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iomatic · Sep 29, 2003, 10:59 PM

I'm getting this new 'book sent in anyway, but I'll describe my issues which led me to that point.

Airport Extreme card installed --no signal on an 802.11b access point, where an 867 12" was getting 2 bars. Walked down to with 15' of the base station--signal. No GHz devices in the area.

Swapped cards; same symptoms.

New location with old card and an Airport Extreme Base Station, situated in basement. about the same range--like a Titanium. iBook in some dead zone areas show 3-4 bars. Ironically, GHz phones in area...

(Never mind I can't configure the Base Station.)

Suffice to say, it's my first Mac dud...it's really too bad. Other than poor Airport, it's REALLY tight. it's much cooler than the 867, fast as all-heck, the screen is much better than the iBook. I can't tell it's a "slow" hard drive. It's MONEY!

amazing · Sep 30, 2003, 12:54 PM

Sometimes the AE cards come loose, just as they did in the Titanium. Did you try taking it out and re-seating it?

There's another thread in the forum about AE that got fixed at the genius bar by re-seating the card.

iomatic · Sep 30, 2003, 06:37 PM

Many, many attempts, including the antenna connector. Thanks, though.

Which thread was that?

Originally posted by amazing:
Sometimes the AE cards come loose, just as they did in the Titanium. Did you try taking it out and re-seating it?

There's another thread in the forum about AE that got fixed at the genius bar by re-seating the card.

amazing · Oct 1, 2003, 12:02 PM

Well, if you've reseated the card many times, with no improvement in reception, the only other thing I can think of would be to connect via ethernet to base station and try different channels. If that doesn't work, then download macstumbler on both the ibook and the 15", put them side by side and get some real numbers for reference.

Then, call applecare or take it to an apple store--go over the numbers with them and see what they say. The one thread (can't remember where it was) that I saw mentioned the apple tech twice taking it out of sight in the restricted area behind the store. After the second time, it had great reception--who's to say it wasn't a new card?

iomatic · Oct 1, 2003, 12:38 PM

I got the new card in and, it does not work. call tags are being sent. bye, little guy!

scctx · Oct 1, 2003, 03:09 PM

I'm the guy with the other thread about a 15" with no airport reception. After a visit to two stores I finally got it deemed dead on arrivial and it's going back today. I could only get 5 feet away from any base station, at both stores and at home.

Oh well, another week and I should be a happy camper. Here's the threads.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=179803
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=179601

amazing · Oct 1, 2003, 04:58 PM

Sorry you have to turn it in!

Please let us know what Apple says about it. I, for one, am very curious about what's wrong...

AssassyN · Oct 1, 2003, 05:00 PM

Hmm, such a bummer! It happens though...a know a fellow here awhile back got a 17" PB w/ a faulty AirPort card, and because 17" PBs have their AE cards soldered in & can't be removed, they hadta send him a whole new machine...best of luck!

johnong · Oct 6, 2003, 04:59 PM

I just bought a PB 12 too.
The signal on my PB is fluctuating up and down a lot. Sometimes to the degree of on and off. From 3 bars to nothing. On my iBook, I had 4 to 3 bars at least.
Where I used to get 2 to 3 bars in the building is now down to nothing.

I have taken out the cards and try to reseat it a few times. Result is the same.

I have been doing some research before posting this question here. Some people seem to tie the crazy airport reception with 10.2.8 updates. I have the latest fix for the first 10.2.8. Don't know how liable that claim is.

Any ideas?

iomatic · Oct 6, 2003, 05:09 PM

Sorry to hear it.

I think you're going to have to call AppleCare and get it returned. This sounds exactly like the symptoms I was getting. I had not even tried to update to 10.2.8; it was an immediately apparent problem.

First, try to get an Airport replacement or borrow one from a reseller or friend to test--though I doubt that's what it is. Should that not work, go through AppleCare, and you should get a replacement PowerBook...

Originally posted by johnong:
I just bought a PB 12 too.
The signal on my PB is fluctuating up and down a lot. Sometimes to the degree of on and off. From 3 bars to nothing. On my iBook, I had 4 to 3 bars at least.
Where I used to get 2 to 3 bars in the building is now down to nothing.

I have taken out the cards and try to reseat it a few times. Result is the same.

I have been doing some research before posting this question here. Some people seem to tie the crazy airport reception with 10.2.8 updates. I have the latest fix for the first 10.2.8. Don't know how liable that claim is.

Any ideas?

schk · 06:26 PM

What max reading do you guys get when you are right next to your access points? I get ~75% through internet connect 69% in macstumbler. Is this a valid reason to get mine exchanged? The levels seem identical to my previous TiBook.

schk · Oct 6, 2003, 06:42 PM

Well, I guess the way to figure out if something is wrong with ours is if someone can actually report getting higher than 75% readings. I was just looking at this one thread on apple's sites and people said that they got lower readings, but not necessarily slower transfer rates (which is the case of my PB):

http://discussions.info.apple.com/We...av.4@.3bbdd15a

iomatic · Oct 6, 2003, 07:20 PM

It's been gone for over a week now (where's my replacement!); but i did check Internet Connect, and where I got 30-40% on the Aluminum 12", I had over 75% on the iBook. That's hardly conclusive data, but it's bad news nonetheless.

Originally posted by schk:
What max reading do you guys get when you are right next to your access points? I get ~75% through internet connect 69% in macstumbler. Is this a valid reason to get mine exchanged? The levels seem identical to my previous TiBook.

schk · Oct 6, 2003, 07:28 PM

dear god, i never get a friendly applecare rep. this guy was a complete a**hole. he said, because I own a third party router, he cannot troubleshoot this issue. on top of that, since the card does get a signal, it works. although the signal is not the fullest which it should be, there is nothing to be done. now my question is this, the nearest apple store is an hour away. should i even bother to go in and test out reception compared to other units? absolutely nothing is wrong with my unit, save for the subpar readings.

iomatic · Oct 6, 2003, 09:28 PM

the rep i spoke with immediately escalated the issue to a Tier 2 Rep., whatever that BS means. I was using a third-party router at work, and that was not an issue.

Try again.

Originally posted by schk:
dear god, i never get a friendly applecare rep. this guy was a complete a**hole. he said, because I own a third party router, he cannot troubleshoot this issue. on top of that, since the card does get a signal, it works. although the signal is not the fullest which it should be, there is nothing to be done. now my question is this, the nearest apple store is an hour away. should i even bother to go in and test out reception compared to other units? absolutely nothing is wrong with my unit, save for the subpar readings.

schk · Oct 6, 2003, 10:05 PM

What exactly did you state was your problem? I swear I must be flagged to get rude Applecare reps every time I call. I stated that I had just got a new PB and the reception was showing 25% less than all my other wireless devices. Then he asks, what router am I using. I say D-link. Then he goes on for about an hour how this is a SOFTWARE issue only and since the router is third party, there is no solution that he has. I state I have read on message boards where this problem has been acknowledged by an Applecare rep. He says he sees no such thing and that type of thing seems to be a recall issue which he would be notified of. The conversation went on and on, and I was so frustrated that I just told him I would go into a store to get this looked at. Anyways, I need the PB this weekend, so sending this in for an exchange is not an option I'd like. I would rather have the issue documented at a store, get it exchanged there or at a later time.

iomatic · Oct 6, 2003, 11:21 PM

my only solution was to provide them no way to back out, (e.g., I used a friend's card in an 867 which worked fine, a new card, ad infinitum). that's all i can suggest. sorry you have the runaround.

photoflow · Oct 7, 2003, 01:37 AM

I hope this doesn't turn out to be a serious problem that affects all 12" Powerbooks. I'm about to purchase this powerbook, but getting long distance reception via wireless g is very important to me. If this problem persists accross the board, it may adversely impact my decision to make a final purchase.

Are there any folks out there with a new 12" that aren't having any reception problems? If not, what brand od wireless router are you using?

schk · Oct 7, 2003, 06:34 AM

Originally posted by iomatic:
my only solution was to provide them no way to back out, (e.g., I used a friend's card in an 867 which worked fine, a new card, ad infinitum). that's all i can suggest. sorry you have the runaround.

Ya, unfortunately I didn't think I would be met with such resistance that I didn't think of coming up with reasons why I know it's not my setup that is causing the probs. Oh well, I don't feel like arguing today, so I'll go down to an Apple Store to see first hand. Theres definitely a problem when a wireless desktop and wireless notebook, both with different wireless cards can get 100% signal while my PB is reporting 60-65% signal with my router in the room to the left of me. If they don't help me at the store, I will get those bastards at applecare to exchange it.

schk · Oct 7, 2003, 11:48 AM

I just got back from the Apple Store and we compared another 12" that happened to be built the same exact day as mine, so while I wasn't able to check against a new one, it had the same exact range as mine. We first tested a TiBook and the signal strengths seemed somewhat similar. As we walked further and further, the TiBook's signal dropped off much quicker and I was able to hold onto a 1 bar signal for maybe 5-6 feet more. Looking at all the PB in the store, none of them showed 100% signal strength via Internet connect, seemed to be slightly less than 90% at most, when right in front of an AE station.

Through my tests at home, while the signal rating seems low, the bandwidth I'm capable of getting seems to be better than what the signal strength reports. Anyways, I just believe that the AlBooks may report lower signal strengths overall as a thread on Apple's board as early as the Rev. A units mention this. No one actually tested throughput, but went by the bar rating. Of course, for those of you who have multiple PB or other Apple laptops to compare to, that may show otherwise. I no longer have my TiBook to compare to, and all I have are PCs which report 100% signal strength which of course is qualitative and may not be accurate. So while my number seemed lower than it should be, it seems the few here have real issues with getting little to no signals. So for those of you who worried like me, there's probably nothing wrong with your units.

iomatic · Oct 7, 2003, 12:32 PM

If an 867 12" and iBook are getting 2 bars, and the new PowerBook is getting NONE, I'd call that defective.

jjfox · Oct 8, 2003, 01:43 AM

Yet another new 12" PB w/ Airport reception problems! I am really disappointed, because I only decided to switch back to Macs (after a 9-year absence) after buying my wife an iBook and seeing how well it worked with the Airport Extreme base station.

My brand-spankin' new 12" PB gets *no* reception at my dining-room table (2-bdr apt, about 15-18 feet from base) yet her iBook gets 100% signal strength in the exact same spot! I must walk to within 8-10 feet of the base station to get a connection, after which I can roam about another 3-5 feet! I discovered this problem within minutes of unpacking my new PB, and called Apple immediately. I had to wait 5 days for the replacement AE card, only to find that it didn't improve things! Tomorrow, I'm calling Apple and getting this thing declared DOA! Has *anyone* gotten *good* reception on their new 1GHz 12"? If not, I'll be asking for a refund! Not a good start for a "switcher"...

qvr · Oct 8, 2003, 04:12 AM

Originally posted by jjfox:

Has *anyone* gotten *good* reception on their new 1GHz 12"? If not, I'll be asking for a refund! Not a good start for a "switcher"...

I have excellent reception on my day old 1Ghz 12".
At home my access point covers the whole apt and on campus area I get a lot better reception than my friend with his PC.

eScrib · Oct 8, 2003, 07:46 AM

My reception shows three bars on my 12"PB, and my old Pismo would show full strength from the exact same area. I don't notice any decrease in my DSL performance however...

jjfox · Oct 8, 2003, 01:13 PM

My new 12" PB is now officially DOA... looks like I'll be waiting a couple of weeks for a replacement... on the bright side, I now get Panther free! I'll miss my 12" over the next few weeks (esp. since my wireless keyboard/mouse and iCurve are due to arrive today). Though I'm disappointed (not to mention inconvenienced) by the AE antenna problem, a free OS upgrade isn't bad compensation - I'll give Apple a pass on this one.

On the brighter side, my wife's iBook is one tough machine! It's taken 3 drops from 3+ ft over the past week (never leave your pride and joy within reach of children!) but it keeps on ticking!

cpatubo · Oct 8, 2003, 04:14 PM

Chalk me up as one the happier 12" owners.

My old 15" Ti had fairly poor reception (1 bar) at the other end of our house, with a Linksys WAP11. When I got my 12", I get almost full strength, easy, in the same location of the house.

Needless to say, I am extremely satisfied.

superd · Oct 8, 2003, 05:11 PM

I have a new 12" with the airport extreme card and have no problems connection to my netgear 802.11b router in my house. I'm a happy camper

Dave

Greasyboy · Oct 8, 2003, 06:35 PM

Perhaps I shouldn't comment, not having tested my reception exactly, and not having an basestation. But at two local wi-fi spots (including a Starbucks) I get full signal strength. New 12 inch Rev B. So far everything's working great. Battery life as well.