Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

mrmister · Apr 25, 2004, 11:02 PM

...I am so fed up with substandard wireless!

I know, I know--it's the fate of the TiBook. But it really drives me mad--I just had to move across my office because I can't get a signal consistently, when every other person has solid connections.

I have a 1 Gig TiBook, so I've been planning to wait on upgrading for one more rev, but it's making me nuts.

Question is: is the AlBooks' wireless so much better than the TiBook? I'm interested in firsthand testimony in how much better signal reception is.

Second question, has anyone tried the external card from MacWireless? I have the cardbus slot free, and the price is OK...but is that stable? Does it use more power than the internal Airport card? Does it make it hard to put your 'Book in cases and such?

Thanks for all help in advance!

Jim Paradise · Apr 26, 2004, 02:33 AM

I could be wrong but I remember there being instructions somewhere out there in cyberspace on how you can improve the antenna's reception. However, it'll probably void the warranty. I'd try buying the wireless card to extend the Powerbook's range of reception.

riotge@r · Apr 26, 2004, 02:46 AM

I went from a 1ghz TiBook to a 1.25ghz AlBook. The reception on the AlBook is much improved. With the TiBook I would lose my connection when I was in my living room, which is only about 30 ft from my office (location of the airport basestation). With the AlBook I get full signal in my living room.

mrmister · Apr 26, 2004, 03:15 AM

"I could be wrong but I remember there being instructions somewhere out there in cyberspace on how you can improve the antenna's reception. However, it'll probably void the warranty. I'd try buying the wireless card to extend the Powerbook's range of reception."

Yeah, I've tried everything online, like squeezing the antenna leads and all of that...all that is left is actually getting a new card.

Glad to hear the Al is noticably better--has anyone else switched, or is using a Cardbus card on their TiBook for increased range?

Crusoe · Apr 26, 2004, 12:57 PM

Another suggestion is to get a 3rd party PC Card 802.11 B or G, perhaps ASANTE or US Rob has something. My handheld's CF Card gets better reception than my 17".

mrmister · Apr 26, 2004, 03:39 PM

Yes, I'm thinking of getting a 3rd party Airport card for the cardbus slot, as I said earlier--anyone have experiences using those with TiBooks, and with how the range is?

bamchum · Apr 26, 2004, 04:00 PM

My experience has been different from that of others (and different from what I expected). I moved from a 1Ghz TiBook to a 1.25Ghz AlBook. The TiBook always had pretty good Airport reception. I've found that the AlBook (and this is my second: the first one had to be replaced for several problems including awful airport reception) is not quite as good.

There may be something wrong with mine, but it's good enough for my purposes. And I'm certainly not sending it to apple care for this!

lucas3735 · Apr 26, 2004, 04:03 PM

My iBook 800mhz got incredible range- stupendous. I just upgraded to a 12 inch pb recently and the range is the same as the ibook. I hope that helps.

Freeflyer · Apr 26, 2004, 06:31 PM

I had the same problem and solved it (in my house anyway) for $30. I bought the cheapest netgear router that I could find ($30 after rebate) and ran an ethernet cable from my main router to a point on the other side of the house, and then used it as a wireless access point.

This gave me great reception all over the house, was cheap and easy, but you may have problems if your house isn't so easy to run wiring.

Just a thought.

J.

barrettwilson1 · Apr 26, 2004, 06:33 PM

If you're looking for a cardbus wireless card, try the Aria Extreme from Sonnett. I use it with my 867 Ti and works flawlessly. The range is much better than I had with the airport card in my 12 inch Powerbook. The card uses the Airport software already on your computer, so there's no messy configurations.

teknopimp · Apr 26, 2004, 09:15 PM

these guys sell external antennas:

http://technowarehousellc.com/quan.html

(i posted this last week on another thread.)

EdipisReks · Apr 26, 2004, 09:33 PM

i moved from a 1 ghz tibook to a 1.25 ghz albook, and my airport reception went from bad to worse.

mrmister · Apr 26, 2004, 11:57 PM

Yeah, I'm looking at the MacWireless card:

http://www.macwireless.com/html/prod...1gCardbus.html

Also, checking out these super high-powered cards--might be bad for battery life, but hard to resist, IF they work with Airport natively:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/B000099671

The external antennas are a no-go...that's actually more annoying than the card would be. The Netgear router is good advice, but I can't wire everywhere--I need better range when I'm away from home, not when I'm there.

Aria Extreme, eh? Has that had any impact on battery life?

tooki · Apr 27, 2004, 01:31 AM

PC Card/Cardbus 802.11 cards do improve a TiBook's reception dramatically. I had a client who got about 2-3 times the range with the PC Card.

It was a Lucent card that was supported by the AirPort software, but any card with Mac drivers should work fine.

tooki

mrmister · Apr 27, 2004, 01:38 AM

Good to hear. Yes, I'm looking for one that can just use the native Airport drivers, but luckily that appears to be most of them.

southtdi · Apr 27, 2004, 11:46 AM

My Ti 867mhz (one of the last built and sold) always has had so, so reception up until last week. For some reason when the new airport update came out it woke my airport reception up. I now get very good reception. Not quite as good as a PC card but not far behind.

I know others have had problems for the update but for some reason it was what my Ti needed.

Voch · Apr 27, 2004, 12:21 PM

Originally posted by southtdi:
My Ti 867mhz (one of the last built and sold) always has had so, so reception up until last week. For some reason when the new airport update came out it woke my airport reception up. I now get very good reception. Not quite as good as a PC card but not far behind.

I know others have had problems for the update but for some reason it was what my Ti needed.

With the 3.4 update my TiBook 667/DVI gets better reception in the back room of my house now (the AirPort base station is in the front of the house) and at my Mom's house (the Linksys base station is in the basement, one floor below the living room where I 'Net surf). I haven't established that it's the new drivers, though (moon phases, planetary alignment, and the stock market seem to affect wireless reception...

).

Overall I'm content with the TiBook's reception (not happy...I used to be an iBook owner)...it's "good enough."

Voch

southtdi · Apr 28, 2004, 10:22 AM

The 3.4.1 update seems to have boosted it again. My netgear router is in the front of the house and when in my family room (rear of house) sitting in my chair I only ever got 2 bars. Something weird about a simple room wall (if I move to the couch wich the wall doesn't affect the signal it goes up). Anyway, now with the 3.4.1 update i get 3, sometimes 4, bars.

Who knows why it is like this, and I have to agree abotu stragne things affecting it, but I am not going to complain and just be happy.

Voch · Apr 28, 2004, 12:34 PM

Originally posted by southtdi:
The 3.4.1 update seems to have boosted it again. My netgear router is in the front of the house and when in my family room (rear of house) sitting in my chair I only ever got 2 bars. Something weird about a simple room wall (if I move to the couch wich the wall doesn't affect the signal it goes up). Anyway, now with the 3.4.1 update i get 3, sometimes 4, bars.

Who knows why it is like this, and I have to agree abotu stragne things affecting it, but I am not going to complain and just be happy.

Have you tinkered with using another channel?

Voch

crouchingtiger · May 12, 2004, 02:03 PM

mrmister,
what was the eventual resolution you came to? Did you try some PC Cards? Which ones worked with the native software? Thanks!

mrmister · May 12, 2004, 02:46 PM

Well, I now have a Macsense AeroCard Extreme, which gives me great reception...

...but it causes kernal panics on removal some of the time, and freezes after sleep other times. It's a pain. I'm hunting for a better card.

Babar · May 12, 2004, 03:10 PM

Personally, I have always used a Cisco Aironet 350 PCMCIA card on my Ti 667 DVI and it worked fine since day one. It has a powerful antenna (100mW), very good range, solid drivers, and it has become cheap now (around 75$ on ebay). This was, and still is, one of the best 802.11b pcmcia cards out there.

mrmister · May 12, 2004, 03:13 PM

Maybe I'll pick one of those up. Does it work natively with Airport?

riotge@r · May 12, 2004, 04:05 PM

Originally posted by mrmister:
...I am so fed up with substandard wireless!

I know, I know--it's the fate of the TiBook. But it really drives me mad--I just had to move across my office because I can't get a signal consistently, when every other person has solid connections.

I have a 1 Gig TiBook, so I've been planning to wait on upgrading for one more rev, but it's making me nuts.

Question is: is the AlBooks' wireless so much better than the TiBook? I'm interested in firsthand testimony in how much better signal reception is.

Second question, has anyone tried the external card from MacWireless? I have the cardbus slot free, and the price is OK...but is that stable? Does it use more power than the internal Airport card? Does it make it hard to put your 'Book in cases and such?

Thanks for all help in advance!

I also went from 1 ghz TiBook to an AlBook and I am happy. My wireless access point is downstairs in my house and I get strong reception upstairs. That didn't happen with the TiBook.

Babar · May 13, 2004, 09:56 AM

No it is not supported by the Airport driver, but a Cisco driver, which is very good, a lot more advanced options are accessible than with the Airport driver.

riotge@r · May 13, 2004, 03:28 PM

Buffalo also makes a card that works with powerbooks.

Voch · 06:27 PM

Originally posted by riotge@r:
Buffalo also makes a card that works with powerbooks.

Do you have to install their software or does it work with the AirPort software? CompUSA.com has the 802.11g cards for $60...I might go get one.

EDIT: According to Buffalo's page on the card, it works with the AirPort software. I'm picking one up this weekend (I'm still torn if I want a card sticking out...(

Voch

EdipisReks · May 16, 2004, 12:01 AM

do you have to remove the existing airport card if you use a pcmcia wireless card with a machine that already has airport? thanks.

mrmister · May 16, 2004, 12:11 AM

No--in pretty much all cases you need to remove the internal card if you have an external card installed, from what I've read. I would be interested in testing that, though.

riotge@r · 04:13 AM

Originally posted by Voch:
Do you have to install their software or does it work with the AirPort software? CompUSA.com has the 802.11g cards for $60...I might go get one.

EDIT: According to Buffalo's page on the card, it works with the AirPort software. I'm picking one up this weekend (I'm still torn if I want a card sticking out...(

Voch

I was going through a similiar dilemma... I didn't want the card to stick out on my TiBook... so I sold it and bought a AlBook.

Voch · May 16, 2004, 01:03 PM

Originally posted by riotge@r:
I was going through a similiar dilemma... I didn't want the card to stick out on my TiBook... so I sold it and bought a AlBook.

Tempting...I even posted in the Marketplace forum in an attempt to sell my TiBook 667/DVI before changing my mind.

But I'm still very happy with it, have had no problems (no hinge or paint issues), still have a little less than two years of AppleCare left on it, and don't mind the fussy AirPort connectivity (in the two places I use it, my house and my Mom's house, I get "good enough" a signal).

My TiBook was a refurb purchased directly from Apple and if I decide to upgrade eventually I'll likely hold on to it (make it a "computer room" notebook, as opposed to a "travelling" notebook) or give/sell it to a family member and buy yet another refurb from Apple (maybe even a 12"-er for more porablility).

Voch