow one, try that in place of the D-Link to test whether or not the problem is from the router side. Once you've eliminated the router, you can trouble shoot elsewhere.

Make sure all your airport settings are correct in Leopard. Be especially careful about the DNS primary and secondary settings. You may have to access the D-Link menu setup (hopefully you know how) and go over all the settings. If necessary, contact Comcast tech support and ask.

Don't be surprised if Comcast knows nothing about how to setup a Mac for wireless. Very few ISPs support Mac hardware.

Regards.

 

[myjay610]

Yeah, if it works over ethernet ok, connect via wireless and make sure the settings are the same (DNS, etc.).

I had a weird issue with my router where the wireless did the same thing, I had to change the frequency range of the wireless and it worked fine. Might have had something to do with all of the WAPs in my block, not sure, didn't inquire more once it started working ok.

 

[mikew1368]

wireless and ethernet performance issue

I checked at 2 different coffee shops, and the wireless connection acts similar
to at home, so I don't think it's my d-link router now.

Also, I upgraded my g4 powerbook from panther to leapord, and I can listen
to pandora or national public radio using itunes and it works fine with both
the d-link wireless router, whether using wireless connection or etherneting
to a port on the router.

When I try listening to internet radio using itunes on this new macbook pro,
however, it works for about 30 seconds and then hangs (get the rebuffering
data dialog box message, and it just hangs until I stop and restart the connection to the internet radio station). This happens using ethernet
connection as well.

The only thing I now can think of that is different is my firefox settings.
I use firefox on both laptops, but my work suggested I modify the
preferences on firefox to be more secure. I only did these modificatios on
my new laptop.

Can firefox preference settings control internet connections using Itunes?
My next test will be to compare all the preferences on both laptops and
change the new laptop to have same settings as my g4, which doesn't have
internet connection issues.

Does it make sense that firefox can control how itunes connects to the internet? If so, does firefox also control how I connect to pull my mail down
from my server at work?

obviously I have a lot to learn here.