[absmiths]

Since about 2 months back my airport connection has been getting constantly worse. I can watch my signal go from 3-4 on average to 0-1 average during the course of the day. The only thing that seems to fix it is shutting down the computer completely. Restarting the base station fixes the problem in the short term, but it comes back faster if I don't shut the computer down as well.

Considering that my base station is only about 15 feet away, with nothing in between, and it has been working really well for about 2 years, what could be the problem?

I considered going back several versions in airport software, but I don't even know if I can do that.

[Applefreak01]

My guess is the base station is dying. I had a graphite base sation that lasted about a year before it went out so two years might do the same. You can go backwards in Airport software but you'll have to reinstall Mac OS X and only apply one update at a time and download the files from Apple's support page and not by software update because software udpate might skip a few versions.

Or you can get another base station or wireless access point. I'm assuming you have 802.11b right now since your base station is two years old. You can find a fairly cheap 3rd party 802.11 base station just about anywhere now.

[himself]

It could be interference from some nearby devices your neighbor[s] recently acquired... Like cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens, etc. I would also suggest trying different channels for your wireless network, which may solve the problem if it is indeed outside interference. But, like Applefreak said, either your basestation, airport card (or possibly both) are going AWOL.

[absmiths]

Originally posted by Applefreak01:
My guess is the base station is dying. I had a graphite base sation that lasted about a year before it went out so two years might do the same.

Is that really all I can expect from this stuff - 1+ years? If that is the case, I will probably just go wired as I don't really need the wireless anymore - my laptop always stays in the same place.

I might consider replacing the base station - but the card in the Ti would be too much of a pain.

[Applefreak01]

Usually Apple products last a lot longer than anything else. My old iBook G3 300MHz clamshell is still working good and strong today according to it's owner and that was bought in 1999. I can't see any PC lasting 6+ years with stock configuration.

I was just saying that mine died about after a year so two years could do the same thing. I think if I remember right that when the first Apple base stations came out people had problems with them dieing or poor performance after awhile. I'm sure the new ones don't have this problem and would last a good long time. I hardly used mine when I had it too but only because that was when I was still on dial-up internet access. Now that I have broadband I use it all the time, but I got a Netgear MR814 802.11b router. It doesn't do Appletalk but it works for everything else.

You don't have to get another Apple base station if you don't feel like spending that much for them. You can get a 3rd party wireless router like mine for around $40 or so.