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iPoder · Oct 5, 2004, 05:47 PM

I have a powerbook 15" 1.25 GHz, airport extreme connecting to a SMC 802.11g wireless router, and have the following issues,

1) From time to time, PB loses the network connection after it wakes up from sleep, or switch to a different network location,
2) Select the SMC network, and dialog will pop up to ask for WEP key even I had it saved in the Keychain before,
3) If I enter the WEP (128-bit) key again, and set it saving into Keychain, connection status comes back as "Failed to establish network connection".
4) If I select the SMC network again, it will connect this time without asking WEP key,
5) Put it to sleep, and wake it up. Happen again!

The worse thing is that this happens very frequently, but not always. I updated the Airport driver to the latest version.

I think that it is more or less the OS or Airport driver issue because my Windows machine does not have such problem.

Any idea?

ghporter · Oct 6, 2004, 09:47 AM

It's not so much an OS problem as a driver problem. Not all wireless cards restore themselves properly when the computer wakes up, though some do a really good job of it.

When the computer goes to sleep, the card stops tracking the frequency the network is on. 802.11 networks use spread spectrum technology to avoid interference; the network steps from one frequency to the next in a predetermined sequence. When the card is asleep, it doesn't track this sequence, and so when it wakes up, it can't see network traffic.

The better drivers will recognize that the connection is lost, and usually will also note that the computer has been asleep. They will automatically reconnect with the network without a big fuss.

As for reconnecting manually, you should look at the authentication option in your SMC's setup. That setting should match the setting for your AE card, or be set to something like "Auto." Since you have the key on your keychain, it is obviously still correct, so the connection problem is most likely that the PB and the access point don't agree on the connection, which is almost always an authentication issue.

iPoder · Oct 6, 2004, 11:22 AM

Thanks for the response. Though I tend to agree with you, yet I have a few more questions...

1) My Windows notebook never has such problem, which detects the signal and connects right away after it wakes up. I am using Apple stock airport extreme card, and its latest driver. Does it mean that SMC router and Airport Extreme card have incompatibility issue?

2) It is kind of funny that Airport will only fail on the first try to connect, but not the second try after it wakes up. And it keep forgetting my saved key in the keychain. Why?

3) I will try to change the authentication option later to see whether it helps or not. But if it doesn't, what should I do?

This is more an annoying issue than a life-or-death issue. Maybe I will change my wireless router later to Airport Express, when Apple adds a remote control and prices it lower.

aaanorton · Oct 6, 2004, 11:45 AM

Try checking this also... Go to System Preferences > Network > Airport. In the By default, join selection, make sure Automatic is chosen.

turtle777 · Oct 6, 2004, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by iPoder:
I have a powerbook 15" 1.25 GHz, airport extreme connecting to a SMC 802.11g wireless router, and have the following issues,

1) From time to time, PB loses the network connection after it wakes up from sleep, or switch to a different network location,

Any idea?

It might the the SMC router.

I have an SMC router as well, and sometimes, it lose the connection to my iBook and my PC laptop. It did not happen before on my G1 Airport Basestation, so I assume it's the SMC router.

-t

iPoder · Oct 6, 2004, 04:37 PM

Originally posted by turtle777:
It might the the SMC router.

I have an SMC router as well, and sometimes, it lose the connection to my iBook and my PC laptop. It did not happen before on my G1 Airport Basestation, so I assume it's the SMC router.

-t

I suspect it so. I am not quite happy about the SMC router, but it seems to be a good deal (US$30 after rebate) when I bought it. It is 802.11g with USB print server.

You get what you pay for!

turtle777 · Oct 7, 2004, 10:37 AM

Originally posted by iPoder:
I suspect it so. I am not quite happy about the SMC router, but it seems to be a good deal (US$30 after rebate) when I bought it. It is 802.11g with USB print server.

You get what you pay for!

I paid $ 20 after rebate.
For that, I don't mind reseting the router every once in a while.

-t