[mdcarter1]

I have a new 1 Ghz Powerbook with installed Airport card. To compliment this, i bought a Netgear MR814 Wireless router. I placed the router in a very central location and high up. There is never more than 1 wall between myself and the router. From what I read in here, many people have problems with getting a strong signal and I am finding that I am no different:

1. If i go farther than 20 feet from the router, my signal will be OK, 3 maybe for bars. However it is never consistent. It may show 3 bars and then a minute later be down to 1 bar without having moved an inch. Is this normal? Is it from interference? I have a 2.4GHZ phone in the house and Digital Satellite, but it shouldnt effect anything if it is not in use correct?

2. Even if the menu bar shows full signal, if i use MacStumbler my signal will never eclipse 25 strength unless I am right next to the router? Whats up with this? What exactly is the airport meter measuring then?

Do I need to try another router? Any help would be appreciated, sorry to beat a dead horse.

[ghporter]

First go into your Powerbook (physically) and make sure that the antenna cable to your AirPort card is properly plugged in. This seems to be a big problem in iBooks, and since that cool titanium case is a problem for you already, it wouldn't hurt to check the cable.

Second, does your Netgear router have external antennas? If it doesn't, you may want to investigate getting a different model. Those boxes without external antennas use a wireless PC card and depend on the (not too great) built in antenna. This is why you hear complaints about the AirPort Base Station's range; it uses an Orinoco (or whatever they call themselves today) PC card inside the neat flying saucer case.

[mdcarter1]

Alright, i checked the Airport card and the antenna was attached properly. As for my router, it's a Netgear MR814 and yes it has an external antenna. I am literally 10 feet away from the router right now and my Macstumbler signal strength is bouncing between 20 and 30. This doesnt seem too good. What are some other peoples signal strengths and also, how can I measure througput of my network?