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kent m · Dec 30, 2002, 11:24 PM

wassup? until yesterday the range was beyond the far side of my house, today I almost need to be in the same room. any thoughts appreciated.

this seems to have occured after the recent system/etc update but I haven't made any tests and am reluctant to reinstall etc etc.

this is an older airport, not the all white casing, and I've had the thing for about a year or so. as I say, any thoughts appreciated.

thanks,
kent m

CyberGreg · Dec 31, 2002, 06:59 AM

Have you tried turning it off and then back on? Have you also tired a software reset (after you record your settings

)?

Our (1st gen) ABS apparently have a weak powersupply and many fail around the 1-year mark, or just after.

Mine is almost 2 1/2 years old and (knock's on wood) working fine.

Tom N · Dec 31, 2002, 08:34 AM

30 feet.... sounds like a Ti-book.

What laptop are you using?

Tom N.

kent m · Dec 31, 2002, 06:19 PM

hah... yes, it's a tiBook. One of the newer models. I understand that the titanium skin causes interference, but the thing is - until recently the range was adequate and the interference unoticable.

we seem to be getting various levels of signal strength today, from terrible to standard. I'm doing a good impersonation of Grover: "near... far... near... far..."

k

Originally posted by Tom N:
30 feet.... sounds like a Ti-book.

What laptop are you using?

Tom N.

kent m · Dec 31, 2002, 06:22 PM

hi,

yes, we've turned it on and off a dozen or so times.

software reset... I'll have a look for that one, thanks.

Can you tell what specific signs (if any) generally indicate a failing airport? ours is about a year old... and has (er) been dropped once...

k

Originally posted by CyberGreg:
Have you tried turning it off and then back on? Have you also tired a software reset (after you record your settings )?

Our (1st gen) ABS apparently have a weak powersupply and many fail around the 1-year mark, or just after.

Mine is almost 2 1/2 years old and (knock's on wood) working fine.

Tom N · Jan 1, 2003, 07:57 AM

I would check the antenna of your Ti-book to see if it is still correctly seated in both the airport card, as well as if it is seated correctly against the antennas reflector element inside the battery compartment.

The fix, fondly known as the Tummy Rub (thanks to whoever gave it that name).

Shutdown your Ti-Book, close the lid, turn the Ti-book over and open the battery compartment. Remove the battery, Locate a grayish looking rectangular label that is inside the battery compartment and against the outside edge of the Ti-book. It will have some part numbers and serial numbers written on it. It is the only label in the compartment, so should be easy to find. Here comes the "Rub" part of the Tummy Rub. The antenna cable for your Ti-Book runs just behind this label. The label is actually an aluminized material that is part of the Ti-Books antenna system. The antenna cable needs to be in direct physical contact with this label for the Airport card to receive a strong signal. Over time, the label and the antenna cable will become slightly separated. This will reduce the range of your Airport connection. Place your finger against the label and rub it with some pressure, though don't use enough to punch a hole in the side of your Ti-Book. This will reseat the label and antenna cable (you may be able to see the antenna cable if you look closely at the edges, but usually it is not easily seen. Replace the battery, close the compartment, and turn over and power up your Ti-Book. You should know have the original Airport performance you were use to.

Unfortunately, this fix is only temporary. In all likelihood, the label and the antenna cable will come loose from each other again in the future. If this happens, you can just repeat the Tummy Rub. You can also try inserting a piece of paper folded up to wedge between the battery and the label to help keep the label and antenna cable in place.

Oops, forgot to mention you should check that the airport card and antenna cable are attached to each other and are not loose. To do this, check your Ti-Book manual under installing Airport card.

Please note, this method of fixing the range problem on Ti-Books has not been verified as working on the newest models. I have used this on my own Ti-book with sucess which is last years model (2001). The procedure cannot cause any type of damage, so I would give it a try on the new model.

Good luck,
Tom N.

kent m · Jan 1, 2003, 02:04 PM

thanks very much for the info.

k

ghporter · Jan 1, 2003, 04:03 PM

To allay your fears, the symptoms you describe don't go with an impending failure of your base station. What usually happens when a base station is about to fail is that your connection becomes intermittent, and the lights on the base station go through an interesting dance while you're not connected. You can usually hear a rapid clicking or snapping, which may be fast enough to sound like a tone.